(Photographed above is Laura Tanzer)
After the success of the green movement within the food industry, the movement is now impacting the way fashion businesses are operating and the way consumers are shopping. With the increase in consumer consciousness, people are voting ‘green’ more than ever before according to IntelligentHQ.
In regards to the food industry, the reawakening of consumer awareness has led to a 600 percent increase in plant-based diets within the last three years in the United States according to Food Revolution Network. This ever-growing lifestyle can all be credited to education.
“Education is the answer,” Laura Tanzer, owner of Laura Tanzer Designs, said. “But it has to be tied very closely to self-interest and benefit or the buyer will not care.”
As for businesses, according to IntelligentHQ, sustainability and ethical practice have grown to become core values within consumers and corporate policy during this age of change.
The environmental concern is the key factor that determines how and what consumers in the 21st century will buy. Environmental concern is the main reason why two-thirds of consumers avoid specific brands or items according to a study from 2015 in IntelligentHQ.
Though living a sustainable life is a trend that seems mainstream in today’s society, it has been a topic of concern for centuries. Humans have, since the Neolithic Agricultural Revolution, been a consumer rather than a replenisher of environmental resources according to Environmental Science. The philosophers who expressed concern about resource and overpopulation sustainability were not taken seriously at the time according to the Environmental Science report.
Now as a present-day concern, the public has become increasingly more aware of climate change. The push for exposure of information and education has thus, lead to an increase in activist and sustainability professionals emerging.
Today, those with sustainability degrees are now able to expand into any career field according to a report by the University of Wisconsin Sustainable Management. Businesses are aiming to boost their image by adding qualities that promote sustainability in order to appease their customers.
Though the fashion industry is glamours on the outside, it is considered to be the second dirtiest industry on the planet, right behind oil said Stella McCartney in Vogue. Stella McCartney is the first haute couture company to not use traditional textiles that were once considered to be luxurious, such as leather and fur according to Vogue. Since the company's launch in 2001, there has been an increased amount of large and small businesses who are also producing sustainable products.
Laura Tanzer, Award Winning Designer of Laura Tanzer Designs, earned her degree from Parsons School of Design and Fashion Institute of Technology. She also earned a bachelor’s degree in international marketing, as well as an MBA in international finance from NYU’s Stern School of Business.
Though she understood fashion from both a design and business point of view, she felt something was missing. So, she went back to school to earn her Ph.D. at the University of Arizona’s School of Renewable Natural Resources.
After studying and teaching about fashion and sustainable practice, it was time to create a sustainable business and walk the talk Tanzer said. Laura Tanzer Design is a clothing line that is small but yet, a specialized business she said. When asked about consumer behavior from a business owners point of view, she said, “I do know that people shop for clothing for many reasons, most of them emotional.”
The emotional aspect of purchasing eco-friendly products includes, “psychological benefits as well as physical benefits,” said Deanna Kulbeth, Cooper Center for Environmental Learning Project Manager.
Physically, buying environmentally friendly products, though they cost more, tend to last longer, making the purchase a worthwhile investment Kulbeth said. By people focusing on buying products that are worth our money, Kulbeth said this leads to psychological peace and a tendency to spend less essentially.
With the personal psychological peace consumers feel, the awareness of one’s impact on the environment is another factor that comes into play. “People have become more conscious about the clothing and products they are buying because we want quality, and we sense that things are not what they once were,” Kulbeth explains.
Lifestyle, as well as being socially conscious are driving factors for the way Lauren Legaspi, a vegan consumer, lives her life. Legaspi said being vegan impacts the way and where she shops.
“I tend to only shop with companies and brands that are ethically sustainable and using items that don’t create much waste or hurt animals,” Legaspi said.
Before purchasing items from companies, Legaspi said she will look into how they create their items, where they retrieve their items, and how they are handled from the warehouse to her mailbox and or the store. Also, she is drawn to businesses that give back to the community or charities Legaspi said.
Legaspi says the Internet and social media have allowed for her to be exposed to information that hinders her decision for her purchases. Since becoming vegan, and becoming a more socially conscious consumer, Legaspi said she feels better about each purchase.
“I feel that even though I am just one person, I am able to make a change and help others make one as well, or just leave them an impression to think about what they are personally buying and create thoughts in their head about how they can be a better consumer,” Legaspi said.
Claudia Johnson a reporter for Arizona Sonora News, a service from the School of Journalism with the University of Arizona. Contact her at cmjohnson13@email.arizona.edu
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