I'm on Instagram going through peoples stories. I come across this one account I follow. She is a sustainable account and an up-n-coming YouTuber.
So this content creator post on her story a picture of Tom's deodorant and a pack of two Target brand toothbrushes. Her text on the photos says how she went to Target to get bamboo toothbrushes because she forgot hers at home. So she went to Target, but a different Target than the one she bought the toothbrushes at before. She says how she went to this Target closer to her families home. She says the community is not as high end as the other community the previous Target was found at. So she goes to this new Target, goes to the toothbrush aisle, and no bamboo toothbrushes are to be found. She ends up getting the Target ones and shows the reality that sometimes you can slip with sustainability and she justified what she will do with the less sustainable toothbrushes she had to purchase. She then said how come stores like Target carry some things but at others, they don't? Because they're targeting a certain demographic.
conversation with @thatcurlytop on Instagram
The previous Target she went to was in a wealthy upscale area in California. Over there, there is a market for sustainable items because they're more expensive. Companies like Target believe that only people in a primarily upper class and I hate to establish race on it but white communities can afford these items and will keep purchasing them. They just disregard other communities because they assume they'll just sit on the shelf.
Target is one of the better stores though that carries very sustainable and eco-friendly products for a reasonable cost. Yet, they're still limiting their market.
I start messaging with this girl about my recent experience.
In Orlando, I live in the college area. I go to this cute area about thirty minutes away. This area is incredibly wealthy and primarily full of upper-class white civilians. So I'm in this area and I go to Publix. It's my roommate's turn to get the garbage bags. So we go to this isle and I discover these biodegradable garbage bags! How incredible is that? The bags were only four dollars which compared to normal bags is inexpensive (It was a decent amount of bags too).
So I decided to purchase these bags next when it is my turn. I went to our Publix in the college area to see if they were there, AND THEY WERE NOT. Because it's a college area, I think Publix decided not to carry products like this.
SO after conversing with this lovely lady through Instagram, it just got me thinking about how so many brands have popped up that are sustainable and so good for the planet, but then charge a shit load for it.
Brands that are preaching be sustainable and the people going "yes" and then your wallet going "you can't."
Rothy's Best Seller
No middle class and lower class average people can afford to be sustainable all the way because brands make it a status and a trend. Being trendy isn't cheap.
There are incredible brands out there that I give all my support to. Some like Package Free Shop make being zero waste and sustainable somewhat affordable and is owned by the incredible girl boss Lauren Singer.
And wonderful brands like Rothy's, Everlane, and Reformation are doing great things. I just personally believe these brands are so much money that it is very hard for people to buy these products to make a change. And then the people who can afford it sometimes like it for the status that they're "sustainable." Which is fine by me because if being trendy is helping out the environment, then I'm all for it.
Everlane recycled coat with a price
Reformation
All in all, my point is that stores need to carry these products in all of there branches, not just in the upper scale neighborhoods. And they need to be affordable so people can make the effort to help the environment. So many people want to but can't afford to fully like me.
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