Buckle in for sustainable shopping tips that will satisfy your need for new (or new-to-you) without costing the planet.

Why is sustainable shopping important?

Consumer culture is responsible for exploitation, waste, and negative environmental impacts reaching every single part of our planet. Almost three-quarters of worldwide GHG emissions stem from household consumption, and we are overusing Earth’s resources by more than 70%.

If everyone lived like the average American, we would need 5.1 Earths to sustain us.

We need collective action to make a consumptive U-turn. Adjusting our purchasing practices by following through with some eco-friendly shopping tips is a crucial part of the solution.

Contents: Eco-friendly Shopping Tips

  1. Adopt A Minimalist Mindset Jump to section
  2. Explore Alternatives To Shopping Jump to section
  3. Buy Local & Support Small Businesses Jump to section
  4. Buy In Season Jump to section
  5. Shop Secondhand Jump to section
  6. Bring Your Own Bags & Containers Jump to section
  7. Invest In Zero Waste Swaps Jump to section
  8. Choose Sustainable Stores Jump to section
  9. Opt For Credible Organic & Natural Brands Jump to section

Adopt A Minimalist Mindset

Value What You Already Own

What is the most sustainable way to shop?

The ultimate sustainable shopping tip we can impart is, quite frankly, to not shop. Using and valuing what you already own is the best thing you can do for our planet.

This starts by extending gratitude to the contents of our homes. Taking the time to get reacquainted with our belongings may help us realize that we have an old dresser that can be repainted to become “new”.

Our closets, in particular, are regarded with a disposable mindset, thanks in large part to fast fashion. But we can overcome the temptation to endlessly buy new clothes by cultivating a minimalist wardrobe mindset. Instead of tossing old clothes in the trash, consider giving them a little TLC by repairing them or trying your hand at making upcycled clothing to refresh and revive them.

Experiences Outweigh Material “Stuff”

We get it. It’s hard to recognize and get meta on materialism and a disposable mindset.

Because our culture encourages us to buy, buy, buy, it can be helpful to take time to understand our purchasing habits— why we make 3am online shopping purchases or have 17 similar pairs of jeans. Then, we can cut out the things that nudge us to make purchases, like email ads, Black Friday sales, subscriptions, and social media influencers.

Plan to spend less money on stuff (and all the stress and clutter that comes with it) and instead spend more time with friends and family doing things you love. When we open ourselves up to experiences, we can benefit from the same endorphin and dopamine release as a “shopper’s high”—but it will last longer.

According to researchers, experiential purchases (money spent on doing) produce enduring happiness compared to material purchases (money spent on having). Waiting for that upcoming vacation, camping trip, or date night will provide a longer period of happiness than that which comes from buying a new pair of shoes. It’s far better for our planet, too.

Explore Alternatives To Shopping

We’re not saying never.buy.anything.ever. That’s just not realistic. But if you do need something, see if you can get it without purchasing it.

Borrowing, gifting, and sharing are some of the best tips on eco friendly shopping, as they require zero shopping. If we can keep existing products in use for longer, that’s a far better outcome for resources than requiring something new.

Are there local sharing groups in your area? Do you have friends or family who would loan you an item? Can you find what you need on a free reuse platform like Freecycle?

Resources like toy libraries and other “libraries of things” around the globe are revolutionizing what and how people can borrow. They’re a place for toys, tools, entertainment essentials, cookware, appliances, games, and much more.

Car sharing platforms help us get behind the wheel without manufacturing a new vehicle, just like clothing rental companies make it easy to prepare for weddings or a refreshed work attire wardrobe—no new clothes required.

Our brains are hardwired to appreciate novelty. Fortunately, borrowing items can reward us with a similar neurotransmitter response, all without the environmental cost. We can get what we need, feel good about it, save money, and maybe connect with locals in our communities.

Buy Local & Support Small Businesses

Speaking of local, spending money in your locale is the best way to ensure a sustainable local economy. For every $100 we spend locally, about $68 to $73 goes back into the community. It provides jobs, helps local businesses grow, enhances a region’s tax base, and ultimately contributes to a place’s unique character and personality.

Along with support for local businesses, we can funnel money into small, ethical entities—not large, multinational corporations that almost always have a bad rap (here’s looking at you, Amazon). Our convenience is coming at a cost for small enterprises. Over the past several years, online shopping has experienced an astounding boom. While the e-shopping trend may have been born of necessity, it’s stayed out of convenience.

Types of shopping that were once a minor player in online consumption are now a mainstay. For example, online grocery shopping, accounting for 4.3% of total grocery shopping pre-2020, grew a whopping 137% in 2020 and it is continuing to grow.

Every time we vote with our dollar by supporting local, small businesses, we’re keeping money out of the hands of an increasingly concentrated group of ultra-powerful corporations. And that’s one of the most ethical, sustainable shopping tips we can share.

Buy In Season

Employing eco-friendly shopping tips can benefit us in ways we might not realize.

Buying in season is one example. It doesn’t just support our planet (and local business), it also provides us with better tasting, more nutritious, and (often) cheaper produce. When food is grown in a way that respects seasonal weather conditions, less water, and chemical inputs are required. It also cuts down on emissions associated with refrigeration and postharvest treatments (i.e. ripening agents, irradiation, edible coatings, anti-browning chemicals).

A summer-ripened tomato has a global warming potential that’s far less than that of a heated greenhouse, for example. When you know what fruits and vegetables are in season for you, you can appreciate spring’s first bunch of asparagus or enjoy a butternut squash soup when autumn brings chillier weather. In doing so, you’re likely to branch out from some of your regularly consumed foods to eat a more diverse diet—which is better from a nutritional and planetary perspective.

Research has found that shifting from a homogenous European or Western diet to a Mediterranean one—rich in a diverse range of fruits, vegetables, oils, and less in meat and seafood products—is linked with several environmental benefits:

  • Reduced pressure on biodiversity
  • Minimized water use
  • Lower land use
  • Reduced greenhouse gas emissions
  • Lower eutrophication impacts

As one of the best green shopping tips to reduce food mileage, buying seasonal produce and other food products from local farmer’s markets or through CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) can also connect us with local producers, support sustainable food systems, and increase overall food knowledge.

Shop Secondhand

Tips for more sustainable shopping often include recommendations for thrifting and other secondhand options. Buying used items cuts down on the natural and fossil fuel resources required during manufacturing, diminishes waste and pollution, and conserves energy.

It often provides us with budget-friendly and unique items, too. Instead of the linear take-make-dispose model that our global economy is based on, secondhand shopping embraces the circular economy where we:

  • Circulate products and materials by keeping them in use
  • Eliminate waste and pollution
  • Regenerate nature

Fortunately, it’s never been easier to get involved in the booming secondhand movement.

  • Online thrift stores allow us to sustainably expand and refresh our wardrobes.
  • Platforms like Facebook Marketplace and eBay are easy and lucrative places to buy and sell clothes online.
  • Visiting local thrift stores is an excellent (and affordable) way to score secondhand and vintage clothes, accessories, home decor, furniture, and more—not to mention a fun activity in and of itself!

Bring Your Own Bags & Containers

What’s the easiest sustainability tip to implement?

BYOB (bring your own bag). It cuts down on unnecessary single-use plastics and is the one sustainable grocery shopping tip we can all follow.

Globally, more than 5 trillion plastic bags are used every year—amounting to a whopping 160,000 used every second. An essential part of any zero waste kit, a few reusable bags can be tossed into your purse, backpack, or the backseat of your car for an easy way to cut down your plastic footprint.

Similarly, bring along mesh bags for produce and reusable containers for bulk foods. And if you don’t live near a bulk grocery store, bulk stores online can fill your plastic-free pantry.

When you dine out, take along a reusable container to replace the take-out containers—which are often made from non-recyclable styrofoam and other types of plastic.

Moreover, reusable packaging is associated with a 75% lower global warming potential and 95% less solid waste. They could be the solution to bagging at least one pervasive form of plastic pollution once and for all.

Invest In Zero Waste Swaps

Speaking of reusables, investing in reusable items, AKA zero waste swaps, is a great way to shop for the planet. Before buying new, remember to check whether you already have something you can repurpose and prioritize secondhand if appropriate.

Swapping to a reusable water bottle, for example, helps curb the 1.3 billion plastic bottles that are disposed of globally each day, and a good quality bottle should last for many years.

Our other top zero waste swaps include:

  • beeswax food wraps
  • paper towel alternatives
  • bamboo toothbrushes and plastic-free toothpaste
  • shampoo and conditioner solid bars
  • safety razors
  • zero waste deodorant in compostable cardboard tubes
  • a French press or stove-top coffee maker
  • plastic-free beauty and skincare products
  • cloth diapers and reusable wipes

Choose Sustainable Stores

What is the best way to shop sustainably?

Throw on a pair of sweatpants, grab your laptop, and get ready to hit the “add to cart” button. Just because online shopping has been associated with all kinds of negative impacts, doesn’t mean there isn’t a better way to do it.

Between alternatives to Amazon and other pro-planet shopping platforms, we don’t have to do much to shop with a clear(er) conscience. Covering all the bases, these brands and online marketplaces are often associated with:

  • Durably designed goods
  • Plastic-free packaging and/or options for refills
  • Carbon neutral shipping and operations
  • Prioritization of inclusivity and diversity
  • Fair trade labor practices
  • Sustainable sourcing (i.e., produced locally, via regenerative agriculture, etc.)
  • Donations to environmental or social justice nonprofits

Opt For Credible Organic & Natural Brands

Green shopping tips start with green materials, and using sustainable fabrics is a green flag for any business.

Organic Cotton

The cotton vs organic cotton argument is a poster child for a call to use better materials. Compared with its conventional counterpart (which uses 1/3 of a pound of synthetic fertilizers per t-shirt), an organic cotton t-shirt uses compost, cover crops, animal manure, and other biological materials instead.

It also requires 88% less water and has fewer chemical requirements as it moves down the supply chain, making it safer for farmers, workers, and future generations.

Recycled cotton is better still.

Hemp

Hemp clothing brands weed out the competition by using the high-yielding and durable fabric in all of our fashion essentials. Hemp fabric requires very little by way of chemicals and water. It’s also quick-growing and absorbs more carbon dioxide from the environment than trees, making it quite the fashionable carbon sink.

Linen

Linen clothing brands are using the small-but-mighty flaxseed to transform the fashion industry for the better.

Durable and sustainable, linen has been cherished for millennia because its journey from seed to harvest takes just 100 days (50-75% faster than cotton), it doesn’t require much in the way of fertilizers, water, or pesticides, and once harvested, the entire plant can be put to use in food, fabric, and even furniture.

Linen, along with other natural and animal-based fabrics, is compostable, too.

Of course, those are just the textiles. For other goods, like sustainable furniture and other non-pliable home goods, it’s best to seek reclaimed, biodegradable or ready recyclable (and ideally recycled) materials, like wood sourced from responsibly managed forests and infinitely recyclable aluminum.