When was the last time you bought something? I’m guessing that it’s been pretty recently. Shopping has become such an ingrained activity, done more for entertainment than out of true necessity. In a world where advertisements bombard every form of media that we consume, it’s a battle to be a conscious consumer.

My April copy of Real Simple magazine contained 35 ad pages out of the total 126 pages. That’s 28% of the magazine! And those were just the blatant ads. I’m not even including the pages containing the full page images of Burt’s Bees lip balm, Tatcha moisturizer or Clarins serum under the “beautiful BUYS” article.

I hadn’t even noticed the amount of ads, which makes me extremely sad and a lot mad. My husband pointed them out as he flicked through it while we were eating breakfast one morning. It was a huge wakeup call for how desensitized I am to advertising. I had been contemplating cancelling my subscription for a while and this just cemented my decision.

If you subscribe to a magazine, take a pause and grab one. Count how many ad pages there are relative to the amount of total pages. It’s pretty mind boggling, right?!? And I get that they have to make money, but as a customer, who pays for a subscription, I don’t want to be bombarded by ads. Oh, and they also send the magazine in a plastic covering with a bunch of other ads.

While this might seem like a “crap on Real Simple” article, it’s not. It’s a crap on advertising in general. We are constantly being told that what we have isn’t enough. That we need more in order to be happy. Well that’s not true.

I’m definitely not against people buying things that they need, or things that make them happy. But I prefer it to be at their own motivation, not at the motivation of a big corporation.

And while it’s hard to not shop at all, there are some important questions that we can ask ourselves when we do. It’s human nature to consume but not to consume consciously. Being a conscious consumer takes practice and mindfulness. Part of that mindfulness is questioning the validity of all purchases.

For the sake of this post, I am going to use a summer dress as an example. But anything could apply.

1. Do I need it? Or have I been influenced into thinking I need it?

You’ve been scrolling through your Instagram feed and you keep seeing the same type of dress over and over. Before you know it, you start looking online for a similar dress, or you’ve already gone to the tagged site to see how much it is and where you can buy it.

Or maybe it’s the feature item in your favorite magazine. They’ve shown you how to wear the dress to work, for brunch with the girls and for cocktails. It’s so versatile.

But wait, did you want a dress like this before you opened the app? Before you read the magazine?

Always remember that the whole point behind a lot of social media posts and magazine ads (any type of ad, really) is to get you to buy something. Influencers get commissions when you buy what they wear and companies get increased ad revenue when they can show that ads in their magazines convert to purchases.

If you were already planning to purchase this dress, it’s great to support the source where you found it. But if you weren’t, be a conscious consumer and just don’t.

2. Do I already own something similar?

Pretty much anything produced today has been already produced, in some form or other.

Especially with fashion and home decor, there are only so many trends and they come in cycles. That dress you’ve been eyeing very likely has the same silhouette as a dress that was made a few years ago. You probably have something very similar hanging in your closet.

Before you purchase anything, look through the things that you already own. Chances are, you already have something similar hanging at the back of your closet.

You might even rediscover a dress that you like even more.

3. Can I upcycle it?

Being a conscious consumer goes hand in hand with using what you already own. You’ve already bought it, make it keep working.

Do you own something that you can upcycle to be similar to what it is that you want?

Do you own a dress that you could alter, or a couple of dresses that you could combine to make a dress like the one you’ve been thinking about? Perhaps the top of one combined with the bottom of another could get you something very similar?

Maybe you shy away from this because you don’t have a sewing machine or you don’t know how to hand sew. This tutorial illustrates how to hand sew 2 pieces of fabric together.

I did this with an old striped tunic that I owned. I had been wanting a black and white striped top, especially after seeing a Parisian dressing inspired challenge on Instagram. I knew that I had a striped tunic in my closet so I went ahead and made the perfect striped top that I had been wanting.

4. Can I borrow it? Or rent it?

So you don’t own anything similar, and you can’t find any items to upcycle that will get you anything like the item that you want.

This must mean that you HAVE to buy it right? Not yet!

Can you borrow it?

Maybe a friend has a similar style of dress that you could borrow. If she’s not currently into wearing it, maybe you could borrow it for a while. But if she’s loving wearing it, maybe you can ask to borrow it for a week to make sure that it’s something that you will actually love wearing. This way you know that you love the actual garment, not just the idea of it.

Can’t borrow it? How about renting it?

This is a great alternative to determine if, again, you love the actual garment, not just the idea of it. It is also good with trendy items. There are lots of clothing rental sites that you could utilize.

If you live in the UK, Narrations LDN has a rental service for some gorgeous dresses.

5. Is this MY style? Will I use this a lot?

So, you’ve determined that you don’t own anything similar, you can’t upcycle it, borrow it or rent it. Surely now you’re left with only one alternative: to buy it, right?

Before you hit the checkout, ask yourself this question:

Is this MY style? Will I use this a lot?

If the answer is yes, that’s great! Move onto the next question. But if you think it’s not something that you’ll use a lot, resist the urge to purchase.

How many times have you bought something because you saw it and thought it looked great on somebody else? Or you liked a cushion in a home decor post, in somebody else’s home?

Is this particular item something that you know you will think looks great on YOU or will that cushion look great on YOUR sofa? There are so many more elements to style than just the particular item.

Does it go with YOUR style?

6. Can I buy it sustainably?

So you’ve decided that it is YOUR style. That this particular dress will look great in YOUR wardrobe.

Can you purchase it sustainably? As always, I encourage you to search for items in the secondhand market first. Being a conscious consumer means purchasing with as little negative impact on the earth and people as possible.

Here are a list of online shopping sites that specialize in preloved items. Think of some key words that describe your item and then use those to search these sites. For example, house dresses are very popular at the moment so you could use terms such as “house dress”, “nap dress”, “prairie dress”, “tent dress” or “tiered dress” to search for this type of dress.

If you can’t find it secondhand, purchase from brands that are ethical and/or sustainable, preferably both. Good on You is a good place to start. You can search for a brand and you’ll be show a rating for the particular brand. And if the brand is “not good enough”, the app will suggest brands that are better.

But do your own research as well. Any brand that is ethical and/or sustainable is proud of it and will definitely be talking about it on their website. If you’ve heard a brand is good but you can’t find any information about their practices on their website, don’t “add to cart”.

7. Will this purchase interfere with my long term financial goals?

I hate to admit it but this is a question that I have only started considering in the past few years. I used to buy things at the detriment of my future self. A lot of those things have been long forgotten and I think, “if only I still had that money”.

So once you’ve gone through the first 6 questions, and just before you hit the checkout button or swipe your card, think about your financial goals and how this purchase will impact them.

And even if a single purchase won’t make much of a negative impact, think of all of those little purchases made over time. They add up to quite a bit. Taken all together and saved or invested, they could add up to a significant sum, which your future self will be proud of you for.

Becoming a conscious consumer is hard. This type of lifestyle change forces us to look closely at our behavior, which isn’t always the most comfortable thing to do. But knowing that you bought, or didn’t buy, something with a lot of intention is the only way to push back on the constant message of, buy, buy, buy. A message that isn’t sustainable, for your wallet or the planet.

I hope this article provided you with some useful considerations for your future shopping decisions.

Do you have any questions that you ask yourself before buying something? If not, will you implement some of these?

As always, thanks for your support. If you enjoyed this article, please share it and help others become conscious consumers.

Until next time,