trying the 24 most popular ✨underconsumption core ✨ hacks

more underconsumption core hacks:

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[socpancake]

my grandmother (peak slavic war-generation depression-era specimen) used to rinse, dry, fold, and store every single plastic bag that came her way. she'd use them for food storage, item storage, as makeshift aprons, surface protection for dirty work, gardening gloves, you name it, she'd do it over and over again until the thing fell apart. my parents used to criticise her mercilessly for the plastic bags always hanging from her laundry racks, but now we see she was in fact so ahead of her time.

naturally, she also used to mend her clothes and socks until they were more mending than fabric, and all the visible mending gave such a twee vibe to her items. she also adhered to the classic slavic outside clothes -> house clothes -> gardening clothes -> cleaning rags lifecycle. she'd knit rugs and dish cloths out of old pantyhose (I loved those so much, such a fluffy texture!)

I've come to realise my funny gran was actually a sustainability queen, and I strive every day to be more like her ❤

of course, all of these habits come from hardship and poverty, and glamourising them is not the point. rather, humans' creativity in the face of rampant inequality is admirable. here in the 1st world we've been coddled into some very silly, unsustainable, hyperconsumerist habits, and we would do well to take a leaf from our ancestors' and fellow non-wasteful humans' books.

[Liloldliz]

"Cheapskate X environmentally conscious" is my entire budgeting strategy

[amandasaufley]

My local library has a “gear library” where you can borrow camping/hiking gear! I love it and have used it to borrow backpack carriers for my toddler. Wonderful concept, every town needs one.

[AdaminaCarden]

Hahah the TEA of "If you have to buy new things to participate in a 'style' then you don't have style"

[megan]

"Spend time in nature because there's nothing to buy there." I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS! I just got back from a 5 day backpacking trip. I always feel so free when I'm carrying everything I need on my back with no need to go back into civilization until the food or coffee runs out. Literally just walking all day until I feel like stopping. Opting out of society and consumerism.

[leahaf]

I get the same rush from creatively repairing something as I do from buying something new. Except that repairing something is better, because you get a spark of pride whenever you use it, whereas the rush of buying something quickly disappears.

[moldovanca]

I didn’t set out to make a sustainable choice but when my husband and I first spent Christmas together I bought a set of cloth string-closure gift bags of varying sizes. I have reused those bags for every occasion on which we exchange gifts so I haven’t had to deal with wrapping or unwrapping any gifts for 12 years now.

[therrortier]

I keep all the plastic "bags" from toilet paper packaging or similar items to use them to collect my trash when I'm hiking or traveling.

[Little_farmhouse]

Growing up, my mom would add water to shampoo bottles, dish soap, hand soap, laundry detergent, etc to make things last longer. I still do the same thing as well.

[taylabria]

I have a pair of capri pants that I embroidered flowers over a stain, and I showed it to a lady who was talking to my mom and she thought it was originally like that. I was so happy when she told me that my embroidery looked like the stuff in the store cause I just started trying embroidery.

[samvanvugt]

All of the things, yes! Except borrowing...I cannot tell you how many times I've lend something to someone, only for that person to not be nearly as careful with it as I am and I just....I don't lend stuff anymore. We're very conscious consumers at home, and when I've spent years maintaining something (from books to appliances) only for the person who borrows it from me to be extremely careless resulting in the item breaking down way before it would have. And it is not just one person, it seems to be most people around us :(
And yes, things are meant to be used. But it is not okay to me when I've had a book for years, read it multiple times and kept it in pristine condition, only for someone else that I lend it too to scuff the edges and corners like it is nothing.

[assiuuskallio]

Re unwanted gifts: Don’t give unwanted gifts to others. Don’t give people stuff just because you feel like you have to give a gift (eg Christmas). Ask your loved ones if there are things they’d like, and if they don’t give you an answer, simply don’t give them a material gift (unless you like, happen to stumble on something that you know for a fact they’d like). Instead you can give for example a donation to a cause that’s important to them.

[margauxchristoffels]

Tips for fabric waste: sensory books for babies or sniffing mats for dogs and cats

[taquienaboston]

My 96-year old mother has been taking broken pairs of earrings and combining them to make a "new" pair of earrings. She alters her clothes to update her style and wears her pre-made turbans sideways, which gives them a different look

[pialupa]

Regarding #16 cleaning cloths: I recently discovered Sashiko, a traditional Japanese stitching technique. It is decorative, but can also be used to reinforce cloths and clothing. One use case is making a "Zokin", a cleaning cloth, out of old dish towels or clothes. It's so cool. I love it because it's pretty but also extremely functional. The Green Wrapper has great tutorials on how to make them. I am starting my first one right now!

Also, not you thirst trapping us while modeling upcycled flower earrings 🤩 Girl, you looked so cute!

[joycegonzales]

I as looking at some WW2 rationing coupons that were my parents. On the back it says, “ if you don’t need it, don’t buy it”. Good idea

[lm]

Stealing your dad's clothes leads to another great hack for people with a) sewing skills and b) a small clothing size: You can thrift cheap but high-quality men's shirts and tailor/alter them to suit you! Done this many times, still wearing those pieces because they last!! And they're not only shirts, I've made dresses, shorts and beautiful tops out of men's shirts!

[dawn]

I quilt so I save almost all fabric scraps. I make scrap quilts where you sew together all those small pieces creatively. I practice Japanese sashiko which uses small scraps to mend or decorate. I use small scraps of fabric to fill doll pillows which are given with scrappy fabric doll quilts to kids. So many uses for scraps. Fabric is expensive so waste not these small leftover pieces. Another idea is to find a quilter who also uses these and share them. Make coasters out of fabric scraps. So many ideas!

[faithmargeuxcaubang]

Thank you for the video!! I find these hacks so inspiring <3 One hack I try to practice is to not buy any new notebooks XD there are many cute designs but I'm trying to stick to simply using what we have at home (as part of a family with kids still in school, that's a lot of notebooks!)

[FrzzlMzzl]

Super video, thank you!! I use big bags from toilet paper, pet food etc. to go around the block and collect trash. Also, relatives live on a farm and reuse almost everything! Paper bags to collect seeds, regift things, clothing so patched up you sometimes couldn't recognize the original item (worn for farm work). As a kid this never made sense to me and I remember thinking of them as cheap and strange. Now I wish the whole of humanity would follow such steps!!