Worth changing for: a photo essay

A deeper look at the push and pull of sustainable living across America

We’ve been on a journey – literally and metaphorically – to understand what drives people to be, but also what prevents them from being, more environmentally conscious in their day-to-day lives.

As part of our MixSafari project, we travelled across the US, talking to ordinary people about their varying degrees of engagement with sustainability. We discovered that the desire to "do good" doesn’t look the same for everyone; it can show up in countless ways, shaped by individual priorities, people’s backgrounds, and everyday actions.

For some, it’s about resourcefulness, like reusing and repurposing. For others, it’s finding eco-friendly technology or brands that align with their values. Yet, even those who say they are eco-conscious still face contradictions: doing well in one area, while relying on less sustainable choices in another. There is often a sense that people don’t make more sustainable choices because it’s too expensive, but we found that there’s so much more to it than that.  

For brands, the opportunity is clear: to understand this diversity in attitudes and behaviours, and to listen and evolve alongside them. Real change will never be about a single narrative.

This photo essay is the first chapter in a series looking to highlight what everyone – you, your brand(s), your company and ours – can learn from the real people behind the purchase.

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Austin, 28, Houston - Amateur Naturalist

Ever since I was a little kid, I was always outside, always exploring and just enjoying nature. My Grandpa is a biologist for Texas Parks and Wildlife. It was so natural for us to just talk for hours about wildlife and the environment.

I feel like my capacity to have much of an impact right now is limited. I guess sometimes I feel a bit like a hypocrite, because I could do a lot more.

We do want to have a homestead someday, and cut down the reliance we have on the wasteful system we live in. However, I know we need to play the game and earn as much money as we can to be able to afford it.

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Blessing, 20, Houston - Stylish Super-seamstress

Thrifting is something I do by myself, with my sister, on dates... It is so nice to know you are getting unique pieces for cheap and honestly saves me so much.

I can see so many ordinary people making efforts to be kind to the planet. And I can't help but think that I don't see big companies making the same amount of effort. And that’s concerning because those are the ones that mass produced the stuff. So, okay, we're cleaning up, we're recycling, but you're still pumping out ten times what we do a day.

I recently saw in the news that the Walmart higher management was confronted about how many plastic bags they contribute to the world every day but they walked away from the interviewer, declining to make a statement.

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KeAndre, 50, Dallas - Tech Enthusiast

I'm kind of a technology guy. I don't know that I go out and actively feel “I need to recycle today” or “I need to think about how this can be more sustainable”, but I think what's happened is that as technology has progressed. It's become easier and easier to do the right things or the right things for the environment.

Here in Texas over the past few years, we've gone through some very traumatic weather events. So, I’ve been thinking about how important it is to have alternative sources of energy outside of the grid. Whether that's using solar panels, whether that is, you know, finding ways to collect rainwater, I’m looking at things that mean we’ll have options.

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Marian, 34, New York - Thrifty Gardener

All of my environmentally friendly practices began when I was a kid, mostly because my family grew up with not a lot of money. We reused everything. I grew up in Chinatown with a lot of other Chinese folks, mostly immigrant. You reuse your plastic water bottle. You use your pencil until there’s one inch left. We did all these little things that I never really thought of as sustainable practices until I realised that most people don't buy one plastic bottle and reuse it for a whole month or a year. That people just throw away willy nilly.

When we eat our oranges or our tangerines, we take the peels and we dry them out for soups and stuff. You know, even with our eggs, we take the egg shells and we feed them back to our chickens. We try not to make any waste at all.

I think the saddest thing for me is that no matter what I do as one person, I don't think I really affect the world as much as I’d like to think that I affect the world.

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Andromeda, 24, New York - Spiritual Activist

I think for me, especially in my indigenization and in my spiritual practice, I have been building a relationship with the environment and with nature. I’ve been learning how to connect with it in deep and substantial ways, which I feel like a lot of us just don't do anymore because we're so sucked into like the grind and technology and whatever else.

I think it’s vital to focus on what I can control, rather than what is so far outside of my wheelhouse. It's like people have rendered themselves immobile worrying about ice caps melting, fossil fuel usage, all of these things are so outside of our reach.

In reality, a lot of different things come into play. Cost especially, and how much of my personal energy it costs as well. Can I build this into my routine? Those are the big things that play into whether or not I'm going to be able to make a change and stick to it.

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Horacio, 30, Los Angeles - Outdoor-loving Optimist

I would say living in L.A, I am more aware [of the need for sustainability] than when I lived in Texas, you see it on bumper stickers or in the way grocery stores are managed. It's definitely part of L.A. culture to have your own reusable water bottle. There's a lot more reminders here of how you can step up.

When I hear about big companies and oil spills, and other things that they're doing, but they just buy their way out of it, I do feel pretty discouraged. Sometimes, in fact most of the time, I fall into the trap of thinking “it doesn't matter if I do this”. You just think, you're just one person, it doesn’t matter.

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Tom + Thea, 33, Los Angeles - Eco-power couple

Thea: At a young age, I was very conscious about my own consumption, so I got into the minimalist mindset very early on. Living more resourcefully, being more independent is empowering. It’s kind of cool, you just feel more invincible in a way. You don't need trash or single use items.

Tom: I kind of try to have fun with [planet friendly switches]! I like the resourcefulness behind all of it. I like to avoid waste, thinking about ‘how do we do it’? There's not a blueprint for your lifestyle or every situation, but there are solutions. And I think for me is just finding out like, okay, how can I save water? I enjoy it.

Thea: At our shop, we want it to make it look like sustainability is an enjoyable thing, a rewarding thing. And we get to slow down and experience life a little bit more. The thing we hear most is ‘what difference does it make, really’? We have to convince people, not by telling them, but by showing them. And that does take a lot of work.