Sustainable Baddies vs The Pressure to Consume: Who Has Stronger Hands?
It’s the week before the holiday break, and here at Sustainable Baddie, we can’t help but dread the hangover of our holiday consumption. Between the food, the booze, and the post-Christmas sales, the prospect of end-of-year indulgence is already overwhelming. Ahead of the new year, the SB team is feeling reflective and, dare we say, critical of our habits. But true to our mission, we want to share both food for thought and some realistic, susty steps you can all take to be more mindful of your consumption as the year winds down. In this piece, SB staff writers, Zibby and Natasha, tackle the various facets of consumerism and share their top tips for buying, using, and wasting less.
Natasha: There's a trending audio bite making the rounds on TikTok that says “Welcome to today's installment of things I bought for myself instead of buying gifts for other people.” 1. So true, bestie, and 2. It’s proof of how easy it can be to cave to the pressure of buying something we want, even when we’ve committed to conscious consumption. As we’ve created the SB gift guides, we’ve tried to emphasize the importance of intentional gifting to avoid overconsumption.
Overconsumption is the excessive consumption of resources like food, water, and energy, but also of things beyond our basic needs. This includes material possessions like clothing, furniture, and electronics, among other things. The issue of overconsumption is not only harmful to the environment, as the production and eventual disposal of these products create tons of waste, but it also has negative impacts on our health and well-being. It’s easy to blame the big companies (who are very much to blame) but we can’t sit idly by, purchasing piles of clothes at the thrift and calling it a “haul”, and say we are not contributing to the problem.
The impulse to consume more than we need is not inherently in our nature; it’s a result of our social conditioning.. One of the main causes of overconsumption is the incessant cultural pressure to consume more. We are constantly bombarded with advertisements of the latest thing we should want: an explicit ad from a brand, a sponsored promotion from your fave content creator, your incredibly aesthetic Pinterest inspo board. These messages tell us that we need a better phone camera if we’re ever gonna become a social media star, the trendiest clothing if anyone is ever going to stop us and ask where our ’fit is from, and the most expensive things in order to be (or appear) happy and successful. It can be difficult to resist, and many of us end up consuming more than we need or want.
Credit: WasteAdvantage Mag
Overconsumption is also fueled by our throwaway culture. So many of the products we buy are designed to be used for a short time and then discarded, like single-use plastics or cheaply-made clothing. The United States produces more waste per capita than any other country in the world, with each person generating an average of 4.4 pounds of waste per day. The issue is easy to avoid since the waste is not piling up outside our doors. In 2021, the U.S. exported 1.21 billion pounds of scrap plastic to developing countries.
We pride ourselves on being a source of sustainable fashion resources and inspo, so we’ll continue to say it over and over: a major culprit of overconsumption is the fast fashion industry. The fast fashion model, which involves producing large quantities of inexpensive clothing that is quickly discarded, wastes significant amounts of clothing and byproducts. In fact, the average American throws away 81.5 pounds of clothes each year. Clothing production requires heavy use of natural resources, including water, energy, and raw materials. Overconsumption leads to an increase in the demand for these resources, which contributes to climate change, air and water pollution, and waste generation. The United States alone generates more than 11.3 million tons of textile waste each year.
The fast fashion industry operates on the foundation of unfair labor practices, including low wages and unsafe working conditions. Overconsumption contributes to the demand for cheap clothing and perpetuates these unethical labor practices. On top of this, the focus on disposable fashion discourages consumers from investing in higher-quality, longer-lasting clothing, and leads to a culture of consumerism in which people feel pressure to constantly buy new items in order to keep up with trends. We never want sustainable baddies to feel stressed because they can’t purchase something or feel unsatisfied with what they already have.
Credit: Earth.org
On the other hand, the sustainability movement is growing and more people are working to shift the culture of overconsumption. Together, we are breaking the cycle of overconsumption and creating a more sustainable and equitable fashion industry. We’re proud to be part of a movement that is based on the principles of environmental sustainability, social justice, and economic viability. By taking a more mindful and responsible approach to fashion, we can help to change the way we think about our clothing and accessories, buy fewer, better-quality items, and take care of the things we already own.
Zibby: Back in May, Sustainable Baddie founder Jazmine wrote an article on her No-Buy Month. In the article, she reflected on shopping as a coping mechanism, and how not shopping became a creative process in many ways. Obviously, everyone's experience with a no-buy month will be different. However, Jaz’s experience can definitely serve as inspiration as we step outside of this season of overconsumption and into a new year. When Jaz started her No-Buy month, inflation was on the rise, and we were hearing whispers of a recession.. Now, in December of 2022, we have experienced various inflation peaks throughout the year and our buying choices as consumers have been heavily affected. Whatever magnitude of impact inflation had on you, it's never a bad idea to check in on your finances and your buying habits to recognize if it's aligning with your individual values.
If you are feeling semi-guilt-ridden about the number of boxes you've ordered this month, or the impulsive Amazon purchase you made for those last-minute gifts, it's time to let that go. Under capitalism, we can’t be perfect consumers (is there such a thing?), and if we know anything, it's that guilt isn’t going to drive collective change. Going into the new year accepting what the past year has been, and using it to learn a little bit about ourselves, will do a lot more in the long run than any negative self-talk.
This year, at Sustainable Baddie, we watched a lot of our favorite brands and activists responding to overspending and consuming in really inspirational ways. This fall, during New York Fashion Week, we were especially inspired by the Berriez’ show, which highlighted upcycled and vintage pieces on the runway. Instead of producing new pieces and creating more waste, they used their show to highlight the ways that vintage and recycled materials can be re-designed into something totally new and crazy creative! Other Fashion Week highs included the Natalia Trevino Amaro show featuring seven designers who are taking innovative steps in sustainable fashion by creating products using scrap fabrics, upcycled designs, and non-toxic dyes. Both Berriez and the NTA show illustrated that not only can individuals consume more consciously but so can designers and brands. When both the consumer and the producer are making steps towards minimizing over-consumption without sacrificing the wonderful world of creation, we minimize our collective waste.
Credit: Berriez’s NYFW show, photo by Tayler Smith
When it comes to overconsumption, we have also learned a lot from all of you. Our community is already leading the effort of conscious consumption and remains some of our best inspirations. Through our Sustainable Baddie features, we learned from Julie Saha how using what you have is itself a creative process and often leads to a rich path of new ideas. From Hud Oberly, we learned that moving slowly in the face of the fast-paced capitalist economy inspires more conscious consumption. From Tia Planta, we learned that conscious consumption is an essential practice outside of the fashion industry. We can be conscious consumers through the ways that we purchase and care for our house plants (and our medicinal ones too). From our guest contributors, we learned how to practice thoughtful consumption of food, and how to be critical in the face of greenwashing. We also learned how changing body size and gender identity makes being a “conscious consumer” a privilege and that it isn’t always so black and white. At our events, like Sustainable Baddie x Bed Stuy Clothing Swap collab, we learned that conscious consumption includes being an active participant in minority-led sustainability movements.
Natasha: We will always want to equip you with the tools to do better. Here are a few steps we can take to consume less and reduce the impact that our consumption has on the environment:
Reduce your waste: One of the easiest ways to consume less is to reduce the amount of waste you produce. This means using reusable bags when shopping, recycling whenever possible, and composting food waste. It also means buying products with minimal packaging, and avoiding single-use plastics whenever possible.
Buy secondhand: We love our thrifty baddies! Buy secondhand items instead of buying new ones. This can save you money, reduce the demand for new products, and help to conserve resources.
Support susty businesses: When you do need to buy new products, look for small businesses with commitments to sustainability. Supporting small businesses takes power away from overproducing corporations and supports the use of sustainably-sourced materials and ethical practices.
#RewearThat: The number of times a garment is worn has declined by about 36% in the last 15 years. There is no shame in wearing the same pieces over and over or having them show up in your Instagram posts multiple times. Rewearing something inspires you to think about the value of the pieces you own and think of new ways to wear them. Tag Sustainable Baddie in your #rewearthat posts and we promise to gas you up!
Consume less energy: Finally, you can use less energy in your daily life. This means turning off lights when you leave a room, turning the water off while you shampoo and condition, or unplugging items you’re not using. If you have the means, you can also consider using alternative sources of energy like solar or wind power.
Zibby: Ultimately, Sustainable Baddie is not concerned with being perfect. We are concerned with being authentic and genuine and with trying our best with the tools that we have. Conscious consumption is a lifelong practice that can weave its way into every facet of our lives. We can consume everything, from fashion to food to art, more thoughtfully and with more intention. Being a conscious consumer is often a privilege that requires more energy to plan for, and sometimes requires more disposable income too. If you have that privilege, then go forth and consciously consume the most sustainable products you can afford. However, if this feels like something that takes more time and money than you have to offer, then do your best. We are cheering each other on!