An Intentional Approach to Shopping
Ideas for a considered wardrobe
Ideas for a considered wardrobe
Perhaps you’ve recently started learning more about sustainable fashion and want to begin the transition out of shopping from major corporations. Welcome! I’ve found a number of practices to be incredibly helpful as far as actual ways to reduce your impact and remove many mass-produced purchases from your life. I always want to caveat by saying that there is an immense amount of privilege involved in choosing where to shop and how to spend your money: I completely intend for tips like these to be utilized by those with the means to.
Ultimately, corporations must begin operating in a sustainable way for the longevity of our planet, and the onus to make ethical purchase should not land on the individual. However, voting with our dollars and showing brands what we want to see is an impactful way to make change: notice how many sustainable and ethical companies are popping up and how chains are featuring independent brands on their shelves. Here’s an interesting read from Harper’s Bazaar about how demand makes sustainable goods more accessible.
01 Consider all Potential Purchases
My first thought on limiting shopping is to write down all potential purchases in advance: start a note in your phone, making a list of things you’d like to buy and add to it as you come across more online or IRL items.
I usually wait anywhere from two weeks to a month to revisit the note, and by that point, I’m generally over the purchases. (Unless it’s something practical or functional that I need around the house or for a specific activity or trip).
It’s a rare day that I look at any article of clothing from a month prior and still want to spend a significant amount of money on it. However, when I do, I purchase it knowing that it will be a timeless, long-term, quality investment piece that I’ve heavily considered. This really limits new things making their way into my closet, and allows only for pieces I’ll wear often!
02 Limit Purchases, One Store at a Time
If you’d like to tackle this process from a different place, I’d recommend picking one store at a time to limit purchases from, or commit to only intentional purchases from that specific store.
If you need to go to a chain, start by exclusively shopping from their organic, natural, sustainable and eco-friendly products. If you have to shop at a fast fashion brand, shop from their recycled water bottle-turned-garments, for example.
After reading these sentences, maybe it’s become clear that you don’t generally have to shop at any of these stores (unless they’re truly your only options): we’ve just been used to it for so long that it’s seemingly become essential.
03 Think About the Long Term
Commit to keeping whatever you’re about to buy for the next three to five years and consider if you’ll still like it then. This will help you cut back because it’s hard to say conclusively that you’ll have the same taste in a few years. Of course, no one will blame you if you’d like to make a few trendy purchases here and there, thrifting is a great option. And, if you take great care of your garments and resell them on platforms like Vestaire Collective, The Real Real, Ebay or Depop, they’ll stay in circulation for a long time.
If you’re planning on purchasing from a conglomerate: focus on the quality, timelessness and ability to be sold or passed onto a friend once you’re done with it. If all of the ethically made furniture out there is not in your budget, or if you’ve struck out on second-hand finds for so long that you’re worried about how much time you’re spending on Craigslist and Marketplace and Offerup, (this happens to me every time I move) it’s totally appropriate to get some affordable things that will make your space feel good for you.
There’s a fine line between being a responsible consumer and deciding that we should be able to choose from what’s available to us without feeling convicted at all times. Brands truly need to be held accountable and provide better options— for instance, with a base line of paying employees livable wages and using sustainable and renewable materials.
04 Be Your Own Advocate
Do your research and teach yourself what wasn’t taught to you. Once I began looking into the pasts and policies (and lack thereof) of major chain retailers, I learned that voting with our dollars is one of the most impactful ways to make a difference and drive demand. As soon as I saw the damage that these companies were doing, I had less interest in supporting them and wanted to divert my money to brands who were looking to make a positive impact.
It’s far more expensive to buy a $90 Fair Trade hand-woven basket than one from the store down the road that costs $25, but the difference between the two items is that this money is completely life-changing when given to an individual in a Fair Trade program. The hope here is that in supporting ethical brands and voting with our dollars, we can encourage less-ethical companies to follow suit.
Madewell is a great example of a company that did not begin with particularly ethical or sustainable standards but has completely pivoted to support Fair Trade programs, offer sustainably-made pieces and feature small, independent brands in their stores and online.
Back to what I said before, it’s understandable that this isn’t always an affordable or practical choice and sometimes shopping with brands that don’t have outstanding values is unavoidable.
05 There’s No Rush
Don’t get overwhelmed! There’s no rush to alter your habits overnight and get rid of every product in your home that was manufactured by a major corporation. (In fact, it’s much better to keep the lifecycle of our products going and use them for as long as we possibly can.)
On the other hand, it is important to look into getting rid of some of these things over time, as many products are manufactured with toxic chemicals that we take home and breathe in. These chemicals contribute to our overall health: read product labels and you’ll notice the Proposition 65 warning which shares that the item you took home can expose you to greater risk for cancer and disease.
This label is on so many products: it’s shocking. Things like refrigerators, stoves, storage bins, plastic products, couches, and most factory-manufactured items. Go and take a look at the label in your fridge, oven and your dishwasher.
Companies are not being held accountable to change their ways: they’re only being required to share that they’re putting you at risk for diseases that can lead to a shorter life. This is a heavy reality that is not talked about often but needs to be brought to light and considered when shopping.
Here is a list of known chemicals that cause developmental toxicity, reproductive toxicity, cancer and other diseases: these chemicals are all allowed in modern manufacturing.
06 Shop Second-hand and Vintage
A key piece of advice that I have for removing impulsive shopping from your life is to shop secondhand and thrift whenever you possibly can.
It’s easier now than ever to utilize Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace (and Buy Nothing groups), Mercari, Ebay and Offerup to get anything you might want. Giving a new life and a new home to items that would otherwise end up in the landfill is gratifying and better for the environment: elongating the lives of furniture and garments prevents you from purchasing something newly made in a factory, often has far more character and is far cheaper than purchasing new!
I hope you enjoyed this post and found some actionable ways to change your shopping habits in the months to come!
Disclosure: I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you if you decide to buy any of the products I refer to and promote. All opinions are my own.