Many of us want to shop sustainable. Whether it’s because the pandemic forced us to take a good look around at all the useless shiz taking up real estate in our wardrobes, or just the general state of things, we wish to do better. For our own sake as much as the planet’s.
But the question is, how to shop sustainable? Where to start? Obviously many of us head straight to Google, where we are swarmed with article after article, to-do list after to-do list. And the requirements on all of them seem very overwhelming and general: “reduce, reuse, recycle”. Good advice, and exactly on point, but what does it actually mean?
When we want to shop sustainable, we have taken the first step towards better consumerism. Oh yes, just having the desire to change your behavior is a major step to the right direction! And now I will give you a simple 4-step guide on how to make that ‘want’ a reality. Let’s make changing one’s ways easy!
I Want to Shop Sustainable – Now What?
Congratulations! You have evaluated the way you shop, and come to the conclusion that you could do better. Let’s be honest, there’s always space for improvement, but at the same time there’s no such thing as “perfect”. So, let’s first establish that there is no right or wrong way, when you want to shop sustainable. As long as most of us shop as sustainably as possible, the effect in the big picture is what matters. So, let’s get started:
Step 1: Make the decision. And stick to it!
When we want to shop sustainable, it’s still just a want. It’s not yet a decision that propels us into actual action. The only way to go about anything, and to ensure success, is to do it with small steps. So, first up I want you to make the actual decision to shop sustainable, and then decide to stick to it.
You can write this decision down in your journal if it makes it more concrete to you. But in reality this is a decision you have to keep on making every single day from now on. Every day you leave your house you decide to shop sustainable. Every time you’re browsing a clothing store you decide to shop sustainable.
And when you make that decision it’s easy to act accordingly. For example, if you’re in a fast fashion store and you know it’s not sustainable (not even the “sustainable collections”!), you know you should do better. And you decide to do better, and find what you need somewhere else. And thus we have gone from “I want to shop sustainable” to “I shop sustainable”!
Step 2: Fight the urge
I’ll ne honest, there will be days when the urge to shop, for example, fast fashion for the newest trend is high! And that’s where your conviction will be tested. But if you decided to shop sustainable, you should be able to quickly bring to mind why you want to shop sustainable, and then keep sticking to your decision.
If sticking to the decision seems really hard sometimes, ask yourself these simple questions to avoid impulse shopping. Because let’s be honest, those ridiculous “trends” that fast fashion brands come up with fade within weeks. And what do you have then? Money wasted and even more useless stuff taking up real estate in your wardrobe.
This is the biggest challenge we face when we want to shop sustainable. And the urge to go back to our wasteful ways is made all the more difficult by all the advertising happening everywhere around us 24/7. It does take some practice, and we all slip more than once or twice in the beginning. But that’s what being human is like! It’s normal, so don’t let it bring you down, because the best part awaits:
Step 3: Discover new ways to shop
The absolute best part of deciding to shop better is that you then discover a whole plethora of ways to shop! Of course there are loads of sustainable fashion brands to shop, but that is definitely not your only way forwards.
For many the price range can be inaccessible at first. But once you’ve shopped sustainably for a year, you have more money in your disposal and can thus afford the sustainable brands as well. These are all sustainable ways to shop, put in order starting from the most sustainable way.
- Shop your wardrobe
- Upcycle old clothes
- Rent clothes
- Shop second hand
- Shop sustainable brands
At the end of the day, any way of shopping that doesn’t support fast fashion brands is sustainable shopping. There is too much clothing on this planet as it is, and more is being made every day even though there isn’t anyone to wear all those clothes. That’s why the clothes we already own are the most sustainable.
Renting clothes is something that few of us consider, but that actually makes so much sense when you open you mind to it. Second-hand shopping can also seem like a treacherous game with all the bad quality, lack of sizes and the idea of the clothes having been worn. But don’t judge until you try! And upcycling basically means that you take your clothes to be repaired or turned into something else when they are broken.
Step 4: Don’t take it too seriously
There are loads of people out there spending a lot of time judging everybody else on their sustainability journey. In my opinion these people are doing much more damage than they realize! As I mentioned, there’s no such thing as perfect, and it’s better that most of us shop as sustainably as we’re able, rather than not at all.
Because fact is, sometimes we need something quickly, or cheaply, and sustainable fashion might not be an option. So, I’m here to admit that yes, even I sometimes have to enter a fast fashion store and get something. Especially in terms of shoes I haven’t found many good, sustainable options.
So please, don’t stress about it, have fun with it, and never take sustainability too seriously! It’s not something that needs to be executed. It’s something that should become a part of our lifestyle, and the way to get there is with baby steps.
Do you want to shop sustainable, or are you already shopping sustainably? Let’s chat! ♥
