From Overconsumption to Mindful Consumption: An Examination of Consumption Practices of Sri Lankan Consumer Activists

Overconsumption, driven by materialism results in many environmental problems. It also impacts the long-term wellbeing of individuals. Therefore, engaging in sustainable consumption is vital. In addressing the issue of sustainability, overconsumption at individual level is likely to be an effective approach which can be achieved by instilling mindful consumption. The root-cause of overconsumption is the detachment from fellow humans and the natural environment. Yet, if one makes their consumption choices mindfully, it will no longer be a problem. Many anti-materialistic consumption practices that are presented in previous literature are initiated by various types of consumer activists and anti-consumption movements. It is not clear in the current literature how universal love and spirituality are reflected in their consumption practices. To unearth this, using a qualitative approach, 25 semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with individual consumer activists’ who lives in the Colombo district, Sri Lanka using snowball sampling. The gathered data were then transcribed and analyzed through the thematic analysis. Findings highlight the various mindful consumption practices adopted by the consumer activists in Sri Lanka. Reducing, reusing, rejecting, recycling and redefining were the common mindful practices highlighted by the respondents. Mindful consumption can be seen as a delineating social and business challenge. As shown in the implications these ways must be treated as the core values of a society to improve mindful consumption practices in the society because the absence of such values can be seen as the root cause of the unsustainability and unhappiness. Thus, the current study shows key policy implications for improving initiatives related to mindful consumption in the society.