Circularity is stuck in a cycle of shame. Let’s get to guilt, instead

The opinions expressed here by Trellis expert contributors are their own, not those of Trellis.​

The modern consumer journey begins with emotional sophistication. Every day, people encounter powerful messages promising not just products, but personal transformation: You’ll feel better, become more capable and move closer to self-actualization if you buy this. These polished messages make consumers feel empowered and supported.

In contrast to many marketing schemes, the sustainability movement has drifted from clarity and moral conviction toward science-heavy explanations, legal framing and, ultimately, fearful global statements consumers find hard to influence or relate to. These complicated framings risk pushing consumers away. And what should be motivating, when it comes to the end of a consumer journey, instead ends up feeling like shaming.

Shame vs. guilt: A crucial distinction

Circularity demands behaviour change. Yet to change behaviour, we must adjust our approach — even if the first step is merely shifting from shame to guilt. 

Shame is paralyzing because it accuses in generalist terms and lacks actionable specifics: “I am bad because I can’t stop climate change.” It grows in ambiguity: “What did I do? When did it happen? How am I the problem?” By contrast, guilt can be productive because it focuses on an event or action: “I should offset that flight.” And it provides specifics: “I did this and it had this impact. I can correct it next time.” It locates the error in the action — not the error in the person. As Professor Brené Brown states, “Shame is a focus on self. Guilt is a focus on behaviour.”

For many customers, the emotional turning point with a product arrives at the end of the consumer lifecycle. A once-cherished item becomes redundant. It shifts from being something that improved life to something that must now be disposed of. The partnership between consumer and provider ends and a new relationship between consumer and the waste management process begins. 

What began as celebratory, encouraging messaging at the time of purchase (“You look great in that new dress!”) becomes impersonal, statistical and isolating in the waste management process: “This item is 75 percent polyester” or ”602 million tonnes of plastic may enter the ocean by 2030.” This language is ambiguous to many people because it references specialist chemistry and distant places. The narrative voice changes, too, from branded coherent company ethos to one of cold and lonely governmental instruction.

Many brands promote the 5Rs — Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle — as a sustainability strategy. At first glance, they appear empowering and actionable. In practice, they’re often a polite form of abandonment. The responsibility is transferred entirely to the consumer with no collaboration, no structure and no shared accountability. Without clear support and shared ownership, the 5Rs become just one more burden — an additional layer of shame that the individual must manage alone.

Comparing approaches

Corrective campaigns often fail when they rely on abstract, large-scale threats and expect individuals to translate them into personal action.

We see this with managing consumer technology waste, one of the most complex types of waste for consumers to navigate. Products are made up from intricate materials, heavy metals and plastics — and often hold personal data. The consumer needs support and direction at this point. Yet, in the EU as part of its Waste From Electrical and Electronic Equipment directive, they’re presented with a simple symbol of a wheelie bin with a cross through it. The symbol says to the consumer: “Don’t throw it in the bin.” 

This isn’t actionable because you can’t do a don’t. So what does the consumer do? They hoard, instead of resolve. One UK study found that in London, people hoard 13 old gadgets on average – including two mobile phones, two tablets and two laptops. 

Yet, a more engaging and simple message can be seen in a consumer behavior classic. 

The iconic Crying Indian in a 1971 advertisement for Keep America Beautiful delivered a powerful message focused on littering. Litter is actionable for the audience because it’s visible right outside their door and is light enough to pick up. The campaign spoke directly to an everyday behavior everyone recognized as a witness or culprit, connecting the problem to the immediate surroundings. 

This approach fostered personal accountability and promoted a simple, action-oriented response. The message was clear: simple terminology that regular people understood. It was relevant: directly connected to local, visible behavior. And actionable: providing manageable steps the individual could execute (picking up litter). This model of clarity and visibility is what circularity efforts must replicate to move beyond shame and into guilt.

A more recent example, the Norwegian Deposit Return System, provides a near-perfect model for driving sustainable consumer behavior. The system achieved impressive return rates of nearly 93 percent for cans and 92 percent for plastic bottles in 2023. The key to this success lies in designing a compelling consumer experience that supports accountability without relying on abstract moral judgment. Instead of using shame, the system empowers the consumer with clear financial agency.

The Norwegian system is built on seamless integration and transparency. While complex industry components, such as tax incentives for participating companies and penalties for failure, underpin it, visible mechanisms work directly for the consumer. Deposits are placed on almost all beverages and are clearly itemized at checkout. And it’s convenient, with bottles and cans reclaimed via reverse vending machines (often located in stores), making the final action seamless.

Guilt, please

If we want guilt to be useful, we need clear causality — who did what — and a relatable sense of place and impact. That means circularity communication needs to be:

• Clear: Use terminology that regular people understand. Avoid jargon and acronyms.
• Relevant: Connect directly to the individual about their own impact. For example, say, “Your carbon footprint for this flight is …” not “Average emissions per passenger are …”
• Located: Point to real, familiar places, such as “This item will be recycled in-state at our facility in Stockholm …”
• Actionable: Provide manageable actions and ensure the business remains present as a partner, not an observer. Example: “We’re here with you to move through these steps; call us at any time.”
• Bonded: As much as possible, continue the relationship between your customer and your brand. 

People genuinely want to do the right thing. But achieving widespread behavior change requires moving from shame-driven abandonment to guilt-supported collaboration — helping individuals feel that they can act, improve and succeed.