The confluence of the Great Recession with growing awareness of how “consumerism” contributes to climate change, has led to a surging movement of people simplifying their lifestyles and sharing more of the things they need, rather than blindly acquiring more stuff. In other words, more people are becoming more conscious consumers or disavowing the “consumer” label entirely.
This is disaster for retailers, right? Not necessarily. For retailers committed to green business practices, it’s just another opportunity to serve their community. And there are several ways that less consumption can be good for your bottom line, as well as for the planet.
As for the planet, it’s clear that there’s a broad spectrum of negative environmental impacts associated with manufactured products, which the short internet video, “The Story of Stuff” (www.thestoryofstuff.com), does a good job explaining. It takes energy to make things and move them from one side of the planet to the other. Then there’s disposal and the potential for toxic leachates to pollute groundwater. The more we consume the greater the impacts, so obviously, the less we consume the fewer the impacts. That’s the 30,000 foot view.
Understanding this system is the first step in developing green business models that replace these inherent negative impacts with profitable, regenerative outcomes. All well and good, but how can a merchant make money by selling less stuff? One strategy is rethinking goods in terms of services, i.e., selling fewer goods, but selling more of the services those goods provide.
While this has been a recent innovation in industries such as flooring (see InterfaceGlobal.com) or in extended producer responsibility (EPR) policies, the idea’s been around for a long time in our industry in the form of tool and carpet shampoo rental. It makes sense to rent something that won’t get used very often. And growing household preference for just that kind of economic conservatism is reshaping the kinds of relationships people are having with their stuff.
A well known example is Zipcar. For decades, no product/consumer relationship was as intimate (and Freudian) as the one between people and their cars. But today, people are leaving that paradigm behind for the planet-friendly and economical choice of car sharing. It is, perhaps, a new kind of “consumer” status symbol, but it is emblematic of a deeper movement that is redefining the role of manufactured goods in people’s lives and what it means to “consume”.
People are looking to share almost everything: cars, bikes, tools, and even skills. The magazine, Shareable.net, tracks this growing phenomenon and reports about the rise of neighborhood work groups – neighbors organizing themselves to help one another tackle home projects. That kind of thing recalls the days when communities came together for barn raisings. Meanwhile, professional trades people are branching out into new kinds of projects and are looking for short-term rentals of specific tools, rather than having to invest in “retooling”.
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