We started this blog understanding that one of the biggest motivations behind the sustainment of the fast fashion industry is consumerism. However, consumerism may not always be bad for the environment if we learn to adopt ‘conscious consumerism’.
Figure 1 shows a quote mentioned by fashion designer, Vivienne Westwood in support of conscious consumerism. (Source: Singh, 2021).
Have you heard of the term ‘Conscious consumerism’? According to Kevany (2019), one practices conscious consumerism when products are picked intentionally and purposefully, considering the essentiality of the product and its favourability of it in relation to the environment. Kevany (2019) also underscores that conscious consumerism is also a philosophy and growing social movement that inspires individuals to heighten their awareness about the products they are consuming, taking into consideration the social, economic, environmental and communal implications. This information is often known through thorough research done by consumers regarding the company’s service provision and its impact on the environment (Koss, 2022).
Figure 2 illustrates the several ways one can adopt to support conscious consumerism (Source: Means & Matters)
The conscious decisions made by consumers can also be viewed as a way for them to “vote with their dollars” (Koss, 2022). This implies that individuals are purchasing items based on what they support. Recently, the support for one brand goes beyond considering the product’s sustainability and recyclability efforts (Koss, 2022). Instead, people are also considering rising social issues such as the brands’ support for Black Lives Matter (BLM) or their alignment with LGBTQIA+ causes (Koss, 2022). Moreover, one can also consider the ethicality of the brand in terms of their worker’s rights and their working conditions (Agood Company, 2020). Therefore, many factors come into play during the process of conscious consumerism.
Another possible way to adopt conscious consumption is by focusing on the product’s quality instead of the quantity. As mentioned before, the fast fashion industry taps into manipulating cheap labour and possibly unethical production practices to produce a large number of products at a low cost. Instead of purchasing items from these companies, one can switch to companies that focus on reducing their environmental footprint and maintaining sustainability, often small local businesses as seen in Figure 2 (Wise, 2021). Moreover, due to its careful consideration in its manufacturing process, they could be of better quality that can last a long time albeit it might be a bit pricier But, in the long term, this item can be used for a longer period of time and the rate of replacement might be lower. Hence the decreasing demand for the product can curb production rates which in turn, mitigating environmental implications such as pollution.
Therefore, through these blog posts, I hope to have informed and inspired my readers about the possible environmental problems revolving around the fast fashion industry and the measures one can take to tackle these problems! The understanding and practice of conscious consumerism could be more beneficial in the long run as people are changing their way of life in viewing and consuming things, instead of just changing their buying habits.
References
Agood Company. (2020). What is conscious consumerism? Agood Company. https://agood.com/blogs/stories/conscious-consumerism
Kevany, K. (2019). Conscious consumption and sustainable development. In W. Leal Filho (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Sustainability in Higher Education (pp. 1–7). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63951-2_269-1
Koss, H. (2022). Conscious consumerism: What is it? Where did it come from? Built In. https://builtin.com/marketing/conscious-consumerism
Wise, L. K. (2021). The evolution of the conscious consumer. Means and Matters. https://meansandmatters.bankofthewest.com/article/sustainable-living/taking-action/the-evolution-of-the-conscious-consumer/
