too many people were convinced by the intense efforts of propaganda that recycling does anything impactful. we need to *reduce* the most, we need to *reuse* as well, but so few products are actually recyclable & even fewer actually get recycled.
It was-- it's what made mason jars so popular. The problem is, people see these trends and don't realize that the aesthetics aren't 1:1. The way they repurpose things will look different than others. So they buy things to gain the aesthetic. Companies see this and realize it's a marketing opportunity, thus, a bunch of unneccessary products get made (e.g. the plastic cups resembling mason jars) and wasteful practices continue. I don't think it needs to be a trend, I think it needs to get taught as common sense. Nobody questions turning off the lights when you leave a room, ideally nobody should question reusing and repurposing things they had used before!
@@aaartemisss Yes!!! I bought two crates of old fashioned mason jars on marketplace for ten dollars total! Just buying MORE new things for the aesthetics is insane.
I think people who are saying underconsumption core is 'rebranded poverty' need to touch grass because there's no way they know what poverty actually looks like.
I think they kinda have a point though because there are actually a couple of underconsumption videos that feature items that are genuinely broken and just making it work because they can't afford to replace it yet
people forget that overconsumption can lead to poverty or perpetuate the cycle of poverty just like any other addiction. millionaires like johnny depp ended up broke in the same cycle of overconsumption they couldn’t maintain. lifestyle creep is another factor in sudden financial stress if and when you arent making the same money anymore or are unable to work for a long period of time you will regret those frivolous purchases you made in the past.
@@rishafernandez6510 not being able to afford to replace a huge flatscreen tv that still works doesn't mean that you are in poverty. if people genuinely believe that, they are insanely privileged and out of touch.
Honestly I think calling it “normal consumption core” would have a bigger impact. Like if someone is used to overconsumption as normal consumption then seeing a trend that’s consuming significantly less and calling it normal consumption would be a wake up call.
you could also just call it minimalism or simple living, because thats what it is lol. two movements that have been around forever. but i guess thats not tiktok-hashtag enough
I’m probably overthinking but I wonder if that’d backfire. Bc it doesn’t really capture the notion that overconsumption is the new norm. I feel like to be a trend people pay attention to, you have to act like you’re doing something new or interesting or different, even though it isn’t or shouldn’t be. Like, to some degree I think overconsumption is, or is perceived as, the new “normal” level of consumption. But I get that “underconsumption” as a label seems excessive to someone who does just see it as being normal lol
i do agree, but also the tiktok i referenced that said "underconsumption exists solely as opposition to overconsumption" feels relevant here - would ppl pay as much attention to calls for 'normal' consumption? is it dramatic enough of a trend / concept to take off on tiktok?
Deleted all my social media and the list of things I “want” or “need” dropped dramatically. Not that I would ever buy shit loads of stuff but I’m no longer lying in bed at night thinking of [product]. Didn’t think I was easily influenced but it goes to show! The less you want, the more you have!
same!!! once i deleted instagram and tik tok i rlly stopped thinking of products to buy. the ads id get on instagram is one of the main reasons why i deleted my account entirely. i felt that in between every few posts there’d be ANOTHER ad. it didn’t help that i followed a lot of small artists too, so i was also constantly seeing “sale!” “drop on..” i still get a bit sucked into it though as i have two sisters who are constantly on the apps as well lol but my actions to try and be more sustainable is rubbing off on them a bit LOL
I no longer use Facebook, instagram, or TikTok. The amount of wants and desires I have and longing for a life I won’t ever touch DRAMATICALLY dropped. Made me more in touch w myself and life
I find it so funny when people say "I deleted all my social media" on a social media site. UA-cam is still social media! I see WAYY more products pushed on here than I ever have on tiktok or ig. The sponsor is usually right in your face before you can skip it, and sometimes they interlace content of the video with it now I've noticed. That's when it's an explicit sponsor and not covert.
deleted tiktok 6 months ago. when i met up with a friend recently who is easily influenced by tiktok trends and recommendations, and i just realized how there are so many trending items i don’t know about anymore. 😂
My grandma has been a hoarder pretty much her whole life. A lot of what I see in Tiktok overconsumption reminds me of her. It seems like rather than addressing underlying issues with self esteem, mental health, etc, people are just using retail therapy as a form of escapism. You had another video where you spoke on $100 per month being the average Shein spend, but I dream of a world where more people invest that money into therapy or healthier hobbies like gardening or reading.
I hate that this has to be a trend in order to get any attention at all. I don't think it's going to be any more than a microtrend, but if it helps one person to break out of their own cycle of overconsumption, it's worth something.
That's all it is, a trend. Making normal life stuff seem like a groundbreaking thing to do, it's just as bad as the overconsumption. A lot of the people I see do this push some bad habits still and also speak harm against people like my mom, myself, and patients who have medical needs that cannot be lessened.
Defending overconsumtion and not seeing anything wrong with it is absolutely WILD to me, no matter if you can afford it or not. Like have you ever heard about protecting the environment? Reducing waste? People need to realise that all of the plastic they have ever touched in their lives still exists today…
Ive seen a lot of comments about the underconsumption trend that says "this is just how poor people live and now we are romanticizing it", and i couldnt disagree more. Firstly, poor people (in developed countries) are some of the most vulnerable to overconsumption messages and advertising. Credit card debt, materialism, ganbling addictions, shopping addictions, outward signs of wealth and class, disproportionately impact working and lower middle class people. I also dont think that underconsumption is normal anymore. If it was, we wouldnt have the global fast fashion pollution crisis that we now have. That isnt from a few tiktok creators, its from almost everyone in the West. I do wish that people participating in the underconsumption core trend were more obviously linking it to the climate crisis, capitalism and greed, but anything that reframes what absolutely should be normal consumption in a positive, happy light, is a win in my book.
I am personally a big fan of capitalism and don't see the climate change as that big of a deal. That being said, it can't be beneficial to pollute our rivers, seas and soil with the aftermath of overproduction and overconsumption. To be honest I think preserving our environment took a backseat to things like the CO2 footprint which is more in the public eye, which in turn allows companies to pollute without repercussions since everyone just cares about the carbon footprint. So in general I agree with you, but I think we need to shift the focus away from climate change to have a chance at saving our environment.
@@wolfsmaid6815 Climate change and the environment go hand in hand. The environment is at risk also due to climate change. If our oceans are getting too hot for marine life, coral reefs and marine eco systems, humans and the creatures around us suffer from natural disasters. Many edible plants and animal species are also at risk of extinction due to climate change. And this is just the tip of the ice burg. I think you have a very surface level understanding of climate change if you think co2 or a hot summer is the only issue. Please read more about the issue or follow climate scientists to get more informed. Overconsumption is also the driving force of climate change.
@@kate56ful I know there are more ramifications to climate change, but I just think poisoning the world and facilitating a biodiversity collapse is worse.
@@wolfsmaid6815 I actually work in pollution regulation :) agree that pollution of our waterways, air and land is just as, if not more, catastrophic than climate change. Tbh I put them all under the same protection
tbh the underconsumption core trend has made me more aware of my shopping/ what I consume. Now i really ask myself, "Do i really need this?, Will i actually wear it? Don't I have this already?...." etc. Unfortunately, from what i see, it was probably just a micro trend, but i think it had an impact (at least it had on me)
@@tofuchuu3780 if it only had an impact on you then it was worth it!!! asking yourself questions like that is so important, i try to ask myself the same things every time i buy!🫶
rando thing i started asking myself recently too is “can i live without it?” or “do i have something similar to it?” and that has helped me tremendously. something else i’ve started doing is if i want something i’ll wait a few days to see if im even still thinking about it. but lowkey being off of social media (instagram, tiktok) in general has helped SOOOOOO much.
Same here, I’ve honestly caught myself putting so many products back on the shelf at the store and in general thinking on purchases like clothes and beauty pdts
@@gubblebubble3976 Saaame - if I see something in a shop that I reeaally want, I sleep on it first. If I'm still thinking about it (& how it would fit into my life), I'll revisit. But more often than not, I'll have 'go to X store' booked into my calendar but I can't even remember why 😂 That shows me I didn't really need (or even want) said item to begin with...
i grew up incredibly poor, and now that i’m an adult with money here and there, i buy wayy too much because it’s been so normalized and part of me thinks i “deserve” it for not having it as a kid. its taken years to realize how wrong that is and i still struggle with it. i hope this video can help educate and help people understand that overconsumption is not normal.
genuinely thinking about this. i like stationery and i buy a lot of it, and now i have a section of my closet dedicated to notebooks. i do think going cold turkey is going to be hard
Right there with you. Tottered on the poverty line and was homeless a few times in my early childhood. Now I'm in my 30s, & I've been drilling myself into the mentality that I want all of my personal items (apart from food, furniture, plants, and pets) to be able to fit into a single van. It's helped me SO MUCH in reducing what I think about buying versus what I actually end up buying. I'm still cleaning house from all the stuff I already have and don't need/want anymore, but at least I've dramatically reduced the urge to ADD more clutter.
I grew up kinda poor too but instead I find it extremely hard to spend above a certain amount of money even though I can afford it. So I end up with a lot of cheap crap that I then feel guilty letting go of when inevitably they fall apart. 😂 It's horrible. I have actually been trying to train myself to buy more expensive clothes but less of them. Because in my mind, buying 2 jeans worth $50 is ok but spending $100 on a pair of jeans is 'too expensive'. 😂
@@MesRevesEnRose thats super interesting! I know some people that think the same way. I think one thing both sides can learn is quality over quanity for sure!
@@sollerona Yes, it is extremely hard! I have the same issue with stationery. I've been trying my hardest to use up what I have and not buy anything unless it's something I absolutely need. Example: I bought white-out tape the other day because I was down to one roll that is almost empty. However, I also ended up buying a few new pens even though I have drawers and cups filled to overflowing with them! I just try to find ways to use what I have whenever possible and remind myself of all the stuff I already have so I won't buy more. It doesn't always work, but it does sometimes. A few things that have somewhat helped me: I have taken a bunch of my pens and notebooks to my job and shared them with my coworkers. I use wish lists on Amazon and other sites when I'm shopping online, so if I see something I like, I'll put it there before putting it in my cart and make myself wait. I'll only buy something from the list if I have extra money and can afford to treat myself, which is pretty rare. When I'm in a store like Walmart or Dollar Tree, I will sometimes take pictures on my phone and make myself wait before buying it. Making myself wait is very hard, but sometimes the fact that I'm broke works in my favor! lol I can say I haven't bought any new planners since 2023. My best friend gifted me some 2024 planners and a whole crap-ton of planner supplies. I also have several old planners that are half-used or barely used that I can re-date with stickers and/or white-out. My goal is to use up as much of that stuff as possible before buying any new planner of any kind. Wish me luck! And good luck to you on your stationery no-buys!
Remember the minimalist trend from a few years back? People were all about streamlined makeup bags and using just a few key products. Concepts like de-potting and de-panning and doing no-buys became super popular, as everyone aimed to simplify their routines. I was always a fan of those and still watch them as they keep my habits in check. Really glad to see how these ideas are making a comeback and still influencing our approach to intentional living.
Aspects that I haven't yet seen adressed relating to this trend are the tension between owning less things and having a lot of mismatched "unaesthetic" items as seen from the aesthetic lense of social media. More specifically: 1-the relation between consummerism (hyper or normal) and throwing things away when they aren't trendy anymore. It's easy to LOOK like you're "underconsumming" if you only keep one or two items and throw away the previous ones, in the same way that many influencers hopped on the minimalism train by throwing everything away and buying new stuff with the minimalist aesthetic. I imagine that wouldn't be good for the environment if we don't educate people on how to dispose of items as responsibly as possible and if we don't insist that the issue is what is being bought, not what they already own. 2- I'm 90% certain that the "mismatching items" like mugs or towels has the potential to become a consumeristic trend and that many people will forget the "accumulated over the years" part. Or companies are gonna make intentionally kitsch items to look like they come from random places from 10-20 years ago that people will buy to have "the underconsummerismcore look". It certainly wouldn't be the first anti-consummerist movement cohopted by industries to make people buy more stuff ... TLDR: how do we responsibly take care of extra stuff people already own, and how do we make sure that influencers and companies don't successfully sell us "underconsummerism core"?
Everything i said mostly matters if the trend becomes big enough to be deemed "profitable" by the market. If it stays as small as it currently is it's just gonna fade into oblivion.
@@micheller3251 OH BOY this comment is so good, the whole discussion might need its own video (or a tiktok…lol) really love how eloquently you put this and the analysis of tiktok, completely agree that it’s possible brands will try sell us underconsumption core 🥴
@@micheller3251 also sorry literally your second point feels so real, and very much like the idea of tiktok selling us personalities through trends, they can also sell us fake loved collections / items that give the appearance of history / lore but are really just manufactured personality created in a office somewhere 🙄 but again thanks for this comment it’s so thoughtful!
#2 is something that's happened many times, it's cyclical. at least the youths these days are not averse to thrifting, which may reduce the impact of this trend when it comes around again.
I’m glad the underconsumption core trend is a thing, that is bringing awareness. But I worry it’s a micro trend. I’m working on buying less, because having too much has caused stress. I really felt that screenshot that Amazon is like doomscrolling on any social media. For me it’s Depop/Vinted. There was a Instagram/TikTok creator I used to love due to her wardrobe style. She had a really good eye for putting pieces together and especially rewearing her favourite pieces. Now she is showing off 3-4 new dresses a week and doesn't seem to rewear after a one or two posts. Her wardrobe style was inspiring, now its exhausting. It is very much like those celebs lifestyle you mentioned earlier in the vid.
same, i worry it'll be over before it's started! but I think we can all only do our best, so working on reducing your own consumption is still so important!!
I am starting to find the concept of turning everything into a “core” super strange. Like people can only change their habits as long as it fits into a “core” people can like/watch/comment on on social media, when in reality you can just be an adult and make changes to your life without it having to be a trend?
I've read a quote recently which goes like this: "The increasingly rapid rate at which images are distributed and consumed necesitates a corresponding increase in the rate that individuals assume and shed identities". We are forced to adapt to these trends in order to "fit in". Eventually, our sense of self is so weakened that we start to live by these aesthetics and only make changes to our lives when new "cores" become a thing.
It’s the same way that every potential scandal has to be something-gate. But that just annoys me because it lacks originality and creativity. We need more things like “wagatha Christie” and “dramageddon”
I am older than the target audience for this video and just wanted to mention something about the mechanism behind overconsumption which is just the absolute utter ease of getting things. This is very new. Getting things used to require going somewhere when you had a few hours to spare and browsing ,and then getting it home, or waiting for a catalog to come in the mail, calling a person and placing your order on the phone and then waiting a week or so to get the item you ordered. That the process of getting things took significantly more time and effort inherently moderated consumption. Now the fast pace of information and access to the things with online shopping and super quick delivery irons out those speed bumps. And it wasn't that way even when millennials were first becoming adults.
I think people (who struggle with over consuming) who are chronically on tik tok need that kind of content the way people who are chronically on UA-cam (me) need videos like this. Overconsumption is an addiction and it’s extremely helpful to see trends/content de-normalizing it.
This trend taught me to cut open my creams and sunscreens to use the little bit left. This may sound wild but as someone who cares about sustainability it’s always great to learn new tips and be reminded of what we can do as individuals
Yep I'm doing that too. Why not when you get at least a week's more use out of them. I'm also going to use up all my shampoos etc, even the ones I don't really like that much.
I do it everytime I can with my face cream but is hard to calculate when is the right time! Sometimes I still have a lot of product left so I have to use it on my hands, neck or arms.
@@valenr.1277 if it's in a tube, you can use a credit card or something similar to move all the product! start at the bottom of the tube and move up to the opening. if it's a bottle or something with a straw, i normally will bang it against something so all the product settles to the bottom. those kinds of containers tend to be the worst tho lol i waste so much lotion because there is SO much product stuck at the bottom
@@valenr.1277put the whole container in a ziplock bag to keep the product from drying and you can keep using it until it’s empty! And you can wash and reuse the ziplock bag afterwards (maybe not with food though)
seems like it's all the same sentiment rebranded, maybe we'll see it last but just called different things every few months! why don't u have high hopes?
@@katierobinsonBillions of dollars are spend on propaganda, manipulation and lobbying every day, the entire schooling setup is designed to brain wash you into becoming a good little drone to prop up Capitalism People will never stop consuming just like most people will never think for themselves, hoping for the opposite feels like betting against human nature itself. It doesn't matter what fast fashion does to society, people clearly never cared, don't care and will never care... We did absolutely nothing about climate change and that's way way way more likely to cause actual extinction level events
me neither. I don't think it will last too long. And I don't mean to be negative, but in the next 5+ years when inflation might not be as bad (or people just don't care about it as much anymore), people, especially those in the west, will CONTINUE overspending on things they don't need. Like, even now...I saw statistics not too long ago that showed spending on luxuries was still going very strong despite everything. And honestly, I don't blame those people at all. In hard times, some people just say screw it and live their life to the fullest.
Because being realistic about purchases is the best. So do you need 30 pairs of shoes? No, but you should replace shoes when worn out or save a little by little to prepare for that. I'm not seeing other money saving tips or proper DIY with this. I am only seeing "buy less" which helps very little. Buy quality and learn to mend, hem, etc.
The fact that it's raising the conversation more around this issue is great. Social Media isn't real life, but it effects real life in many ways. I think only good influence will come out of this! I'm Gen X.
Idk about it being a trend but I am so tired of buying things, of wanting to want something to buy, it never ends. There’s more to my life than buying yet another lip gloss that still won’t change my life, Im addicted but I’m going to be better.
i'm rooting for you!! idk if it's helpful but I did do a video a while ago on how I quit fast fashion that might have some tips for you! ua-cam.com/video/Bn_oVY0jnKw/v-deo.htmlsi=RsUVXL4FUEAi_Puo
I‘ve started blocking a lot of creators who promote overconsumption, especially since most creators resort to straight lying about the products. I literally can’t stand skin care influencers anymore, who never criticize any product, only praise it and try to market it as essential in order to achieve their perfectly filtered skin. So I welcomed underconsumption immensely. However, lately my FYP is just full of picture perfect people showcasing how little they actually consume to be this beautiful or aesthetic. Yeah, good for you that you were born with flawless skin and only use one moisturizer. Good for you you obviously don’t have any body ordour so that you can rotate between two pairs of shoes only, without them getting stinky. Good for you you enjoy your minimalistic, empty and soulless grey apartment. People started branding that as „normal consumption“, which I find pretty dense, since everybody has a different perception of „normal“. To me and my problematic skin, it‘s pretty normal to have multiple serums with active ingredients to help me fight my acne. To me and my stinky feet, it‘s normal to have a variety of shoes to choose from, so that my worn ones can air out. „Normal consumption“ imho is consuming an amount of products you literally need and actively use. No hoarding, no back-up stocking, no additional storage space for the stuff you can’t use because you have five other things of the same category you first have to finish/use.
I also have issue with seeing creators vloggers that buy a new dress/outfit for every occasion, like each wedding etc. And only once every few months they discover “closet shopping”, just using what you already have in wardrobe. I think trend of renting, borrowing things should be stronger. They just have a thing they bought and wore once or twice and it sits in the closet. What is also funny on those everyday videos I see them wearing the same 5 basic stuff interchangeably.
i think the wider problem is tiktok's goal to conceptualise and sell everything, and the way we interpret that as something that should apply to everyone - we all have our own realities and there's no way one tip / idea can work for everyone, but what tiktok can do is introduce discussions and help us ask ourselves "what is normal consumption for me?" imo
so well put!! I find it ironic that our generation consider themselves ambassadors for change and sustainability, but in the online arena we see so many people not able to hold themselves accountable or reflect on their own consumerist habits. Its almost as if influencers, romanticising every-day life etc exist on one end of the platform, and is never to cross paths with the other (reality of our actions and unsustainable lifestyle)
For me it's a little difficult to reconcile the overconsumption that I see online with real life. I know it actually happens, but since nobody in my life behaves that way I subconsciously assume it's "an influencer thing". Instead underconsumption is my normal, I simply don't buy things I don't need just to buy them and my first thought was that it was good that more people cut down on that. However I would be more optimistic if it was more of a movement, and hopefully it becomes it, but right now it feels very much like an ephemeral tiktok trend
@@lizzietemple5449 completely agree!! it feels like the whole thing only exists in the online bubble, but maybe it will finally get through to the chronically online / influencers perpetuating overconsumption!
I was never big into consuming multiples of anything (clothes, makeup, home decor) but since I bought my first house and I have to pay the trash bill now (vs living in an apartment and they paid for trash services) this has made me hyper aware of my consumption-more buying=more packaging=more waste=more full trash bags=more money I have to spend on extra pickups or driving to a drop off zone (for my trash services, if it doesn't fit in the bin, they charge extra).
Thank you for pointing out that it is indeed a privileged debate. As a Ukrainian, I have had my fair share of dealing with war and all the grief and poverty it brings to simple people. Im really not trying to invalidate the struggles of others, but it has been uncanny living in a Western country & having to witness sorts of problems people choose to overfocus sometimes. Truly wild.
Tbh I think spending your money wisely needs to be taught more often. I'm from the Philippines, and we had HELE subject (home economics and livelihood education). One of the lessons was differentiating wants vs needs, not every school has it though, cause when I transferred to a public school, it didn't have the subject. That lesson stuck with me though and my parents have called me thrifty/cheap lol
Home ec had been thrown out in most US school, for what I've heard. I know my areas school districts did , also my hometown school district did as well. That class reinforced great skills I already learned at home and it was an easy A. But j know others where that was where they learned to cook, clean, do laundry...
I feel like half of the tiktoks about overconsumption, really also involve shopping addiction. I feel like a lot of these people don't want to admit they have a shopping addiction.
This is the most interesting and engaged comments section I can remember reading in ages! Thanks for making this video and to everyone for their thoughts!
Undercomsumption core needs content about *how to make good purchases*. People often don't know how to choose accordingly to their necessities, even if we think we do. We all had instances were the thing we bought doesn't work as expected, has too many unuseful features, or lacks one that we still need... then, people often rebuy a similar item (or several) which normalizes overconsuming until we get what we needed and replacing things too often, and gives a 'valid' excuse to do so, afterall, "is for a real necessity" Writing this makes me think that it'd be great to have content about "living with things that don't work perfectly instead of replacing them for a little inconvenience or because you saw a better one"
Yes! I think we need to get used to pondering and researching what we buy. It’s good to think long-term about how what you purchase will help you, look for all types of reviews, and make sure it’s right for you. The things you get become personal and you learn to listen to what you really want, which is way less than you are influenced to get. You will 9/10 get what you wanted and feel much more satisfied
there's definitely an attitude behaviour gap!! but I think not only is it not just gen z to blame for overconsumption, when you consider how the world has gone to shit whilst we're growing up it does kind of make sense that we have shopping as a distraction / coping mechanism (esp as social media has always been our reality and it's so geared towards making us consume!)
@@katierobinson "when you consider how the world has gone to shit whilst we're growing up it does kind of make sense that we have shopping as a distraction / coping mechanism" i see gen z make this excuse a lot and it really irritates me as an elder millenial. most generations have had tumult. for my grandparents it was the great depression and then WWII. for my parents it was the civil rights movement, vietnam, the cold war, and political assassinations. for myself and others my age it was 9/11 and the subsequent wars, the global economy crashing as we were graduating high school/in college/graduating from college, intense fearmongering over queer folks (Obama campaigned against gay marriage, for context), climate change (yes, we also grew up with the existential threat of climate change), and the rapid shift to automation and social media. "think not only is it not just gen z to blame for overconsumption" OP never said it was "just" gen z to blame.
Overconsumption is a big problem in society for sure among all ages but many of the examples of the 'underconsumption' trend just make me think Gen Z is watching itself grow up in real time. When I was younger I bought a lot of clothes, makeup, skin care, etc. because I didn't know what suited me and I tried out everything. I also had less self-control and definitely bought some dumb stuff just because I thought it was cool. I do wonder how much of 'underconsumption' is just frontal lobes developing.
interesting and i do agree!! but maybe it's not that the idea has changed, but the scale? just going off how fashion prices have been driven so low alone, it's never been easier to consume so much so easily
This! I tried so many things that got wasted because they didn't work for me. Learning to recognize what I genuinely love was a long process. But then there's learning to recognize *what I truly love and want but won't end up using*, and the reasons why I won't. This required me to really get to know myself, how to take into account my lifestyle and to analyze what are the issues with my buying failures so I can avoid them in the future. I got good at this at 23 and I'm still learning. We all need time to learn these things as we mature, but sadly, it leaves a trail of wasted money and resources behind (and often, people don't learn)
I always thought I wasn't as influenced as other people but lately I have been reconsidering. The amounts of USELESS things I have been buying lately is gross and this video hit me at the perfect time. I think we definitely need to redefine what "normal" consumption is but this is gonna take a long time, especially since companies are thriving in this era of influencers and online consumption.
I hope it sticks in people’s minds at least! I wish shopping addictions and capitalism were more prevalent/popular topics, I feel like people need to understand the root of the problem rather than romanticizing consumption, as you mentioned.
haha you may like the videos i did on tiktok shop and live shopping, I go into a LOT of detail about our shopping addictions! ua-cam.com/video/LjBuMQZkRmw/v-deo.htmlsi=JBetWGGihN5_o9pD ua-cam.com/video/vzl9k3hccz0/v-deo.htmlsi=gZjHCP3o1UqFAExs
in my country there is a rise in job roles such as livestream hosts/assistants for brands to push weekly livestream sales as well as “group buy” livestreams. it’s crazy how people feel compelled to buy smth they probably won’t buy from the website but seeing on a live they rush to add it into cart within that 1-2 mins before the host moves on to the next item. I’m glad I’m not their target audience though. The only items I hoard/buy a lot would be groceries/perishables in bulk to freeze😅
I feel like this "trend" It's really popular on Usa because it is a very different way of living for people living there, but, on the other hand, when this "trend" arrived in Latin America all the people were scandalized. I, being Latin American, have lived my entire life living with the "underconsumption" and all the people around me too. And I say this because normally, we only throw things away when they are impossible to use, when they are already worn out and old. Even if you're from a wealthy family, It is very normal that they teach you not to throw away anything (with this, I include, for example, plastic containers when you buy packaged food, plastic bags, plastic films, etc., they are washed and used as tuppers for food and so) We do not buy because of the brand nor because of the style of the object. For this reason, the last generation, teenagers, having the influence of all these "aesthetic" "trendy" styles that suggest that all your wardrobe, furniture, things should fit into your aesthetic, They feel that their way of living is "poor, unaesthetic, ugly." when in reality, it is not. Also, I'm not trying to criticize or anything like that. I am simply impressed by the different way of living and thoughts, because I know that there are many people who will say that reusing plastic containers is unhygienic and "poor." We do buy things too. But if you ever say "oh mom, i don't want the cheap water bottle they sell in the supermarket, i want a stanley cup" she will probably make you wash the dishes and clean the house for 2 months.
Absolutely reuse as many things as you can, however single use plastics like food containers are not one of those things unless you really like having micro plastic in your blood and fat stores You can get cheap metal and glass bottles and those (at least the metal ones) will last for decades It's not ugly or poor or anything to reuse single use plastics it's just not very smart, similarily how you would never see someone advocating for people in poverty painting with lead paint because it's cheaper - it would just be insane It also absolutely can be unhygienic, single use plastics aren't designed to be washed and any scratches etc in the surface will make a great breeding bed for bacteria
@LuluTheCorgi omg you're really right but I've tried to tell that to my family and they don't really care, like they have a plastic water bottle that is about 5 years old and they still use it 😓
i think it's so interesting learning how cultures other than the europe / us are dealing with fast consumerism since most discourse I've seen is so Euro-centric. & the way there's a big social divide between generations is also so interesting, social media is kinda flattening individual cultures :/
@katierobinson it's really easy to fall into it, and it destroys not only your wallet but also the environment, that's what's sad too :( thank you for answering, i really like your videos♡
Also, many people showing off their "underconsumption" had a lot of broken tech that could be dangerous to use. Such as I saw someone showing off a broken straightener where the heating plates were coming off, there are plenty of tutorials on UA-cam on how to fix that if you don't want to spend the money on getting a new one. Using a broken tool instead of learning how to fix things isn't underconsumption, it's neglectful to your personal property and dangerous
When I saw that this became trending it felt like someone lifted a heavy blanket af of me. I always tried to be aware of how much I waste, but when you constantly see people online and around me consuming a lot, I sometimes kind of felt the pressure to also buy a lot of things(wich I didn't actually want). I didn't know how much stress it gave me until I saw this trend.
honestly if this is the only outcome of the trend (awareness that overconsumption isn't the only option and shouldn't be so normalised) then i think it'll be worth it!!
i dont think this has been mentioned but as someone who underconsumed my entire life due to financial reasons, seeing it become a trend makes me feel a lot better about myself. the overconsumption trend and even just people I've known for years having 5 different lipsticks and 10 different bags, made me feel insecure and wondered why i always wore the same shoes everyday for 3 years or using the same plates and cups my mum got as a gift when she got married 27 years ago. but i was also getting influenced and got embarrassed that i have such minimal stuff so i prepared to work harder in order to have many of the same stuff i don't need. this trend has finally made me accept that having less stuff is normal and I'm happy with what i have. i hope those that do overconsume can be influenced not to.
I think life changes impact buying habits far more than anything on any form of media. Graduating college, getting a different job, trying to buy instead of rent, having a baby, etc. All will drive people to realize how crucial it is to learn how to manage a budget, a household and spending.
Every time I watch one of these analysis videos, I become more and more appreciative of how I was raised because we were only allowed to order online if it was a special event like you were graduating you got really good grades, I’d only do a big shopping “haul” one a year when my clothes got too small for me, now I don’t rlly do that anymore bc my body is staying pretty much the same size, I have 4 heels in different colors and I only buy a new one when one breaks (a heel that will go with several outfits ofc). And I only buy a new shoe if it’s something I rlly like or have been wanting for a while. I feel like the biggest problem with over consumers is that they were never told no when they were kids and therefor grew up without that discipline, or in contrast that they ALWAYS got told no and now that they’re adults with adult money they’re making up for all the things they’d always wanted, and too much all at once leads to this 😭
I really wanted to comment point 10:45. I am not poor or deprived by any means, but I simply do not feel the need to waste money with similar products. I need one thing of each at a time and I am very sure that it is due to my upbringing and our culture. We are not poor but we are not wasteful either, we are very conscious of our spending and just generally grateful for small things in life. I would like to see a deeper study on overconsumption and where it stems from because the current discourse is not satisfying enough. It is truly such a baffling concept. I am from a country in Africa.
I have a friend whose mom makes her “sleep it out” before buying something. For example like if she wants a pair of shoes, her mom would make her think about it for a week to see if she would still want to buy it or if she wants to buy something expensive or do something drastic to her appearance then her mom would make her think about it for a month. I think its such a good thing to teach to people.
I agree that romanticizing underconsumption is probably a good way to get more people on board with more conscious consumption overall. It’s just a matter of telling people the right things while they're still listening, I think. Taking care to not be preachy, but emphasizing the benefits instead - more money in the bank, contributing to a bigger cause, less stress-inducing clutter, a clearer mind that isn't so clouded with marketing propaganda, and greater contentment with what you have. The benefits of living an anticonsumerist lifestyle can feed into one another and improve quality of life across the board, and that’s what’s made me stick with it. It's basically, if not literally, FREE happiness. I don't think content just flaunting or faking underconsumption alone is going to get that message across. Even if it will fade from discourse just like other trends, I'm trying to find some optimism in the hope that the trend will have a lasting impression on some people, even if only a few. Every individual counts, and the more people we can get on board with reducing mindless consumption, the better (and while people doing ethical consumption imperfectly is frustrating, every little bit counts in most cases - at least peoples' hearts are in the right place). And individual people can influence and inspire their peers. I joined the anticonsumption/ecominimalist bubble roughly 5 or 6 years ago after learning the truth about fast fashion, and living this way openly without being preachy about it seems to demonstrate to the people around me that it's possible to live this way and be genuinely happy doing it.
agree with everything! maybe it starts as a tiktok trend but if even a few ppl take it to heart and it ripples out from them into their community then it's quite a big change 🫶 & i think it's actually really interesting that we're seeing the same essential minimalist lifestyle cropping up again and again through different rebrands, it shows some consistency in what ppl are interested in (even if they have to convince themselves it's something new with a new name!) - it gives me hope!
I don't think it's exactly fair to call minimalism, zero waste, etc. passing trends; I've been a minimalist for a few years. The difference between it being a trend vs it being a proponent for lasting change depends on the individual's ability and desire to make it a habit and lifestyle. Obviously not everyone will want to do it, maybe some will for a while, maybe some will do it imperfectly, but I think maybe some minor personal changes are better than nothing at all. If it gets people to reconsider their spending and consuming habits then its done its job.
@@purplepotato8849 oh maybe i wasn’t clear, i definitely don’t think minimalism or zero waste are trends, but i do think ‘deinfluencing’ and ‘no-buying’ are trends in that they became quite big on tiktok and seem to be very similar to each other and underconsumption! & i definitely believe in the power & importance of changing even just one mind!
@@alyssabrundage4360 love that it had such an impact!! like i said in the video as long as it’s helping ppl become more mindful / sustainable then i can’t be mad lol
I completely agree that it is a privilege to be able to choose underconsumption im still glad that people are thinking more ethically about how they live. I hope it will lead to more people donating to charity shops and critiquing hall culture + celebs with HUGE closets
I feel like the people commenting about how it’s normal consumption are a really good reminder that what we see online isn’t a real representation. With over consumption, there’s easy content but with just existing normally, do people even always comment? I hope that makes sense, but feels good to see those comments bc i feel like there’s more of us out there
i think i get what you mean haha I said in another comment about the tiktok i referenced that said "underconsumption exists solely as opposition to overconsumption" feels relevant here when it comes to calling it UNDERconsumption - would ppl pay as much attention to calls for 'normal' consumption? would ppl have taken notice / commented if it had been branded normal consumption from the start? but now that underconsumption is being talked about I do like how ppl are clarifying that's it's very normal!
I think I'm on the right side of tiktok cause shopping hauls and celebrities aren't a daily part of it so I wasn't fully aware the lengths of "underconsumptioncore" even though it had popped up a couple times in the last month. It's wild how different the tiktok algorithm can make one user's experience of the other.
Slebs and influencers have products sent to them by the companies, us normal folk don’t have that luxury. Love it when they say “I always use this” only for it never to be seen again. Underconsumption, really, it’s just using what you have and replacing when needed. Common sense really 🤦♀️
I'm from Colombia (Latam) and seeing trends like "underconsumption core", and "minimalism" is so weird, like, why would someone have 5 different shampoos? why someone needs more than 1 Stanley cup? (which is very expensive here) is not normal. I truly believe that is something related to purchasing power, which is not a secret, in the global south is not as high as in the global north so here normally we use something and buy a new one when it is needed (there are exceptions, obviously), however, is insane how some people do not have that common sense haha but I think is because of the context, I truly believe that they live in a bubble where they think that "underconsumption" is a trend and they discover something when is literally how more than the 50% of the population lives and not because is cool, a lot of the cases are because we cant, literally we cant
I do think the under consumption trend has a message to tell, even if it is not truly showing under consumption. It does really bring a breath of fresh air when comparing it to the amount of PR influencers get. I love to see influencers being real about what they do with all the stuff they receive, like donating most of it.
great points! i think it's simply just that "trends and mindlessly following them is a huge problem in society and probably a reason for why overconsumption has become so common and we really need to stop this trend-culture" and "overconsumption has been so normalised in younger generations and we need to make sustainable living popular again" are two statements that can and should co-exist.
The sad thing about this trend, is that people are throwing out perfect and brand new products to fit into the new ‘trend’. It would be better to keep it at use it, but stop buying more:(
Honestly, the class context is very important to emphasise. Growing up in a working class family, I was made very aware, very early on, the importance and weight of money. Even when I had savings, I was afraid to spend too much too fast. Even though I loved fashion, I was very selective with the clothes I bought and rarely bought more than one piece at once. Nowadays, even fast fashion stores seem expensive to me, specially considering how bad the quality is and how little they last, so I pretty much only buy second hand from thrift stores. Many times, I've been "forced" to rewear the same clothes for a long time, even as my style changed drastically, so I've learned how to restyle things into my new preferences, and to not be so quick to discard old clothes.
agreed, but i think *now* you're kind of winning bc so many ppl who had more never learnt to be happy with what they had, even down to fast fashion nowadays that so many ppl hate but don't know how to adapt / make suit them! i kind of forced myself to only shop secondhand and i think it's really helped my personal style / to look at my clothes more critically!
I don't see how anyone could label it “hypocritical” when it's finally allowing ourselves to show what our lives are like without the pressure to fit into an aesthetic/impress
ultimately few of these people will stick with under consumption unless they’re a specifically sustainable goods account, because “buying stuff content” is performs well on these all platforms so there is no incentive
I feel like this "trend" has a lot of back and forth about is it a good thing is it a bad thing and I feel like you did a great job Katie sharing the pros, the cons, and the grey areas of it!
I personally really like the underconsumption trend. As new college freshman, I feel it’s very easy to buy so many things because that’s what is being suggested to me, but the underconsumption trend made me rethink a lot of these purchases and inspired me to only purchase essentials and things I really wanted and take the things I already had with me to college. It also inspired me to take a good look at my wardrobe and realize that I don’t really need new clothes for the new school year and that what I already have is more than enough. I think that it was one of those trends that really made a difference IMO.
I’m aware that it is hard to let go of the “overconsumption” mindset for a lot of people (who partake in it). But I’m telling you, the dopamine rush of getting 1 product that you’ve desired for many months is a longer-lived feeling than continuously buying multiple products at once (I’ve realized). So if this motivates anyone else to attempt to be satisfied with this “minimalist?” lifestyle, I strongly encourage you to try this! (I understand that this may not be the easiest thing for everyone, it was even hard for myself for a while to not buy cheap products in bulk).
Since i was probably 10 i preferred watching makeup/clothing declutters than makeup collections/ wardrobe tours. It always hated how people pile up products just for the sake of having them. Speaking of declutters, my favourite thing was the “pan project” . Seeing this is a trend now isnt surprising to me, it could benefit someone and make them a bit more conscious about their shopping habits
spent more money this year than any previous year and it’s at a point i know if i keep spending i will feel worse about myself. so i’m going to do a zero spending period on clothes and products. i want to save more money for experiences - travelling, activities and meals with friends.
My favorite is seeing in the comment sections of these videos people asking where they can buy the specific items 😂😂 like the point went right over you didn’t it
I haven't been on TikTok ever and I highly am against the app bc of many different things but this topic is growing ive seen videos of it in my homepage of UA-cam and ive been an enviormentalist over rhetoric last 5 years and im glad people are seeing the changes that are being made but the changes need to be a combined mix of consumers , creators and brands for us to fix the real issue and I feel like social media should definetly have ad and market g restrictions not just for kids bc the world is aware this is an issue but these social platforms that also allow his to see products need to take responsibility to . and I know thats how influencers make money on ad sense and views but im tired of also seeing influencers having every video they do be sponsored and take up a good portion of the videos whole length You also did an amazing job at reporting on this as well very well presented
Personally this feels more like a trend rather than a long lasting thing. But if it's lower the consumption even a bit I think it's better than nothing. Though I feel like a lot of creators will probably declutter all their items and when the trend is gone be back to being even more... btw I loved the video. Will defiantly watch more of yours (:
just wanted to say, I really like the way you have dissected this. including various perspectives, reactionary back-and-forth, and nuances within this ongoing discussion made for a super interesting video, kudos
I definitely started overconsuming skincare products during and after the pandemic. I'm not on tiktok but I naturally just became overwhelmed with the amount of products I had accumulated and became determined to use them all up before purchasing more. So I feel like this could be a natural progression of people realizing how little benefit there is to accumulating so many products and being also overwhelmed/disgusted by it all and committing to do less
like you said, i feel like the underconsumption trend took off a lot of pressure on me to be camera ready all the time; having mis matched or off brand items is a concept completely alien on tiktok and even if this does end up dying out like any other microtend, im glad its made me more aware of my spending and habits and has helped me improve on myself ☆
Heres my issue with this being a trend and why i think thats actually harmful. Yes gen z has a shopping addiction but the actual problem is that they are shopping and curating things for approval. Thats the same issue with people saying "i wish x aesthetic was trending because i want to dress like that." You can buy and wear anything you want but when you say that, youre saying you can only do x if your peers approve. If you only "underconsume" as part of a trend, you haven't fixed the root addiction.
such an interesting take, i do agree. i think so much of tiktok is performative that it's hard for any trend to actually make a lot of impact, but on the other hand maybe this actually did work on just a few ppl and now they're questioning their consumption. & if only a few people take these principles offline and change their lifestyle then it's worth it to me!!
@katierobinson hey if stuff gets people to realize they're being chronically online or that they have vices they need to work on, that's awesome. I really find this reliance on trends fascinating though. In the 2000's you could ONLY get low rise jeans. This was awful as a fat tween and I was so happy when the trend changed. Trends mattered because you couldn't buy things that weren't on trend. Now that people can buy anything, they artificially impose scarcity by being exceedingly self conscious and perfectionist.
Every time I go on social media, another must-have gets thrown in my face... but under-consumption trend led me to question every single purchase I want to make: if it causes every other person to touch some grass, I'm certain it will lead to global changes
On August 1, 2024, my first no-buy year ends. Why did I have to start it? First, I come from a very poor family. Second, I worked at a job I hated with all my heart and stayed there for 5 years. So during these 5 years I bought everything: books, clothes, cosmetics, jewelry... Anything cute, beautiful, blah blah blah. So I can say for sure that in my case, excessive consumerism was caused by poverty in my childhood and depression because of a job I didn't like. And so I spent all my money on junk, which is why I never had any money, just like when I was a kid. It was a vicious circle. My no-buy year was the best decision of my life. So on August 1, 2024, I will start my second no-buy year. And the things I've bought before will last me for many more years - clothes, books, and even hair care products.
I've been enjoying the underconsumptioncore vids I've seen because it makes me feel less like I'm a weirdo for not buying the next cool thing. As a weirdo my whole life, it made me feel even more outside the acceptable zones of behavior when I would try to avoid trends being shoved down my throat harder than ever. It's nice to see even a shred of people saying 'hey, it's okay to just have whatever works for you instead of what everyone else says is okay for you.'
We need to remember that these things are chronically online . These are ‘ online ‘ trends not irl. Who the heck is gonna buy 100 items just not to use them ? I think it’s a tactic that businesses use so that our demand for their products increases and we end up spending more and since people on tiktok are so gullible , they think it’s real. Just because you don’t have a whole bunch of items doesn’t mean you’re ‘ under-consuming’, you’re living like any other normal person .
My favorite part of this video is getting an ad for Wayfair at the end--the websites know where my consumptive habits lie lolol In all seriousness, I really like your covering of this topic. I am and will never be on Tik Tok but the influence of it is undeniable enough in daily life that I need intellectual filter channels to keep pace. Traditional news could never break down trends like this without some weird global angle (see MSNBC covering this same topic). I'm shocked your subscriber count isn't higher--you earned mine today!
I hope this continues to trend because I feel like this is a good addition to the no buy trend. The underconsumption trend I feel is a good bridgeway and look into how we consume goods
I feel like so many people take underconsumption to an abnormal extent. Yes, it is especially necessary in this day and age to reuse and repurpose various items such as clothes, containers, etc., but you shouldn’t “underconsume” to the point of using expired products that are “still good”, damaged clothes or flexing that you only use one lipstick every day instead of 3. And we also have to look at this for all povs, because, as you mentioned, anyone who isn’t on tiktok would be sent into a coma if they saw this “underconsumption” trend which is actually just normal consumption. And what many people overlook is the fact that influencers or people who overconsume aren’t necessarily doing it on purpose, they buy all of this stuff because it’s normal consumption for them (they grew up in such a family, bought this amount of stuff for most of their life, etc.) . To sum up this unnecessarily long paragraph, underconsumption is blown out of proportions on tiktok and it should just be called “normal consumption”
If there is one thing I will forever be glad about, it’s that my lack of coordination made make up so impossible to apply that I never got into the stuff. I am confident I have saved thousands of dollars, years of my life, and my mental health, all because I have clumsy af hands. So much of this overconsumption is on beauty products, it’s insane. I overspend too, but on books, which go on a bookshelf, food, which gets eaten, or games with are usually digital and don’t clutter the home. My roommate has so much makeup and it clutters the bathroom so much, it makes it impossible to clean.
Remember when the only consumerism that was pushed on us were toy commercials on kids TV channels?? Thinking everything was revolutionary and begging your parents to buy something but they saw right through the marketting 😂
I really like that vinted advert- however it is rather ironic as their entire business model would not work if people did not over consume. I myself admit that I spend way more money and buy way more clothes on vinted than i ever would at a fast fashion brand like urban outfitters. I think the cheap price makes it easier for me to consume more than i need- much like how fast fashion brands like shein work. However, I genuinely love vinted as a platform my entire wardrobe including shoes is second hand and I’d say 75% of that is from vinted! The most sustainable thing to do is of course not to buy anything, new or second hand.
people have different standards for everything and consumption is one of them. nobody cares if u spend so much money on it but js think about if ull even use it and need it. this also applies towards "under-consumption" which is basically js another weirder way to say "think abt it before u purchase it".
The biggest problem with those overconsumption videos is the fact, that those creators mostly over consume in one category (e.g. clothing, skincare, makeup, bags etc.) which sometimes might be even justified by simply loving certain thing so much you want to collect it, but if we scroll all of those videos for half an hour, it all kinda melts into one video - or one person - so we feel like every single person on the planet has 30 Stanley cups, 70 pairs of shoes, 3 drawers with lipglosses and bathroom overflowing with scrubs, and it's just us who has not enough of everything
I'm also disturbed by how everything now has to be a "trend" for us to do it and as soon as the next thing shows up we move on to that and forget the old, even if it's good like this one. For ex: when people said they were gonna boycott fast fashion bla, bla, bla and now they are saying fast fashion is ok because some people can only afford that. Social media is really controlling us and it's getting scary, it's like most people don't even think for themselves anymore.
the fact that some people call it "poor" is really out of touch with reality and it shows how overconsumption has become the new normal, when in fact the "undercosumption" (or simply normal consumption) has been a reality too most people all over the world....
Im so sick of being sold something everywhere I go on the internet. Instagram feels like its showing me ads for things to buy more than actual pictures my friends have posted.
Found this to be a really interesting video- I have left social media last year, so Im behind on the trends. I would like to make a gentle critique about your last point- that this is a "first world problem". I spend a lot of time abroad, as my family aren't from the UK, and I have what I'd call a 50% 3rd world and 50% 1st world experience. 3rd world countries are also going through mass overconsumption, and there is not such a gap between 1st and 3rd world anymore, as there is between rich and poor. Many of the so-called 3rd world countries have a large emergent middle class, and fairly large upper class, which are the equivalent in income to the UK's working class. They are able to consume via chinese sites like ali and shein, and more localised marketplace sites, as well as in cheap-ish shops popping up (for example, Poundland's Pepco in Romania). While the large new middle classes of emerging economies may not be able to spend the same amount of money as a middle class person from London or Birmingham, they ARE able to consume the same amount of products. A survey I saw recently showed me that the average Brazilian buys 30 items of new clothing per year (new from shops not hand-me-downs). Thats the average. Minimum wage there is something like £300 so the cost isnt high, but the number/frequency is. My friends abroad, who are far poorer than us in the UK, still have 5 lipsticks and 10 t-shirts. They are chinese and say things like "kwjdufiqooaoh" on the front, but nonetheless they are t-shirts and there are 10 of them. Overconsumption is a global problem at this point Those who can do, and those who cant, aspire to. Theres a wonderful minimalist channel here on youtube called Mayo Utuk where a girl in either Ghana or Nigeria on a low income reduces her clutter. I follow another from Nigeria too. They arent rich girls. This overconsumption is keeping the poor poor, and taking potential away from the almost-middle class from saving up, and in some cases, throwing the rich down into the gutter. If american teenagers need to be educated about normality via short videos of people sharing their realistic homes and stuff... that may also benefit so called 3rd world teenagers, who will see it and think, well maybe my 1 pair of shoes is perfectly fine and I dont need to feel bad.
i love how you added “This overconsumption is keeping the poor poor, and taking potential away from the almost-middle class from saving up…” it’s so true
brilliant comment. i did reference this a little in the video after initially saying it's a first world problem but I think you added so much context and understanding!! thanks for sharing, especially liked your line, "This overconsumption is keeping the poor poor", it reminds me of what I spoke about in another video about how fast fashion isn't actually affordable bc it's keeping you in a cycle of buying and discarding (ua-cam.com/video/1KcNVDSCXas/v-deo.htmlsi=nCOkTJas59xjVsxY) 🫶
i actually have been using those 3 krave beauty skincare products for over a year now lol, simplifying my skincare routine with a brand that keeps it simple has saved my skin and helped me not buy more skincare products that i could possibly use or would irritate my skin from all the different products/constantly using different ones
I'm not on tiktok, and I am 59, so maybe take what I say with those things in mind, but I feel like this is a LOT like the youtube trends of pantry/freezer/budget challenges. Those youtube trends are actually really helpful, and were VERY helpful during the pandemic when people saw their incomes drop along with supplies of staples like flour and rice. I am glad that folks are still posting those challenges, because frugality is a skill, not a trend.
Reusing, and repurposing things needs to be a trend. Like people forget a key part of reducing consumption, is repurposing what you have.
@@vvitch-mist20 yes!!
too many people were convinced by the intense efforts of propaganda that recycling does anything impactful. we need to *reduce* the most, we need to *reuse* as well, but so few products are actually recyclable & even fewer actually get recycled.
It was-- it's what made mason jars so popular. The problem is, people see these trends and don't realize that the aesthetics aren't 1:1. The way they repurpose things will look different than others. So they buy things to gain the aesthetic. Companies see this and realize it's a marketing opportunity, thus, a bunch of unneccessary products get made (e.g. the plastic cups resembling mason jars) and wasteful practices continue. I don't think it needs to be a trend, I think it needs to get taught as common sense. Nobody questions turning off the lights when you leave a room, ideally nobody should question reusing and repurposing things they had used before!
And reusing and repurposing would be a really good subject for making tiktoks about!
@@aaartemisss Yes!!! I bought two crates of old fashioned mason jars on marketplace for ten dollars total! Just buying MORE new things for the aesthetics is insane.
Commonfuckingsensecore
@@LarnieRadek 😅😅😅
Yes! The lack of common sense in humans is amazing
this comment needs to be pinned😂
🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻
I think people who are saying underconsumption core is 'rebranded poverty' need to touch grass because there's no way they know what poverty actually looks like.
This!
I think they kinda have a point though because there are actually a couple of underconsumption videos that feature items that are genuinely broken and just making it work because they can't afford to replace it yet
Thank yoooooou!
people forget that overconsumption can lead to poverty or perpetuate the cycle of poverty just like any other addiction. millionaires like johnny depp ended up broke in the same cycle of overconsumption they couldn’t maintain. lifestyle creep is another factor in sudden financial stress if and when you arent making the same money anymore or are unable to work for a long period of time you will regret those frivolous purchases you made in the past.
@@rishafernandez6510 not being able to afford to replace a huge flatscreen tv that still works doesn't mean that you are in poverty. if people genuinely believe that, they are insanely privileged and out of touch.
Honestly I think calling it “normal consumption core” would have a bigger impact. Like if someone is used to overconsumption as normal consumption then seeing a trend that’s consuming significantly less and calling it normal consumption would be a wake up call.
you could also just call it minimalism or simple living, because thats what it is lol. two movements that have been around forever. but i guess thats not tiktok-hashtag enough
I’m probably overthinking but I wonder if that’d backfire. Bc it doesn’t really capture the notion that overconsumption is the new norm. I feel like to be a trend people pay attention to, you have to act like you’re doing something new or interesting or different, even though it isn’t or shouldn’t be. Like, to some degree I think overconsumption is, or is perceived as, the new “normal” level of consumption. But I get that “underconsumption” as a label seems excessive to someone who does just see it as being normal lol
@ilta222 That's what I was thinking. People love to come up with new terms.
i do agree, but also the tiktok i referenced that said "underconsumption exists solely as opposition to overconsumption" feels relevant here - would ppl pay as much attention to calls for 'normal' consumption? is it dramatic enough of a trend / concept to take off on tiktok?
@@ilta222 having one shampoo bottle instead of ten ten is not "simple living", its just common sense
The thing we need to stop consuming is social media.
THIS.
I judge anyone that's got a TikTok or Instagram. I can earnestly say I'm better than you for not having those. I am not here to make friends.
Deleted all my social media and the list of things I “want” or “need” dropped dramatically. Not that I would ever buy shit loads of stuff but I’m no longer lying in bed at night thinking of [product]. Didn’t think I was easily influenced but it goes to show! The less you want, the more you have!
same!!! once i deleted instagram and tik tok i rlly stopped thinking of products to buy. the ads id get on instagram is one of the main reasons why i deleted my account entirely. i felt that in between every few posts there’d be ANOTHER ad. it didn’t help that i followed a lot of small artists too, so i was also constantly seeing “sale!” “drop on..” i still get a bit sucked into it though as i have two sisters who are constantly on the apps as well lol but my actions to try and be more sustainable is rubbing off on them a bit LOL
I no longer use Facebook, instagram, or TikTok. The amount of wants and desires I have and longing for a life I won’t ever touch DRAMATICALLY dropped. Made me more in touch w myself and life
I find it so funny when people say "I deleted all my social media" on a social media site. UA-cam is still social media!
I see WAYY more products pushed on here than I ever have on tiktok or ig. The sponsor is usually right in your face before you can skip it, and sometimes they interlace content of the video with it now I've noticed. That's when it's an explicit sponsor and not covert.
Same! I had different category saved maps on TikTok with things i want to buy, but now that i dont have TikTok i dont even know what did i want
deleted tiktok 6 months ago. when i met up with a friend recently who is easily influenced by tiktok trends and recommendations, and i just realized how there are so many trending items i don’t know about anymore. 😂
My grandma has been a hoarder pretty much her whole life. A lot of what I see in Tiktok overconsumption reminds me of her. It seems like rather than addressing underlying issues with self esteem, mental health, etc, people are just using retail therapy as a form of escapism. You had another video where you spoke on $100 per month being the average Shein spend, but I dream of a world where more people invest that money into therapy or healthier hobbies like gardening or reading.
@@skrittle555 completely agree!! shopping as a form of distraction / coping method is so common now
YES!
girl this!!!! I really do think it is just that!!
Or thrift for things you want or need and toss out things you don’t.
What’s ironic is that even booktok has an overconsumption problem (don’t know about gardening tiktok) 😭😭
I hate that this has to be a trend in order to get any attention at all. I don't think it's going to be any more than a microtrend, but if it helps one person to break out of their own cycle of overconsumption, it's worth something.
agreed and agreed!
That's all it is, a trend. Making normal life stuff seem like a groundbreaking thing to do, it's just as bad as the overconsumption. A lot of the people I see do this push some bad habits still and also speak harm against people like my mom, myself, and patients who have medical needs that cannot be lessened.
Defending overconsumtion and not seeing anything wrong with it is absolutely WILD to me, no matter if you can afford it or not. Like have you ever heard about protecting the environment? Reducing waste? People need to realise that all of the plastic they have ever touched in their lives still exists today…
Ive seen a lot of comments about the underconsumption trend that says "this is just how poor people live and now we are romanticizing it", and i couldnt disagree more.
Firstly, poor people (in developed countries) are some of the most vulnerable to overconsumption messages and advertising. Credit card debt, materialism, ganbling addictions, shopping addictions, outward signs of wealth and class, disproportionately impact working and lower middle class people.
I also dont think that underconsumption is normal anymore. If it was, we wouldnt have the global fast fashion pollution crisis that we now have. That isnt from a few tiktok creators, its from almost everyone in the West.
I do wish that people participating in the underconsumption core trend were more obviously linking it to the climate crisis, capitalism and greed, but anything that reframes what absolutely should be normal consumption in a positive, happy light, is a win in my book.
agree and i actually spoke a bit about this at 10:38!
I am personally a big fan of capitalism and don't see the climate change as that big of a deal. That being said, it can't be beneficial to pollute our rivers, seas and soil with the aftermath of overproduction and overconsumption. To be honest I think preserving our environment took a backseat to things like the CO2 footprint which is more in the public eye, which in turn allows companies to pollute without repercussions since everyone just cares about the carbon footprint.
So in general I agree with you, but I think we need to shift the focus away from climate change to have a chance at saving our environment.
@@wolfsmaid6815 Climate change and the environment go hand in hand. The environment is at risk also due to climate change. If our oceans are getting too hot for marine life, coral reefs and marine eco systems, humans and the creatures around us suffer from natural disasters. Many edible plants and animal species are also at risk of extinction due to climate change. And this is just the tip of the ice burg. I think you have a very surface level understanding of climate change if you think co2 or a hot summer is the only issue. Please read more about the issue or follow climate scientists to get more informed. Overconsumption is also the driving force of climate change.
@@kate56ful I know there are more ramifications to climate change, but I just think poisoning the world and facilitating a biodiversity collapse is worse.
@@wolfsmaid6815 I actually work in pollution regulation :) agree that pollution of our waterways, air and land is just as, if not more, catastrophic than climate change. Tbh I put them all under the same protection
tbh the underconsumption core trend has made me more aware of my shopping/ what I consume. Now i really ask myself, "Do i really need this?, Will i actually wear it? Don't I have this already?...." etc. Unfortunately, from what i see, it was probably just a micro trend, but i think it had an impact (at least it had on me)
@@tofuchuu3780 if it only had an impact on you then it was worth it!!! asking yourself questions like that is so important, i try to ask myself the same things every time i buy!🫶
rando thing i started asking myself recently too is “can i live without it?” or “do i have something similar to it?” and that has helped me tremendously. something else i’ve started doing is if i want something i’ll wait a few days to see if im even still thinking about it. but lowkey being off of social media (instagram, tiktok) in general has helped SOOOOOO much.
@@gubblebubble3976 i did a video a while ago with a lot of the same ideas, they've all really helped me on my mindful shopping journey!
Same here, I’ve honestly caught myself putting so many products back on the shelf at the store and in general thinking on purchases like clothes and beauty pdts
@@gubblebubble3976 Saaame - if I see something in a shop that I reeaally want, I sleep on it first. If I'm still thinking about it (& how it would fit into my life), I'll revisit.
But more often than not, I'll have 'go to X store' booked into my calendar but I can't even remember why 😂 That shows me I didn't really need (or even want) said item to begin with...
i grew up incredibly poor, and now that i’m an adult with money here and there, i buy wayy too much because it’s been so normalized and part of me thinks i “deserve” it for not having it as a kid. its taken years to realize how wrong that is and i still struggle with it. i hope this video can help educate and help people understand that overconsumption is not normal.
genuinely thinking about this. i like stationery and i buy a lot of it, and now i have a section of my closet dedicated to notebooks. i do think going cold turkey is going to be hard
Right there with you. Tottered on the poverty line and was homeless a few times in my early childhood. Now I'm in my 30s, & I've been drilling myself into the mentality that I want all of my personal items (apart from food, furniture, plants, and pets) to be able to fit into a single van. It's helped me SO MUCH in reducing what I think about buying versus what I actually end up buying. I'm still cleaning house from all the stuff I already have and don't need/want anymore, but at least I've dramatically reduced the urge to ADD more clutter.
I grew up kinda poor too but instead I find it extremely hard to spend above a certain amount of money even though I can afford it. So I end up with a lot of cheap crap that I then feel guilty letting go of when inevitably they fall apart. 😂 It's horrible. I have actually been trying to train myself to buy more expensive clothes but less of them. Because in my mind, buying 2 jeans worth $50 is ok but spending $100 on a pair of jeans is 'too expensive'. 😂
@@MesRevesEnRose thats super interesting! I know some people that think the same way. I think one thing both sides can learn is quality over quanity for sure!
@@sollerona Yes, it is extremely hard! I have the same issue with stationery. I've been trying my hardest to use up what I have and not buy anything unless it's something I absolutely need. Example: I bought white-out tape the other day because I was down to one roll that is almost empty. However, I also ended up buying a few new pens even though I have drawers and cups filled to overflowing with them! I just try to find ways to use what I have whenever possible and remind myself of all the stuff I already have so I won't buy more. It doesn't always work, but it does sometimes.
A few things that have somewhat helped me: I have taken a bunch of my pens and notebooks to my job and shared them with my coworkers. I use wish lists on Amazon and other sites when I'm shopping online, so if I see something I like, I'll put it there before putting it in my cart and make myself wait. I'll only buy something from the list if I have extra money and can afford to treat myself, which is pretty rare. When I'm in a store like Walmart or Dollar Tree, I will sometimes take pictures on my phone and make myself wait before buying it. Making myself wait is very hard, but sometimes the fact that I'm broke works in my favor! lol
I can say I haven't bought any new planners since 2023. My best friend gifted me some 2024 planners and a whole crap-ton of planner supplies. I also have several old planners that are half-used or barely used that I can re-date with stickers and/or white-out. My goal is to use up as much of that stuff as possible before buying any new planner of any kind. Wish me luck! And good luck to you on your stationery no-buys!
Remember the minimalist trend from a few years back? People were all about streamlined makeup bags and using just a few key products. Concepts like de-potting and de-panning and doing no-buys became super popular, as everyone aimed to simplify their routines.
I was always a fan of those and still watch them as they keep my habits in check. Really glad to see how these ideas are making a comeback and still influencing our approach to intentional living.
i loved the 10 pans challenge!
this is a good idea, thanks, will check it out
Aspects that I haven't yet seen adressed relating to this trend are the tension between owning less things and having a lot of mismatched "unaesthetic" items as seen from the aesthetic lense of social media. More specifically:
1-the relation between consummerism (hyper or normal) and throwing things away when they aren't trendy anymore. It's easy to LOOK like you're "underconsumming" if you only keep one or two items and throw away the previous ones, in the same way that many influencers hopped on the minimalism train by throwing everything away and buying new stuff with the minimalist aesthetic. I imagine that wouldn't be good for the environment if we don't educate people on how to dispose of items as responsibly as possible and if we don't insist that the issue is what is being bought, not what they already own.
2- I'm 90% certain that the "mismatching items" like mugs or towels has the potential to become a consumeristic trend and that many people will forget the "accumulated over the years" part. Or companies are gonna make intentionally kitsch items to look like they come from random places from 10-20 years ago that people will buy to have "the underconsummerismcore look". It certainly wouldn't be the first anti-consummerist movement cohopted by industries to make people buy more stuff ...
TLDR: how do we responsibly take care of extra stuff people already own, and how do we make sure that influencers and companies don't successfully sell us "underconsummerism core"?
Everything i said mostly matters if the trend becomes big enough to be deemed "profitable" by the market. If it stays as small as it currently is it's just gonna fade into oblivion.
@@micheller3251 OH BOY this comment is so good, the whole discussion might need its own video (or a tiktok…lol)
really love how eloquently you put this and the analysis of tiktok, completely agree that it’s possible brands will try sell us underconsumption core 🥴
@@micheller3251 also sorry literally your second point feels so real, and very much like the idea of tiktok selling us personalities through trends, they can also sell us fake loved collections / items that give the appearance of history / lore but are really just manufactured personality created in a office somewhere 🙄 but again thanks for this comment it’s so thoughtful!
#2 is something that's happened many times, it's cyclical. at least the youths these days are not averse to thrifting, which may reduce the impact of this trend when it comes around again.
@@micheller3251 again agree lol
I’m glad the underconsumption core trend is a thing, that is bringing awareness. But I worry it’s a micro trend. I’m working on buying less, because having too much has caused stress.
I really felt that screenshot that Amazon is like doomscrolling on any social media. For me it’s Depop/Vinted.
There was a Instagram/TikTok creator I used to love due to her wardrobe style. She had a really good eye for putting pieces together and especially rewearing her favourite pieces. Now she is showing off 3-4 new dresses a week and doesn't seem to rewear after a one or two posts. Her wardrobe style was inspiring, now its exhausting. It is very much like those celebs lifestyle you mentioned earlier in the vid.
same, i worry it'll be over before it's started! but I think we can all only do our best, so working on reducing your own consumption is still so important!!
@@21cormorants Saw this and decided to ask!
I am starting to find the concept of turning everything into a “core” super strange. Like people can only change their habits as long as it fits into a “core” people can like/watch/comment on on social media, when in reality you can just be an adult and make changes to your life without it having to be a trend?
just wrote about this for my substack lol, i think trends like this hint that gen z will eventually just get so fed up they leave tiktok 🥲
I've read a quote recently which goes like this: "The increasingly rapid rate at which images are distributed and consumed necesitates a corresponding increase in the rate that individuals assume and shed identities".
We are forced to adapt to these trends in order to "fit in".
Eventually, our sense of self is so weakened that we start to live by these aesthetics and only make changes to our lives when new "cores" become a thing.
It’s the same way that every potential scandal has to be something-gate. But that just annoys me because it lacks originality and creativity. We need more things like “wagatha Christie” and “dramageddon”
I am older than the target audience for this video and just wanted to mention something about the mechanism behind overconsumption which is just the absolute utter ease of getting things. This is very new. Getting things used to require going somewhere when you had a few hours to spare and browsing ,and then getting it home, or waiting for a catalog to come in the mail, calling a person and placing your order on the phone and then waiting a week or so to get the item you ordered. That the process of getting things took significantly more time and effort inherently moderated consumption. Now the fast pace of information and access to the things with online shopping and super quick delivery irons out those speed bumps. And it wasn't that way even when millennials were first becoming adults.
I think people (who struggle with over consuming) who are chronically on tik tok need that kind of content the way people who are chronically on UA-cam (me) need videos like this. Overconsumption is an addiction and it’s extremely helpful to see trends/content de-normalizing it.
agreed!
This trend taught me to cut open my creams and sunscreens to use the little bit left. This may sound wild but as someone who cares about sustainability it’s always great to learn new tips and be reminded of what we can do as individuals
Yep I'm doing that too. Why not when you get at least a week's more use out of them. I'm also going to use up all my shampoos etc, even the ones I don't really like that much.
love this!!
I do it everytime I can with my face cream but is hard to calculate when is the right time! Sometimes I still have a lot of product left so I have to use it on my hands, neck or arms.
@@valenr.1277 if it's in a tube, you can use a credit card or something similar to move all the product! start at the bottom of the tube and move up to the opening. if it's a bottle or something with a straw, i normally will bang it against something so all the product settles to the bottom. those kinds of containers tend to be the worst tho lol i waste so much lotion because there is SO much product stuck at the bottom
@@valenr.1277put the whole container in a ziplock bag to keep the product from drying and you can keep using it until it’s empty! And you can wash and reuse the ziplock bag afterwards (maybe not with food though)
I was hoping the “loud budgeting” trend would have lasted longer. With that said, I don’t have high hopes for underconsumption
seems like it's all the same sentiment rebranded, maybe we'll see it last but just called different things every few months! why don't u have high hopes?
@@katierobinsonBillions of dollars are spend on propaganda, manipulation and lobbying every day, the entire schooling setup is designed to brain wash you into becoming a good little drone to prop up Capitalism
People will never stop consuming just like most people will never think for themselves, hoping for the opposite feels like betting against human nature itself. It doesn't matter what fast fashion does to society, people clearly never cared, don't care and will never care... We did absolutely nothing about climate change and that's way way way more likely to cause actual extinction level events
me neither. I don't think it will last too long. And I don't mean to be negative, but in the next 5+ years when inflation might not be as bad (or people just don't care about it as much anymore), people, especially those in the west, will CONTINUE overspending on things they don't need. Like, even now...I saw statistics not too long ago that showed spending on luxuries was still going very strong despite everything. And honestly, I don't blame those people at all. In hard times, some people just say screw it and live their life to the fullest.
Because being realistic about purchases is the best. So do you need 30 pairs of shoes? No, but you should replace shoes when worn out or save a little by little to prepare for that. I'm not seeing other money saving tips or proper DIY with this. I am only seeing "buy less" which helps very little. Buy quality and learn to mend, hem, etc.
Loud budgeting came and went so fast I forgot.
The fact that it's raising the conversation more around this issue is great. Social Media isn't real life, but it effects real life in many ways. I think only good influence will come out of this! I'm Gen X.
agreed!!
Idk about it being a trend but I am so tired of buying things, of wanting to want something to buy, it never ends. There’s more to my life than buying yet another lip gloss that still won’t change my life, Im addicted but I’m going to be better.
i'm rooting for you!!
idk if it's helpful but I did do a video a while ago on how I quit fast fashion that might have some tips for you! ua-cam.com/video/Bn_oVY0jnKw/v-deo.htmlsi=RsUVXL4FUEAi_Puo
@@katierobinson Thank you 💜
I‘ve started blocking a lot of creators who promote overconsumption, especially since most creators resort to straight lying about the products. I literally can’t stand skin care influencers anymore, who never criticize any product, only praise it and try to market it as essential in order to achieve their perfectly filtered skin. So I welcomed underconsumption immensely. However, lately my FYP is just full of picture perfect people showcasing how little they actually consume to be this beautiful or aesthetic. Yeah, good for you that you were born with flawless skin and only use one moisturizer. Good for you you obviously don’t have any body ordour so that you can rotate between two pairs of shoes only, without them getting stinky. Good for you you enjoy your minimalistic, empty and soulless grey apartment. People started branding that as „normal consumption“, which I find pretty dense, since everybody has a different perception of „normal“. To me and my problematic skin, it‘s pretty normal to have multiple serums with active ingredients to help me fight my acne. To me and my stinky feet, it‘s normal to have a variety of shoes to choose from, so that my worn ones can air out. „Normal consumption“ imho is consuming an amount of products you literally need and actively use. No hoarding, no back-up stocking, no additional storage space for the stuff you can’t use because you have five other things of the same category you first have to finish/use.
I also have issue with seeing creators vloggers that buy a new dress/outfit for every occasion, like each wedding etc. And only once every few months they discover “closet shopping”, just using what you already have in wardrobe. I think trend of renting, borrowing things should be stronger. They just have a thing they bought and wore once or twice and it sits in the closet. What is also funny on those everyday videos I see them wearing the same 5 basic stuff interchangeably.
i think the wider problem is tiktok's goal to conceptualise and sell everything, and the way we interpret that as something that should apply to everyone - we all have our own realities and there's no way one tip / idea can work for everyone, but what tiktok can do is introduce discussions and help us ask ourselves "what is normal consumption for me?" imo
so well put!! I find it ironic that our generation consider themselves ambassadors for change and sustainability, but in the online arena we see so many people not able to hold themselves accountable or reflect on their own consumerist habits. Its almost as if influencers, romanticising every-day life etc exist on one end of the platform, and is never to cross paths with the other (reality of our actions and unsustainable lifestyle)
!!!
For me it's a little difficult to reconcile the overconsumption that I see online with real life. I know it actually happens, but since nobody in my life behaves that way I subconsciously assume it's "an influencer thing". Instead underconsumption is my normal, I simply don't buy things I don't need just to buy them and my first thought was that it was good that more people cut down on that. However I would be more optimistic if it was more of a movement, and hopefully it becomes it, but right now it feels very much like an ephemeral tiktok trend
@@lizzietemple5449 completely agree!! it feels like the whole thing only exists in the online bubble, but maybe it will finally get through to the chronically online / influencers perpetuating overconsumption!
yup. this.
I was never big into consuming multiples of anything (clothes, makeup, home decor) but since I bought my first house and I have to pay the trash bill now (vs living in an apartment and they paid for trash services) this has made me hyper aware of my consumption-more buying=more packaging=more waste=more full trash bags=more money I have to spend on extra pickups or driving to a drop off zone (for my trash services, if it doesn't fit in the bin, they charge extra).
This is really interesting! Do you mind me asking what part of the world you live in and whether this is ‘standard’ there?
Thank you for pointing out that it is indeed a privileged debate. As a Ukrainian, I have had my fair share of dealing with war and all the grief and poverty it brings to simple people. Im really not trying to invalidate the struggles of others, but it has been uncanny living in a Western country & having to witness sorts of problems people choose to overfocus sometimes. Truly wild.
Tbh I think spending your money wisely needs to be taught more often. I'm from the Philippines, and we had HELE subject (home economics and livelihood education). One of the lessons was differentiating wants vs needs, not every school has it though, cause when I transferred to a public school, it didn't have the subject. That lesson stuck with me though and my parents have called me thrifty/cheap lol
need to be teaching this in all schools, especially since so much consumerism content is directed at younger ppl!!
Home ec had been thrown out in most US school, for what I've heard. I know my areas school districts did , also my hometown school district did as well. That class reinforced great skills I already learned at home and it was an easy A. But j know others where that was where they learned to cook, clean, do laundry...
I finally found freedom in walking away from products people would *die* for. Idk how I got here but I’m so happy my mindset has shifted ✨
I feel like half of the tiktoks about overconsumption, really also involve shopping addiction. I feel like a lot of these people don't want to admit they have a shopping addiction.
100%, gen z is using shopping and mindless consumption as distraction techniques from the general shitshow that is the world rn
This is the most interesting and engaged comments section I can remember reading in ages! Thanks for making this video and to everyone for their thoughts!
Undercomsumption core needs content about *how to make good purchases*. People often don't know how to choose accordingly to their necessities, even if we think we do.
We all had instances were the thing we bought doesn't work as expected, has too many unuseful features, or lacks one that we still need... then, people often rebuy a similar item (or several) which normalizes overconsuming until we get what we needed and replacing things too often, and gives a 'valid' excuse to do so, afterall, "is for a real necessity"
Writing this makes me think that it'd be great to have content about "living with things that don't work perfectly instead of replacing them for a little inconvenience or because you saw a better one"
Yes! I think we need to get used to pondering and researching what we buy. It’s good to think long-term about how what you purchase will help you, look for all types of reviews, and make sure it’s right for you. The things you get become personal and you learn to listen to what you really want, which is way less than you are influenced to get. You will 9/10 get what you wanted and feel much more satisfied
It’s super ironic how gen z is supposed to be like sustainable and eco friendly when overconsumption is also correlated with the generation
Overconsumption is correlated with capitalism, it's been rising since at leasts post WW2, much longer than that if you exclude the WW drops
there's definitely an attitude behaviour gap!! but I think not only is it not just gen z to blame for overconsumption, when you consider how the world has gone to shit whilst we're growing up it does kind of make sense that we have shopping as a distraction / coping mechanism (esp as social media has always been our reality and it's so geared towards making us consume!)
@@katierobinson "when you consider how the world has gone to shit whilst we're growing up it does kind of make sense that we have shopping as a distraction / coping mechanism"
i see gen z make this excuse a lot and it really irritates me as an elder millenial.
most generations have had tumult. for my grandparents it was the great depression and then WWII. for my parents it was the civil rights movement, vietnam, the cold war, and political assassinations. for myself and others my age it was 9/11 and the subsequent wars, the global economy crashing as we were graduating high school/in college/graduating from college, intense fearmongering over queer folks (Obama campaigned against gay marriage, for context), climate change (yes, we also grew up with the existential threat of climate change), and the rapid shift to automation and social media.
"think not only is it not just gen z to blame for overconsumption"
OP never said it was "just" gen z to blame.
Thus!
@@RaeThomas-hh5gvyea cuz there wasn't online shopping during ww2, people just became alcoholics instead lol
Overconsumption is a big problem in society for sure among all ages but many of the examples of the 'underconsumption' trend just make me think Gen Z is watching itself grow up in real time. When I was younger I bought a lot of clothes, makeup, skin care, etc. because I didn't know what suited me and I tried out everything. I also had less self-control and definitely bought some dumb stuff just because I thought it was cool. I do wonder how much of 'underconsumption' is just frontal lobes developing.
interesting and i do agree!! but maybe it's not that the idea has changed, but the scale? just going off how fashion prices have been driven so low alone, it's never been easier to consume so much so easily
@@katierobinson Definitely, Shein and Temu and TikTok shop and instant access to Amazon and so on have definitely changed the game in terms of scale.
This! I tried so many things that got wasted because they didn't work for me. Learning to recognize what I genuinely love was a long process. But then there's learning to recognize *what I truly love and want but won't end up using*, and the reasons why I won't. This required me to really get to know myself, how to take into account my lifestyle and to analyze what are the issues with my buying failures so I can avoid them in the future. I got good at this at 23 and I'm still learning. We all need time to learn these things as we mature, but sadly, it leaves a trail of wasted money and resources behind (and often, people don't learn)
I always thought I wasn't as influenced as other people but lately I have been reconsidering. The amounts of USELESS things I have been buying lately is gross and this video hit me at the perfect time. I think we definitely need to redefine what "normal" consumption is but this is gonna take a long time, especially since companies are thriving in this era of influencers and online consumption.
I hope it sticks in people’s minds at least! I wish shopping addictions and capitalism were more prevalent/popular topics, I feel like people need to understand the root of the problem rather than romanticizing consumption, as you mentioned.
haha you may like the videos i did on tiktok shop and live shopping, I go into a LOT of detail about our shopping addictions!
ua-cam.com/video/LjBuMQZkRmw/v-deo.htmlsi=JBetWGGihN5_o9pD
ua-cam.com/video/vzl9k3hccz0/v-deo.htmlsi=gZjHCP3o1UqFAExs
in my country there is a rise in job roles such as livestream hosts/assistants for brands to push weekly livestream sales as well as “group buy” livestreams. it’s crazy how people feel compelled to buy smth they probably won’t buy from the website but seeing on a live they rush to add it into cart within that 1-2 mins before the host moves on to the next item.
I’m glad I’m not their target audience though. The only items I hoard/buy a lot would be groceries/perishables in bulk to freeze😅
@@영-x6r3m completely agree, i did a video recently about livestreams, they’re the worst for promoting mindless consumption!!
I feel like this "trend" It's really popular on Usa because it is a very different way of living for people living there, but, on the other hand, when this "trend" arrived in Latin America all the people were scandalized. I, being Latin American, have lived my entire life living with the "underconsumption" and all the people around me too. And I say this because normally, we only throw things away when they are impossible to use, when they are already worn out and old. Even if you're from a wealthy family, It is very normal that they teach you not to throw away anything (with this, I include, for example, plastic containers when you buy packaged food, plastic bags, plastic films, etc., they are washed and used as tuppers for food and so) We do not buy because of the brand nor because of the style of the object. For this reason, the last generation, teenagers, having the influence of all these "aesthetic" "trendy" styles that suggest that all your wardrobe, furniture, things should fit into your aesthetic, They feel that their way of living is "poor, unaesthetic, ugly." when in reality, it is not.
Also, I'm not trying to criticize or anything like that. I am simply impressed by the different way of living and thoughts, because I know that there are many people who will say that reusing plastic containers is unhygienic and "poor." We do buy things too. But if you ever say "oh mom, i don't want the cheap water bottle they sell in the supermarket, i want a stanley cup" she will probably make you wash the dishes and clean the house for 2 months.
Absolutely reuse as many things as you can, however single use plastics like food containers are not one of those things unless you really like having micro plastic in your blood and fat stores
You can get cheap metal and glass bottles and those (at least the metal ones) will last for decades
It's not ugly or poor or anything to reuse single use plastics it's just not very smart, similarily how you would never see someone advocating for people in poverty painting with lead paint because it's cheaper - it would just be insane
It also absolutely can be unhygienic, single use plastics aren't designed to be washed and any scratches etc in the surface will make a great breeding bed for bacteria
@LuluTheCorgi omg you're really right but I've tried to tell that to my family and they don't really care, like they have a plastic water bottle that is about 5 years old and they still use it 😓
i think it's so interesting learning how cultures other than the europe / us are dealing with fast consumerism since most discourse I've seen is so Euro-centric. & the way there's a big social divide between generations is also so interesting, social media is kinda flattening individual cultures :/
@katierobinson it's really easy to fall into it, and it destroys not only your wallet but also the environment, that's what's sad too :(
thank you for answering, i really like your videos♡
Also, many people showing off their "underconsumption" had a lot of broken tech that could be dangerous to use. Such as I saw someone showing off a broken straightener where the heating plates were coming off, there are plenty of tutorials on UA-cam on how to fix that if you don't want to spend the money on getting a new one. Using a broken tool instead of learning how to fix things isn't underconsumption, it's neglectful to your personal property and dangerous
When I saw that this became trending it felt like someone lifted a heavy blanket af of me. I always tried to be aware of how much I waste, but when you constantly see people online and around me consuming a lot, I sometimes kind of felt the pressure to also buy a lot of things(wich I didn't actually want). I didn't know how much stress it gave me until I saw this trend.
honestly if this is the only outcome of the trend (awareness that overconsumption isn't the only option and shouldn't be so normalised) then i think it'll be worth it!!
i dont think this has been mentioned but as someone who underconsumed my entire life due to financial reasons, seeing it become a trend makes me feel a lot better about myself. the overconsumption trend and even just people I've known for years having 5 different lipsticks and 10 different bags, made me feel insecure and wondered why i always wore the same shoes everyday for 3 years or using the same plates and cups my mum got as a gift when she got married 27 years ago. but i was also getting influenced and got embarrassed that i have such minimal stuff so i prepared to work harder in order to have many of the same stuff i don't need. this trend has finally made me accept that having less stuff is normal and I'm happy with what i have. i hope those that do overconsume can be influenced not to.
its cool to see people try to do something you were insecure about but instead of being annoyed, it made me less insecure
I think life changes impact buying habits far more than anything on any form of media. Graduating college, getting a different job, trying to buy instead of rent, having a baby, etc. All will drive people to realize how crucial it is to learn how to manage a budget, a household and spending.
Every time I watch one of these analysis videos, I become more and more appreciative of how I was raised because we were only allowed to order online if it was a special event like you were graduating you got really good grades, I’d only do a big shopping “haul” one a year when my clothes got too small for me, now I don’t rlly do that anymore bc my body is staying pretty much the same size, I have 4 heels in different colors and I only buy a new one when one breaks (a heel that will go with several outfits ofc).
And I only buy a new shoe if it’s something I rlly like or have been wanting for a while.
I feel like the biggest problem with over consumers is that they were never told no when they were kids and therefor grew up without that discipline, or in contrast that they ALWAYS got told no and now that they’re adults with adult money they’re making up for all the things they’d always wanted, and too much all at once leads to this 😭
I really wanted to comment point 10:45. I am not poor or deprived by any means, but I simply do not feel the need to waste money with similar products. I need one thing of each at a time and I am very sure that it is due to my upbringing and our culture. We are not poor but we are not wasteful either, we are very conscious of our spending and just generally grateful for small things in life. I would like to see a deeper study on overconsumption and where it stems from because the current discourse is not satisfying enough. It is truly such a baffling concept. I am from a country in Africa.
I have a friend whose mom makes her “sleep it out” before buying something. For example like if she wants a pair of shoes, her mom would make her think about it for a week to see if she would still want to buy it or if she wants to buy something expensive or do something drastic to her appearance then her mom would make her think about it for a month. I think its such a good thing to teach to people.
love this, it's so important to teach this mentality to children growing up in the instant gratification generation!!
I agree that romanticizing underconsumption is probably a good way to get more people on board with more conscious consumption overall. It’s just a matter of telling people the right things while they're still listening, I think. Taking care to not be preachy, but emphasizing the benefits instead - more money in the bank, contributing to a bigger cause, less stress-inducing clutter, a clearer mind that isn't so clouded with marketing propaganda, and greater contentment with what you have. The benefits of living an anticonsumerist lifestyle can feed into one another and improve quality of life across the board, and that’s what’s made me stick with it. It's basically, if not literally, FREE happiness. I don't think content just flaunting or faking underconsumption alone is going to get that message across.
Even if it will fade from discourse just like other trends, I'm trying to find some optimism in the hope that the trend will have a lasting impression on some people, even if only a few. Every individual counts, and the more people we can get on board with reducing mindless consumption, the better (and while people doing ethical consumption imperfectly is frustrating, every little bit counts in most cases - at least peoples' hearts are in the right place).
And individual people can influence and inspire their peers. I joined the anticonsumption/ecominimalist bubble roughly 5 or 6 years ago after learning the truth about fast fashion, and living this way openly without being preachy about it seems to demonstrate to the people around me that it's possible to live this way and be genuinely happy doing it.
agree with everything! maybe it starts as a tiktok trend but if even a few ppl take it to heart and it ripples out from them into their community then it's quite a big change 🫶
& i think it's actually really interesting that we're seeing the same essential minimalist lifestyle cropping up again and again through different rebrands, it shows some consistency in what ppl are interested in (even if they have to convince themselves it's something new with a new name!) - it gives me hope!
Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.
I don't think it's exactly fair to call minimalism, zero waste, etc. passing trends; I've been a minimalist for a few years. The difference between it being a trend vs it being a proponent for lasting change depends on the individual's ability and desire to make it a habit and lifestyle. Obviously not everyone will want to do it, maybe some will for a while, maybe some will do it imperfectly, but I think maybe some minor personal changes are better than nothing at all. If it gets people to reconsider their spending and consuming habits then its done its job.
@@purplepotato8849 oh maybe i wasn’t clear, i definitely don’t think minimalism or zero waste are trends, but i do think ‘deinfluencing’ and ‘no-buying’ are trends in that they became quite big on tiktok and seem to be very similar to each other and underconsumption!
& i definitely believe in the power & importance of changing even just one mind!
I agree! Even for me a no-buy went from something I saw online a few years ago to a way of life
@@alyssabrundage4360 love that it had such an impact!! like i said in the video as long as it’s helping ppl become more mindful / sustainable then i can’t be mad lol
I completely agree that it is a privilege to be able to choose underconsumption im still glad that people are thinking more ethically about how they live. I hope it will lead to more people donating to charity shops and critiquing hall culture + celebs with HUGE closets
I feel like the people commenting about how it’s normal consumption are a really good reminder that what we see online isn’t a real representation. With over consumption, there’s easy content but with just existing normally, do people even always comment? I hope that makes sense, but feels good to see those comments bc i feel like there’s more of us out there
i think i get what you mean haha
I said in another comment about the tiktok i referenced that said "underconsumption exists solely as opposition to overconsumption" feels relevant here when it comes to calling it UNDERconsumption - would ppl pay as much attention to calls for 'normal' consumption? would ppl have taken notice / commented if it had been branded normal consumption from the start?
but now that underconsumption is being talked about I do like how ppl are clarifying that's it's very normal!
I think I'm on the right side of tiktok cause shopping hauls and celebrities aren't a daily part of it so I wasn't fully aware the lengths of "underconsumptioncore" even though it had popped up a couple times in the last month. It's wild how different the tiktok algorithm can make one user's experience of the other.
Slebs and influencers have products sent to them by the companies, us normal folk don’t have that luxury. Love it when they say “I always use this” only for it never to be seen again.
Underconsumption, really, it’s just using what you have and replacing when needed. Common sense really 🤦♀️
This 100% this
I'm from Colombia (Latam) and seeing trends like "underconsumption core", and "minimalism" is so weird, like, why would someone have 5 different shampoos? why someone needs more than 1 Stanley cup? (which is very expensive here) is not normal. I truly believe that is something related to purchasing power, which is not a secret, in the global south is not as high as in the global north so here normally we use something and buy a new one when it is needed (there are exceptions, obviously), however, is insane how some people do not have that common sense haha but I think is because of the context, I truly believe that they live in a bubble where they think that "underconsumption" is a trend and they discover something when is literally how more than the 50% of the population lives and not because is cool, a lot of the cases are because we cant, literally we cant
I do think the under consumption trend has a message to tell, even if it is not truly showing under consumption. It does really bring a breath of fresh air when comparing it to the amount of PR influencers get. I love to see influencers being real about what they do with all the stuff they receive, like donating most of it.
great points! i think it's simply just that "trends and mindlessly following them is a huge problem in society and probably a reason for why overconsumption has become so common and we really need to stop this trend-culture" and "overconsumption has been so normalised in younger generations and we need to make sustainable living popular again" are two statements that can and should co-exist.
I really like this video. The content, decor, your blouse. It has a peaceful vibe.
The sad thing about this trend, is that people are throwing out perfect and brand new products to fit into the new ‘trend’. It would be better to keep it at use it, but stop buying more:(
Honestly, the class context is very important to emphasise. Growing up in a working class family, I was made very aware, very early on, the importance and weight of money. Even when I had savings, I was afraid to spend too much too fast. Even though I loved fashion, I was very selective with the clothes I bought and rarely bought more than one piece at once. Nowadays, even fast fashion stores seem expensive to me, specially considering how bad the quality is and how little they last, so I pretty much only buy second hand from thrift stores. Many times, I've been "forced" to rewear the same clothes for a long time, even as my style changed drastically, so I've learned how to restyle things into my new preferences, and to not be so quick to discard old clothes.
agreed, but i think *now* you're kind of winning bc so many ppl who had more never learnt to be happy with what they had, even down to fast fashion nowadays that so many ppl hate but don't know how to adapt / make suit them! i kind of forced myself to only shop secondhand and i think it's really helped my personal style / to look at my clothes more critically!
I don't see how anyone could label it “hypocritical” when it's finally allowing ourselves to show what our lives are like without the pressure to fit into an aesthetic/impress
ultimately few of these people will stick with under consumption unless they’re a specifically sustainable goods account, because “buying stuff content” is performs well on these all platforms so there is no incentive
I feel like this "trend" has a lot of back and forth about is it a good thing is it a bad thing and I feel like you did a great job Katie sharing the pros, the cons, and the grey areas of it!
aw thank you!! big fan of your channel 🫶
People go 😕shopping to fill a “ void”
🤷🏼♀️
I personally really like the underconsumption trend. As new college freshman, I feel it’s very easy to buy so many things because that’s what is being suggested to me, but the underconsumption trend made me rethink a lot of these purchases and inspired me to only purchase essentials and things I really wanted and take the things I already had with me to college. It also inspired me to take a good look at my wardrobe and realize that I don’t really need new clothes for the new school year and that what I already have is more than enough. I think that it was one of those trends that really made a difference IMO.
I’m aware that it is hard to let go of the “overconsumption” mindset for a lot of people (who partake in it). But I’m telling you, the dopamine rush of getting 1 product that you’ve desired for many months is a longer-lived feeling than continuously buying multiple products at once (I’ve realized). So if this motivates anyone else to attempt to be satisfied with this “minimalist?” lifestyle, I strongly encourage you to try this! (I understand that this may not be the easiest thing for everyone, it was even hard for myself for a while to not buy cheap products in bulk).
Since i was probably 10 i preferred watching makeup/clothing declutters than makeup collections/ wardrobe tours. It always hated how people pile up products just for the sake of having them. Speaking of declutters, my favourite thing was the “pan project” . Seeing this is a trend now isnt surprising to me, it could benefit someone and make them a bit more conscious about their shopping habits
If we don't put the brakes on our ridiculous over consumption now, we will soon be living in an uninhabitable world.
spent more money this year than any previous year and it’s at a point i know if i keep spending i will feel worse about myself. so i’m going to do a zero spending period on clothes and products. i want to save more money for experiences - travelling, activities and meals with friends.
My favorite is seeing in the comment sections of these videos people asking where they can buy the specific items 😂😂 like the point went right over you didn’t it
I haven't been on TikTok ever and I highly am against the app bc of many different things but this topic is growing ive seen videos of it in my homepage of UA-cam and ive been an enviormentalist over rhetoric last 5 years and im glad people are seeing the changes that are being made but the changes need to be a combined mix of consumers , creators and brands for us to fix the real issue and I feel like social media should definetly have ad and market g restrictions not just for kids bc the world is aware this is an issue but these social platforms that also allow his to see products need to take responsibility to .
and I know thats how influencers make money on ad sense and views but im tired of also seeing influencers having every video they do be sponsored and take up a good portion of the videos whole length
You also did an amazing job at reporting on this as well very well presented
agree that we need to see more regulation when it comes to checking social media’s iverconsumption!!
Personally this feels more like a trend rather than a long lasting thing. But if it's lower the consumption even a bit I think it's better than nothing. Though I feel like a lot of creators will probably declutter all their items and when the trend is gone be back to being even more... btw I loved the video. Will defiantly watch more of yours (:
just wanted to say, I really like the way you have dissected this. including various perspectives, reactionary back-and-forth, and nuances within this ongoing discussion made for a super interesting video, kudos
I definitely started overconsuming skincare products during and after the pandemic. I'm not on tiktok but I naturally just became overwhelmed with the amount of products I had accumulated and became determined to use them all up before purchasing more. So I feel like this could be a natural progression of people realizing how little benefit there is to accumulating so many products and being also overwhelmed/disgusted by it all and committing to do less
Anyone remember the movement of Zerowaste and Lesswaste that was in the 2019 era. Loved that
like you said, i feel like the underconsumption trend took off a lot of pressure on me to be camera ready all the time; having mis matched or off brand items is a concept completely alien on tiktok and even if this does end up dying out like any other microtend, im glad its made me more aware of my spending and habits and has helped me improve on myself ☆
great video - it is so important that this topic is being talked about and openly criticized. keep it up!
Heres my issue with this being a trend and why i think thats actually harmful.
Yes gen z has a shopping addiction but the actual problem is that they are shopping and curating things for approval. Thats the same issue with people saying "i wish x aesthetic was trending because i want to dress like that."
You can buy and wear anything you want but when you say that, youre saying you can only do x if your peers approve.
If you only "underconsume" as part of a trend, you haven't fixed the root addiction.
such an interesting take, i do agree. i think so much of tiktok is performative that it's hard for any trend to actually make a lot of impact, but on the other hand maybe this actually did work on just a few ppl and now they're questioning their consumption. & if only a few people take these principles offline and change their lifestyle then it's worth it to me!!
@katierobinson hey if stuff gets people to realize they're being chronically online or that they have vices they need to work on, that's awesome.
I really find this reliance on trends fascinating though. In the 2000's you could ONLY get low rise jeans. This was awful as a fat tween and I was so happy when the trend changed. Trends mattered because you couldn't buy things that weren't on trend. Now that people can buy anything, they artificially impose scarcity by being exceedingly self conscious and perfectionist.
Romanticizing everything is good actually, helps to grind through the hard part, but getting influenced is sth plain bad
Every time I go on social media, another must-have gets thrown in my face... but under-consumption trend led me to question every single purchase I want to make: if it causes every other person to touch some grass, I'm certain it will lead to global changes
On August 1, 2024, my first no-buy year ends. Why did I have to start it? First, I come from a very poor family. Second, I worked at a job I hated with all my heart and stayed there for 5 years. So during these 5 years I bought everything: books, clothes, cosmetics, jewelry... Anything cute, beautiful, blah blah blah. So I can say for sure that in my case, excessive consumerism was caused by poverty in my childhood and depression because of a job I didn't like. And so I spent all my money on junk, which is why I never had any money, just like when I was a kid. It was a vicious circle. My no-buy year was the best decision of my life. So on August 1, 2024, I will start my second no-buy year. And the things I've bought before will last me for many more years - clothes, books, and even hair care products.
I've been enjoying the underconsumptioncore vids I've seen because it makes me feel less like I'm a weirdo for not buying the next cool thing. As a weirdo my whole life, it made me feel even more outside the acceptable zones of behavior when I would try to avoid trends being shoved down my throat harder than ever. It's nice to see even a shred of people saying 'hey, it's okay to just have whatever works for you instead of what everyone else says is okay for you.'
We need to remember that these things are chronically online . These are ‘ online ‘ trends not irl. Who the heck is gonna buy 100 items just not to use them ? I think it’s a tactic that businesses use so that our demand for their products increases and we end up spending more and since people on tiktok are so gullible , they think it’s real. Just because you don’t have a whole bunch of items doesn’t mean you’re ‘ under-consuming’, you’re living like any other normal person .
My favorite part of this video is getting an ad for Wayfair at the end--the websites know where my consumptive habits lie lolol
In all seriousness, I really like your covering of this topic. I am and will never be on Tik Tok but the influence of it is undeniable enough in daily life that I need intellectual filter channels to keep pace. Traditional news could never break down trends like this without some weird global angle (see MSNBC covering this same topic).
I'm shocked your subscriber count isn't higher--you earned mine today!
I hope this continues to trend because I feel like this is a good addition to the no buy trend. The underconsumption trend I feel is a good bridgeway and look into how we consume goods
I feel like so many people take underconsumption to an abnormal extent. Yes, it is especially necessary in this day and age to reuse and repurpose various items such as clothes, containers, etc., but you shouldn’t “underconsume” to the point of using expired products that are “still good”, damaged clothes or flexing that you only use one lipstick every day instead of 3. And we also have to look at this for all povs, because, as you mentioned, anyone who isn’t on tiktok would be sent into a coma if they saw this “underconsumption” trend which is actually just normal consumption. And what many people overlook is the fact that influencers or people who overconsume aren’t necessarily doing it on purpose, they buy all of this stuff because it’s normal consumption for them (they grew up in such a family, bought this amount of stuff for most of their life, etc.) . To sum up this unnecessarily long paragraph, underconsumption is blown out of proportions on tiktok and it should just be called “normal consumption”
I would love for this trend to be permanent. We need it, the earth needs it, our wallets need it, our mental health needs it.
If there is one thing I will forever be glad about, it’s that my lack of coordination made make up so impossible to apply that I never got into the stuff.
I am confident I have saved thousands of dollars, years of my life, and my mental health, all because I have clumsy af hands.
So much of this overconsumption is on beauty products, it’s insane. I overspend too, but on books, which go on a bookshelf, food, which gets eaten, or games with are usually digital and don’t clutter the home.
My roommate has so much makeup and it clutters the bathroom so much, it makes it impossible to clean.
hahah i feel the same, my makeup routine is so minimal bc i just cba 😭
Remember when the only consumerism that was pushed on us were toy commercials on kids TV channels?? Thinking everything was revolutionary and begging your parents to buy something but they saw right through the marketting 😂
I keep watching this kind of content because it helps me to get back to my sense and stopping me from yet purchase another thing online☺️❤
I really like that vinted advert- however it is rather ironic as their entire business model would not work if people did not over consume. I myself admit that I spend way more money and buy way more clothes on vinted than i ever would at a fast fashion brand like urban outfitters. I think the cheap price makes it easier for me to consume more than i need- much like how fast fashion brands like shein work. However, I genuinely love vinted as a platform my entire wardrobe including shoes is second hand and I’d say 75% of that is from vinted! The most sustainable thing to do is of course not to buy anything, new or second hand.
people have different standards for everything and consumption is one of them. nobody cares if u spend so much money on it but js think about if ull even use it and need it. this also applies towards "under-consumption" which is basically js another weirder way to say "think abt it before u purchase it".
The biggest problem with those overconsumption videos is the fact, that those creators mostly over consume in one category (e.g. clothing, skincare, makeup, bags etc.) which sometimes might be even justified by simply loving certain thing so much you want to collect it, but if we scroll all of those videos for half an hour, it all kinda melts into one video - or one person - so we feel like every single person on the planet has 30 Stanley cups, 70 pairs of shoes, 3 drawers with lipglosses and bathroom overflowing with scrubs, and it's just us who has not enough of everything
I’ve been waiting for all the analysis videos to come out on this, I’m ready 😂
I'm also disturbed by how everything now has to be a "trend" for us to do it and as soon as the next thing shows up we move on to that and forget the old, even if it's good like this one. For ex: when people said they were gonna boycott fast fashion bla, bla, bla and now they are saying fast fashion is ok because some people can only afford that.
Social media is really controlling us and it's getting scary, it's like most people don't even think for themselves anymore.
the fact that some people call it "poor" is really out of touch with reality and it shows how overconsumption has become the new normal, when in fact the "undercosumption" (or simply normal consumption) has been a reality too most people all over the world....
Project pan and no buy can relate this content i love watching these
Im so sick of being sold something everywhere I go on the internet. Instagram feels like its showing me ads for things to buy more than actual pictures my friends have posted.
Found this to be a really interesting video- I have left social media last year, so Im behind on the trends.
I would like to make a gentle critique about your last point- that this is a "first world problem".
I spend a lot of time abroad, as my family aren't from the UK, and I have what I'd call a 50% 3rd world and 50% 1st world experience.
3rd world countries are also going through mass overconsumption, and there is not such a gap between 1st and 3rd world anymore, as there is between rich and poor. Many of the so-called 3rd world countries have a large emergent middle class, and fairly large upper class, which are the equivalent in income to the UK's working class.
They are able to consume via chinese sites like ali and shein, and more localised marketplace sites, as well as in cheap-ish shops popping up (for example, Poundland's Pepco in Romania).
While the large new middle classes of emerging economies may not be able to spend the same amount of money as a middle class person from London or Birmingham, they ARE able to consume the same amount of products.
A survey I saw recently showed me that the average Brazilian buys 30 items of new clothing per year (new from shops not hand-me-downs). Thats the average. Minimum wage there is something like £300 so the cost isnt high, but the number/frequency is.
My friends abroad, who are far poorer than us in the UK, still have 5 lipsticks and 10 t-shirts. They are chinese and say things like "kwjdufiqooaoh" on the front, but nonetheless they are t-shirts and there are 10 of them.
Overconsumption is a global problem at this point
Those who can do, and those who cant, aspire to.
Theres a wonderful minimalist channel here on youtube called Mayo Utuk where a girl in either Ghana or Nigeria on a low income reduces her clutter. I follow another from Nigeria too. They arent rich girls.
This overconsumption is keeping the poor poor, and taking potential away from the almost-middle class from saving up, and in some cases, throwing the rich down into the gutter.
If american teenagers need to be educated about normality via short videos of people sharing their realistic homes and stuff... that may also benefit so called 3rd world teenagers, who will see it and think, well maybe my 1 pair of shoes is perfectly fine and I dont need to feel bad.
i love how you added “This overconsumption is keeping the poor poor, and taking potential away from the almost-middle class from saving up…” it’s so true
brilliant comment. i did reference this a little in the video after initially saying it's a first world problem but I think you added so much context and understanding!!
thanks for sharing, especially liked your line, "This overconsumption is keeping the poor poor", it reminds me of what I spoke about in another video about how fast fashion isn't actually affordable bc it's keeping you in a cycle of buying and discarding (ua-cam.com/video/1KcNVDSCXas/v-deo.htmlsi=nCOkTJas59xjVsxY) 🫶
This feels more like "normal consumption core" rather than underconsumption
This is still way too much shit nobody needs
i actually have been using those 3 krave beauty skincare products for over a year now lol, simplifying my skincare routine with a brand that keeps it simple has saved my skin and helped me not buy more skincare products that i could possibly use or would irritate my skin from all the different products/constantly using different ones
I'm not on tiktok, and I am 59, so maybe take what I say with those things in mind, but I feel like this is a LOT like the youtube trends of pantry/freezer/budget challenges. Those youtube trends are actually really helpful, and were VERY helpful during the pandemic when people saw their incomes drop along with supplies of staples like flour and rice. I am glad that folks are still posting those challenges, because frugality is a skill, not a trend.