In keeping with the New Consumers’ intertwining desires for self-sufficiency, more healthful food, and a deeper connection to the natural world, some 700,000 people in the U.K. are now raising chickens in their backyards—a rise of 80 percent in three years.
Not everything that clucks lays golden eggs, however, as more than one beleaguered backyard chicken farmer has discovered. Read one woman’s story here.
Image credit: Creative Commons/netzanette@flickr.com
Last fall, we wrote about London’s Unpackaged grocery store. Now the packaging-free concept has come to the United States, courtesy of a group of entrepreneurs in Austin, Texas. They’ve created the country’s first ever “package-free, zero waste grocery store.” Specializing in local and organic ingredients, In.gredients will replace unhealthy, overpackaged products with local, organic, and natural foods; the new store also hopes to foster a sense of community with cooking classes, gardening workshops, and art shows.
Check out the video below and read the full story on GOOD.
| Tags: conscious consumption, food, GOOD, In.gredients, mindful consumption, New Consumer, organic, packaging, simplicity movement, Sustainability, waste 
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Earlier today, Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo of ABCD Design published a post on her thoughts and experiences as an increasingly mindful consumer. In it she shares a wonderful definition of the “slow home” movement, which is tightly connected to the mindful consumption movement we’ve described in our book, studies, and on this site. In her words:
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As our world becomes increasingly artificial, people have begun to feel less “real.” Nearly six in ten respondents to Euro RSCG’s New Consumer study worry that we have become too disconnected from the natural world. Nature is seen as an embodiment of our ties to a more “authentic” past–and it has become a place of escape, somewhere to rejuvenate and relax. This longing for the real is one reason we’ve seen a surge in home vegetable and fruit gardens, in home cheesemaking and the revival of other hands-on crafts. It’s about eco-consciousness, but also a desire for self-sufficiency and connectedness to something inherently real.
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At TEDxSydney, Rachel Botsman says we’re “wired to share”–and shows how websites such as Zipcar and Swaptree are changing the rules of human behavior.
Rachel Botsman is co-author of What’s Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption.
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People are seriously re-evaluating their lives, their work, their play. The question isn’t only “What are you going to do with your time in today’s virtual world?” but also “What are your jobs and activities really worth?”
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By John Winsor
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my stuff. It’s hard not to coming off of Black Friday.
Like most of us, I have a lot of stuff. And, a lot of it I bought quite unconsciously.
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Have you felt the end of the recession yet?
It’s officially been over for quite a bit but, you and I both know, the global economic crisis is far from over.
The economy is in a period of great reset. The old ways will fall away and new ways of commerce will prevail. This isn’t a far-flung prophecy; it’s an observation of changes taking place already.
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| Tags: cause marketing, conscious consumption, consumption, CSR, culture, DIY, excess, financial crisis, freelancing, frugality, green, John Gerzema, mindful consumption, mindful spending, New Consumer, provenance, Recession, Retail, Scoutie Girl, self-employment, service economy, simplicity movement, sourcing, Sustainability, Tara Gentile, thrift, transparency, values Post a Comment | 1 Comment | in Community, Consumerism, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate/Brand Leadership, Design, Eco-Consciousness, Growing Up, New Consumer, Prosumers, Purposeful Pleasure, Recession, Responsibility, Rightsizing, Shopping, Social Media, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Value, Values
The era of mindless consumption is over. Consumers now want a simple, sustainable, and self-sufficient life.
Conspicuous consumption. Shop till you drop. All-you-can-eat buffets and supersized meals. The post–World War II era has been marked by a voracious hunger for more. In affluent countries, people bought too much, ate too much, used up too much, and owed too much. Yet, for many, it still wasn’t enough. There was something missing—lots of things, really. Among them, a sense of control and self-sufficiency, personal responsibility, and feelings of community and authenticity. Replacing the constant accumulation of “stuff” with these more substantive intangibles lies at the heart of the current shift toward mindfulness—a movement in which heedless excess is exchanged for a more conscious and considered approach to living.
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| Tags: abundance, accountability, ActBolder.com, Admap, Ann O'Reilly, APA, artisanry, Botox, BP, buy local, buycotts, Carrotmob, cause marketing, community, conscious consumption, consumption, counscious nourishment, CSR, customer engagement, Eco Options, Euro RSCG, excess, finance, financial crisis, financial literacy, food, frugality, gardening, green, Home Depot, Hyperconsumption, Marian Salzman, mindful consumption, Mint.com, money, MoneyStrands, New Consumer, organic, packaging, provenance, recycling, relationship marketing, reputation, Retail, saving, simplicity movement, simplification, slow food, slow travel, sourcing, Sustainability, thrift, transparency, values, voluntourism, Walmart, WARC, waste Post a Comment | 8 Comments | in Community, Consumerism, Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate/Brand Leadership, Eco-Consciousness, Growing Up, Marketing, New Consumer, Purposeful Pleasure, Recession, Responsibility, Rightsizing, Shopping, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Value, Values
In hyperconsumerist cultures, people are worn out by excess, by the overabundance of “stuff” and lack of true substance. Looking at the U.S. sample in Euro RSCG’s New Consumer study, 78 percent said they are making an effort to improve the way they live, and the same percentage believe most people would be better off if they lived more simply.
For the Hightower family of Northern California, like many others, the recession brought with it job loss and forced sacrifice. Yet, this family, also like many others, has discovered the pleasures to be gained by living more simply, making do with the bare essentials while enjoying the satisfactions of self-sufficiency and time with family.
In her ongoing blog, Corbyn Hightower shares the ups and downs of weathering the recession. This post is shared with her permission.
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