Please spend some time observing peoples’ behaviors relating to your domain or area of opportunity that you’d like to use as the focus on. You’ll be designing of a PRODUCT that supports or promotes sustainable behaviors and practices for INDIVIDUALS in day-to-day use.
Please share your initial observations in a few paragraphs below…
The domain that I’d like to focus on is….
I am focusing on the domain of consuming more thoughtfully with products that have sustainable materials, are locally sourced, and have sustainable business/labor practices (see prior journal entry for more detailed explanation).
These are some observations about peoples’ behaviors in this domain…
In thinking about this domain, I have reflected on past and current experiences at Stanford that can help me understand current patterns of consumption and what is holding people back from shifting their behavior. I have framed these observations in the Dschool framework of WHAT, HOW, and WHY.
- WHAT: people shopping during class online
- I see classmates shopping online with companies like aritzia, reformation, and shein that are accessible in price and easy to get (shipped to campus). I’ve seen this happen before, but I was reminded when I was sitting in class on Wednesday looking around at the computer screens around me.
- HOW: I see it happening as a kind of background function (i.e., shopping during class and not fully paying attention to the details/implications of what is being bought).
- WHY: Although I can’t necessarily discern this from observation alone, I know from my friends that a lot of people online shop as a distraction/stress reliever/form of self care. Mindless online shopping can be used as a coping mechanism for other things going on in life. Like my therapist says, though, there are no bad coping mechanisms. . . only ones that serve us during a particular phase in life.
- WHAT: clubs/orgs/houses buying from Amazon
- I see my own organizations (Stanford Women in Politics, Donner House) buying materials for events/supplies from companies like Amazon
- HOW: These purchases are made with limited time, budget, and access to cars/off campus stores. Students planning events or running organizations thus often rely on companies like Amazon (quick, convenient) to get their materials.
- WHY: Especially when consumption is removed from the personal, it is less common to think about what is being consumed and how it is being consumed when the purpose is for someone else (i.e., an event for community members). The immediate goal is finishing the event within given constraints, not consuming thoughtfully.
- WHAT: conversations about wanting to consume less/be more thoughtful in what they are consuming (particularly with clothes)
- I have heard over and over that people want to: shop second hand, wear 100% natural materials, support brands with ethical and sustainable business practices, and shop locally. In fact, yesterday I had this same conversation with one of my good friends, Kaylee.
- HOW: My friends and I/others have developed these goals with blogs, social media, and other online resources, but lots of these resources are targeted towards people with larger budgets. Thus, we have ideas about how we want to consume more thoughtfully but do not have a framework to help us do it.
- WHY: We are having these conversations because we want to limit the negative impact our clothes have on the environment. We have the privilege of already knowing what some of these impacts are and have researched ways on how to change our behavior; however, we are still struggling to figure out how to make it happen, thus we talk about it! It is important to note that awareness was a huge factor in getting us to the point of regularly conversing about our consumption. This is also not constant throughout campus since there are varying levels of exposure/interest/constraints across communities on campus.
Colin’s Comments: Wow! The connection you made between shopping and stress relief is really interesting. I wonder if exams could be less stressful if they were set-up as shopping experiences? I wonder if the stress relief comes from browsing or from actually purchasing or from actually gaining possession. I am very interested in positivity as a gainful mindset so shopping might be a useful positivity practice.