From mindful drinking to lo-booze cocktails, more and more Brits are exploring a sober curious lifestyle . An estimated 8.5 million of us tried Dry January this year, and according to Alcohol Change UK , one in four adults want to reduce how much they drink.
And now, the rise of ‘zebra striping’ suggests more of us are cutting back than ever. According to the Low & No 2024: Drinking Differently report, a quarter of people are ‘zebra striping’ on every night out. To put it simply, this means alternating alcoholic drinks with non-alcoholic drinks on a single night.
The number of people zebra striping rises to two in three adults when looking at those who combine alcoholic and non-alcoholic options on a night whilst not specifically zebra striping (for instance, having one non-alcoholic drink for every two alcoholic drinks). While we’ve long been told to have a glass of water for every glass of wine or beer to avoid a hangover, switching between alcoholic and 0% alternatives could help improve our relationship with alcohol, says Millie Gooch , founder of Sober Girl Society . Sober Summer? 🍻 #sobercurious #sobriety #sober #soberjourney #alcoholfree Millie gave up alcohol in September 2018, aged 26, after what she calls a ‘tricky’ relationship with booze.
She has since gone on to advocate for sober lifestyles – particularly proving that you can be t-total, and still have fun. ‘Zebra striping is essentially a rebrand of the advice to drink water between alcohol.