As a conscious consumer, there are questions you should ask before buying a product.
Getting answers to these questions is a huge part of conscious consumerism, as it will help you spot greenwashing, and ensure that you’re buying high-quality, sustainable and ethical products.
These questions will help you become educated on the products you buy before you buy them.
You want to make sure that the products you buy tick off a few ethical boxes, and those boxes really depend on you and the beliefs that are most important to you.
Conscious consumers buy products that help improve the environment, the people, and the economy as a whole.
If you’re new to becoming a more mindful and ethical consumer, I recommend reading my intro to conscious consumerism – if you haven’t already!
Where to get answers to these questions
Before we get started with some questions you should ask before making a purchase, you might be wondering where to find answers to those questions.
The questions you want to ask can often be answered by going to the company’s website and reading their About page or FAQs page or other pages that are dedicated to their sustainable and ethical practices.
Some brands are extremely transparent about their process, even showing environmental reports every year which reveals their impact and how they’re fighting to improve it.
(I sure wish this was a thing every company did. Maybe one day!)
But you may want to go further and email the company directly with any questions you might have.
Maybe your question is not listed on their site, or maybe you just missed it. You might be surprised to find out that they have upcoming plans to make more sustainable or ethical changes in their company.
It doesn’t hurt to ask!
This post contains affiliate links which means I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you should you click through and make a purchase.
Here’s some questions you should ask before making a purchase.
1. Where is this product made and shipped from?
Where a product is made and shipped from is an important question to ask as a conscious consumer.
The further away a product is from you, the bigger the distance it needs to travel. This increases the carbon footprint of your order.
Try and focus on purchasing products that are near you to reduce carbon emissions (this also helps promote more local businesses) and when shopping online, buy products that don’t have to travel long distances to reach you.
2. What materials is the product made out of?
As a conscious consumer, this is a great question to consider because the materials that a product is made from are one of the most important things to know before purchasing a product.
Look for products made with natural materials that are biodegradable, such as wood, bamboo, cotton, hemp and cork, or high-quality and durable materials such as stainless steel, glass, and silicone that are incredibly long-lasting when properly cared for.
In regards to clothing, look for eco-materials that are natural and not synthetic. Natural materials can be organic cotton, bamboo, hemp, flax, or (ethically harvested) animal-based materials such as wool.
This is a great question to ask a clothing company or check the material tag when shopping locally. Stay away from fast fashion brands and shop from slow fashion brands instead!
Tip: don’t forget to consider the shipping packaging material too!
3. Where does the product go at the end of its lifecycle?
Figuring out the types of materials used to manufacture a product is one of the most important questions to ask as a conscious consumer.
That’s because the product’s materials determine where that product goes at the end of its lifecycle.
Natural materials, as mentioned above, biodegrade easily but synthetic fibres do not. That’s why, as a conscious consumer, you should aim for materials that degrade quickly and with no harm to the environment.
Certain products can also be repaired, repurposed, or upcycled into something new instead of being thrown away in the trash.
When it comes down to getting rid of a product or thinking about the end of life before buying a product, you want to consider these mindful questions.
- Will it rot? (Degrade)
- Can this be reused or repurposed?
- Is this recyclable?
- Can it be repaired?
Tip: These are some of the zero-waste R’s to help you remember!
Keeping these questions in mind will help you make more conscious purchases.
4. Is the brand Fairtrade?
Another important ethical question you want to ask is who made the product? Is it Fairtrade?
As a conscious consumer, you need to let go of being cheap.
Cheap products are not sustainable in design and manufacturing, aren’t good quality and chances are, the person who made the product probably didn’t get paid much or their work conditions suck.
One way to determine if the price is fair is to find out if the brand is Fairtrade.
Fairtrade changes the way trade works through better prices, decent working conditions and a fairer deal for farmers and workers in developing countries.
Fairtrade international
It’s almost hard to believe that sweatshops and unfair labour wages are still a thing, but unfortunately, it is, especially when buying overseas.
So when you’re looking at the company’s website, you want to see if they talk about their labour standards and working conditions.
5. What kind of packaging material does the company use?
A company that uses plastic packaging materials such as foamed plastic or plastic bags isn’t aiding in the plastic crisis.
As a conscious consumer, only shop from brands that use compostable, biodegradable, reusable, or, at the very least, recyclable packaging.
Keep this in mind for buying new products in-store and online, as well as eating at fast-food restaurants!
6. Does the company offset its carbon footprint?
Another conscious way to lower your carbon footprint in regards to your shopping is to find a company that offsets their carbon emissions. There are many brands that plant trees as a way to achieve this.
Companies basically do this to help make up for the pollution they’ve created from making and distributing their products.
Think about this for any purchase you have to make, not only eco products.
Many sustainable brands do this, but also some car companies and airlines. Just do a little research before making your decision.
7. Does this company support a cause?
There are some pretty incredible brands and companies out there that support different types of causes.
If there’s a charity that’s important to you, chances are you will find a company that sells products that also donates a portion of the profit to a charity or organization.
You can find a lot of conscious brands that support environmental causes.
There are companies that plant trees such as tentree, or who help keep oceans clean like Mother Erth, or brands that support various causes like Conscious Step.
You can also find companies that donate to a more general environmental foundation such as 1% for the Planet. What that means is that the company donates 1% of its revenue to environmental nonprofits.
8. Is the brand transparent?
If you were able to get answers to the questions above through the companies website, about page, FAQ page, etc. then congrats! That brand is transparent.
If you can’t find those answers on their site, they’re not transparent and are probably hiding their not-so-environmentally-friendly habits.
Some brands such as Conscious Step take it a step further in their transparency and provide annual reports on their sustainability measures in an impact report. Now that’s a commitment to the cause!
9. Will you use the product often?
One of the final and probably the most important question to ask yourself before buying a product is, will I get a lot of use out of this?
A big waste factor is buying products that you never use, or that you use so minimally that the purchase was probably not worth it.
If this is the case, then it’s something you didn’t need, which results in a waste of resources, and additionally, a waste of your money.
Oftentimes, and depending on the item, opting to borrow something from a friend or family is better than buying something brand new for yourself.
10. Can I buy this item secondhand?
Purchasing secondhand items is always the best option when it comes to buying something for ourselves, with exceptions of course.
So one thing you always want to ask before buying something is, can I get this secondhand?
Buying things from local secondhand stores or from people in your area keeps the money flowing in your community, reduces waste and saves you money too.
To be a more conscious consumer, open up your mind to buying more and more things secondhand, such as furniture and clothing.
If you need resources for shopping secondhand, check out some of my posts:
- where to buy secondhand items for cheap or free
- reasons why you should buy secondhand clothing
- the ultimate guide to shopping secondhand clothing
Final thoughts on conscious consumer questions
As you can see, conscious consumers buy products that help the environment, the people, and the economy.
Conscious consumerism is important for sustainability. As customers, we hold the power to create change for a better future, all through our shopping habits.
If you want a really easy way to shop for sustainable brands where you don’t have to do much research yourself before buying a product, consider shopping at EarthHero.
EarthHero is an online marketplace where all the products are sustainable. Since everything is researched and vetted beforehand, they’ve technically done the research for you!
And all that research is neatly laid out on their product pages for your convenience.
Check out EarthHero and use my coupon code MINDFULHOME every time you shop there to save 10% on your order.
If you want more conscious consumer resources, check out some conscious brands that I love and recommend.
Share these conscious consumer questions or save them for later!
Love this post! So many questions people need to get in the habit of asking.