Sustainable Products Need to Have Convenient Options: Here’s Why

Are you too trying to explore living a planet-friendly life?

But feeling bogged down because it seems to requite too much work?

I mean, if you have limited energy what do you prioritize? Do you advocate? Or research brands? Or spend hours mixing products and making bioenzyme?

As someone with a general lack of energy, I totally get you. P.S.- Advocating is always the best, but that’s not the point of this piece.

The point is, that the effort required can make living sustainably seem daunting. That eventually lead to us quitting. Zoe Chance in her book Influence is Your Superpower tells us that despite knowing something is better, if it takes too much energy and work, we are unlikely to act on it. This is especially true for times we are tired or hungry or in a rush. After all, we are creatures wired towards ease, or at least our brains are, according to her.

And even ignoring that, not everyone has equal amount of time and resources. But everyone can help save our changing climate.

I mean we all want these heat waves, droughts, and wildfires gone right?

And that is why, I say sustainable living needs to make space for convenience and accessibility.

The case for convenience in sustainable living

Having limited energy both has pros and cons for my sustainable lifestyle. It has made me intentional about where I spend my energy, for one.

Case in point-shopping.

I do not go shopping unless I need something. Or as a social activity, in which case unless I find an exceptionally valuable piece, I am not entering the trial room. Thus, my clothing impact naturally reduces. Shopping is just not intrinsically pleasing to me, makes my wardrobe more sustainable.

Watching movies, reading books, sharing stories are more my thing, after all. And since green living makes me feel good, I tend to divert my limited energy to finding greener ways to do the things I genuinely find meaningful.

Until then though, we are realistically imperfectly sustainable and do the things that bring us joy regardless.

But the point is, despite it making me more intentional, this fatigue also made it difficult for me to live green. Especially at the start, when the focus was on perfectionism and zero-waste. For me, it was more likely that I would have energy to cook if I bought lentils wrapped in plastic than if I travelled two hours to a bulk store. Yes, we can advocate for better packaging, but the lack of options on the market can make it seem like shouting into the void. And at the end of the day, as my therapist says, we can only help the world if we are happy and healthy.

And like me, many others need convenience and community when going green. They are required for a good life or even be able to meet our basic needs. A working single mom, for one, might not have a lot of time to be able to DIY a sustainable face mask which might not even work well for her skin. Other can have issues ranging from chronic pain and fatigue to lifestyle constraints.

I am not saying sustainable living is impossible for the everyday consumer.  

No, I am saying for some people convenience can be crucial. And the sustainable community’s vilification of convenient options is not helping people live a more ethical and eco-friendly life. I said what I said.

After all, lack of looking for convenience in sustainable skincare almost ruined my skin.

My Sustainable Skincare Journey- How Lack of Convenience Ruined My Skin

I have often mentioned that I almost gave up on skincare when I was trying to go green. Thinking it wasn’t a need, I called “indulging” in it unsustainable. While I got over that mentality, I came across another problem. My need to be “most sustainable.” Hypocrite of me perhaps, but this was when I was at the start of my realistic sustainability journey.

So down the research rabbit-hole I went and found this one face wash. Which while on the expensive end, could be managed within my budget. It had a great Zoobop rating. Vegan, cruelty-free and made using zero-waste and Ayurvedic principles, it seemed like a godsend. Icing on the cake? The product shipped in a powder form. This meant less transport emissions and that I was not paying for water.

It seemed too good to be true….and it was.

Did the product meet all the above claims? Yes.

It was vegan, cruelty-free, and a face cleanser in a powder form made using Ayurvedic ideals. And it came in a carboard box. Which while not the most sustainable business practice, can be seen as a step up from single use plastic. Whether that is a true claim or not is a different blog entirely.

But, when I opened the box, I found a small plastic pouch that was completely sealed. When I tried to cut it and pour it into a glass jar, I had at home, quite a lot spilled on the counter. This bad starting experience, I assumed, said a lot more about how clumsy I am as opposed to the company’s effectiveness. After all, they were being low-waste.

And I will give them the benefit of doubt and say that the product couldn’t be packaged in paper bags or recycled flexible packaging.

You can see I am trying to love the product.

But using it didn’t get easier.

For every time I wanted to use the product, I had to manually mix it with water in a separate container. Despite loving the sand like texture and scrub like feel of the product, I couldn’t use it regularly as:

1. Making the mix using the correct amount of water, three times a day was exhausting.

2. Often, I added more water than required which of course leads to waste.

3. If I accidentally made a batch that wasn’t fully used it had to be thrown away. The one time I tried to store some pre-mixed version of this product, it caught fungus. Scary.

Now, I know a lack of preservatives isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

Companies sending powered products instead of liquids is a great practice.

Those aren’t the problem.

No, the problem here is the sheer effort required on the consumer’s part.

Sure, some people can do this and kudos to them. They are winning sustainable living.

But, even after the instructions which outlined exactly how much water to mix and how, this product was too much for me. There was a lot of waste and effort needed. Despite loving the product and skincare, I could use it periodically at best.

Plus, I am not sure it can double cleanse which meant, I had to have a convenient cleaner with me. Which was just so much easier to turn to after an entire day of work.

Now I have managed to find a way to try that face wash again. I keep a measuring glass next to it to know exactly how much to fill. There is also a mixing spoon which I can use to scoop out the product. Yet the process still feels too cumbersome and resource-intensive because of all the extra items I had to buy.

Is it more sustainable than the convenient options?

Or is it better to have sustainable and convenient option?

After all, this story highlights exactly how important trying to make sustainable products convenient can be. Sure, some might just call me lazy, but as someone who was once diagnosed with chronic pain, I am not sure that label is the right one.

Everyone deserves a good quality of life. And as I said before, vilification of convenience will not endear people to the movement.

Especially in fields as necessary as skincare and climate-friendly products.

Eventually, my doctor made me switch my skincare as the skipped applications were harming my skin. That is when I returned to imperfectly sustainable skincare.

Yes, in our current systems, healthy and realistic sustainability is imperfect. But should that be the consumers’ responsibility and only option?

Or is the onus on corporations to provide us with accessible yet eco-friendly products?

Especially, when we look at the numerous benefits of making products accessible? Both for the movement and for sustainable brands?

Benefits of Making Sustainable Products Convenient for the Climate Movement

Wider Acceptance of an Eco-Friendly and Ethical Lifestyle

If you are shifting to a sustainable lifestyle, you know how difficult it is. That is why, after all, we suggest gradual change. No one wants to pick eco-friendly living like a diet. We need consistency as far as possible.

And consistent changes happen when we see them adding value to our life. These changes need to be ones we can continue for a long time without reducing our quality of life. Or else they become unhealthy and thus impossible to continue.

Thus, if there are convenient options available, a lot more people will be able to live a green life. Consistently.

The flawed idea that sustainability is for the elite will be challenged even more with such innovation.

Innovation and Increase in Sustainable Products

From production to disposal, every stage of the product is checked in a sustainable brand. And thus, it is possible to innovate and make convenient options. This means, people who are forced to turn to harmful products for accessibility reasons will now have sustainable and safe options. Maybe all the options won’t be equally sustainable but at least they’ll be better than products which do not even try to go green. After all there is no such thing as “perfect” sustainability.

And this innovation is happening in the eco-space.

Brands like Bare Necessities and Future Tabs are making cleaning and personal care supplies in a tablet or a powder form. You simply mix them with water in a bottle once and then you can use it till the product finishes.

Compared to the sheer exhausting of mixing a product daily this? This is the true godsend. Especially for someone with my OCD where soap and lotion bars aren’t yet an option.

Now I am not saying these brands are perfect. We should definitely research them. I am just saying innovation is happening.

From water-bater sustainable alternatives like Herbal Strategy to Refillable options are cropping up. Refillable comes to your building door and refills your products, thus reducing waste.

While all options might not be top-tier sustainability like powder-mixes, I can understand the need for them.

Such innovation is what will make sustainability the dominant lifestyle, as I said before.

At the end of the day, it is in every sustainable brand’s interest to make products that are as accessible and convenient as possible. Both as brands and as champions of an ethical and eco-friendly lifestyle, they benefit from this as much as consumers do.

How Brands Benefits from Making Sustainable Products Convenient

People often go for products which are either competitively priced or are convenient and easy to use, according to experts. While it can be difficult to make sustainable products at a competitive price, though Gift Green India manages that to an extent, making products convenient relies on innovation.

And the benefits of that are numerous.

1. It is part of being sustainable

Sustainability is for the people and the planet. While an eco-friendly non-toxic brand is good, a truly sustainable brand would be diverse and accessible. While I doubt most products can be accessible for everyone, your brand can have options, allowing you to cater to as many people as possible. This also increases you user base, thus increasing sales without promoting overconsumption.

2. An Additional USP

Sustainable companies often make the mistake of having sustainability as their only USP. Trust me, I almost made the same mistake with my eco-friendly publishing house. But if you truly want to promote sustainability, you need a USP that caters to the mainstream audience. After all, preaching to the choir helped no one.

And convenience can be that USP. It is a very lucrative one too as it helps…

3. Build Brand Loyalty

Products that work and products that are easy-to-use keep people coming back to your brand. From a marketing stand point, this also allows you to connect with people as you are solving multiple problems for them. This will show your product as the best on several accounts, and thus make it difficult to beat. The idea isn’t to run competition out of business, no, but to ensure you always have a loyal customer base whom you give quality products to.

After all, in our current economic system, one way to make your brand stand out if to fulfil consumer needs your competitors aren’t fulfilling.

And yes, we understand that the lack of incentives given towards innovation in the sustainable space can cause an issue for brands.

But that too has changed in recent times.

People and governments are becoming more eco-conscious, even if that doesn’t always translate into action. Despite the lack of active efforts from some, there are enough front-line activists that the demand for both sustainable products and convenience in them is rising. Over 50% people in India alone are willing to pay a premium for sustainable items, after all. The government too is set on helping green brands in the form of subsidies.

Yes, it is not for easy for sustainable brands to make it in our flawed system, much less innovate. But this innovation could save them. After all, not all areas of sustainable living are lacking convenience. The cloth diaper industry, for example, has progressed in leagues. Now these diapers have insertables which can increase their absorbency. They have buttons which allows them to fit like disposable diapers, and more. Sure, there is still scope for improvement. Despite that, as they are currently, for me at least, they can stand toe-to-toe with disposal diapers in matters of convenience.

If it can happen here, then it can happen anywhere.

At the end of the day, sustainability should be something that is accessible to a few. Anyone can champion the environment, after all. And no one should be shamed for their needs. This truly won’t make them more eco-friendly.

Sustainability should be realistic instead. For many, that means making the space for desire, convenience, and imperfections in the “zero-waste” aesthetic. This means, supporting sustainable brands and advocating and helping them become more accessible.

Have you faced something similar when trying to get susty? Share your sustainable stories and fails in the comments and let’s have a gala time together.

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Beta Reader- Anuraag Chatterjee