The Association of Conscious Consumers (ACC) or in Hungarian Tudatos Vásárlók Egyesülete (TVE) has been promoting sustainable, circular, ethical, fair and just consumption and lifestyle choices since 2001.
BREAKING NEWS!
Shocking results have emerged from a laboratory test carried out by 4 regional consumer organisations led by the Association of Conscious Consumers from Hungary, which for the first time tested for the presence of the hormone disruptor bisphenols in underwear. ↓ ↓ ↓
Toxic chemicals in underwear? Read the label!
Our team is dedicated to helping environmental and social issues make more of an impact in the personal decision making of consumers. Besides campaigning and informing consumers since 2009 we put increasing emphasis on facilitating behaviour change for decreasing the ecological footprint of consumers and maximizing their social impact.
Flagship activities:
- science-based information to consumers to make more sustainable choices (free and subscription-based product and service tests);
- own consumer media contents and calls for action related to sustainable consumption, consumer engagement and behaviour change (tudatosvasarlo.hu);
- behaviour change programs;
- promoting local, sustainable and fair food supply chains, especially community supported agriculture and other local solidarity based food systems, and the expansion of markets for real green and fair products;
- digital innovations for sustainable and fair consumer choices: Conscious Consumer phone app.
Our activities are backed with trend hunting and research.
Conscious Consumer magazine (tudatosvasarlo.hu)
We launched our online sustainable lifestyle magazine in 2004 and it was the first lifestyle magazine dedicated to this topic, front runner of many mainstream magazines that by today also cover sustainability issues. Ever since we are still the only dedicated, independent, ad free magazine for sustainability. Our annual readership (without product tests) exceeds 1.3 million individual users.
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
ACC has been promoting and supporting local, sustainable and fair food supply chains, with special focus on Community Supported Agriculture and other local solidarity based food systems since 2008. In CSA growers and consumers provide mutual support, sharing the risks and benefits of food production. CSA farms in Hungary provided more than 1,200 families with fresh, local, seasonal and mostly organic vegetables, meat, eggs and fruit in the 2022 season.
ACC regularly organises training courses to help such communities to operate: enabling farmers to start their own CSA initiative, helping them to maintain long-term financial sustainability, educating engaged consumers for more democratic participation in their food communities through personal trainings and online materials.
EcoTeams behaviour change program
ACC has been organizing EcoTeams since 2010. EcoTeams in practice means small (5 to 10 members) peer support groups led by a coach. In a step-by-step process, participants learn how to make their consumption and lifestyle more sustainable. We train volunteer coaches who then run their own groups supported by mentoring. Since the beginning we trained 440 volunteer coaches and more than 3000 people participated in the program, making an impact on the lives of more than 7200. The program includes modules for improving the sustainability literacy of participant, eg. how to read product labels, green claims. The EcoTeams is followed by an impact measurement module that shows that the program is efficient in reducing the ecological footprint of participants and keep their new, sustainable routines on several years term.
Product tests
As a member of International Consumer Research & Testing (ICRT) we publish 30 product (domestic appliances, domestic chemicals, personal care, leisure, child products, food, etc.) and service tests annually, when possible also assessing the sustainability features of the tested subjects. We are independent of product manufacturers, and act exclusively in the interest of consumers, enabling them to make more informed, sustainable choices when purchasing.
The annual reach of our test-site is ca. 650 000 individual users.
Conscious Consumer App
In 2021 we launched and promoted the Conscious Consumer app, which helps people find products that are less harmful to health and the environment by scanning the barcodes of products during shopping. More than 18.000 people downloaded the app in the first two years. News about the app were featured 87 times in the Hungarian media in 2021, reaching nearly 800,000 readers.
Besides the above flagship activities we have organized exhibitions, held various events including local foods fairs, launched a lawsuit over a deliberately misleading marketing campaign, given lessons to public and professional audience, built an interactive eco-map, conduct research, and published books, magazines and other informational materials. We also help facilitate cooperation and the exchange of best practices between and within groups of dedicated, conscious consumers and farmers. We reach more than a million people annually through our publications and campaigns.
Cooperation is key as we combine our expertise and experience to produce high quality results. We believe in what we do and enjoy our work while taking it very seriously.
Ongoing projects
ToxFree LIFE for All
ToxFree LIFE for All raises awareness through telling stories and presenting accurate laboratory measurements about products and the harmful substances these may contain. In the framework of the project, we invite citizens to take part in behaviour change programs and public actions. The project runs 2023-2027, funded by the European Union’s LIFE22-GIE-HU-ToxFree LIFE for All, co-funded by the Hungarian Ministry of Energy.
DIVINFOOD
Divinfood programme is co-constructing interactive short and mid-tier food chains to value agrobioDIVersity in healthy plant-based food. The 5-year programme started in 2022. DIVINFOOD has been funded from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.
Consumers’ Understanding of Eating Sustainably – CUES
The Consumers’ Understanding of Eating Sustainably (CUES) European research project aims to make sustainable food more desirable and trustworthy for consumers while benefiting the environment, society, and the economy.
By co-designing scientific methods and approaches, the Horizon Europe funded project aims to bridge the gap between sustainable food options and consumer knowledge and behaviour. The researchers also seek to identify the most effective persuasive cues that will encourage consumers to adopt sustainable eating habits.
ACC/TVE represent consumers in this project together with other BEUC members: KEPKA from Greece and ASUFIN from Spain. We will conduct consumer research, including experimental interventions. The research is led by dr. Yijing Wang at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, in Hungary Emese Gulyás is the project leader.
Closed projects
Green & Safe LIFE-Styles is the project of the Association of Conscious Consumers in Hungary. Between 2018 and 2023 ACC helps consumers to use household chemicals in a more sustainable and safe way.
Our Food. Our Future brings together 16 civil society organisations in 13 countries and 7 national Financial Support to Third Parties (FSTP) partner countries across Europe and the world. We build a strong coalition of young people across Europe and work together in the pursuit of our common vision: A socially just and sustainable food system. A food system, which is human rights-based and agroecological. A system in which food sovereignty and migrant workers’ rights have become reality.
CSAct!
CSAct! is a Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) collaborative training programme running between 2016-2018. The programme promotes CSA as a cross-border and context-sensitive concept rather than a unique model. Our network thus gives voice to experiences from different backgrounds, from the self-subsistence family-farming model to the well-established organic certified farms.
Food and More (2019-1-HU01-KA204-061205, 2019-2021) is a project that focuses on developing a training and mentoring programme tailored to the needs of the members of Community Supported Agriculture groups.
Advocacy is one of the key actions in the Food Sovereignty movement as it enables us to get our messages out there, to mainstream agroecological thinking and to inform decision-makers so they can support better policies. But what makes a good advocate and what skills are needed? This and other questions are at the centre of the SALSIFi project organised by 10 partner organisations from around Europe.
Our team
Our core values
- We use reliable sources
We base our statements and messages on research and facts from credible and verifiable sources of information. - We are financially independent
We have never received or accepted any kind of support from companies or businesses. We rely on revenue from public grant proposals, membership fees, selling publications, giving lectures and organizing events. - We walk the talk
We apply the principles of sustainability and sustainable, ethical consumption to our organization and throughout its operations. - We are committed
For those working at the association, the issue of sustainable consumption is also important personally. Therefore, our personal commitment to the cause and our jobs drives us to do our very best; our dedication compels us to keep working to make the world a better place. - We are inclusive
In our work we strive to serve all people equally and treat them with the respect they deserve as human beings. We make sure that our services and achievements include disadvantaged groups, women and men, the rich and poor, and elderly and young. As an employer, we are offering a family friendly, flexible workplace. - We are creative
We continually strive to create and realize new projects while making sure our other activities remain up to date, relevant and interesting. In this regard, the exchange of inspiring ideas and good communication are vital parts of our work. It is our intellectual development, both as a group and personally, that allows us to inspire one another, improve on our work and be creative. - We are critical
We are not utopians nor blind to the realities of the world. We are open to other opinions and believe that there are multiple good solutions to any given problem. We critically reflect ourselves, our operations, beliefs and assumptions, individually and as an organization, so that we can find the best possible solutions. - We are democratic
We make decisions based on consensus with the participation of all our colleagues. We are open to debate and discussion. We regularly evaluate our activities and performance so that we may improve them. - We are cooperative
We make an effort to cooperate with other people and organizations because we can achieve more through cooperation and collaboration than by working alone. Our colleagues, volunteers and supporters help each other by sharing their knowledge and experience.
What is conscious consumption, and who is a conscious consumer?
Get in touch, we’d love to hear from you!
Tudatos Vásárlók Egyesülete – Association of Conscious Consumers
Móricz Zsigmond körtér 3/A fsz. 3.
Budapest
Hungary
1114
Send email to tve [at] tve.hu
Call us on + 36-1-225-8136
Connect us on Social Media: Facebook – YouTube – Instagram