Imogen Webb
The start of the new year always leads to social media influencers encouraging us to rebrand with a whole new lifestyle. Sometimes, it’s becoming a pilates princess or a clean girl. This year, however, a new trend is beginning to dominate feeds: underconsumption.
‘Underconsumption core’ is a trend showcasing people using products which they already own, instead of buying into the never-ending cycle of microtrends. It is not just promoting saving money and normalising average spending habits, the trend also promotes sustainability.
Spending sprees are spurred on year-round by micro-trends, seasonal turnover and annual events. But what would happen if we were all content with the products we already have?
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Environmental Impact
With many of us jumping online to find the perfect outfit for the next event, it’s easy contribute to the climate disaster caused by fast fashion.
Fast fashion is the rapid production of inexpensive, low-quality clothing which often mimics popular styles of fashion labels and independent designers. They churn out new clothing lines, season by season, to appeal to current styles and trends.
“Amazon generated 599 million pounds of plastic packaging waste in 2020.”
Each year, world consumes about 80 billion new pieces of clothing, which is 400 per cent more than the amount consumed two decades ago. Fast fashion fuels a throwaway culture, so we get bored of products faster and want to keep up with new trends.
The never-ending cycle of production and disposal has drastic effects on the environment. The fashion industry is highly greenhouse gas intensive. Estimated emissions range between 2 and 8 per cent of the global total.
With more people now turning to online shopping, the 5p bag policy is now less effective due to the huge amounts of shipping packaging. Amazon generated 599 million pounds of plastic packaging waste in 2020.
Societal Pressure
Scrolling through social media can result in asking why your life doesn’t match the aesthetics of the lives we see on our screens. It’s easy to forget that this is not a honest look at someone’s life. Often, these content creators receive commission to sell products to viewers. As well as this, PR packages containing entire skincare and beauty lines which are sent to influencers. These create the illusion you need to buy every product.
More than half of 18-to-29-year-olds say video content influences their Amazon purchases the most. Of those surveyed, 51 percent of all respondents have purchased products promoted by influencers.
Although this is relatively harmless, social media creates insecurities within viewers, leading to perceived social inadequacy and the feeling that they have to fix something. Buying decorations in your living room or the newest skincare products may temporarily alleviate this anxiety. However, people’s everyday lives look drastically different to what is portrayed online. This is even the case for influencers who show curated snapshot of their day.
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Promoting Underconsumption
A recent trend dubbed ‘Project Pan’ is a challenge to use the products you already own, before you buy anything new. Therefore, you reach the bottom of the ‘pan’ before buying a new one.
Not only will the environment thank you for taking part in the underconsumption trend, so will your bank account. The best part about taking part in this trend is that there are no rules. You can choose which parts of your buying habits you want to change. Even small everyday changes can make a big difference to the environment and your life.
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Featured image courtesy of Marcus Loke via Unsplash. No changes made to this image. Image license found here.
