After graduating from English and Culture studies at Aalborg University, Johansen started her own business, focusing on consumer patterns, consumption, and sustainability.
— Using my own experiences as a stepping stone, I talk about how consumers can navigate, understand, and practice environmentalism, she explains.
In what ways?
— I’ve initiated the ’Trash Workout’, an interactive workshop that aims to make us think differently about the waste we generate, in groups. We then come up with ideas on how to reduce our daily impact. You won’t break a sweat, but you will motivated to break up with some wasteful habits. The workshop is divided into two sections — first an overview of impact, what it means, and where it comes from. This part both focuses on consumer impact, as well as provides a bigger perspective, for instance on how 71% of global emissions come from the same 100 companies. In my experience, it helps us to understand our own responsibility if we also acknowledge the issues that feel out of our hands.
— The second section is interactive, here everyone will make a ’workout plan’ that’ll make green habits feel more manageable, even with a busy schedule. I’ve always loved making lists to reach my goals, and that’s similar tactics we’re using here.
Ever since she started living after the zero-waste principles, in 2015, Johansen has been fascinated by the growing topic of consumer convenience.
— It has become an increasing selling point across all types of consumer categories during the last three decades. Since the marketing of everything from tech, and fashion, to food products and home goods is designed with utmost consumer convenience in mind, this has become a feature that consumers value. Over time, we have simply learned that everything has to be fun, easy, quick, and fuss-free — which also means that recommending sustainable practices like reparations and reuse is often considered ’radical’ and impractical because it takes time. This development has paved the way for fast fashion, and the gamification of shopping. I think the business models of ’regular’ fast fashion brands are interesting to look into, but moreover, the way with which places like Temu and Shein are gamifying the shopping experience to not only deliver convenience, but entertainment, when shopping. In my work, I have noticed that these features are becoming more and more popular.
— Convenience is a tool that makes life significantly easier for people with certain needs and disabilities. However, consumer convenience isn’t so much about catering to special needs but more so about selling the idea that regular actions are difficult and time-consuming, and that they shouldn’t be. A classic creating a problem and creating a solution type of business model.
— I have advocated for low-impact living for almost 10 years, and a lot of what I show on my platform is about taking the time to do something right, repairing, mending, making from scratch, searching in thrift stores, foraging, and other — what some would say — time-consuming activities. I like the idea of putting an effort into daily life, and caring that it’s done right and sustainably. I think it is massively important to vocalise how much of an effect convenience has on consumer’s daily choices. A convenience which often comes at a lower price point, but with a higher impact.
Consumer convenience, Johansen continues, affects many of our decisions today as consumers, because the main selling point for most products has to do with how easy something is. And this can be a problem.
— Convenience often means excessive packaging, and individually wrapped items, especially for food and beauty products, and the additional packaging comes with an impact, a waste management, and a recycling issue. But convenience stretches much further than easy to-go sandwiches. The fast fashion industry is a massive example of how we have gotten used to being able to buy excessive amounts of clothing without breaking the bank. To live more sustainably, we have to utilise our planetary resources more wisely, which means breaking up with a lot of convenience habits. Moreover, sometimes things don’t have to be easy. We are not always that busy, and our convenience isn’t always that important — that’s at least a personal mantra for me. While it’s easier to buy a new shirt, rather than repair the one we already have, we stand to gain a lot more from doing some things the hard way!
How good are brands at consumer convenience?
— Many companies are talking a big game when it comes to sustainability, from recycled plastic to carbon offsetting and tree planting with every purchase. However, we have to demand a reduced volume of products produced, that’s where the real impact is. And many, if not most, ’regular’ companies would much rather misdirect consumers’ attention with greenwashing, rather than tackle the issue head-on.
And how can they implement ’reduce, reuse, recycle’ and other sustainability efforts for their customers in the best possible manner?
— Well, maybe we need to see some radical shifts in how companies operate. I would love that at least! When it comes to how practical change can take place, I think it’s important to remember that none of this happens overnight. It’s rather a gradual shift. For one, companies — and this goes for all kinds, but especially so tech — should make products more easily repairable. Shifting the business model from being dependent on consumers to re-purchase new models over and over again to selling modules, and spare parts that can be purchased rather than changing the whole thing would be a great start, Johansen shares. She continues:
— Thinking regeneratively and in circular ways are more than buzzwords, but it often requires that existing companies rethink their entire business model. This is why I prefer supporting new, smaller initiatives instead, where these systems of thinking are incorporated into the business model from the beginning. When a brand mainly relies on small steps like recycled plastic it’s mainly because they’re seeking to symptomatically fix the problem, which more often than not simply isn’t good enough.
Some say that we’ll soon experience the rise of ’degrowth.’ Do you agree?
— This is very much so in line with underconsumption, which has been trending on social media platforms this summer. People are showing off and celebrating their oldest things and sharing ways of solving daily problems without buying new products. I absolutely support this idea, and I love that it has been going viral; it means that more and more people are tired of constantly being sold something, or told that they need to buy new stuff. Which is truly tiring as well. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this way of living has been getting more and more attention with the increasing popularity of Shein and Temu — many are just fed up and need something more than shopping for leisure.
It might be difficult for brands to capitalise on degrowth.
— Very. And I think that’s the point. We need to stop making up problems to turn a profit by selling people ’solutions.’ We won’t reach our climate goals if we constantly think of new ways of reselling drop-shipped items at discounted prices or start up yet another ’sustainable’ clothing brand that produces plain T-shirts. My advice is to find something better to do; repairing already-existing products, using zero-waste manufacturing to utilise materials that would otherwise be wasted, looking at regenerative and circular solutions and how we maintain and take care of our local communities and natural environments. We need solutions for waste prevention problems, like food waste, green energy, textile repurposing, tech repair, and construction maintenance, we need to work together against planned obsolesce and other pre-designed systems of production design that nudge consumers to keep buying.
— In truth, many issues need solving and many ways of working environmentalism into a business, but we can’t depend on the same business models that created the waste and overconsumption in the first place when it comes to going forward.
How can we work together against that planned obsolesce and pre-designed systems of production design?
— One really good example is Fairphone. Designing products to be modular and repairable from the beginning is crucial. One way to fight against planned obsolescence is by making repairs more accessible to consumers. Currently, a vast amount of products are not meant to be fixed if they break, and it tends to be more expensive to purchase a spare part than buying a whole new product. That needs to change. Businesses need to be better at incorporating these systems and ways of thinking into their products from the beginning.
What else sparks your interest now?
— I am very interested in our global food systems, as well as food traditions and ingredient sourcing. Food is a massive part of our individual consumer impact. And, side note, while using this term, let’s also acknowledge that the idea of blaming consumers came from a marketing campaign from a fossil fuel company. I wonder why…
— I went plant-based 7-8 years ago, and since then I have been very interested in how to reduce the impact of the food on our plates. There are truly many different ways of going about this topic, but one thing is certain – it’s that our perspective on food needs to change. During 2023 I was especially focusing on sustainable fine dining and gourmet, which resulted in a cookbook as well. I think we need to rethink what the good life and luxury mean to us, and how we can adapt this idea in a more sustainable way.
— I am currently touring Denmark with my workshops and lectures about zero-waste living and green gastronomy, not from the point of view of a chef or an industry professional in any way, just from the point of view of a massive food nerd who happened to spend a year learning how to cook plant-based gourmet. And, I am having a blast with it!
