These days there are a lot of things to care about. We are in the middle of a climate emergency. Animals are still used for makeup testing. There’s still a gender pay gap. I saw bananas being sold packaged in styrofoam and plastic wrap at a grocery store the other day (in case this is news to you, bananas have their own natural packaging). The good thing is, it’s cool to care. And when you care, and you take action, you can make a difference.

I throw around the phrase conscious consumerism quite a bit, but I’ve never broken down what it actually means. According to one definition, “The conscious consumer is one that seeks out ways to make positive decisions on what they buy, and solutions to the negative impacts caused by consumerism“. In simpler terms, I see my purchases as a vote. When I buy something I am choosing to monetarily support systems and choices and decisions. For example: when I buy a hamburger, though I may be buying it from In-n-Out, I’m still supporting the animal farming industry.

I started my conscious consumerism journey nearly four years ago. Since then the values I base my purchasing decisions on have evolved. I’m constantly learning more about ways I can have a better impact on people & the planet (the things I value most) with my purchases. I talk about conscious consumerism a lot, but what many of you haven’t seen is my real behind the scenes journey to becoming a more conscious consumer. Thus I decided to start this series: So you want to be a conscious consumer? This is the first post in the three-part series where I’ll get into the nitty–gritty details of transitioning to a more conscious way of living. To kick us off, this post is all about figuring out your consumer values.

Before we dive in, I want to say that there is no right or wrong way to think about your values. Your values can (and should) be different than mine. They can (and should) change over time. Conscious consumerism is all about tying what you truly value to how you look at your purchases. Nothing I say can convince you to stop buying fast fashion if you don’t actually care about garment workers or reducing textile waste. Guilting someone into valuing a certain thing will not lead to longstanding change, so don’t trick yourself into thinking that you need to value what I or the next conscious consumer values. This kind of stuff has to come from within. It has to be what’s important to YOU.

My conscious consumerism journey began with a focus on environmentally friendly fashion because my impact on the environment was the most important issue to me. Then I started to also care about ethical manufacturing. Then came supply chain transparency, shopping small and shopping locally, and most recently I became a vegetarian for environmental reasons.

Now that I’ve shared a bit about my values, let’s take a moment and think about what’s important to you. Start to reflect on the types of issues that keep you up at night. The stuff that triggers an emotional response when you hear/read/think/watch something about that topic. Things you think need to be solved.

Is animal welfare important to you? Or maybe protecting animals in general? Are you moved by the climate crisis? Are human rights important to you? What about civil rights? Do you think it’s important to support marginalized communities? Is it important to you that your purchases have a direct impact or donation with every purchase? Do you like to support small businesses who are doing their best or multinational corporations who have the financial means to create industry-wide impactful innovation? Are religious values important to you?

These kinds of questions will help you get the big picture of what’s important to you. Once you have this big picture idea, drill down even farther.

So thinking about the environment, do you care more about reducing CO2 emissions? Or is buying natural and compostable products more important to you? Would you rather buy something made from recycled materials or something new made with an innovative zero-waste or closed-loop process? Do you care about the climate emergency’s impact on human health or are you more concerned about resource depletion? Do you care specifically about one part of the planet more than others? i.e. does micro-plastic pollution in the ocean upset you more than deforestation?

And thinking about animals, does this impact the food products you consume or the beauty products you buy? Or does it impact the type of clothes you wear or purchase? Does this value intersect with your care for the environment or do you want to protect animals simply because you love them? When you think about protecting animals are you thinking about household pets, animals in zoos, animals in the factory farming system, or endangered species?

Think deeply about the big picture items you care about – the environment, animals, gender equality, etc. Then get past that big picture and start to think about the specific things about those movements that grind your gears. This kind of reflection is an important step in becoming a conscious consumer.

While we’re in this brainstorming/reflection phase I think it’s important to point out that this is not a competition. You are not a “better” conscious consumer if you value every single good thing under the sun. As I mentioned before your values have to come from within. The whole idea behind conscious consumerism is that you are so moved by your values and what’s important to you that it will impact your thought process while making purchasing decisions. If you don’t actually care about something, it probably won’t have the power to get you to take action. Narrow in on what really moves you.

The more you reflect on what’s important you, the more you will reflect on your purchasing decisions. This level of consciousness and awareness is the first step on your conscious consumerism journey. You need to KNOW your values before you can SHOP your values.

Something important to note is that conscious consumerism will not save the world. It simply cannot. In order to turn around the climate crisis, end racism or misogyny, or get rid of single-use plastics and fast fashion once and for all, we need large-scale systemic change. That’s not to say your purchasing power isn’t important. I think we can all agree that the rise of people understanding the dangers of fast fashion had a little something to do with Forever 21 filing for bankruptcy. This is just to remind you that your work shouldn’t end once you’ve become a more conscious consumer. The third part of this series will be all about taking action as a conscious consumer, and more specifically how to hold larger corporations and brands accountable for their actions – especially when their actions come into conflict with your values.

So now that you’ve jumpstarted this process to figure out what’s really important to you, and you’ve started to become more conscious, where does the whole consumer part come into this? In part two of this series I’m going to break down what it looks like to shop like a conscious consumer. I’ll share the questions I ask myself before I make a purchase to keep myself accountable to my values and how I think about my actions in general through a conscious consumerist lens. If you want to be kept in the loop with when my new posts go live – like part 2 of this series – scroll to the bottom of this page to sign up for my bi-weekly newsletter.