is anti-consumerism trendy?? | ✨underconsumption core✨ deinfluencing & anti-hauls

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[freshspiritworks]

Well it's about time!! Doesn't matter what it's called - stop buying crap!

[hayley_]

I'm quickly getting tired of the recent gatekeeping of underconsumption, some featured here (not you, Shelbi, you've been a great proponent). We're inundated nonstop with influencers/brand marketing normalizing replacing everything you own once a season, if not more. But when regular people chime in to remind us that the stuff we have is good enough, and most people's lives probably look more like yours than what we see in perfectly-curated posts, it's not enough "systemic action"? Most people in the U.S. are not thinking about moderating their consumption *at all* across economic classes. Rich, poor, and in between, it's extremely common to buy a ton of shit that you don't need, because as Shelbi mentioned, there are dupes at every price point. If a TikTok trend is the starting point for people to make more sustainable choices, that's great! Everyone starts somewhere. Anything is preferable to the overconsumption marketing machine.

[mariakristine]

Underconsumption core is my favorite trend that ever happened on tiktok. I like seeing normal people aesthetic. It makes me feel content and appreciate what I have

[Elu]

I love this trend because i had never thought about this before. Now i have watched all of your videos, and i am absolutely hyped to make a change in my community and my daily life. Trend or not, raising awareness is a MASSIVE STEP.

[sky]

Finally a thing that's worth becoming a trend🙏

[ishathakor]

the weirdest thing i've seen on "underconsumption core" videos is some asshole in the comments being like "so we're glorifying poverty now?" and it's literally just someone washing and reusing a jar, or they're using some plates they got from their parents or something. like there are genuinely people out there who consider not buying shit you don't need poverty....

i'm indian and i think calling "underconsumption core" poverty is insane actually. i've yet to see a single video where anyone looks poor or isn't meeting their needs. or even someone who is still using things that are literally falling apart and unusable. there's literally nothing in these videos that should make you think "oh, this person is poor" apart from the fact that if you aren't poor you're expected to spend all your money on stuff just so you can have the newest and most trendy things. my family is middle class and we wear clothes until they have holes in them, then either patch them up and keep wearing them or turn them into rags. this is pretty normal for us.

when our shoes break, we take them to a cobbler to see if they can't be fixed, and if they can we just keep wearing them until they're unfixable one day. and for some reason, americans consider this poverty, but it's really not. my family wasn't struggling for cash for most of my life and we still did this because it's literally just common sense. my mom would splurge on bags and makeup and clothes while we did this "frugal" stuff because it's crazy to buy new things every single time something breaks without even checking to see if you can fix it. you could be throwing away a perfectly good shirt. my mom got a pair of shoes repaired by a cobbler a while ago and she's gotten like 5 more years out of those shoes than she would have otherwise. i have socks i decided to repair when they got holes that i've literally been using for years. same with a lot of my clothes.

the american mindset needs to shift to accommodate simply not buying things that you don't actually need (on second thought this doesn't apply just to americans because it's everywhere now). people pretend i'm really frugal or something but all i do is ask myself if i really need something before buying it, and the answer is often no. i never really stop myself from getting things i want either and i do think i still overconsume (work in progress lol). i've just made it a rule to ask myself 1. do i need this 2. do i actually want this 3. am i going to use this every time i buy something. and it turns out, i often don't need it, don't want it, and don't think i will use it either, and the only reason i feel like buying it is because i keep seeing it everywhere and it seems cool to have. i think a lot of people don't do this so they feel like not buying new stuff is always about poverty.

edit: the criticisms about not enough systemic change are true and i completely agree, but i think they also miss that most people are not going to be in favour of systemic change if we don't have cultural change. if people are wanting to buy new clothes and shoes and trinkets and so on every few days, they do not want systemic change. if people always want a new everything and always want to keep up with trends and impulse purchase everything and think reusing jars amounts to poverty, they are going to vehemently oppose systemic change. they don't want to live in a sustainable world because a sustainable world is not one where you buy new clothes every 2 weeks to keep up with whatever is going on on tiktok. and changing the culture will change people's opinions on this as well. the corporations have made buying new stuff all the time normal. we have to make it abnormal.

[lucidtofu]

I'm grateful that underconsumption core is a thing even if it has it's flaws. As you said, it's a response to influencer culture and hopefully it does reach as big of audience as it could get. Sure, maybe not everyone will start being mindful of everything that they own or buy, but at least it might minimize it even just for a short while.
I also hope that it branch to home reno and furniture/interior design side of the internet. As you said, people curate these homes that are openly online and it skews our perception on how long home contents should last. It's such a weird thing that a COUCH could be trendy! Especially when I personally live with furnitures that are as old as I am.

[tifacorn]

SEVEN?! seven new pieces of clothing a month. I haven't bought 7 pieces this YEAR. Omg where do they even put all that?! It sounds exhausting

[NinaCasali]

I am just scared that it being a trend, it will fade away.

[DevilishFailure]

You have such a good point saying we watch people's curated homes all day! I never really thought about why I am always unhappy with my "way too much open storage and a little messy" appartment. Makes so much sense that when we only see what is perfect, we get more and more unhappy and thus need/want to buy more.
I think we all need to log off more often and go into the woods, go hiking and just chill.

[ellenmelon]

It’s funny how everything needs to be “marketed” for people to buy into it. Even when it’s for anti consumerism trends.

My dad is one of the most anti-consumerist people I know. He rarely buys new things and hold onto clothes and shoes until they’re falling apart. He’s the definition of eco friendly, but he doesn’t even realize it lol.

[languagetraveller]

The thing that helps me not feel like I need to buy all these aesthetic things that everyone seems to buy these days? Not having tiktok in the first place.

[elenakalliste]

This really made a lightbulb go off for me with community being based on what you buy instead of what you do or believe in. It’s truly heartbreaking as a person who hates stuff and loves ideas.

[sarahbernhard]

I love how informative you are without seeming preachy or holier than thou. Love your content!

[alyciairlbeck]

I was trying to think about your question of how many houses I visit a year and was trying to count my families homes when I realized I actually go to many many homes because I'm a home health nurse I travel to my patients homes and spend 12hrs at a time in their homes. The more homes I go to the more I've realized how "normal" it has become too have so much unnecessary junk to the point that your home loses functionality. I see this with my low income patients, my high income patients and everything in between. I disagree that this new trend is just glorifying poverty because in my experience and from "the minimalists" people that are low income tend to have just as much stuff as high income people they just get it for cheap or free and it's a different kind of consumption/hoarding. And I think it's important to have deep conversations but let's be real, people that don't care about the environment aren't going to sit and watch a documentary, podcast, Ted talk discussing the dangers of overconsumption.... But they'll watch a short. In fact they'll watch shorts or tiktoks all day long so I think that is absolutely the medium to use when you're talking about reaching the most people. Great video! Can't wait for more content!

[NyppissN]

Thank you for bringing back the environmental foot print to the conversation! It's not only about the money and clutter. Saving this planet should be in the center of everything really

[angeljoyyoga]

"We're trading community for consumerism." THIS. I couldn't agree more!

[lisapoulsen]

I would feel absolutely sick to my stomach if I spent money the way the marketing gurus want me to believe I should. Save your money on “stuff” and make yourself your priority!!! Great video, Shelbi! And you’re right, we do love it here🥰🥰🥰

[PleasantRevolt]

Shoot I have been waiting for this trend for the fifteen years, my little anticapitalist soul is so excited.

[VertigoVirgo]

22:27 I’ve been about environmentalism since I was a kid but when I really started looking into to it…a lot of the stuff was stuff that we had to do because we were poor…like reusing stuff until it is completely unusable was standard and I continued to live that way because I couldn’t get behind replacing something because of a small tear or “being out of style”…so as someone who grew up poor I can see how being an environmentalist or “underconsumer” could seem like just being poor because it was my first thought but I learned so much more on what else I could do to positively impact the environment.