Sustainable shopping: from fashion to food
Consciousness around the negative social and environmental outcomes of fast fashion is growing, with many Australians seeking ‘greener’ clothing alternatives and purchasing routes. Some key actions Australian consumers intended to take to reduce the environmental and social costs of their fashion habits as of September 2023 included cutting back on clothing purchases, researching responsible disposal methods, and learning to repair the existing items in their closets. Australia’s Gen Z and Millennial shoppers are the driving force behind sustainable fashion purchasing, with Baby Boomers the least likely to have bought sustainable clothing. Nevertheless, while many Australians hope the fashion items they buy labeled as ‘sustainable’ are truly eco-friendly, they are having increased doubts concerning fashion brands’ transparency regarding the sustainability and ethics of their products.The demand for sustainable options in the grocery and food service sectors is another notable trend among environmentally conscious consumers across Australia. Several shoppers are increasingly opting for locally sourced and produced goods, plant-based food options to reduce their meat and animal-derived product consumption, and are becoming more mindful of their food delivery habits to offset their carbon footprint. Alongside this, minimizing food waste and buying seasonal fruit and vegetables were among the top five actions taken by Australian consumers to adopt a sustainable lifestyle, according to a 2023 survey. The country’s consumers also have higher expectations for hospitality venue sustainability practices, such as using sustainably sourced, seasonal produce and donating unused food to charities.
Green claims: the business-consumer trust gap
However, in a 2023 survey, only one in 10 Australian consumers confidently expressed they had a sustainable lifestyle. Over three-quarters of survey respondents cited a lack of corporate responsibility, efforts, and transparency regarding sustainability as a fundamental delayer of their sustainable consumption journeys and closing the value-to-action gap. Many Australian consumers voiced that the conventional concept of sustainability no longer suffices in their eyes, and that brands must go beyond sustaining to regenerative sustainability to restore and protect the planet for future generations.With many Australian business green claims coming under scrutiny recently, riddled with false, misleading, and uncorroborated information, the call for accurate reporting, product labeling, and marketing, has come into increased focus among the country’s shoppers. Unfortunately, knowledge and awareness of the circular economy remain limited among some Australian organizations. Yet, aligning with consumer sustainability expectations is becoming more important than ever in terms of retention. Several fashion shoppers across the country indicated in 2023 that they would reduce or stop purchasing from brands found to be greenwashing. In the hopes of regulating green claims, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) released extensive guidance for businesses on making environmental claims in December 2023.
