Freeing myself from the call of consumption

As we look ahead in a fresh year, there’s one thing I’m glad to be leaving behind in 2023: marketing emails. Despite having culled my subscriptions at several points in 2023, by the December by inbox was once again stuffed to the brim with marketing emails from all sorts of brands. Companies I had bought things from, ones I thought I was going to buy things from, and ones I cannot at all remember having anything to do with. It’s the way of the world these days: pretty much all you have to do is breathe and you’ll end up on someone’s marketing list.

This can have its advantages of course. If it’s a brand you love, you get to keep up with new releases, see what they’re up to, hear about sales. I’m certain I ended up on most of these lists because I was tempted by an introductory offer. ‘10% off when you join our mailing list’ or some variation is offered by almost all brands with online shops.

However, I have come to realise that the main thing these emails do is make me buy things I don’t need. So often I’m not in the market for a thing, until I get emailed about it. This is particularly noticeable towards the end of the year, when you’re sent endless sale related emails. Suddenly things seem like a good idea just because you’re told they’re less expensive than they were last month.

One of my aims with my wardrobe is that I buy things that I’m going to wear a lot, and enjoy wearing. Hand on heart, that is not something I can say I have lived up to this past year. I want to buy fewer clothes (and of course this year I’m doing a no buy challenge) but, in no small part inspired by these emails, I’ve ended up buying things in sales or with discounts that I simply didn’t need, and now don’t wear.

The main thing these emails do is make me buy things I don’t need.

Over consumption is a gigantic problem in the fashion industry. We produce far more clothes than we need, and throw out tonnes of clothing every year. Although I haven’t actually thrown out clothes, by buying things I’m not using I have contributed to this problem (even if I ending up passing them on or selling them in some form). If I want to have a more eco-friendly closet, that means making more conscious decisions about what I buy. And that means buying things when I’ve identified a genuine need, not just when I’ve been told something exists by a marketing email.

When you think about it, these emails, and how I respond to them, is a bit like walking down the high street and going into every shop (and usually buying something), just because someone has stood at the door shouting ‘we’ve got clothes in here!’. I don’t really need to be continuously reminded of the existence of these brands. When I’m genuinely in need of something, I’ll be able to find them again.

So for the sake of the planet, and my wardrobe, I’ve done a mass unsubscribe, and will continue unsubscribing until there’s nothing left. If you want to reduce your impact and save some money, I urge you to do the same!

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What do you do to help reduce your consumption, and save money? I’ve talked mostly about clothes here, but I’d love to hear any general tips you have! Thanks for reading!