Primary Research: Survey

The primary research for this projects investigation reached out for female under the age of 30 to respond to a questionnaire about their connection to consumption and the media. This was for a heightened introspective into the outlooks of this generation, to produce more informed evaluations of the effect this sector has on young women. 

The survey was responded by 50 women, all selected within people I knew, covering a broad spectrum of shapes, sizes, ethnicities and ages ranging from around 19-25. 
Due to technical issues the end results were lost (my laptop was hacked and wiped, loosing all its data). However, luckily an version of the results was saved after 10 of the responses had been gathered. 

Also less representative, the results did tend to follow the same themes shown below. The actual data was included in the investigation and was noted to correlate and build of prior findings of women's  mental stigmatisation of body image ideals and consumer suffocation both on and off-line. 

General Findings: 

1. Women care a lot about what they wear, and know it defines their character
2. People do not know where their clothes come from, and want to
3. They do not at current take an active role in ensuring their clothing is sustainable
4. They are more inclined to buy sale items
5. They is already a trend in fashion for vintage / second hand clothing
6. Recycling and environmental protection amongst the upcoming generation is prominent

Reliability?
Taking into consideration that most people respond with idealistic interpretations of their beliefs rather than actual practices, it was generally recognised that people (despite hating to admit to it) are not concerned with where their clothes come from, or buying sustainable produce.

The design concludes that this is mostly due to the lack of exposure to the issue and realities of the industry. Instead of producing new expensive sustainable clothing (which seems to be the thing that puts everyday people off), simply up-cycling / reusing existing garments saves waste and impacts heavily on sustainability of recycling and waste reduction as a whole. 

With people 'trying to' recycle, it becomes evident that supply for the masses is an easier way to reduce waste is the best solution for actual change to exist.
For example, if shops switch from plastic bagging to paper, we cut plastic consumption as consumers need a bag to take their products home so are going to accept whatever is given to them. A similar thing is happening with coffee cup production and reusable cups being implemented with rewards (e.g. coffee from Pret is 50p with your own cup or £2 without, or Waitrose stopping plastic cups completely for their coffee).