Who are millennials

You’ve almost certainly heard of “Baby Boomers”, and you might have even heard of “Gen
X”. With Millenials being the buzzword for everyone right now, and with them having ideals
drastically different from their predecessors, it’s good to specify who you mean. They’re the
generation with some of the strongest thoughts on sustainability in all factors, including
combating slavery, environmental friendliness, and reducing the amount of waste that they
produce.

Millennials, or “Gen Y”, are the generation that generally were born in the late 80s to the
late 90s. They’re a generation with one foot in the analogue world, and one foot in the
digital era. Over the course of their life they’ve seen drastic changes in the environment and
much new legislation brought through, and they’re very tuned into issues such as reducing
the impact that a person’s individual choices have on the environment.

What changed?

Millennials are drastically different from the generation of their parents and grandparents
purely because they have grown up in a very different environment. In post-war years,
environmental legislation didn’t exist, production was booming, and millions of people
became used to a heavily-consumerist lifestyle. For the next 50-60 years after that,
legislation began to take effect to fight damaging environmental issues caused by this
lifestyle. Millenials have begun to reject this lifestyle, instead opting to make consumer
choices that involve a higher degree of personal responsibility.

Millennials come into a world which is at the tail end of a century’s worth of pollution, and
due to the era they grew up in, they’ve been termed “digital natives”. They’re familiar with
looking up information about any topic as they are always connected at the push of a
button. For this reason, Millenials are the first generation to really have the ability to look
up a company or product, and determine for themselves if they want to support it with their
purchase. With plenty of platforms to discuss and compare brands and companies, this only
fuels the debate for the younger generation on whether supporting a company also means
supporting their own ethical choices.

What do Millennials do about it?

Millennials have become a deeply eco-conscious generation. They’ve been the ones
spearheading the new wave of environmentally-friendly startups and consumer habits. They
choose to buy products for life instead of actively supporting products with planned
obsolescence, for both the monetary value and the ecological impact. They’re pushing
renewable energies, industry with a low environmental impact, and worker’s rights.
For example, to most millennials it would be unthinkable to litter. This is in part due to a
highly successful campaign in the 70s that influenced future generations. By the same

token, what was considered “no big deal” for the parents of the Millenials, they’re now
pushing against. By actively boycotting, spreading information, and campaigning, Millenials
are influencing many industries into becoming more sustainable. Although it might be
argued that companies are following this trend for a quick buck, it only proves that with the
right consumer pressure, positive changes can be made.