Young people and environmental sustainability

Earth Overshoot Day, the day the Earth runs out of resources for the year, in 2021 has arrived on July 19; a day inherited from years of misguided policies and ever-increasing emissions.

Paying the price are mostly young people, the adults of tomorrow, who are already very afraid of the future that awaits them.

A 2021 study by Deloitte, the "Millennial Survey 2021", highlights the importance given by Millenials (born between 1980 and 1995) and by Generation Z (born between 1995 and 2010) on respect for environmental issues.

It is no coincidence that the global icon of climate change is Greta Thunberg, daughter of Generation Z, and all the biggest movements related to climate change - "Fridays For Future", "Zero Hour" and "Extinction Rebellion" - are led by young people under the age of twenty-five.

The trend is also confirmed by the fact that six out of ten young people declare that they choose their future work environment based on the "company purpose".

In fact, most of the respondents to Deloitte believe that a company that cares about the environment and sustainability in general, is more likely to be publicly traded and provide a substantial salary. For this reason, Millennials are sensitive to corporate policy when choosing who to send their resumes to.

How Covid-19 has affected young Italians

The global pandemic and the resulting measures to counter it have had a major impact on the entire population. The forced time-out has forced young and old to rethink their priorities and, for young people, one of these seems to be environmental sustainability.

Millennials and Generation Z are certainly concerned about the economic, financial and social impact of Covid-19, but they also see this crisis as a great opportunity to start from scratch and build a more equitable, sustainable and inclusive society, like stated by Fabio Pompei, CEO of Deolitte Italia.

The Deloitte study also highlighted that about three-quarters of the 18,400 respondents say they are more sensitive to the needs of others and motivated to have a positive impact on the community after the pandemic.

The 80% of young people who responded to the survey also believe that governments and businesses need to become more involved in environmental protection and more than 65% fear that the issue will take a back seat, due to the global crisis and economy.

Generation Z, Millennials and sustainability in fashion

Millennials and Generation Z show their interest in sustainability issues also in the fashion sector; in fact, according to a research by Boston Consulting Group, 80% of them feel guilty about buying garments produced according to the logic of fast fashion.

Another study, presented during the Milan Fashion Global Summit 2018, already demonstrated how the sustainability and quality of products were one of the prerequisites of purchase, with six out of ten people who would have preferred to buy sustainable products even at the cost of spending more.

In the same vein is the Pwc Observatory that, based on a sample of over 2 thousand young people interviewed, highlights how it is this age group that is willing to face an increased tag for a product responsible to the environment and people: 90% of them are, in fact, willing to pay a premium price for products of this type.

In particular, 28% are willing to spend more on brands known for their sustainability practices, 24% for products made in a sustainable or eco-friendly way, 21% for products made in an ethical way, 9% for sustainable packaging and 7% for charitable brands.

Generation Z, Millennials and circular fashion

The circular economy is currently on the rise: it could reduce the annual volume of plastic in the seas by over 80%, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25%, create more than seven hundred thousand jobs within twenty years and generate savings equal to two hundred billion dollars a year, according to the report "Breaking the Plastic Wave".

There is a great affinity between the new generations and circular fashion: for 80% of those born between 1995 and 2010, buying used clothes is a cleared-out action.

In fact, if until a few years ago it was the poorest segment of the population who benefited from second-hand clothes, today vintage is all the rage.

The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly contributed to the trend: people have had much more time to notice the large amount of unused clothes and have taken the opportunity to download used clothes selling apps such as, for example, Depop or Vinted.

Even Instagram - the most used social network among Millennials and Gen Z - has accelerated this mechanism, promoting individual and personal style.

Buying used-clothes allows, in fact, for a wider and more varied pool of choices, including big brands and luxury items that would otherwise be out of reach for young people.

"The second-hand market is countercyclical: if the economy is good, okay, if the economy is bad, it’s still good" says Hilary Bella Walker, owner of Bivio's three stores, the reference point for the second-hand in Milan.

Given the prospects, more and more important companies and brands are looking to enter this market: Vestiaire Collective, luxury used marketplace, continues to record growing performance, so much so that it has seen an increase in the number of orders of more than 90% globally in the past year.

It is estimated, in fact, that circular and sustainable fashion represents a$ 5.3 trillion business and promises an unparalleled development: according to the Circular Fashion Report 2020,its potential global market value will be 67 percent higher than the fashion industry's current value of $3 trillion.

In 2028 the second-hand market will be worth even more than that of fast fashion: 64 billion for the first and 44 billion for the second.

Conclusion

The share of "consumers of the future", investing in companies committed to sustainability, is constantly growing.

The trend has started some years ago and has also grown as a result of the epidemic that, we are hopefully leaving behind: new movements are emerging every day that fight for a more sustainable future and more and more people, particularly of the new generations, commit themselves to a more responsible life, putting attention and their savings in sustainability.

It is important to get ahead of the trend so as not to risk falling behind in order to reap the maximum economic and environmental benefit.

Cikis also does this: it supports fashion companies to face this trend, proposing the most appropriate solution to their needs.