Will humanity as a whole realize that less can be more?
At a time of profound rethinking and COVID-19, many people are discovering a new way of life. Our society, based on the principle of freedom, including the fundamental freedom of movement, needs to reinvent itself.
Utopia or reality? Zestissime asks.
A selection of the latest news on the subject.
A few years ago, the "Less is More" movement was mainly linked to personal development, a public in search of the self. An individual approach focused on well-being and the quest for fulfillment. A new lifestyle in which the art of the essential was a nod to abundance, a way to rid oneself of material possessions, but also of toxic relationships.
It sometimes advocated a certain return to the past, a nostalgia for a way of life closer to the environment. You had to be prepared to sacrifice a number of domestic technological evolutions to join in. The result: a club of bohemian happy fews in which the majority didn't recognize themselves.
In recent years, the minimalist tribe has been joined by conscious consumers. Industrial activity has profoundly damaged our planet, depleting its resources twice as fast as the time needed to (re)generate them. How can we get out of this compulsive consumption, where working more to spend more is the only way to achieve happiness or success? A philosophy essentially based on the principle of possession, of which our environment is the collateral victim.

What if the current health situation had the merit of bringing us face to face with a phase of "forced dieting", whatever our origins and social background, and showing us that our so-called "pleasurable" purchasing actions are often impulsive and linked to ingrained but superfluous habits?
What if the weeks of confinement to combat the COVID-19 pandemic were a test on a global scale to rethink the way we consume in 2020 and for the next decade?
But what does it mean to rethink consumption in the spring of 2020?
Several "coaches" have developed the principles of lifestyle minimalism. Whether in the form of documentaries (the now famous "Minimalism: A Documentary About The Important Things" on Netflix), books ("Goodbye, Things: On Minimalist Living" by Fumio Sasaki ), TED Talks or lifestyle websites, often partners of brand(s).
An interesting parallel can be drawn between the values of the minimalist - close to the consumer-actor - and the transformation of a linear economic model to a circular approach. There is a clear resonance between the new expectations of a society in full awareness of its ecological impact, and companies that want to produce differently.

On the consumer side, more and more households are reviewing their habits. The act of buying is less spontaneous and thoughtless.
The Bisou method, devised by the authors of "J'arrête de surconsommer - 21 jours pour sauver la planète et mon compte en banque" (Eyrolles, March 2017) is an excellent example of these new pre-consumer reflexes.
BISOU = "B" for "need" (what does this object need?); "I" for "immediate" (should I get it right away?); "S" for "similar" (do I already have similar ones?); "O" for "origin" (under what conditions was it made?); and "U" for "useful" (will it really be useful to me?).
At the same time, companies are increasingly adopting a circular business model that is beginning to take into account certain consumer expectations. It's no longer a question of producing solely to generate financial profit, but of taking other environmental, societal and ethical factors into account in the design, production, distribution and end-of-life of a product.
The circular economy is also a breeding ground for innovation and opportunities to reinvent the consumer ecosystem, thanks in particular to technological advances and the digital world.
Our verdict
REALITY - MEDIUM-TERM
Sometimes it takes an electroshock to change things. It's too early to say how consumers will react after the health crisis that the whole planet is going through almost simultaneously. There will probably be an immediate rebound effect. Everyone will want to get back to their lost habits. We can imagine different perceptions influenced by government management of the crisis on a national scale. But in the medium term, this ordeal will undeniably have highlighted the need to change our behavior.
From an economic point of view, however, it is to be feared that investment in environmental issues will slow down, and that private sector initiatives in this area will be reclassified as "non-priority".
But one thing is certain: the world has never been so aware of the need to act.
So that less becomes more.