Conscious consumerism
PURPOSEFUL SPENDING
Our daily lives our made up of consumption, from what we eat, watch, wear, to where and how we choose to spend our hard-earned money. The upside to this level of consumerism is someone out there is profiting, but the question is who? And are they profiting at the expense of another?
We here at PURPOSE are huge advocates for applying conscious consumerism to our lives as much as we can. This is why we are dedicated to providing only the highest-quality handmade jewelry to our customers and are committed to investing 100% of the proceeds to support the survivors that handcrafted the jewelry.
As a consumer, it’s important to be aware of where your money goes and the impact it has. Being a conscious consumer means asking questions – how was this product made? By who? Were the workers compensated fairly? Were the materials ethically sourced?
THE TRUE COST
In terms of purchasing goods for fashion, being a conscious consumer is especially important. In 2015, indie film director Andrew Morgan produced a documentary called The True Cost, which highlights how Western culture has become a consumerism culture at the expense of the less fortunate.
The film underscores the “cost” of fashion, revealing that most consumers are unaware of the source of their clothing and accessories. Quick, easy and often cheap fashion is usually due to worker mistreatment (especially when outsourced to developing countries), as well as to the use of massive and unsustainable factories that result in environmental destruction.
QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
To ensure quality items and purchases, the constructive thing to do is to educate yourself as a consumer on the source of the goods you purchase, as well as do your best to support more businesses that value and follow through with ethical practices.
Consciously consuming may mean spending a little extra money than you probably would for a mass-produced item, but knowing those few extra dollars (or in some cases, 100% of the proceeds) are going towards a good cause and helping others makes it worth it.
In addition to educating yourself on where your money goes, living minimally is a great way to be more consumer-conscious. While getting rid of everything you own is not practical for most people, being more aware of where and why you spend your money will have a positive impact in the long run on society, yourself, and your wallet. Ultimately, the goal is to invest in quality over quantity so that we have a few high-quality items that were PURPOSEFULLY bought, rather than a large amount of mass-produced items that are less meaningful.
Through PURPOSE and our beautiful artisanal jewelry, we are able to educate people about the devastating issue of human and sex trafficking, while at the same time empower survivors to create better lives for themselves. At the end of the day, the goal is for you to be conscious of how, why, and where you are spending your money. Do the research, get educated on where your dollars go, and do your best to support companies that provide ethically made and meaningful products.
