Planet-friendly influencers, an impossible equation?

• Fast fashion, repeated air travel and partnerships galore: the daily life of many influencers rings false in relation to current issues of ecological transition.

• And through their activities, they have a great influence on the consumption of young people.

• Instagram accounts therefore alert influencers to raise awareness of the ecological transition.

“You have power.

Use it”.

In an open letter published in early May, around twenty students from Paris-Dauphine University alerted influencers to the lack of consideration of their profession for environmental issues.

In their sights: lifestyles punctuated by overconsumption and denial of climate issues.

“We are not asking to jeopardize your professions, only to open your eyes”, warned the students, who ensure in this letter that they do not want to undergo “these climaticidal behaviors”.

We are a group of 20-24 year old students and we are fed up, that's why we wrote this letter.

It's time for influencers to take their blinders off on environmental issues pic.twitter.com/LmNRBaPIr6

— EstL (@estelle_hsg) May 3, 2022

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This observation, Amélie Deloche also made when joining the association Pour un éveil écologique, in 2018. She then met three other young women committed to the planet, and realized with them the need to raise awareness among a younger public. .

“It must have come out of our circle of believers,” Amélie Deloche confides to us.

In December 2021, the Paye ton influence Instagram account was born, in order to alert every day to the repercussions of the daily lives of influencers.

A profession disconnected from the news

“Influencers are extremely watched and followed.

They have, with their public, more weight than politicians, but continue to promote models of overconsumption, warns Amélie Deloche.

They slow down, even prevent the global awareness of our generation on climate issues.

Worse, they normalize consumption lifestyles”.

Example with Kenza Sadoun El Glaoui, who offered his subscribers a few days ago to win a gift card of 1,000 euros for a clothing brand, as well as a trip to Marrakech.

Among one of its latest publications, Pay your account warned its subscribers about the hidden face of sales, an even more critical period.

“The temptation of low prices and the quest for the latest fashionable clothing sometimes overcome ecological concerns.

Fueled by influencers, even the most eco-sensitive teens eventually succumb.”

Reduce partnerships

But how to adapt the influence to the environment?

The idea is not to overturn everything.

“We are aware that the business model is based on partnerships,” recalls Amélie Deloche.

According to her, the solution would be, for example, to limit partnerships with brands, in order to favor the most ethical.

Besides the quantity, the meaning of the message is also important.

“The semantics for highlighting their partnerships inevitably has an impact.

For example, we see some competitions where the influencer is surrounded by around fifty pairs of sneakers.

This image is completely outdated, he could settle for just one”.

Ditto for travel, often recurring in the daily lives of influencers.

"The idea would be to promote the train," says our interlocutor, who regrets the lack of transparency on the carbon footprint of influencers.

“If you save a trip to Tahiti, you consume 5 tonnes of CO2, i.e. twice the annual carbon footprint that a Frenchman should have to comply with the Paris agreements.

The idea is to stop selling a dream that is no longer viable,” she says.

Transport is not the only problem, there is also the destination.

Like competitions to go to places heavily impacted by rising waters, for example the Maldives.

A problem that was also echoed Pay your influence: “These islands are proof of the aggravation and acceleration of global warming.

Influencers who promote these destinations should no longer be able to act as if nothing had happened”.

“Finally, we understand that we are windy”

This start, Léa Elisabeth had it shortly after her arrival on Instagram, in 2017. As she plays the role of the Parisian influencer on her social networks, Léa finds herself propelled into a world made of gifts and all-expenses-paid trips.

She realizes soon after that many things do not suit her.

"Finally, we understand that we are making a splash, and above all that we are promoting overconsumption without thinking about the brand we are trusting".

With the arrival of the health crisis, the influencer becomes aware of her addiction to overconsumption and sees the contracts offered by the brands gradually diminish.

She decides to put her account on hold in order to find a normal life, somehow.

"I thought a lot, especially on the negative impact of fast fashion, but also on the psychic impact of influence," says the "repentant" influencer.

Its change is done in several stages.

First phase: sort out the partnerships, in order to limit excessive collaborations, which could go up to a hundred per month.

Léa Elisabeth says she now has a "radar" to avoid less ethical brands, and promises more transparency to her subscribers.

On the ethical charter published on his account, we read for example: "I undertake to give a constructive and realistic opinion on the brands, products and services highlighted on my profile".

Second phase: revise your objective downwards.

Followed by 55,000 people, she wants to count only 30,000.

“Engagement is not the number of subscribers compared to the number of likes, but the impact you will have on your community through relevant information”.

Trapped influencers

But if the former Instagramer made this choice, overconsumption remains the very essence of this business.

"It's a complicated subject for influencers to tackle," admits Amélie Deloche.

Who adds: “talking about climate issues when we fly twenty times a year and relay partnerships with many brands, it's complicated.

It would be a kind of greenwashing.

But above all, it means cutting oneself off from an important financial windfall”.

A few years ago, during the first revelations about the exploitation of the Uyghur people by certain fast fashion brands, influencers had launched a challenge: no longer consume the brands in question.

Clarification: this challenge was offered for… “one month”.

Léa Elisabeth receives messages from influencers who become aware of the problem.

“Some admit to me that they didn't dare to complain because they are shown to be privileged,” she says.

Conversely, others are more critical and accuse him of discrediting their activities.

SOS influencers in distress

Far from fashion and fast fashion, some influencers have decided to turn the tide, with the ecological transition as an editorial line.

This is particularly the case of Swann Périssé – now followed by 329,000 subscribers.

With her new Vert chez vous account, the Instagrammer is displaying a more sustainable and ethical way of life.

On the program: simple and effective tutorials, in less than two minutes, for example to make your own compost or reduce your plastic consumption.

And the topics are many.

Sarah Sorgelle educates her 18,000 subscribers about ethical fashion and second-hand.

While Peau neuf offers its 229,000 subscribers the opportunity to make the right choices among eco-responsible beauty products.

Influences, again and again.

But this time in a good way.

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