Sustainability Needs Seduction.
I’ve always loved the idea of buying better, wasting less, and choosing consciously.
But if I’m honest, I still find it hard to live that way.
Not because I don’t care. Because the experience rarely matches the intention.
The resale market is booming, with Vinted browsing becoming a daily activity for some, and high street favourites such as Mint Velvet’s Re:Loved campaign gaining momentum; and yet, the experience still feels transactional. Clunky and lacking in emotion, experience.
For someone who doesn’t like waste or mass production, I should be the perfect audience. But I’m not fully converted. Why? Because it still doesn’t feel good, it feels like a chore.
And that’s where I think the brands embracing sustainability (or at least attempting to) are missing their mark.
Back in 2018, when we exited the business we’d built over a decade, we were in a period of stable, comfortable growth. The kind that gives you space to think, what can we do better.
It was sustainability that became top of my agenda.
We were using hundreds of thousands of glass jars for our handmade preserves, and I wanted to understand everything; where the glass came from, the energy behind its production, the footprint it left behind.
But it’s easy to talk about sustainability when it’s fashionable but it’s harder when it challenges your supply chain, your margins, your own convenience.
What struck me then (and what I see now in brand strategy) is that sustainability conversations often start with logic ‘we need to’, not feeling, ‘we want to’. We’ve mastered morality: the metrics, the certifications, the pledges. But we’ve forgotten seduction. The responsible choice has been made to sound responsible and in the process, it’s been stripped of the emotion that inspires true change.
Even for the most well-intentioned brands, sustainability has become procedural rather than powerful. That mindset filters down to the customer experience. We’ve built sustainability frameworks that satisfy governance, but ignore the emotional drivers that create real demand.
Vinted, for example, is a brilliant platform, a behavioural shift that’s changed how millions shop, myself included.
And Mint Velvet’s Re:Loved concept shows there's an appetite for circularity even in premium fashion.
But as a consumer, as a human, I still miss something.
I miss the experience.
Those Saturdays in the late 90s spent browsing rails, trying on wild-cards in fitting rooms, and getting honest opinions from a friend peeking from behind the curtain next door. That energy of possibility. That tactile connection with choice and self-expression.
What if the next chapter of sustainability is less about compliance and more about brands driving a revival? About bringing back that human experience; warmth, play, the sensory rush, all into conscious shopping?
Imagine pre-loved spaces that look and feel like the high street once did.
Tidy rails. Choices available. Real shared experiences. The joy of your tote bags having a real purpose beyond the supermarket and knowing your values are intact, your purchase thoughtful, and your bank balance calm.
Fashion could lead the way, but this isn’t just about clothes. Imagine Pre-Loved Oliver Bonas. Imagine homeware, accessories, interiors; in tactile, emotional spaces where second-hand doesn’t feel like compromise, but like curation.
The Change Ahead
The brands that stay ahead will treat sustainability not as compliance, but as an opportunity to showcase creativity.
To lead this shift, they’ll need to do three things: curiosity, feel, and design.
1. Delve into curiosity
Build sustainability into the business with intention not as an afterthought or a policy. Go beyond the “we need to” mindset and ask “what would this feel like for the customer?”. Get curious about your supply chain stories, your material impact, and the human cost and value behind your choices. Depth of understanding and story will build confidence, and confidence builds credibility.
2. Feel the impact
From founders to store staff, the team needs to feel the weight and worth of the campaign and what it means to the audience. When the people behind the brand understand the emotion behind buyer choice, communication and interactions become natural and effortlessly persuasive. Conscious consumers can always tell when belief is real and felt.
3. Design for experience
The next generation of sustainability won’t be won purely through messaging, that won’t be enough, it’ll be won through moments. Brands need to create experiences that merge ethics with enjoyment, and purpose with pleasure. From the fit-out of physical spaces to the design of digital touchpoints, every interaction should make doing the right thing feel good.
The opportunity for creatives and strategists is to bring this to life: to reimagine sustainability as something tactile, human, and desirable. To help brands build worlds that people want to be part of, not just approve of.
It’s not enough to reduce waste; we have to rekindle wonder.
