Overconsumption is a main driver of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. Thus, addressing and limiting it is key for sustainable development. Despite this, global consumption is still on the rise. For example, in the next years the consumer electronics market is expected to grow annually by 3.2 % , the luxury goods market by 6.4 % and the Apparel market by 9.0 % . Whilst basic consumption is crucial for covering our basic human needs—like the need for food, clothing and shelter—overconsumption in many developed countries leads to the depletion of Earth’s resources and growing inequality. If all the people on our planet were to enjoy the same lifestyle as EU Citizens, we would need 2.8 Earths.

A lot of our consumer behavior is based on habits, routines, social comparisons and decision biases. Advertising and marketing have excelled to pick on our emotional weak spots and convince us we need to buy the latest trend. Although there is a rise in green consumerism, meaning that people become more aware of the ecological impact of their purchases and want to consume more sustainable goods, reducing our absolute consumption is the only way to ensure a truly sustainable future.

A way to promote behavioural change and decrease actual consumption on an individual level could be mindfulness. Mindfulness refers to being present in the current moment without judgement and in a compassionate way. This includes an awareness of mental states and processes and thus is in contrast to habitual automatic reactions to stimuli. Deriving from Buddhist origins, mindfulness has been further developed by scientists such as Jon Kabat Zinn to form the basis of health programs that have been linked to improved wellbeing, greater resilience and even a stronger immune system, as well as a reduction in psychological disorders such as anxiety and depression. Additionally, mindfulness has been linked to emotion-regulation abilities, self-awareness, compassion and emotional intelligence. Neuroscientists even found that mindfulness changes our brain on a structural level.

Could mindfulness help individuals consume less?

Health psychologist Erika L. Rosenberg suggests that mindfulness can help to enhance awareness of the automatic and habitual processes linked to consumption, which in turn helps people to make non-impulsive, thought-through consumer choices. Several scientific studies have also supported this argument. A recent study by Geiger et al. could only find indirect effects: people who practice mindfulness might be less driven by materialistic values and therefore consume less.

As mentioned above, a big driver of consumer behaviour is advertising and marketing. As mindfulness trains us to pay attention to our thoughts, feelings and habitual impulses, it could help us to identify when smart marketing techniques are pushing us to consume a certain product. Instead of having an automated response and consequently purchasing a new product, we could pause for a moment and ask ourselves questions like: “Do I really need another pair of jeans?” or “What will this product give me in the long run?”. In this way—as people become more mindful—the persuasive effect of certain marketing techniques could be reduced.

Furthermore, studies have shown that a regular mindfulness practice is linked to more compassionate and pro-social behaviour, and encourages us to become aware of social justice. A world in which some groups over-consume at the cost of others—and often involving the suffering of animals and humans—will never be an equal and just one. Mindfulness helps us to draw attention to all the resources that went into the goods we consume and see them with gratitude and respect for the labour of all the people involved in the process of manufacturing them. This might make it easier for us to value the worth of natural resources and human labour, trying to take good care of our belongings rather than just throwing them away for a new, cool trend.

Another way in which mindfulness can help us become more conscious and sustainable consumers is in making us aware of the automatic social comparisons that are natural for human beings. So the next time we want something because we compare ourselves to another person or group, we can pause and think twice. We can ask ourselves “Why do I want this now? Is it because it would really benefit me or just because another person close to me or whom I follow on social media has it?”.

Many people turn to consumption in order to regulate their mood. In relation to this, several studies have shown that mindfulness increases emotion regulation. Consequently, it might be that people who train their mindfulness can make use of resources other than material goods to regulate their emotions, like social connections or a nice walk in nature.

So, what can we do to increase our mindfulness?

Mindfulness is not something we can learn overnight, especially when we are used to operating in autopilot mode. It is something that needs to be practiced, over and over again. It is an ongoing process and a way of living. A formal mindfulness practice with meditations such as a body scan, a breathing meditation or a Metta meditation can help us to build our mindfulness muscle, as long as we manage to build a habit and incorporate it in our life regularly. Personally, I recommend at least 4 times a week for 10-20 minutes per session. There are many ways to establish this habit, for example by using a meditation app.

Ideally this should be paired with informal mindfulness moments during the day, like a mindful meal, during which we enjoy our food with all our senses, in stillness and with full gratitude towards all the people and animals involved in bringing that meal to our table. We can direct our attention to our physical sensations and feel when we are full and have eaten enough. In this way, we will not over-consume and regret it afterwards. Another way to practice mindfulness during the day is a mindful walk in nature, in which we satisfy our emotional needs and cultivate our wellbeing without having to consume anything. By seeing the beauty of nature, we will also be more motivated to protect the environment. Like this, we do something good for our own health and wellbeing and also for planetary health by avoiding unnecessary purchases.

Incorporating mindfulness into our daily consumption decisions could mean:

To observe how we react to certain outer (for example ads) and inner (thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations) stimuli and become aware of our automatic responses to them (e.g. buying something you don't really need).
To observe habits that might stop us from making environmentally friendly decisions. For example, instead of always buying first-hand clothes, we could give second-hand clothes a chance.
To take a moment—while we are about to buy a new product—before hitting “Pay now”, pause a second and ask ourselves if this is really necessary and will benefit us for a long time. If we want to buy a new t-shirt, for example, we could go to our wardrobe and check if we really need a new one or if we have just forgotten about some that are at the back of our wardrobe. Like this, we won’t make an impulsive purchase but a more deliberate one.

If we start to observe ourselves more and become aware of the underlying drivers in our consumer behaviour, we have the chance to transform our behaviour towards being more environmentally friendly. We can become more conscious of our own motives, attitudes and drivers and consequently can make more informed consumption choices. This would be a win-win situation, increasing our own wellbeing whilst increasing the wellbeing of our planet. As Thich Nhat Hanh said in his book “The world we have”: “Mindful consumption is the way to heal ourselves and to heal the world”.

Lara Herzberg

January 2021