Latest news with #mindfulconsumption
CNA
08-07-2025
- Business
- CNA
Commentary: Plastic bags are back at Don Don Donki – but consumer attitudes to disposables have changed
SINGAPORE: Don Don Donki's decision to re-introduce plastic bags, seven months after it stopped selling them, was welcomed online. Facebook users commented that they had stopped shopping at Donki because it was too inconvenient to carry their purchases without plastic bags. Though Don Don Donki's move to sell plastic bags again suggests shoppers still need the option, it does not mean that Singapore consumers are refusing to adopt package-free habits. There has been a heartening change in attitudes over the last decade. As advocates for reuse culture, we observed in 2015 that at supermarkets, customers would take more plastic bags than needed for bagging waste, and throw away those not needed without a second thought. This is no longer the case today. A resident told us that she reuses some of her smaller plastic bags – like bread bags – to contain food waste, which allows her to use fewer disposables over time. We are at the stage of becoming waste-conscious – aware of how much we generate and how it is handled. This knowledge shapes our behaviour whenever we shop or dine. Though there is a general lack of impetus to reuse in Singapore for now, being waste-conscious compels us to make sustainable choices out of practical or economic reasons. This is the first step towards mindful consumption – where we not only reduce, reuse and recycle, but also refuse. A SHIFT IN MINDSET When Don Don Donki discontinued plastic bags in October 2024, customers reacted negatively. Some argued that being made to buy a reusable bag if they forget to bring one is also a wasteful practice. This highlights the importance of easing consumers into new habits. For instance, supermarkets could provide racks where shoppers can donate reusable bags for others to use. Fairprice rolled out this initiative across several outlets in 2023, in addition to putting up posters to encourage customers to bring their own bags. Similarly, Singapore's introduction of a plastic bag charge in July 2023 was initially met with complaints, but eventually led to significant waste reduction. By the end of 2023, supermarkets saw up to 80 per cent fewer disposable bags taken by consumers, showing that people can adapt if nudged effectively. Some consumers have responded to the bag charge by buying plastic bags elsewhere. While this might seem counterproductive, it signals a shift in mindset because disposable bags were previously never considered an everyday purchase. This new mindset is important because we will want to conserve the usage of items that we buy, instead of casually wasting it. The positive effect of this is evident from Singapore's decreasing domestic waste per capita, which has fallen by more than 15 per cent over the last decade. BIODEGRADABLES ARE ONLY GREEN IN NAME Biodegradable bags are often viewed as a greener alternative to plastic, but in Singapore's context, this is misleading. Our waste system is based on incineration, which means all waste – whether plastic or biodegradable – is burnt before being buried in our only landfill at Semakau. This landfill is projected to be full by 2035. Because biodegradable waste is not separated or composted, it ends up being incinerated just like any other trash. Worse still, producing biodegradable bags often requires more resources than making plastic ones, due to land use and manufacturing processes. The environmental cost of producing these 'green' bags can sometimes outweigh the benefits. As a result, biodegradable bags may do more harm than good if not properly processed – which Singapore currently lacks the infrastructure for. Organisations must be careful not to promote biodegradables without accounting for their full environmental impact. If they do, their messaging risks bordering on greenwashing. The most effective way to reduce plastic waste in Singapore remains the use of reusables, coupled with public education around the full life cycle of consumer products. Informed consumers can then make smarter decisions when purchasing and disposing of items. CHANGE FROM THE GROUND UP Habits will take time to form, with teething issues being part of the process. Every act of reuse chips away at our culture of disposability and influences how businesses respond. If enough people refuse plastic bags, carry reusable bottles, or sort their recyclables, businesses will take notice. Going green requires a rethinking of our daily choices, but sustainability is not about being perfect – it's about being consistent. We ran a 6-month pilot in Queenstown to test the belief that elderly residents are the least likely to recycle. But by the end of the pilot in 2023, we found the opposite. Once participants were shown how to recycle properly, many picked it up quickly. If you think about your own grandparents, you may realise they do have the habit of saving recyclables like paper or washed containers. What surprised us most was how invested the participants became: They formed their own informal watch group to remind neighbours to recycle. It was a heartening reminder that the needle is moving, even in generations that we assume are stubborn. All in all, business or government policies on reducing waste are a first step, but real behavioural change comes through understanding – not just the 'what', but the 'why'. Consumers need a realistic transition period to adjust and integrate new habits into their lives.
Fast Company
08-07-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
This new clothing site is making it cool for kids to shop for old clothes
In the age of climate change, many people are trying to consume more mindfully. When it comes to fashion, this often means buying fewer clothes and wearing them longer. But that's a hard principle to follow with children's clothing. Kids grow out of garments quickly; they also rip and stain clothes with abandon. It's tempting to buy them cheap clothes that you won't mind throwing out after a few wears. And it's easy to do exactly that when fast fashion for kids is abundant, everywhere from Target to H&M. Now, a new platform wants to make it equally easy for parents and kids to shop secondhand clothing. Today, Prelove Me unveils a membership-based platform that allows you to buy and sell used clothing exclusively for kids. And unlike other secondhand clothing websites like ThredUp and Poshmark, Prelove Me doesn't transact in money but in credits. You get credits for sending in clothes, which you can then use to buy other products on the site. 'In the age of fast fashion, it's easy to think of clothes as disposable,' says Rebecca Bahmani, Prelove You's founder. 'We're trying to push back against this by teaching them that their clothes have actual value, which they can use to buy other clothes.' The planet is drowning in clothing Some experts estimate that fashion brands produce upwards of 100 billion garments every year, for only eight billion humans. Producing these clothes consumes enormous quantities of raw materials like cotton and oil, and is responsible for up to 8.6% of the world's global greenhouse gas footprint. There are now many companies like Circ and Repreve that are developing technology that will enable us to recycle old clothes into new ones, which is far less environmentally damaging than making new clothes from scratch. But until this kind of recycling is widespread, a more sustainable approach is buying used clothes. After all, there are already enough garments on the planet to clothe humanity for decades into the future. With Prelove Me, Bahmani wanted to create a platform that would make it easier for families to access secondhand clothing for their kids. To shop the site, you must first become a member. There are three tiers of membership, ranging from $35 a month to $95 a month, that gives you access to between 30 and 75 credits every month. Clothes are priced based on their quality and brand. A Rockets of Awesome bomber jacket is 21 credits, a pair of Vans velcro sneakers is 31 credits. 'A membership makes sense because families need to buy clothes for their kids on a regular basis,' she says. 'Kids outgrow things quickly, and they have specific needs, like swimsuits for the summer.' Bahmani, who previously worked at a lace manufacturer called Klauber Brothers, Inc., bootstrapped the company. She spent years collecting the initial inventory by asking for donations to launch the site. But the company is also raising funds to allow it to scale, particularly when it comes to automating the logistics of receiving secondhand clothes, uploading them to the website, then sending them out to customers. ThredUp, a secondhand website that generated $260 million in revenue last year, has scaled thanks to its high-tech, highly automated warehouses. To continue growing the platform's inventory, members are invited to send in all the clothes that their kids have outgrown. They will get credits based on the quality of the garment. Clothes from designer brands and those in excellent or unworn condition will get more credits than those from mass market brands and clothes that show more wear and tear. But the website accepts clothes from all brands, including fast fashion labels like Shein. Bahmani point out that even clothes with a cheap price tag take a lot of resources to make, and it is just as important to keep them out of landfills. Bahmani wanted to make sure that families felt comfortable sending in clothes that are unwearable. Prelove will offer one credit for these clothes, and will send them to be upcycled at a company that produces housing insulation. 'We're trying to teach kids to dispose of clothes responsibly,' Bahmani says. 'Upcycling is much better than just throwing them in a landfill. And in time, we'll be looking at fabric-to-fabric recycling.' Teaching Kids Good Habits Prelove You's website is designed to be fun, interactive, and simple enough for kids to use. The number of credits required to buy a product are clearly marked, and it's easy to 'favorite' products. And because it focuses exclusively on kid's clothes, it is easier for kids to navigate. 'Kids often want to be involved with choosing their own clothes,' she says. 'We wanted to make the experience fun for them.' More broadly, however, her goal is to help instill more responsible shopping habits in kids. This website is supposed to make shopping pre-owned just as fun as shopping new. It's also designed to give children a tangible sense of what a circular economy looks like, where clothes are kept in circulation as long as possible. There's some evidence that young people are more willing to buy thrifted goods than previous generation: 83% of Gen Z is willing to shop pre-owned, and the global secondhand market has increased by more than a third in recent years. But at the same time, young people responsible for the explosion in ultra fast fashion brands like Shein and Temu. Many teens and twentysomethings now buy enormous quantities of clothes—or 'hauls'—from cheap retailers and share them on social media. Bahmani believes that there is still time to shape the shopping habits of younger kids, so they grow up to be the kinds of people who understand the value of clothing and live more sustainably. 'If they grow up being excited about shopping preowned, they're likely to become adults who do the same,' she says.
The Independent
08-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- The Independent
From fast fashion to ‘conscious style': Can we break the cycle of overconsumption?
In a world where the algorithms dictates desire, it's easier than ever to shop without thinking. A single swipe on TikTok can trigger a chain reaction – from viral trends to overstuffed closets to the textile landfills of the Global South. But as the fashion industry races ahead at breakneck speed, a growing movement of thinkers, innovators, and educators are hitting pause – and asking us to do the same. Leading the way is Aja Barber, a writer, activist and author of Consumed, whose work has been pivotal in exposing fashion 's entanglement with colonialism, capitalism and climate breakdown. 'I had to have a real cold turkey watershed moment,' she says. 'I found I had a massive amount of clothing I couldn't just dump at a charity shop knowing what I now know about the colonialist waste stream that flows into Ghana.' A mindful wardrobe starts with one step Her solution? A year-long process of reselling, gifting, and consciously downsizing her wardrobe. 'That process made me not want to buy anything,' she reflects. 'It really helped me break the mindset that you can just buy something and it'll make you happy.' Barber's philosophy is clear: consuming less doesn't have to mean living less. 'I can assure you, I'll be unpacking consumerism for the rest of my life, and that's okay because we can do that in community and it can be really fun and exciting,' she says. 'But everyone has to slow down. Whether it's a cold turkey thing or two weeks where you just say, 'I'm going to wear what's in my wardrobe.'' Reading, reflection– and reconnection This shift – from buying more to buying mindfully– requires time, education and space for reflection, all of which our current culture of speed conspires against. For Barber, part of the answer lies in literacy – not just reading labels, but books. 'We have to become more of a reading society,' she says. 'Because when we slow down, that's when we start to think deeper on these issues.' It's an idea echoed by Dr Stine Hedegaard, course leader for MA Fashion Marketing & Sustainability at London College of Fashion. Her students are in a unique position: future marketers being trained to sell in a world that urgently needs to consume less. 'We focus on a critical evaluation of this contradiction,' she says. 'We explore who is responsible for fashion's sustainable transition –government, brands or consumers – and that reflection impacts their own habits.' At the core of her curriculum is the link between fashion and biodiversity. 'Consumption practices impact the environment, nature, people and communities,' she explains. 'The goal is to educate students on fashion's dependencies on natural resources and how that contributes to biodiversity loss, and in turn discuss how marketing communication may to a greater extent inform consumers of this connection. We see a significant mindset shift when students understand how fashion impacts nature. It's still a niche topic – but it's growing.' That connection to nature is vital, and it may also be a quiet form of resistance. 'People who spend more time in nature absolutely consume less,' Barber insists. 'When your hands are in the earth, something changes in your brain chemistry. You're connected.' Rooted in the elements: A new way to dress It's this spirit that drives Amanda Charles, founder of Made of Water, a swimwear brand born from the icy tides of the Cornish coast. Her community of cold-water swimmers isn't driven by style trends – they're driven by the sea. 'Our community is everything,' she says. 'Made of Water grew from a group of women meeting at sunrise to swim in freezing seas. That experience of braving the elements created a sisterhood – and changed the way we see clothing.' Her suits are made from ECONYL®, which is regenerated nylon from ocean waste, and are tested in the Atlantic, not a lab. 'We don't chase trends,' Charles explains. 'We use social media to share stories, not sell. It's about showing real people who live slowly and dress with intention.' Closing the loop: Technology meets textile waste But there's another side to this conversation: innovation at scale. While many individuals are rethinking their wardrobes, the industry's infrastructure remains rooted in waste. Enter RE&UP, a textile-to-textile recycling startup with bold ambitions. 'The world can't regenerate fast enough for the way we're consuming,' says Keith O'Brien, who leads global brand marketing. 'Recycling textiles means we're not just shifting the problem – we're closing the loop.' RE&UP's technology breaks down blended fabrics like cotton-poly, which is a notoriously tricky task, and turns them into high-performance materials. Their latest partnership with Puma signals a turning point: a practical path to circular fashion that doesn't sacrifice quality or style. Yet O'Brien is clear: there's room for everyone. 'From biomaterials to regenerative design, every effort counts. But the dream is a world where nothing is non-recyclable.' From individual choices to systemic shifts Back at the grassroots, Barber remains focused on personal action. 'If every person just bought one secondhand item instead of new, that would be monumental,' she says. 'Then it grows. Suddenly your wardrobe is mostly secondhand, and now you can afford to support an ethical designer.' Her advice for anyone feeling overwhelmed? Start small. She laughs: 'Before you know it, you've got a compost bin and you never shut up about it.' In an era of climate anxiety, fast fashion, and endless scrolling, it's easy to feel detached from the natural world. But could that disconnection be driving our desire to consume more – especially when it comes to what we wear? We're conducting a short survey to explore how our relationship with nature affects our fashion habits, and whether social media plays a role in shaping our choices. It takes just a few minutes, your input is completely confidential and will help provide insight into modern attitudes on sustainability and consumption.
