#underconsumption

[avid-miscellanea]

I heard underconsumption-core was trending so here’s my watering can. There’s one hole drilled into the top of the handle to allow air in so the water comes out of the cap smoothly. Is it aesthetic? No. Was it free (with purchase of oat milk and access to a drill with bits of varying sizes) and does it work? Yes!

[suspiraling]

A part of me thought I'm not affected by oberconsumption content and influences in general, but literally seeing 2-3 tiktoks of ppl showing their "underconsumption" (which is just normal living let's be honest) makes me realize that I have more than enough stuff and actually more than happy not buying anything new.

So now I'm wondering how I can shield myself from constantly being bombarded by marketing without leaving the internet completely

[totallytubularific]

My opinion doesn’t matter, but like. I’ve seen so many things that are like “overconsumption core” or “underconsumption core” and yeah overconsumption isn’t good. But you are allowed to consume. Obviously with like nuance to this, like. If you want a Stanley mug then get one, you just don’t need 10, the goal was to use those instead of single use plastics so if you buy 10 and throw half out after a year, that isn’t great. But like. You’re allowed to buy new shoes. Or cute clothes, it just has to come with the foresight and understanding that they should be more than a one wear item.

You should be buying things with intention and thought, to be used for a long time.

Anyway the entire point is that you can and should consume but as a thoughtful and intentional consumer that is prepared to carefully consider what they need and want within their life.

[secretlyafiveheadeddragon]

Listen to me. Listen to me.

If you’re going to dump all of your “trendy” shit at a thrift store the second you’re done with it, you have to actually shop at thrift stores. Otherwise you are not actually changing the harmful consequences that buying everything new actually causes. It doesn’t matter if that cheap ass SHEIN top ends up in another person’s closet if you turn around and replace it with a new fucking cheap poly-blend.

[kp777]

Excerpt:

[....] Enter “underconsumption core”. It’s the latest slightly earnest TikTok trend, in which young people extoll the virtues of buying only what you need. Underconsumers come in various flavours. Some present basic frugality tips (cutting up tubes to use the last dregs of product or repurposing jars). Others introduce revolutionary concepts such as “just having one of a thing” (shampoo, handbag), “looking for secondhand alternatives” or “not replacing stuff unless it’s broken”. I can feel the eyerolls from here – and they have been, ahem, robustly expressed in comments and reaction videos critiquing #underconsumption from two main directions....

Read more.

[reedingisfundamental]

underconsumption this overconsumption that. i got an eating disorder and an online shopping problem. tight line i walk

[radseul]

watched mina le's new video and she briefly mentioned "the great exhaustion" so i looked it up and its this prediction of people getting tired of overconsuming and the rapid production of (low quality) media and rich influencers and huge hauls and YESSS IVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS ONE

especially with de-influencing and underconsumption becoming,, trendy? i feel like this makes so much sense. i myself have noticed myself feeling extremely distant from internet people and their massive consumption

i feel like we a quite literally reaching peak internet rn if that makes sense so im soo ready for slow consumption and a slow lifestyle

[qipsir]

Adding onto this, there are some "cheap" tips that I genuinely enjoy doing.

I genuinely enjoy making my own oils and salves. I enjoy recycling soap scraps into new bars, I enjoy saving bottles and jars for plants and things and watching the collection grow knowing I'm getting more than my money's worth, and that I can then give those glasses to people who will use them. I enjoy learning how things are made so I can make them myself. I enjoy learning herbalism and feeling the effects of something that finally works. I enjoy saving the cardboard and packing paper from boxes and packages because it makes my craft brain happy even when I don't actively have a craft going on.

I enjoy using solar power and cutting open containers to get the last little bit and being the one going through our entire shampoo stock because my mother always buys more when she doesn't need it so I haven't NEEDED to buy shampoo and conditioner in ages (though I have bought some specifically to repair my hair after bleaching). And then once I'm through our stock of half used bottles and products we don't buy anymore, I'm switching to bar shampoo and conditioner because I can. Because I like it. Because I want to.

I enjoy listening to an artist's older music if I prefer that album of theirs. I enjoy listening to music from an MP3 player. I enjoy using a typewriter even though my hands are small and I'm not very good at it.

I enjoy these things because they make me feel capable. And after two (2) decades of having my every move controlled, of having my life planned out for me, knowing I not only could but actually do put this all into practice feels freeing to me.

I listen to myself and adjust accordingly because I can. I don't force myself to do things I don't want to or am terrified over because I can and I understand. I push myself to climb higher because I can.

And I love it.

[legal-poppy]

ive seen a lot of girls on tiktok doing a series on using up their makeup collections, and I have way too much makeup that I don't use so I'm going to do the same but on tumblr bc I don't post on tiktok. so anyways, I'm starting with a total of around 160 products (technically 108 that I've opened or used).

the rules i've set for myself are:

only use the selected products until they are entirely empty (not hitting pan, not bottom of the tube--entirely empty!)

exception for special events where i need to use a different product

if a product isn't working out, find another way to use it (ex. for art) or donate unused to someone

use older products before newer ones

don't buy anything new until what i have is 100% gone

and my first products on the chopping block are:

one of my oldest elf eyeshadow pallets

an old b&bw paris amour body spray

a bioderma and aveeno eczema lotion

a nyx contour palette, kaja blush, and revolution highlighter

a sephora foundation, benefit primer, and clinique concealer

a burt's bees eyeliner, revlon mascara, and anastasia brow pencil sample

2 homemade lip glosses, neutrogena an mineral fusion lip crayons, too faced lipgloss, an elf lip liner, a babylips spf chapstick, and a burt's bees lip oil

probably 5-6 burt's bees chapsticks in my car, backpack, purse, bed, work, etc.

[halfpricedpages]

“back to school haul!!”

you don’t need more pencils. check the junk drawer in ur kitchen. you will find so many pencils. and highlighters.

[aherowhowashappy]

Underconsumption core except I’m just autistic and the products I have bought since I was twelve have been discontinued and I’d rather my shit fall out of the holes in my backpack than change anything ever

[junesaintfrancis]

back onto my overconsumption hatersomeness

if your response to something like "hey, please stop buying so much from shein (one of the worst fast fashion brands in the world rn)" is "ermmm well you literally shop at target and that's fast fashion too..." .... grow the fuck up. do you have ANY idea how much the US and other Western countries are POLLUTING developing / third world countries?? how much our overconsumption is DIRECTLY destroying their lands and lives?? like i'm (not) sorry for the rant and i'm sorry to be so rude but oh my god i cannot anymore. someone buying a hairbrush at target because theirs fell apart or something is nothing compared to you hauling ass to Shein's latest fashion drop or whatever sale Temu is having.

not only this, but as the 'underconsumption' hashtag / trend on tiktok grows, i'm seeing more and more videos directly promoting / attempting to normalize / making a joke out of overconsumption. saw a girl showing off her collection of shit she even admitted she doesn't (and will likely never) use. like what is going ON?? where is the fucking empathy?? surely we, as a society, cannot be THIS addicted to instant gratification???

sorry for being a bitch about this but i'm just at my wits end. i'm so defeated. jesus fucking christ people.

[mafermette]

Underconsumption, minimalism, budgeting... It's all the same!

[moonwish]

[media-dump]

mandyrulez || tiktok

[mylittleyuna]

Out thrifting and look who found me? It even has her little pink paws and nose 🎀

I didn’t buy it bc I have nowhere to put figurines, but it was a sweet surprise to see out and about.🤍🪽