The long-overdue sustainable shopping revolution is finally here

Buying ethical and eco-friendly things won’t save the climate on its own. But we have to do what we can – and it seems we’re stepping up at last

Buying reusable and rejecting single-use plastic is no longer the preserve of a conscientious minority (PA)

Sustainability is everywhere. You can’t avoid it in any walk of life, let alone when it comes to consumerism and shopping.

Fast fashion has suffered a backlash, some shops (including the supermarket Iceland) have removed plastic bags entirely, major car manufacturers are investing more and more in electric technology, while single-use plastic is being faded out of the food industry.

The world is talking about sustainability. True, we’re not yet doing enough, but we’re certainly moving in the right direction, especially since Sir David Attenborough really brought home the perils of plastic in his landmark series Blue Planet II.

Our newfound obsession with all things environmental is also reflected in the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year, announced on Wednesday: “climate emergency”.

According to researchers the phrase quickly rose from “relative obscurity” to become one of the most “prominently debated” terms this year, and in September it was more than 100 times as common as it was the previous year. No less than the UN secretary general, António Guterres, has called it “the defining issue of our time”.

People are talking about these issues more than ever before.

Shoppers’ habits have changed and so have the priorities of our readers. Buying reusable and rejecting single-use plastic is no longer the preserve of a conscientious minority.

This year, we’ve seen it reflected in our product review section, IndyBest. One of our most popular pieces was a rundown of the best plastic-free tea bags (yes, there is plastic in most tea bags), as well as a rundown of the top sustainable clothing brands and another on reusable nappies.

We’ve also seen a big change in how consumers wish to celebrate Christmas. We’ve noticed an increase appetite for reusable advent calendars, that shun the cardboard and plastic varieties, and for wooden toys – for which John Lewis & Partners has seen a 21 per cent increase in sales this year – and dramatically raised interest in meat-free alternatives to turkey for Christmas dinner.

When it came to our stocking-filler pieces, we were determined not to include the usual tat that wouldn’t last longer than Christmas Day – apart from anything edible, of course.

The way we shop is changing. It won’t solve our climate problem on its own. But there’s no avoiding the reality that the emissions involved in long-distance deliveries, the huge quantities of plastic packaging in online orders and the temptation to buy for the sake of it at this time of year, all combine to make a hugely unsustainable industry.

But we can be sure that making more eco-conscious decisions will help transform the retail industry for the better.

Yours,

Emma Henderson

IndyBest editor