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This year, we have invited the renowned and award-winning journalist and author Maria Soxbo to work with us to raise the issue of sustainability in a modern and interesting manner. We believe that raising awareness is the first step, because awareness matures into thought patterns and actions that become more long-term. Through Maria’s words on the this subject, we hope to reach people’s thoughts and actions.
A trend report for the future.
New year, new season, new style. Now the monthly magazines are once again filled with trend reports on how spring 2022 should be designed in shape and colour, patterns and materials. The fashion industry dictates new guidelines for our wardrobes, and the interior design industry does the same for our homes. New winds of trends are fluttering through our linen curtains and the unavoidable question is – will they last?
The answer is usually no. After a season or two, the curtains will likely see their day in the sun come and go and, in the best case scenario, end up in an already overcrowded second-hand store – or, worst case scenario, in the graveyard of home textiles. The lovely and down-to-earth wrinkles of linen are replaced by the next trendy material. Soft velvet? Fresh cotton? Shiny silk? So far, the house of cards that represents the market has stood firm on our changeability, anxiety and desire to adapt. A personal style is seldom more personalised than the market allows and takes on a new form when the market deems it necessary. Every three years. Every other. Twice a year.
The house of cards that represents the market is also built on fossil fuels and overconsumption. On the day we finally build up the courage to rethink our actions, a card here and a card there will begin to tremble. If we replace fast fashion with second-hand, the ace of hearts will suddenly fall away, pulling down several walls of the fragile structure with it. If a nine-year old kitchen is unexpectedly left untouched, even if the home has changed owners and the kitchens of Instagram have changed colours, a whole level of cards will collapse. Our linear society is being transformed into an increasingly circular one, and the old wobbly house of cards is being replaced bit by bit by something more secure, modern and sustainable. Perhaps our house of cards can become a structure built on easy and sustainable reuse, with instructional repair manuals and plenty of spare parts?
That’s where this trend report starts. A summary of what should be trending in 2022, both on Google and in real life.
AESTHETICS: Down-to-earth Earth – as in natural. Down – as in “down the street”. Keep it local. Instead of living far outside of our planet’s limits, we do the opposite – and start by building where we are.
SHAPE: The circle. The time of a linear market is over. It doesn’t make sense to turn raw materials into short-lived products in coal-powered factories that only come into our possession for a brief moment before ending up in the dump. Instead, the linear market becomes cyclical, and as an added bonus, the words ‘rubbish’ and ‘garbage’ are dropped once and for all.
MATERIALS: Renewable. Whether it’s the electricity that powers the factory or the raw materials used in manufacturing, renewability will be the common denominator. In the future, coal power, polyester and marble will no longer have a role to play.
DESIGN: Maintainable. Forget the formerly hyped-up sales pitch about things being “maintenance free” – we’ve now realized that it really means “single use”. Because the things we cannot maintain, care for, repair and take care of are, by definition, doomed to be discarded sooner or later.
COLOUR: Transparent. The products of the future will come in all colours, but transparency will always be included. We’ll know where something is produced, by whom and at what price. Emissions, water consumption, environmental impact. The consumers of the future have high expectations – and rightly so.
The winds of change are coming. And they will flutter through a wrinkled linen curtain. But don’t worry, these winds won’t be fickle trend winds that carry with them the stench of fossil fuels – this time, it’ll be a fresh breeze from the future. Free from both air pollution and climate anxiety. It’s a premonition of things to come – if we just dare to venture off our beaten paths and think in new ways. So leave the curtains hanging, you bought them because they were nice. They still are, aren’t they?
Maria Soxbo is a journalist, author and co-founder of Klimatklubben. She switched from being an interior design blogger to become a greenfluencer, seeking to inspire more people to see the benefits of living sustainably. She is convinced that most of us would feel better by living a life within the boundaries of the planet rather than at the limits of our income and mental health, as in the treadmill of a society we live in. Together with Emma Sundh she also runs the podcast Plan B which focuses on the good life after the transition. On her own and together with others, Maria has written a total of six books about the climate and sustainability, and in 2021 she was 25th on the list of Sweden’s 101 biggest sustainability influencers.
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