How do you manage to not buy new things all the time when you're trying to shop ethically?

[viccat]

I did about 10 months of not buying any new clothes a couple of years ago and found it surprisingly easy but, then I think I made up for lost time afterwards and bought more! Last year I tried to only buy from ethical/sustainable companies and this worked really well, I think at least 90% of what I bought last year was organic cotton and fairtrade/ethical.

My big problem now is just not being able to resist the constant new collections, different colours and prints of my favourite styles... I know the most ethical thing is to not buy anything - I definitely don't "need" any new clothes, I have enough to wear a different outfit every day for at least a month, any season (summer clothes/winter clothes etc.). I just can't stop. I can technically afford to buy more but really should probably be saving the money instead of buying my favourite thing in yet another colour or having 20 different tops in the same cut just because it suits me so well.

How can I deal with the FOMO, basically?

Feeling a bit annoyed even the most ethical brands are just encouraging more consumerism by constantly coming up with new "limited editions" too.

So I pay myself first .... meaning when my salary hits my account the first thing I do is the money to my savings account £50. Then my pension - £200 and then all my bills I add up and divide them by 12 so I know I need about £1300 to stay in the account for those. The rest I withdraw in cash - which prevents mad online shopping - and I buy coffee, meals out, whatever I want with that money it’s mine to enjoy and I think you should enjoy it, you’ve worked for it

Stop looking. Unsubscribe from the emails/catalogues. Uninstall the apps. Tell yourself there will ALWAYS be nice things to buy if you need something.
Ethical businesses are still businesses that need to make a profit.

Agree that unsubscribing from all those emails helps. (Helped me anyway).

I do still enjoy shopping but I’m picky about what I get so have certain brands I like and will look at eBay for these. I also enjoy browsing our local high street charity and vintage stores (we’re lucky as our local area has a few of the very curated charity shops with designer/high quality stuff). Basically end up still enjoying shopping/browsing but don’t actually buy much and when I do it’s usually second hand (so better, environmentally, than new).

Find something else to keep you occupied.

I'd be the same if I ever tried to do a total no-clothes spend op. I would obsess about it all the time. I focus instead on looking for good second hand and vintage clothes, which is far more time consuming than popping into H&M. I've come to enjoy looking and rummaging even when I come away empty handed.

Maybe just accept that clothes are your thing and buy and donate to second hand as much as possible.

Other people fly, eat food with huge air miles, stream films and regularly upgrade their cars/white goods etc- all with an environmental cost.

How about making your own accessories to liven up what you have or redesigning clothes with offcuts etc?

Also finding an alternative artistic expression might help.

It's fashionable at the moment to be ethical. We have to accept that fact. It's not and has never been fashionable to live simply (developing countries style anyone?) or wear things until they are threads. Those ways are the real way to be ethical and environmentally friendly.

Agree with pp that those "ethical" buys are from companies which need to have a profitable turnover. They are not non profit organisations.

Yeah agree with above poster . You probably get this need to buy stuff when you feel like something’s missing. It’s filling a void. Doing something creative cures it. It gives you that lift. Consuming stuff other people created can never feel good for long, you have to keep doing it.

If I see something I like, I wait for a month and see if I feel the same way about it. If it's not sold out then and I still like it more than anything else available and want to buy it, I buy it then. Bonus- by that point it's often on sale.

Summers Yes, I think that's very much me! Clothes/shoes have always been my main area of non-essential spending, I rarely eat out and don't go on expensive holidays or anything like that. My mum is the same, I think she taught me her "bad" habits to some extent... I remember going through catalogues with her when I was a child and choosing everything new we wanted to order.

I used to make jewellery in the past and also knit/crochet. It's the whole thing with colours, textures, and putting them together that appeals...

Doing something creative cures it.
I'm not looking to cure it. I think clothes are how I express myself creatively and I consider it to be as valid as any other form of expression . And personally I'm not anti business. I just prefer to give my money to a business I like and to avoid wasteful purchases.

I completely understand ethical businesses are in the business of making money. They want to sell you things. Many of them do talk about only buying for a need and keeping your items for years and years... but obviously they then also email you about the latest collection and special offers you should buy right now.

Still, I'm much, much happier spending £50 on an item from a business that has their own solar powered factory and pays all their staff a fair wage. I used to be that person who would go round Primark and buy a handful of new tops just because they're cheap and I wanted them... I don't do that anymore. Organic cotton production still takes up resources but less than conventional cotton farming so at least if I'm going to buy something anyway, I'd rather choose the organic one.

Sure, I'd love to be someone who has a capsule wardrobe of 20 items of clothing and 2 pairs of shoes they wear for years without buying anything new... I just don't think that's realistic for me.

I keep a folder of bookmarked things that I like. So I click save rather than buy.

Then I spend some time most days sorting, re-ordering and deleting them to reflect my needs/preferences/priorities, comparing the items to one another and so on. The sorting process helps me work out both what I really need and what I really like. I also regularly check brands status in places like Ethical Consumer, Rank-a-Brand and the Good Shopping Guide as part of it, because ratings change over time (especially if a brand is bought by another company).

Once a month, I decide if there is anything I need or want enough to buy. If so, I order it then. But I’m also very aware ordering something online is just committing to trying it on, not committing to buying it.