Following a wishlist can stop you from making spontaneous purchases and when you stop making spontaneous purchases you can have a positive impact on the environment. Think about the pollution during the purchase and the pollution after you get rid of your item.
Impulsive buys are having a huge impact. We find ourselves more often than we think in a shop, sometimes even looking for a specific piece that we need, but then we find ourselves trying something that we actually don’t need. And we end up buying the item we don’t need just because it looks nice (Read here “The favorite lies we tell ourselves when shopping”).
The same is also happening online. Here most online shops have the function to save “Favourites” for later. In other words, products you don’t plan to buy now, but that you like and might return to buy later (they are kind of encouraging you to do that). With the continuous launches of Fast Fashion brands in an approx bi-weekly speed, we will always find something we’d like to have.
Statistics say that 52% of millennials were more likely to make impulse purchases than any other generation. Following this, an average shopper will make 3 of 4 unplanned purchases. From every 10 store visits they make. Afterward, approx 50% will regret their purchase.
We have a not-so-secret tip for you: create a wishlist.
It might sound a bit banal, but it does wonders.
And we don’t mean that you should go to your favourite online shop and save everything you like in your “favourite list”.
We mean to make a proper list. Like on paper or if you like also on word, google sheets, or some other apps, whatever suits you best, and will be the easiest access for you in the long term (the most important is that you don’t lose the list).
How to make your list
And now it comes the fun part, write down all the clothes, everything you need to have.
This will not just be your base of shopping in the long run, but also give you already an overview of how many items you’d like to have, and which of those you actually don’t need.
Follow our checks to ensure your list will have everything (and just) that you need.
Check 1 – How often will you wear/use it?
Ask yourself how often you will wear/use each item on the list. If it is for a few times only, think about maybe borrowing it from someone or renting it. Also, if you added on the list “Dress for XY’s wedding”, rethink twice if you will really wear that dress more often than for that event (read “That time I thought I had nothing to wear”).
Check 2 – Do you really need it?
If your list is very short compared to what you normally buy, then you should know that you are buying a lot of things spontaneously! You should then love this concept of wishlist to avoid buying things that you actually don’t need.
If your list is very long, go through the list again and ask yourself: “What do I really need? Will it somehow make things easier for me? (e.g. if you are currently having no comfortable bra in your wardrobe, better keep “a comfortable bra” in the list).
Check 3 – Prioritize it!
Ok, you cut down your list a little and it includes everything you’d like to buy? Then go through it again (no matter how long the list is) and try to prioritize: What do you need urgently? What would have a big positive impact on your life?
Now you have your final wish list.
This is not just an amazing exercise, but you need to commit to this list.
Try to buy just items that are on the list.
We know that sometimes we might fall back in old shopping habits, or that we are so afraid to miss a good that is not on our list but that we always wanted or always looked for.
Use this list to monitor your purchases, add all the items you have bought onto that list (ideally also with the date). Try to challenge yourself to improve and take regularly a look at your wishlist and the items you have bought.
When buying items from your wishlist we suggest you not to buy from some fast fashion and low-quality brands, but to buy it in higher quality and ideally from a brand that has a sustainable approach on its production (we suggest you read also more about the concept of “Slow Fashion”)
Try to keep your impact on the environment low (e.g. what if the item breaks fast and you need to buy it again?). Also, you will see, that when you decide to buy less, you will quickly have some extra money on the side that you can spend for better quality.
Did you already read our “12 questions for a sustainable and conscious consumption”?
