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Guide to sustainable shopping BUYERARCHY OF NEEDS While Maslow’s “hierarchy of needs” looks at the structure of needs that influence our choices and shopping behaviors, a new hierarchy of human shopping needs is created by Canadian painter Sarah Lazarovic called “Buyerarchy of Needs”.
Look at the hierarchy, buying behavior is considered as the final level after we try all remaining actions at the lower levels. This image is a great way to consider your choices before buying an item. So before you buy an item, take a look at the following: • Do you already have something like that available? • If not, can you borrow from someone? • If no one can lend you, can you exchange something for the one you need from others? • If that is still difficult then buy a used product but it will still work as expected. • You can not find a used item to buy, can you try to make it yourself? • Finally, if you really can not do all the above actions, then buy them. SAY NO TO WHAT YOU DON’T REALLY NEED One of the core principles of sustainable shopping is to refuse the things you do not need. Take time to think about your buying behavior, maybe 2-3 weeks to make sure you really need it.
