Sustainability criteria
We recently decided to invite new glasses into our home, as the ones we had before broke. The ones we had previously were wine glasses that my partner brought from his previous apartment. We used them alongside the jars from pasta sauce. I liked the jars so much more. The wine glasses were very fragile and certainly not versatile. In all honesty, I found the wine glasses pretentious and off-putting. I never enjoyed using them. The jars I used as glasses for hot and cold drinks, for storage, and flowers.
The new glasses we got are not strictly new. They are made from wine bottles, here in Denmark, by an eco-social enterprise that employs persons with reduced working capacity. This was not the only sustainable option. We could get glasses free of charge from a byttestation (swap shop), from friends or relatives. Or we could buy them from a second-hand shop. But we wanted to support this eco-social enterprise.
When I invite new objects into my life, there are certain criteria that I have in mind. They are very similar to the ones for businesses that I describe in my work on business for a post-growth society.
Before inviting new objects into my life, I naturally ask myself if they are really necessary. And if they are, then usually I ask fellow humans if I can borrow them. Oftentimes it is possible. At times, fellow humans say that they don't even need that object and I can keep it (and then pass it on to someone else). Sometimes, it is possible to find necessary objects in a byttestation (swap shop) or a second-hand shop. When I bring something to a swap shop, I take a look if I need something from there. Usually I don't. Some objects come with something else. For example, I keep glass jars and use them as glasses, vases and for storage. Some things can be hand-made, such as balms, or simply received from nature, such as home décor. For home décor, I use stones, shells and twigs from nature. At times, I keep them. At other times, I return them back to nature.
When I buy something, I try to buy from the kinds of businesses I research. They are local, independently owned and focus on nature and society. Sometimes they are not for-profit businesses, but alternative forms, such as cooperatives or eco-social enterprises. I look for objects made from natural and local materials, preferably made locally too (due to labour laws and transportation). Very often it is impossible to buy something that satisfies all my criteria for a certain product and is made here in Denmark. Then I look for something that is made in my regions (the Nordics) or in Europe.
I buy objects that I intend to keep forever, that are durable, well-made, repairable. They also need to be beautiful. Perhaps it's not a popular point of view, but I believe that aesthetics is important for sustainability. When something is beautiful to me, I feel good about using it and want to use it often. To me, simple things made from natural materials are beautiful.
I try to buy certified products because it is impossible for me as a consumer to look into the whole supply chain of a product and businesses' operations. Certified does not automatically mean sustainable. For example, there are B-corps that make various kinds of unnecessary products from fossil fuels. In my research, I also notice that not all small businesses have financial capacities to get their products certified. One certification I rely on is, for example, GOTS (Global Organic Textile Standard). But it is not perfect. I have seen products that are GOTS certified but they are not well-made and do not last long.
I do not buy more than I need. At times, when there is an offer at some store, I would buy spare objects, but only when it is something that I use daily, such as soap bars.
When I can get something cheaper elsewhere, then I do it, because if there is some money that I save on a purchase, I can then donate to an ecological initiative. For example, it is cheaper for me to buy medicine in Sweden. When I went to Sweden as a visiting researcher at Lund, I would also bring medicine back home.
When I buy something (apart from food), I do not want it to be seasonal. I wear the same clothes and shoes all year round. I do not decorate my home differently depending on the season or holidays.
I avoid buying objects with very specific purposes, such as occasion clothing or kitchen items designed to address one particular issue, such as coring apples.
I avoid buying things that are overpackaged.
When it comes to food, I prefer to buy food that is organic, unpackaged or minimally packaged, local, seasonal, vegetarian, and easy to prepare. It is not always possible. Oftentimes, there are trade-offs, such as local, seasonal, and packaged in plastic, or imported and unpackaged.
I do not buy new objects when I already have it and it is imperfect. Some of my clothes and home textiles have stains on them and small holes, but these imperfections are beautiful to me.