Sustainable consumer behaviour in Slovakia: The need of awareness among consumers in Slovakia?

By Pamela Palková, Communication Trainee of Circular Slovakia

Consumers as well as businesses and government need to cooperate in order to achieve the transition to a circular economy. Consumers contribute to this effort with their sustainable consumption. Consumer behaviour is associated with the purchase, use and the final disposal of products. All of the above could be performed sustainably, if the consumer was more motivated and more aware. It should be the goal of every business to raise awareness among their customers and teach them to make the right decisions.

This article is written with an emphasis on consumer behaviour in supermarkets and their alternatives based on the Circular Slovakia podcast with two members of the platform for circular economy, Lidl Slovenská republika, v.o.s. and social enterprise and community re-use centre with drugstore, Baterkáreň.

Benefit for both

A circular economy is necessary in order to tackle climate change, to generate less waste, to save resources and to maintain the wellbeing and health of people. Unfortunately, many Slovak citizens fail to realise that both consumers and businesses can benefit from the transition to a circular economy.

Businesses can also make profit sustainably, sometimes even higher than those which do not apply any principles of a circular economy. The initial costs may be higher, but they can end up being more competitive, effective and save their resources. In exchange, customers have access to sustainable, durable, recyclable, climate-neutral or/and easily repairable products of high quality.

Why should businesses educate and inform their customers to make responsible and sustainable decisions?

It is not only about selling enviro-friendly products, as it is also important to provide information on where products come from and how to dispose of them correctly after use.

Such strategies could include, for example, promoting local products, narrowing the selection of goods, offering reusable cloth shopping bags or motivating to sort and recycle waste correctly.

Another problem may be single-use microtene bags, which are still widely used by Slovak consumers. In order to address this, Lidl has launched a campaign to remind customers whether they necessarily need it. At the same time, Lidl is promoting the fact that some fruit and vegetables have their own cover (such as a peel or skin), meaning the bag is not needed at all. As a result, consumption of these bags has declined by 10 % year on year.

A unique concept of Baterkáreň

Baterkáreň aims to be quite the opposite of supermarkets such as Lidl.

Baterkáreň is a social enterprise which also uses a new business model based on the principle of sharing, providing services instead of selling products, product and material take-back systems, local principle etc. It helps people to change their lifestyles in line with environmental principles. Apart from awareness raising and education, Baterkáreň has a retail business with zero-waste drugstore products, rental services and a reuse centre (household appliances, books, plants, decorations etc.). Furthermore, it organises events (workshops, courses, meetings) and SWAPs. Their goal is to have a positive impact on the community and it is working well for sure! However, they cannot fully substitute the role of supermarkets.

Reaction of consumers to “green” changes in supermarkets

Customers tend to shop in supermarkets, where they can find all they need in one place as quickly as possible. There are many types of consumers within regions, who have different preferences and are very price sensitive.

The supermarket chain Lidl offers just that, as it stocks a variety of goods and substitutes, and was one of the first supermarkets to narrow their product range. Not only did this have a positive impact on the environment, but also on customers who did not seem to object to the reduced selection.

There have also been other changes throughout the years, such as being one of the first on the market in 2012 to sell BIO (organic) fruits and vegetables. Initially, consumers were more reluctant to buy bio-quality products for a higher price. Now, however, their preferences have changed and the purchase of organic products has been increasing more and more.

How could Slovak consumers continue to improve?

Consumers should understand that they do not necessarily always need new products. There are plenty of them already in the cycle. However, Slovak consumers are not used to buying second-hand products or repairing damaged ones. It is vital that they are informed of other sustainable possibilities on the market, such as repair centres, reuse centres, SWAP events, second-hand shops, etc.

It has been noticed that Slovak consumers do not have basic knowledge about the composition of packages, how to sort them, what the product consists of, where it comes from etc.

Further education and awareness raising is crucial in this field. If interested, full interview and podcast in Slovak can be found here: https://ciernalabut.sk/

Circular Slovakia

Circular Slovakia is a newly founded association of legal entities that aims to accelerate the transition to the circular economy in Slovakia. It already has 50 members and aspiring to attract more. Circular Slovakia takes part in many activities involving sustainable business and circular economy. One of their four core pillars is awareness raising, which is also important to achieve our common goal.