鈥淥ne of the interesting things with research on food sustainability is that everybody has to eat. And food can also be, I think, quite an emotive topic,鈥 says .
Friederike is one of several researchers at the Centre for Business, Organisations and Society (CBOS) looking at sustainability on a personal level. How is responsibility for addressing socio-ecological issues allocated? How far does this responsibility relate to individual lifestyle and behaviour choices rather than the responsibility of corporations and politicians 鈥 and how do we feel about it?
She continues: 鈥淭his thinking of individuals as consumers creates a very specific subjectivity 鈥 one that individualises responsibility to address sustainability issues through consumer choices. But what about our role as citizens? What about voting and democratic processes?鈥
Much of Friederike鈥檚 research focuses on the intersection between sustainability and food. One of her recent studies . The company's 2019 campaign focused on the climate benefits of eating chicken rather than beef, and included messaging such as, 鈥業f everyone who reads this chooses chicken instead of beef only once, it鈥檚 like compensating for 14 long-haul jumbo jet flights鈥 and 鈥楥hicken has a tenth of the impact on climate compared to beef鈥.
Wrong reasons
As Friederike points out, 鈥渋t's not that their calculations are wrong or anything!鈥, but there was widespread online backlash against the adverts regardless. The negative comments spanned myriad stances, from those entirely averse to the consumption of animal products, through to those angered by the perceived pitting of beef and poultry farmers against one another.
In short, the respondents weren鈥檛 opposed to the prospect of taking responsibility for their own choices: what they took issue with was the framing of the messaging, and the idea of a large company deferring the onus of making an ethical decision wholly onto them as individuals.
鈥淲e've been studying this as a form of power,鈥 explains Friederike. 鈥淭here's a lot of discussion about consumer choice 鈥 even if there's a company saying like, 鈥極h, choose chicken over beef,鈥 you still have the choice, right? But there's this idea of governing through the freedom of choice; it's a form of power that's more subtle. Through being given the choice, you're [now the one who has to] deal with that ethical question.鈥
While for some, these ethical questions might weigh heavily, for others they鈥檙e something to celebrate. 69色情片 from has been . This could come in the form of ethically produced garments, recycled paper invitations, biodegradable confetti alternatives or an avoidance of plastic, to name just a few examples.
鈥淚 think it's a way for them to use an occasion where they are in the spotlight to show it off, and to show guests that there is an alternative,鈥 she says.
A day to remember
Diletta carried out interviews with brides and grooms who were either planning or had recently held their wedding. She used these to delve into which elements of the event were most important to them, and how making sustainable choices helped them 鈥 or didn鈥檛 鈥 in achieving these.
The study found that uniqueness, desirability, emotion and memorability were the most important facets of the event for celebrants. As Diletta points out, people usually spend large sums of money (the average UK wedding in 2024 cost over 拢20,000) and tend to host only a few such events across a lifetime. For many people, these are among the most special days of their lives 鈥 and they understandably want an event that reflects both this fact and their own values and personalities.
So, why might people be turned off by a sustainable wedding? For some, she found, 鈥減eople think there is a sort of stigma, [that sustainability is] something uncool or for more alternative people.鈥 On the other hand, Diletta identified that for others, sustainability fed directly into these positive attributes. A handmade dress, say, might be viewed as a one-off item and of higher quality, and so more likely to last and be passed down through generations.
As a result, Diletta suggests that brands targeting the wedding industry should emphasise the positive factors around the sustainability of their products, such as how they might be more unique.
鈥淚 think the big challenge is making sustainability something cool rather than boring," she explains. 鈥淭his is difficult, but I think they can do it by communicating the attributes that can enhance the priorities people have for special occasions. [You need to] link sustainability with emotion, and something good for you and the environment.鈥
For the couples who chose to incorporate these values into their wedding, though, doing so made the event even more special in their eyes: 鈥淭hey say that this playing a key role in the wedding was something that was empowering to them, sharing this idea and showing how important it was to them.鈥
It鈥檚 not just our life events that might be affected by environmental concerns, either: it can be our livelihoods, too. A third of UK employees say they have resigned from a job due to a conflict in values between themselves and their company. is currently studying the phenomenon of 鈥榗limate quitting鈥 amongst employees in the fossil fuel industry 鈥 whereby employees become concerned enough about their employer鈥檚 contribution to the climate crisis that they leave their jobs altogether.
It's a big step. 鈥淭hese are normal people,鈥 asserts Grace. 鈥淭hey have the same financial and material concerns as anybody. Sometimes they have a very specialised degree, like petroleum engineering or geology, that is not easily transferable to another industry.鈥
