what is your barrier(s) - Forum

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Okay, I'm just working up some ideas here and I'm wondering what you guys think are your biggest barriers to shopping more sustainably (mostly thinking clothes and shoes here)?

For example:
* information (knowing what to pick and why, not knowing where to look for brands, etc.)
* pricepoint (being too expensive)
* accessibility (sizing, availability to stores\brands)
* selection (not finding what you like or your style in what is being offered)

And like would you make changes in your life to e.g. save up and afford something produced under better circumstances? buy less? secondhand? (learn to) repair? and so on? why\why not? what is stopping you?

can someone ask this question on es for me like i wanna know the teens and 18+ answer to this. thank u.

I'm sorta trying to build up an idea for what would be relevant to include for different people and u guys are like my go-to test group because i don't know people (okay i'm actually going to ask a discord group but like yeah, u guys have different backgrounds and countries and lifestyles).

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i am procrastinating exam work btw

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Rotte wrote:
Lack of information and accessibility personally.
Personally don't know what to look for and how to find out which places do fast fashion versus not.

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Angelica wrote:
Lack of information and accessibility personally.
Personally don't know what to look for and how to find out which places do fast fashion versus not.

Thank you! That makes a lot of sense! It takes a lot of time to properly look up a brand and try to evaluate them based on practices. It is even harder if you go in-store because it has even less information than if you go online.

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Rotte wrote:

Eostre wrote:

Angelica wrote:
Lack of information and accessibility personally.
Personally don't know what to look for and how to find out which places do fast fashion versus not.

Thank you! That makes a lot of sense! It takes a lot of time to properly look up a brand and try to evaluate them based on practices. It is even harder if you go in-store because it has even less information than if you go online.

I personally do in store over online shopping, so it's totally a barrier there!

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devilcake wrote:
Price point + selection combined, like there are some sustainable brands I know off that has more of the styles I like but they’re usually rly pricey, n I struggle finding what I like in local second hand.

also information I suppose— it’s hard to find the sustainable brands in a sea of fast fashion. I don’t mind saving up for the more sustainably made stuff but then you first gotta find it.

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Angelica wrote:

Eostre wrote:

Angelica wrote:
Lack of information and accessibility personally.
Personally don't know what to look for and how to find out which places do fast fashion versus not.

Thank you! That makes a lot of sense! It takes a lot of time to properly look up a brand and try to evaluate them based on practices. It is even harder if you go in-store because it has even less information than if you go online.

I personally do in store over online shopping, so it's totally a barrier there!

Yeah, for sure. I'll make sure to add that to the thing I'm thinking about. I sorta want to make it "easy" to find so like make it figures or sheets you can download to your phone so it is easy to carry around with the info you need.

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devilcake wrote:
Price point + selection combined, like there are some sustainable brands I know off that has more of the styles I like but they’re usually rly pricey, n I struggle finding what I like in local second hand.

also information I suppose— it’s hard to find the sustainable brands in a sea of fast fashion. I don’t mind saving up for the more sustainably made stuff but then you first gotta find it.

I have this same issue! Thank you, for the answers!

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Rotte wrote:

Eostre wrote:

Angelica wrote:

Eostre wrote:
Thank you! That makes a lot of sense! It takes a lot of time to properly look up a brand and try to evaluate them based on practices. It is even harder if you go in-store because it has even less information than if you go online.

I personally do in store over online shopping, so it's totally a barrier there!

Yeah, for sure. I'll make sure to add that to the thing I'm thinking about. I sorta want to make it "easy" to find so like make it figures or sheets you can download to your phone so it is easy to carry around with the info you need.

That would be smart and helpfull!

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Suchomimus wrote:
personally i struggle financially and also i don't know where to shop yes, so i have started to sew my own clothes n repair the ones i already have, and if i ever do buy clothes (which is v rare) i make sure it's natural material not just for environment but also bc i like the properties of natural fabric v much, the only synthetics i would buy would be like stuff i need to be waterproof or shoes

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Suchomimus wrote:
sizing is also an issue bc my boobs r not proportionate to my waist i guess (at least in the eyes of standardised sizing), but sewing my own can solve that u know :]

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Suchomimus wrote:
sizing is also an issue bc my boobs r not proportionate to my waist i guess, but sewing my own can solve that u know :]

yeah, or adjust garments if you know how to. That sorta at least prerequisites a certain quality in the fabric for it to just entirely say bye-bye when you poke a needle through it.

I'm totally gonna add repair\adjusments\reuse to the idea since it is a big part of being able to care for what you own. I can't personally sew much so I don't think that will be majorly included, maybe rather throwing in some sources to people who know how and has guides and such. I'm also going to make a point (as you say in your firs post) about picking plastic fabrics purposefully - in items where it supports and improves functionality and not just in literally everything.

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Random wrote:
Finding stuff that I like, but also big part are the prices. As a student, I really don't have extra money on things.

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Babel wrote:
Lack of information, if we're talking new clothes especially. I know a few sustainable brands, or at least brands branding themselves as sustainable, but I'll be honest and say it's not really something I've looked into a lot, because I prefer to buy secondhand and try to exclusively buy vintage or more expensive brands anyway.

I do, however, think the pricepoint is usually where I struggle the most.
If I need something in my wardrobe I'll usually start by looking for a secondhand option, but sometimes it's hard to find a more specific thing in a specific sizing secondhand (generally I don't have trouble finding clothes my size though) especially if it's pants because I'm short and have a very fat ass, so I usually need to cut 10-20 cm off of the pants I get home. So instead it's easier to just buy from a fast-fashion brand, which usually will have a bigger selection of pants in my specific size.

I don't even know with shoes, but I almost think accessibility would be a problem for me. I walk 10-12 km a day usually, so I need some very comfortable shoes with tons of comfort, which I've found in Skechers Arch Fit collection, but because of the Danish weather and the terrain I walk in, I usually murder my shoes in no time, so if I had to find something more sustainable with the same comfort, it would get very expensive very fast.

Also as a add-on for the price point for other stuff:
It's hecking expensive to buy beauty products and other hygiene products sustainably. We recently switched to shampoo and conditioner bars, as well as soap bars, but it's 3x more expensive than the stuff we usually buy, which already was a lesser evil, because they reuse the plastic bottles in their production if you give them back to the store. The same goes for deodorant, where you also run the trouble of going aluminium free, especially if you usually have a sweat problem.

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Suchomimus wrote:

Eostre wrote:

Suchomimus wrote:
sizing is also an issue bc my boobs r not proportionate to my waist i guess, but sewing my own can solve that u know :]

yeah, or adjust garments if you know how to. That sorta at least prerequisites a certain quality in the fabric for it to just entirely say bye-bye when you poke a needle through it.

I'm totally gonna add repair\adjusments\reuse to the idea since it is a big part of being able to care for what you own. I can't personally sew much so I don't think that will be majorly included, maybe rather throwing in some sources to people who know how and has guides and such. I'm also going to make a point (as you say in your firs post) about picking plastic fabrics purposefully - in items where it supports and improves functionality and not just in literally everything.

yes ! i have adjusted the waistbands of many trousers that i already own ! :] even if u don't want to undo the whole waistband n sew it, for one pair of trousers i just made an inverted pleat at the back which took me literally 2 mins and the same at the sides of a skirt i have too, fixing buttonholes n buttons is also something i think most people could easily learn !

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Suchomimus wrote:
also dyeing fabric is a good thing i think bc sometimes the only reason someone might throw something away is because they don't like the colour, but u could dye it a different one ! there's even dye remover, if the piece of clothing u have is originally too dark to dye over ! (except the remover does not work on synthetics i think)