A Mindful Consumer

It’s been a few months since my last post but the conversations around being a Mindful Consumer haven’t stopped. It’s been exciting to get questions about good places to shop or on product recommendations. The most enjoyable thing to talk about though has been about bringing mindfulness into my consumer behaviors and all new venues and products I’ve learned about through the process.

Recently, I came across the below video from HopeLab about Resilience and Happiness, specifically the happiness that comes from Doing Good. This brought me back to thinking about the small decisions we can make on a daily basis. Purchasing and donating mindfully helps me feel engaged in a much larger effort. Like most of us, I often feel overwhelmed by all the problems that affect the world and constantly feel as if I can’t do ‘enough’. 

In the past, I felt somewhat fulfilled giving to charities and purchasing fundraising items whenever approached, however the high from giving in this way never lasted too long. Additionally,  I never gave much thought to the stories behind my purchases or the effects that my purchases were having on decision making after POS. However, after hearing about which businesses were committing to better practices after 2013 Bangladesh clothing factory collapse, I vowed to live more consciously and spend to support businesses that supported ethical practices, purchase sustainable and eco-friendly goods, and a personal passion – promote organizations that have social responsibility built into the core of their business model.

This has meant I could proactively live in a way that supports something meaningful. By changing my consumer behaviors, I’ve found that I feel happier knowing that my dollars will go to a business or cause I believe in.

I hope you’ll enjoy the HopeLab video and revisit this blog as I spend the next few weeks covering various socially responsible businesses that make it easy and enjoyable to be a Mindful Consumer.