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Oct 12, 2023

Want to Shop More Sustainably? These 6 Tips Will Help.

Published November 21, 2022 Katie Okamoto Share this post The convenience of

Published November 21, 2022

Katie Okamoto

Share this post

The convenience of online shopping and ubiquity of sales holidays like Black Friday and Prime Day have made it harder for many shoppers to resist impulse purchases, which can take a toll on our wallets and the planet. If you want to take a more mindful approach to shopping, these six tips will make you a savvier shopper, save you money, and help limit your environmental impact.

Some things that we buy are necessities. Some things that we buy, while perhaps frivolous, bring us tons of joy. And some things that we buy quickly turn into regrets that we use just a few times.

Unnecessary purchases and returns generate a lot of greenhouse gas emissions and also contribute to landfill. But there are ways you can help. Concerned shoppers can strive "to hold on to things for longer, to reuse things, to buy products that have a longer lifespan, and not replace things so often—and to buy less stuff in the first place," said Lorraine Whitmarsh, an environmental psychologist and professor at the University of Bath. Fortunately, those are all actions that also save you money.

Try asking yourself a few questions before clicking that buy button. What need or problem is this thing going to solve? What do you have already that does the job? Imagine yourself with the thing you want to buy in one, two, or three years. Do you think you’ll still want to wear it, see it, use it? How will it make you feel?

Make it a habit to double check what you’ve put in your cart. Confirm dimensions, clothing sizes, colors, and styles, and read reviews and expert advice (like Wirecutter) to avoid purchases you’d need to return. This not only reduces the overall environmental impact of a purchase you return or exchange, it also saves you time and frustration.

Each time you avoid buying something new helps to reduce the environmental toll of the supply chain from making, storing, and shipping a brand-new item to you. Take advantage of secondhand stores, online marketplaces like ThredUp or eBay, rental services, and Buy Nothing groups in your area (local groups that trade things for zero cost), where you may be able to find your next favorite handbag or cast-iron pan. Many big clothing retailers—such as Patagonia and Lululemon—as well as boutique brands are increasingly offering trade-in programs and secondhand marketplaces, so you may want to check on your favorites. And sometimes, you may not need to buy anything at all: A clean pickle jar might hold leftovers just as well as a set of Tupperware, a simple bucket can double as a foot spa, and your phone can double as a document scanner. Our favorite DIY life hacks might inspire a few of your own.

Before you decide to upgrade, adopt a "fix it first" mindset. If it's not broken, do you need a new one? Do you need the latest model, or can you commit to keeping the one you have for one more year? "It would be way, way more effective [environmentally] to hold on to, let's say, a mobile phone for twice as long as you would otherwise do" than to order a new phone with so-called carbon neutral shipping, said Whitmarsh.

Planning to hang onto things longer helps you avoid impulse purchases and makes you more discerning (and do more research) about what you do buy. And chances are, you may also end up loving and enjoying more stuff you own.

Shopping online, especially on apps, is terribly convenient, but people tend to be more impulsive and want things more quickly than they need them. All that adds up to more delivery trucks and trips, and probably more returns, all of which add up to more emissions. Try to plan ahead and consolidate when you shop online. Group your purchases to make delivery more efficient, and choose slower delivery options whenever possible. Senior staff writer Tim Heffernan has more great tips to shop online more sustainably.

Wirecutter's experts have spent hundreds of thousands of hours testing gear, and they’ve found it's usually worth spending a little more on an item than buying cheaper stuff you’ll need to replace frequently because it breaks (which can, in the end, cost you even more money). Saving up makes good financial sense, and buying better, longer-lasting items is also far more effective at reducing your climate impact than spending on something like so-called carbon neutral shipping. You might even set up a special savings account where you can save some money each week or month, and either spend those savings on an energy-saving upgrade or donate them at the end of the year. Hey, that's just around the corner.

This article was edited by Christine Cyr Clisset and Ben Frumin.

1. Lorraine Whitmarsh, environmental psychologist and professor at the University of Bath, Zoom interview, September 19, 20222. Kimberly Nicholas, associate professor of sustainability science at Lund University and author of Under the Sky We Make: How to Be Human in a Warming World, Zoom interview, October 4, 20223. Environmental Protection Agency, Buying Green for Consumers, October 5, 2022

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