Sustainability: Constructive perspectives

Image credit: Adobe Stock/ VISTA by Westend61 .

This is the latest report in the monthly Adobe Stock Cultural Insights series, which includes a curated collection of related visuals and focuses on topics that are visually in flux, driven by changes in the world and their effects on consumer priorities.

Although governments have been advancing policies for decades to encourage sustainable, environmentally friendly business practices and lifestyles, there’s been little progress in reversing climate change. This report explores a shift in sustainability messaging to engage and empower today’s consumers.

Exploring the climate crisis as an opportunity for positive changes

Image credit: Adobe Stock/Monkey Business, deagreez .

Historically, environmental issues and narratives have focused on doomsday scenarios. Over numerous years, this has led to consumers feeling discouraged and disempowered to have any effect on climate change.

Even so, a greener economy is growing, and more environmental experts and activists are now advocating for more positive, creative narratives. They’d like to see narratives that are backed up with data around successful community-based sustainability projects in order to reengage and advance environmentally friendly efforts, both locally and globally.

Fortunately, the data is both powerful and positive: A global survey found that companies that outperform in environmental, social, and governance benchmarks outgrow peers and exceed shareholder returns. Another 2023 report found that fashion and apparel brands that implement sustainable raw materials into their textile portfolios could capture an average profit increase of 6 percent over a five-year period average profit increase of 6 percent over a five-year period.

Young people are gravitating toward climate-focused study, and agriculture is one of the fastest-growing subjects at universities in the UK. In the next 10 years in the US, job growth within the environmental sciences and related fields is set to grow 8 percent higher than other industries. CGTN reports similar growth in “green jobs” in China and Accenture found that 77 percent of APAC youth want a job in the low-carbon economy.

Creative and solution-oriented storytelling

An ongoing challenge with sustainability messaging is that it usually reflects organizations’ abstract sustainability strategies and goals. This makes it difficult for individuals to connect to climate change issues — and even more difficult to take action toward living sustainably.

By making the issues personal and presenting community-based stories and actions, organizations can show that we all have an impact. For example, they can spotlight choices around making purchases, eating meat, using our right to civil disobedience, or questioning oppressive behavior to communicate in a more down-to-earth and heart-felt ways about sustainability and ethics.

Image credit: Adobe Stock/ DragonImages.

Echoing the shift to more focused and positive narrative lines, we’re seeing partnerships develop where companies provide eco-creators with tools and resources to create content for their brands on social media. And indeed, educating and encouraging consumers to opt for more planet-friendly products and services does produce shifts in purchasing patterns. Across the UK, US, and Canada, 83 percent of consumers say that TikTok and Instagram content inspires them to live more sustainably.

Intentional lifestyles

Image credit: Adobe Stock/ IKON Images.

Slow and sustainable travel

Aviation’s climate impact is alienating a growing segment of consumers. It’s estimated that airlines represent around 3.5 percent of human-caused climate impact, and the UN warns that airplane emissions are set to triple by 2050. McKinsey reports that 56 percent of travelers are worried about the industry’s climate impacts, and emissions are the top concern of respondents in 11 of the 13 countries polled, including the UK, Germany, Saudi Arabia, India, China, and Brazil.

Image credit: Adobe Stock/ GraphyPix, valbar STUDIO/Stocksy .

A growing interest in slower living and immersive experiences aligns with the growth of environmentally friendly travel. Slow and low travel — whether by sea, rail, bus, bike, or foot — isn't just a sustainable solution, it’s also a practical one for travelers tired of dealing with cancelled flights, last-minute weather complications, and hefty cancellation fees. In fact, according to an international American Express survey, 68 percent of consumers want to support green-friendly travel options, and train travel is emerging post-pandemic as a convenient, less impactful way of travelling.

Hotels are encouraging longer stays and slower travel. They’re offering larger guest rooms, expanded services, and amenities such as co-working spaces, allowing for greater immersion in local culture. The same American Express survey reported that 79 percent of Gen Zers and Millennials want to experience a day in the life of locals when they travel. In January 2024, Hilton group launched LivSmart Studios by Hilton designed for stays of 20 nights or more. The studio-style accommodation includes a kitchen and access to shared spaces like fitness and laundry areas as well as outdoor patios with grills.

Circular fashion and production

Pioneering brands are hacking conventional ideation, creation, and production processes to achieve circularity in everything from offering resale services to recycling waste. According to the Circularity Gap Report 2021 by impact organization Circle Economy, our world is only 8.6 percent circular, leaving an enormous gap for businesses to step in and lead the global economy toward circularity. A circular business approach is regenerative and restorative by design, as it’s based on three core principles: designing for zero waste and carbon footprint, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems.

Image credit: Adobe Stock/Reflexpixel, Seventyfour .

Fashion and interiors brands are looking to the outdoor market as a blueprint for successful repair-as-service models. From The North Face Renewed to REI's Good & Used resale site to Arc'teryx’s repair center, outdoor brands have made it simple for their consumers to make money off unwanted goods and repair their own items.

Though third-party repair services have emerged over the past few years, smart brands are bringing these services in -house, creating added revenue and another consumer touchpoint. Uniqlo launched a repair studio in its Soho flagship, where customers can get holes patched, buttons and zippers replaced, and ripped seams mended for as little as five dollars.

Fashion brands including Madewell, Zalando, and H&M are offering repair and recycle services, but brands can further combine repair, craft, and the DIY movements to offer “reimagining services”. Looking toward 2025, these strategies could include retailers partnering with artists and makers to reimagine old garments and furniture pieces with visible repair into one-of-a-kind art, fashion, and interiors. For example, a retailer could collaborate with a weaver to offer t-shirt rugs for consumers who supply their own old t-shirts and cut-and-sew garments.

Explore the “Sustainability: Constructive Perspectives” collection on Adobe Stock

The collection presents imagery of planet-friendly industry practices including agriculture, renewable and clean energy as well as environmentally safe and recyclable products and packaging. Content also includes examples of sustainable lifestyles and activities as well as environmental education and activism.

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