The Sustainability Muse

CHAPTER 1

Introducing Rey

Rey is a composite portrait of today’s hyper-sustainable consumer

Sterling interviewed 30 rigorously screened individuals spanning generations, genders and geographies to create Rey, our Sustainability Muse.

Rey is your neighbor who collects rain to reuse. Rey is your friend who brings scrap aluminum foil to a restaurant to avoid using plastic takeout boxes. Rey is your family member who makes body scrubs from used coffee grounds. Rey could be all of us one day.

With Rey as a Muse™, brands can build deeper relationships with the consumer of tomorrow and offer sustainable solutions relevant to their goals and lifestyles.

Rey’s 6 defining characteristics

01
Chooses altruism over egotism

Rey values empathy, responsibility and commitment. They feel very closely connected to their communities and environment. They feel a strong sense of responsibility in playing a meaningful role in the world at large, and always follow through with commitment.

“Be a good person, treat others with love and respect, and your life will be better.”

“I’m a firm believer in karma. What you put in is what you’ll get out.”

CONSIDER:
What role within community does your brand play?

02
Acts local, thinks global

Rey conscientiously lives with the good of their immediate community in mind. At the same time, they are hyper conscious that every action they take in their everyday life is part of a bigger cycle of life and impacts the global ecosystem.

Rey uses a global perspective in their day to day decisions, applying the conscious consumption habits of different cultures to their own lifestyle.

Things Rey has learned abroad:

  • Fresh eggs don’t need to be refrigerated (Europe)

  • How to install solar panels (Costa Rica)

  • All about composting toilets (Costa Rica)

  • Reducing energy consumptions with tankless heaters (Europe)

  • The primary default trash should be recycling, and all other is secondary (Taiwan)

Examples of how Rey participates at a local level:

  • Mentors children with less access to educational resources

  • Volunteers in the community garden

  • Purchases produce from the local Farmer’s Market

CONSIDER:
What impact are your decisions having at a micro and macro level?

03
Invests in the future in big and small ways

Rey believes in the power of small actions to make a huge difference. At the same time, they will also put in significant time, effort and money to make more dramatic changes in their life wherever they can.

Rey believes their actions are investments towards a better future, thinking for both tomorrow and generations to come.

Small steps:

  • Timing showers to save water

  • Growing herbs and veggies in an urban window bed

  • Taking foil to restaurants to bring home leftovers

  • Turning the refrigerator off at night

  • Not using electricity at peak hours

  • Riding a bicycle to work

  • 1000 hours outside challenge

Big investments:

  • Capturing rain water in barrels to reuse

  • Installing a gray water sprinkler system

  • Converting their yard to drought-resistant plants

  • Installing solar panels

  • Driving an electric vehicle

  • Building a new home off the grid

  • Investing in land for future family that will be safer from natural disasters caused by climate change

CONSIDER:
What sustainable actions - big or small - can your brand evangelize, teach and enable?

04
Makes vs. takes

A highly creative and capable individual, being resourceful and crafty is second nature. When Rey has a need, they will turn first to their own skillset and what they have around them to see what they can DIY.

Some fun things that Rey has made:

  • Sleeping mats crocheted from plastic bags

  • Lighting fixtures from upcycled pipes and glassware

  • Rouge from the scraps of a beet

  • Body scrub from coffee grinds

  • Dish sponges crocheted from recycled plastic yarn

  • Organizers from upcycled wood

  • Their own clothing

CONSIDER:
How can your brand enable Rey’s resourcefulness to reduce and reuse?

05
Tracks and traces

Rey will go to great lengths to learn everything they can about the products they buy, particularly those that go in and on their body. Whether it is learning about ingredients, a brand’s carbon footprint or workers’ equity, they rely heavily on third party reviews vs. the word of the brands themselves.

Categories at the top of Rey’s tracking list:

  • Food

  • Household Cleaners

  • Personal Care

Resources Rey relies on:

  • EWG

  • Think Dirty

  • GoodOnYou.eco

Retailers like:

  • Grove Collaborative

  • PackageFreeShop

  • Honest

  • Zero Waste Home

Rey’s rejects:

  • Single-use plastic

  • Phosphates

  • Fast fashion

CONSIDER:
Does your brand live on Rey’s reject list? How are you getting the good word out about your footprint?

06
Believes the burden is on brands

Rey believes the burden of responsibility lies with manufacturers and brands to clean up their acts. They get there is only so much the public can do on their own. But this doesn’t mean Rey feels helpless; rather, they feel empowered.

“I’m doing what I can to change the world, even if it’s on a tiny scale. Every purchase made, or even not made, is a vote.”

CONSIDER:
How do you establish a mutually beneficial relationship with your sustainable consumer of tomorrow?

Summary

01

Rey chooses altruism over egotism
What role within community does your brand play?

02

Rey acts local, thinks global
What impact are your brand decisions having at a micro and macro level?

03

Rey invests in the future in big and small ways
What sustainable actions - big or small - can your brand evangelize, teach and enable?

04

Rey makes vs. takes
How can your brand enable Rey’s resourcefulness to reduce and reuse?

05

Rey tracks and traces
Does your brand live on Rey’s reject list? How are you getting the good word out about your footprint?

06

Rey believes the burden is on brands
How do you establish a mutually beneficial relationship with the sustainable consumer of tomorrow?

Muses help build brands

Sterling’s Muse methodology uses robust qualitative research to identify aspirational consumers within a target audience. Aggregating insights from various research methodologies, we use each individual’s values, motivations, behaviors, needs and lifestyles to create a composite consumer portrait.

A Muse inspires organizations to make informed choices that build emotional and behavioral loyalty with powerful human storytelling.

The Sustainability Muse™ series