Dr. Nita Rollins discusses the concept of unconsumption, which refers to actions and forces that reduce consumer footprints through reducing, reusing, recycling, refusing, making, selling, and swapping. Some examples of unconsumption behaviors include properly recycling old electronics rather than letting them sit in a drawer, finding new uses for items about to be thrown away, and using services like Freecycle to find new homes for functioning items. Unconsumption is driven by forces like radical transparency, disintermediation, freeconomics, network effects, and dematerialization. Marketers can reach unconsumers by offering sustainable marketing, renting covetable items, selling vintage goods, preparing for CSR scrutiny, clarifying sustainability, mirror

1. Unconsumption
Dr. Nita Rollins
Futurist, Resource Interactive

2. Unconsumption
Unconsumption
Actions and forces that reduce
SXSW
From:
a consumer footprint
Dr. Nita Rollins, Futurist
Resource Interactive’s RI:Lab

4. No Shortage of Scholarship

5. No Shortage of Scholarship

6. RI TREND MAP
2009-2015
Macrotrend
Consumer
Digital
Sociocultural
Brand/Industry Vertical

7. RI TREND MAP
2009-2015
Macrotrend
Consumer
Digital
Sociocultural
Brand/Industry Vertical

8. RI TREND MAP
2009-2015
Scarcity &
Sustainability
The Socially
Conscious Web
Unconsumption
CSR
Macrotrend
Consumer
Digital Locasumers
Sociocultural
Brand/Industry Vertical

9. RI TREND MAP
2009-2015
Recessionary Scarcity &
Reality Sustainability
The Socially
Skeptinomics
Conscious Web
Lifehacking Unconsumption
Stopwatch
CSR
Shopping
Macrotrend
Consumer
Digital Stealth Wealth Locasumers
Sociocultural
Brand/Industry Vertical

10. “Our carbon footprint is directly tied
to our consumption, whether that’s tied
to our consumption of energy or a consumer
product.”
Josh Dorfman, host of Sundance Channel show The Lazy Environmentalist

11. THE LOST DECADE?
Median household income in 2008 slipped to $50,303 from $51,295 in 1998.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2009
RECESSION AS
UNCONSUMPTION
CATALYST

12. Goodwill stores open at least a year rose
7.1% in the rst three months of 2009
over the same period a year earlier.
Source: NYT, June 10, 2009

13. ...is the number-one clothing site on the Internet
...sold $7.1 billion worth of apparel products sold last year
...has 90 million active buyers and sellers
...did $8.7 billion in revenues in 2009
...sells a dress and a pair of women’s jeans every 18
seconds
...sells a pair of shoes every three seconds
...sold more than $600 million of all types of merchandise
via eBay mobile in 2009

14. 570 cities
50 countries
20 billion page views per month
More traf c than either eBay or Amazon.com
Bartering increased 100% during recession. SOURCE: Digital Journal, March 2009
“With more than 47 million unique users every month in the US
alone—nearly a fth of the nation's adult population—it is the most
important community site going and yet the most
underdeveloped.”
SOURCE: Why Craigslist is Such a Mess, Gary Wolf, Wired, 8/09

15. Traditional jobs grew by 3.7% between 1998 and 2007. Jobs
in the clean energy economy grew by 9.1%.
Source: The Pew Charitable Trusts’ The CleanEconomy: Repowering Jobs,
Businesses and Investments Across America, June 2009
ECONOMIC AND
ENVIRONMENTAL
UNEXPECTEDLY
COALESCE

16. ?

17. Of 4,000 consumers
?
surveyed worldwide,
almost 1/3 said they
were willing to pay
more for green
products — especially
for fresh and prepared
foods, and large
appliances.
SOURCE: Boston Consulting Group survey, Jan 2010

18. Of 4,000 consumers “That’s wildly out of
?
surveyed worldwide, touch with
almost 1/3 said they mainstream America,
were willing to pay which mainly shops in
more for green big-box stores.
products — especially People don’t pay the
for fresh and prepared green premium.
foods, and large People in this
appliances. economy buy on
SOURCE: Boston Consulting Group survey, Jan 2010 price, price and
price.”
SOURCE: Tom Szaky, founder of Terracycle Inc.

19. Are marketers focused on
this alternate economy and
ecosystem?

20. Some are...

23. “Unconsumption is a word used to describe everything
that happens after an act of acquisition.
Unconsumption is an invisible badge.
Unconsumption means the accomplishment of properly
recycling your old cellphone, rather than the guilt of letting it
sit in a drawer.
Unconsumption means the thrill of nding a new use for
something that you were about to throw away.
Unconsumption means the pleasure of using a service like
Freecycle (or Craigslist or Goodwill) to nd a new home for
the functioning VCR you just replaced, rather than throwing it
in the garbage.
Unconsumption means enjoying the things you own to the
fullest – not just at the moment of acquisition.
Unconsumption means the pleasure of using a pair of
sneakers until they are truly worn out – as opposed to the
nagging feeling of defeat when they simply go out of style.
Unconsumption means feeling good about the simple act of
turning off the lights when you leave the room.
Unconsumption is not about the rejection of things, or the
demonization of things. It’s not a bunch of rules.
Unconsumption is an idea, a set of behaviors, a way of
thinking about consumption itself from a new perspective.
Unconsumption is free.”
SOURCE: unconsumption blog by Rob Walker, Tom Hosford, Steve Chaney, Brian W. Jones

30. H&M Outed for
Destroying Unsold Apparel
PARADOX? SOURCE: NYT, Jan 2010
conspicuous
UNCONSUMPTION

31. Haul Vlogging
PUBLICIZING AND
CATALOGING
CONSUMPTION
GEN Y:
The prematurely affluent generation
8,000 views to date

32. Haul Vlogging
PUBLICIZING AND
CATALOGING
CONSUMPTION
GEN Y:
The prematurely affluent generation
8,000 views to date

33. ARTISTIC
INVENTORIES
EXAMINE
CONSUMPTION
& IDENTITY

34. ARTISTIC
INVENTORIES
EXAMINE
CONSUMPTION
& IDENTITY
“And nally, as many have already
expressed, thanks for helping me to
examine my relationship with stuff
and how not to let it de ne you.”
Phil in Charlottesville, VA and proud owner of Ecko can opener

35. ARTISTIC
INVENTORIES
EXAMINE Made me wonder, "what if everyone
CONSUMPTION sold all their stuff at the same time.....?"
Picture the postal deliveries, and the
& IDENTITY friendliness which stuff-swapping
could engender.
Amazon book reviewer M. Stevens Becksvoort
“And nally, as many have already
expressed, thanks for helping me to
examine my relationship with stuff
and how not to let it de ne you.”
Phil in Charlottesville, VA and proud owner of Ecko can opener

36. ARTISTIC
INVENTORIES
EXAMINE
CONSUMPTION
& IDENTITY

37. ARTISTIC
INVENTORIES
EXAMINE
CONSUMPTION
& IDENTITY
“And nally, as many have already
expressed, thanks for helping me to
examine my relationship with stuff
and how not to let it de ne you.”
Phil in Charlottesville, VA and proud owner of Ecko can opener

38. ARTISTIC
INVENTORIES
EXAMINE Made me wonder, "what if everyone
CONSUMPTION sold all their stuff at the same time.....?"
Picture the postal deliveries, and the
& IDENTITY friendliness which stuff-swapping
could engender.
Amazon book reviewer M. Stevens Becksvoort
“And nally, as many have already
expressed, thanks for helping me to
examine my relationship with stuff
and how not to let it de ne you.”
Phil in Charlottesville, VA and proud owner of Ecko can opener

39. ARTISTIC
INVENTORIES
EXAMINE Made me wonder, "what if everyone
CONSUMPTION sold all their stuff at the same time.....?"
Picture the postal deliveries, and the
& IDENTITY friendliness which stuff-swapping
could engender.
Amazon book reviewer M. Stevens Becksvoort
Simon Evans,
Everything I Have
“And nally, as many have already
expressed, thanks for helping me to
examine my relationship with stuff
and how not to let it de ne you.”
Phil in Charlottesville, VA and proud owner of Ecko can opener

41. consumer
ACTIONS
1 Reduce
2 Reuse
3 Recycle
4 Refuse
5 Make
6 Sell
7 Swap

42. digitalconsumer
FORCESACTIONS
RADICAL TRANSPARENCY 1 Reduce
DISINTERMEDIATION 2 Reuse
FREECONOMICS 3 Recycle
NETWORK EFFECT 4 Refuse
DEMATERIALIZATION 5 Make
6 Sell
7 Swap

43. consumer
ACTIONS
PRIMARY RESEARCH
1 Reduce
Online Forums 2 Reuse
3 Recycle
4 Refuse
5 Make
6 Sell
Dane, 24, Austinite & unconsumer 7 Swap
Video Ethnography

44. consumer
ACTIONS
PRIMARY RESEARCH
1 Reduce
Online Forums 2 Reuse
3 Recycle
4 Refuse
5 Make
6 Sell
Dane, 24, Austinite & unconsumer 7 Swap
Video Ethnography

45. Swap
c c

46. digital
FORCES
RADICAL TRANSPARENCY
DISINTERMEDIATION
FREECONOMICS
NETWORK EFFECT
DEMATERIALIZATION

47. digital
FORCES
RADICAL TRANSPARENCY
DISINTERMEDIATION
FREECONOMICS
NETWORK EFFECT
DEMATERIALIZATION

48. RADICAL
TRANSPARENCY
900 of 4,500 companies delisted
“Greenwashing has run its
course and is on the verge of
finally dying off. The death of
greenwashing comes with the
rise of radical transparency:
either your become
transparent or transparency
will be done to you."
Adam Werbach, Global CEO of sustainability agency Saatchi & Saatchi S

49. DISINTERMEDIATION
Over the last year, the
number of registered
members on Etsy has more
than doubled to 3.75
million.
The Quit Your Day Job
blog on Etsy now attracts
2 million page views a
month.

50. DISINTERMEDIATION
material culture meets
counter culture
Over the last year, the
number of registered
members on Etsy has more
than doubled to 3.75
million.
The Quit Your Day Job
blog on Etsy now attracts
2 million page views a
month.

51. FREECONOMICS
“Free has a powerful
hold on the psyche.”
Chris Anderson, Free: The Future of a Radical Price

52. “Companies like Facebook,
Twitter, Ebay and Apple--
but not Google--will
dominate the future of the
NETWORK EFFECT
internet. Collecting data
is less valuable than
connecting people.”
SOURCE: Sean Parker, Web 2.0 Summit October 2009
The Facebook Causes application
has become the fastest growing
consumer Internet application in
history, reaching 50 million users in
just two years.

53. Hussein DEMATERIALIZATION
Chayalan

54. Hussein DEMATERIALIZATION
Chayalan atoms mix with bits

55. Hussein DEMATERIALIZATION
Chayalan atoms mix with bits
As goods become disembodied,
infused with slivers of mind, and
packed full of bits, they will also
obey the new dynamics of
property. Soon enough
everything manufactured will
potentially become social
property. Kevin Kelly, The Technium

56. 7 Ways to Reach the Unconsumer

57. 7 Ways to Reach the Unconsumer
OFFER NO HOLDS BARRED SUSTAINABLE
MARKETING
RENT THE NEWEST, MOST COVETABLE
ITEMS
OLD IS THE NEW NEW: SELL VINTAGE
PREPARE FOR CSR SCRUTINY
CLARIFY SUSTAINABILITY
MIRROR CONSUMERS‘ DESIRE
FOR DISRUPTION
SUPPORT SWAPPING ON SITE

58. OFFER NO HOLDS Marks & Spencer
BARRED
SUSTAINABLE
MARKETING
Marks & Spencer

59. RENT THE NEWEST,
MOST COVETABLE
ITEMS
“Ownership is not as
important as it once
was. Access is better
than ownership.”
--Kevin Kelly, The Technium

60. SELL VINTAGE

61. PREPARE FOR
CSR
SCRUTINY
Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener
Electronics gave Dell, Apple, and
Motorola “Partially Good” scores.
Urban renewal
Vegan-friendly clothing
Organic cotton
Solar electricity reduces factory footprint by 30%
Fabric Scrap Recycling: 30,000 pounds per week
Philanthropy: Hurricane Katrina victims received 80,000 shirts

62. CLARIFY
Earth 911 saw a 12% increase in
SUSTAINABILITY searches in 2009 compared to
2008, with an average of “almost
7000 daily inquiries” about
Upcycle disposing of home electronics
responsibly.
SOURCE: sustainablog.org February 2010
The sustainability question is:
How can we design and build a
world in which the Earth thrives
and people can pursue
ourishing lives?
Are there other de nitions?
Yes—too many to count.
SOURCE: MIT Sloan Management Review Sustainability Initiative

63. PACKAGING
MIRROR CONSUMERS‘
DECONSTRUCTED
DESIRE FOR
DISRUPTION =
NEW KINETIC VALUE
Tropicana Origami

64. SUPPORT SWAPPING
ON SITE
PROTOTYPE

65. SUPPORT SWAPPING
ON SITE
PROTOTYPE

66. SUPPORT SWAPPING
ON SITE
PROTOTYPE

67. SUPPORT SWAPPING
ON SITE
PROTOTYPE

68. SUPPORT SWAPPING
ON SITE
PROTOTYPE

69. SUPPORT SWAPPING
ON SITE
PROTOTYPE

70. SUPPORT SWAPPING
ON SITE
PROTOTYPE

71. SUPPORT SWAPPING
ON SITE
PROTOTYPE

72. SUPPORT SWAPPING
ON SITE
PROTOTYPE

73. thank you.
www.resource.com
Dr. Nita Rollins
Futurist, Resource Interactive
FOR A PRESENTATION OF UNCONSUMPTION, CONTACT:
inquiry@resource.com