Issue 28. Why isn't our consumption slowing down?

It's not about lack of information

By now, many of us have heard that Western consumption is unsustainable, but that hasn’t stopped us from shopping. We know that fast fashion is created at the expense of so many people and resources. We know that there’s enough clothing in the world to dress the next six generations, and yet we’re making more.

At the same time, we keep buying fast fashion, consuming thrifted clothes like it’s fast fashion, or we shop the Sephora sale even though we know we’re creating plastic waste¹ and lining the pockets of billionaires. This is because for most people, simply knowing these things isn’t enough to change our behavior.²

The COM-B model of behavior change suggests that people don’t change just because they “know better.” Behavior shifts when barriers are reduced, capacity increases, and opportunities improve.

I don’t often talk about the moral rationale behind why I try to wear and consume less, because I think that there’s a select group of people who have been mobilized by the moral imperative to consume less and those people are already consuming less, or at least striving to³. In the innovation space, we refer to these folks as ‘early adopters’ or ‘early majority.’

Most people reading this aren’t the ones who need convincing. The real challenge is reaching the “Late Majority”—people who continue overconsuming because they don’t yet feel a personal reason to stop.

If moral arguments alone worked, people would have changed already. Instead, we need better incentives and alternatives. People who are actively overconsuming (or even just not “under-consuming”) aren’t inherently bad, or evil. They’re people making choices according to the resources, culture, and opportunities available to them.

Many sustainability advocates unintentionally exclude people whose bodies or circumstances don’t align with their vision of ethical consumption. As

Sushmita

of Ethical Fat Fashion put it:

“At the same time, there’s frustration when people in sustainability belittle the challenges that come with buying ethically or sustainably while fat. Many of them have not have faced the same challenges. We didn’t even exist to them until we became a ‘problem’ because for so long we’ve been excluded. And instead of supporting us by bridging access or finding alternatives, they turn straight to blame. We are just a blip in their activism, a side quest easily ignored because it has nothing to do with their daily reality.” -

Sushmita

If slow fashion isn't a diet, why does it feel like one?

I don’t tell people not to shop for ethical reasons—not because ethics don’t matter, but because it easily turns into shame, implying that shopping a certain way makes someone bad. And shame doesn’t drive real change.⁴

Instead, this Substack is a place where I try, imperfectly, to demonstrate that having and craving less isn’t inherently deprivation.

My recent series about trying minimal style challenge Project 333 is a love story to having less. I feel freer. I feel more stylish. I’m living more inline with my values. I have a better relationship with my today body.⁵ Crucially, I’m also allowing myself to shop from “less-ethical” brands, so that what I’m buying are the things I actually want to wear. The typical “sustainable” creator might be shocked to see Gap, Athleta and Uniqlo items purchased new in my closet. But, for me personally, buying a handful of new items that I actually wear feels more sustainable than a closetful of secondhand items that I dread wearing.

Ultimately, consuming less clothing, simplifying our our closets, putting less pressure on ourselves for getting dressed to be perfect — these are activities that heal us, while increasing our collective ability to heal the planet.

As Rosie Spinks wrote in her incredible post How I became 'collapse aware':

Most of the things we need to do to heal the planet and our society are the same things that would heal ourselves.

How I became 'collapse aware'

What I create on Substack strives to be imperfect evidence that craving less doesn’t mean wanting less for myself, for my family, or for the community. Convincing someone to do something hard for the sake of others can be an uphill battle. But encouraging others that wanting less is actually a prize in itself is both more enjoyable, and more likely to make a difference.

Let me know in the comments, how do you balance your values with the realities of shopping?

xx,

Maureen

1. I literally just bought make-up at Sephora last week, so don’t worry I’m pointing two thumbs back at myself on this one.

2. COM-B model for behavior change

3. People like Cait Flanders, Shira Gill, Dawn Madden, Christine Platt, and so many more

4. Brene Brown’s distinction between guilt and shame

5. I first heard the concept of a Today Body through Courtney Carver’s interview with Dawn from the Minimal Mom. If this term interests you, I’d highly recommend listing to the interview via the Minimal Mom podcast.