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Continue Shopping2021: New Year, New Consumption Habits!
2020 was a turning point in our lives, as the pandemic disrupted our habits entirely. Nevertheless, despite the adversity, the past year has brought many consumers to return to the core: buying locally to support local businesses.
According to the Responsible Consumption Barometer (2020 edition)[1], the economic commitment to buying local products has been a critical factor in the last year:
- 86.1% of respondents mentioned the importance of buying local products to support Quebec businesses
- Approximately 20% of Quebec consumers visit Le Panier Bleu to learn about local businesses or find Quebec products.
Now that many Quebecers buy local products, what is the next step for 2021?
Environmentally friendly, economically beneficial, healthy, and socially positive: responsible consumption is undoubtedly the trend this year.
What is Responsible Consumption?
While buying local products is a responsible way to consume, there are many other ways to achieve responsible consumption. Here are some examples:
- Reduce, reuse, recycle, recover, rethink, compost:
- Donate some of your clothes, furniture, and items you own that are still in good condition to charity or people in need.
- Reduce your consumption of products by making conscious purchases of valuable items instead of buying unnecessary items on impulse (ask yourself...do you really need these items?).
- Choose reusable and sustainable products:
- The simplest example is the reusable grocery bag. More and more supermarkets and stores are charging a fee when a customer asks for plastic bags. Always keep your reusable bags handy!
- Limit the purchase of products made from unsustainable resources: e.g. bottled water.
- Although the plastic bottle itself is recyclable, not all consumers recycle it. According to a 2017 report, only 29.2% of all water bottles purchased that year were recycled[2]. Not to mention all the oil needed to produce the water bottles. Goodbye bottled water; hello municipal water system!
- Avoid buying products made by companies that do not respect the environment:
- For obvious reasons, we will not name any companies. Simply take a look at the news!
- Buy products that help people in need or products where a percentage of sales is donated (to a humanitarian cause or to the community):
- A company known worldwide for its various bags (travel bags, backpacks, etc.) donates 1% of all sales on its website to endangered sea turtle conservation projects. A turtle is their logo.
- Use sustainable transportation methods (bus, bicycle, carpooling, cab) when possible[3].
- Purchase refills for products when refills are available (e.g., laundry soap, dish soap, etc.):
- Keep reading... further down in this article, we recommend the hand sanitizer gel refill. So valuable for today's new reality.
- Purposely buy sustainable products:
- Our online store is full of sustainable products. Why not take a look if you haven't already? You'll be surprised by the wide range of products we offer.
How to Recognize a Responsible Product?
The environmental impact of producing a responsible product is generally minimal. Besides, it ensures that workers' rights have been respected throughout the product's manufacturing process.
Furthermore, a responsible product offers better performance than other similar non-responsible products for several reasons, including the following:
- Reduced energy-consumption for its production
- Reduction/elimination of toxic chemicals
- Packaging optimization
- Recycled product or recyclable components
- Increased revenues for small businesses
- Respect of labour laws[4].
As mentioned on our homepage, a local purchase is good; a local and eco-conscious purchase is best!
At Samara & Co, we offer you local and environmentally responsible products from several suppliers! Furthermore, they are all respectful of our company’s intrinsic values.
To Help you Take the Right Route to Responsible Consumption
Although we are confined, some products are still necessary. Here are some of the responsible (of course!) products we offer that are useful even at home:
- This hand sanitizer gel: a must-have in 2021! Perfect for keeping your hands clean and soft, even when there is no water to wash them! Made in Canada. $15.75 for 500 ml or $72 for the 3.78 L refill
- This dish soap: fragrance-free, dye-free and phosphate-free, biodegradable. Made in Canada. $4.99 for 750 ml.
- This laundry soap: also fragrance-free, dye-free and phosphate-free, hypoallergenic, perfect for cloth diapers. Made in Canada. $16.99 for 78 loads.
Before you leave, make sure to visit our online store for a little shopping session, in cocooning mode! We have more than 300 products that will help you, this year, to consume responsibly. Go for it!
Samara & Co will proudly help you get on board!
