While having a heavily adorned Stanley cup, Lululemon leggings and the newest iPhone makes you cooler, it makes our planet warmer. That is the thought behind the latest trend sweeping the internet: "Underconsumption Core."
This trend acts in an unprecedented way; It doesn’t ruthlessly feed you to FOMO for not buying a mass-produced product that will last just as long as the TikTok trend does. Instead, it encourages buyers to consume sustainably. It asks them to use what they already own to its full potential and buy things that are made to last.
"I look at something, I say, 'Do I need it?'" said Sora Romero, a freshman studying health care coordination. "I want clothes that will last me years... Sometimes, very rarely, I will treat myself to an expensive piece of clothing because I know it'll last me that long. That's when I will splurge."
Not all students at ASU perceive sustainable consumption in the same way.
"I am an over-consumer, and it's because my mom's a hoarder," said Ro Villar, a junior studying nursing. "I know a lot of girls, (for whom) like, one shirt can turn into a tank top, turned into a skirt. (They) can makeshift it. I'm not like that."
Shinjini Poddar, a freshman studying criminology and criminal justice, views it similarly.
"I know that I have grown up in an environment where I have started over-consuming, which means I want things which I do not really need," Poddar said.
But it doesn't mean they dismiss the value of sustainability: They just like practicing it a little differently from what the trend prescribes.
"I'm not a person that throws it away unless it's torn, or the color has faded, or somehow it's destroyed,” Poddar said.
Poddar also said that she donated old baby clothes and books she no longer needed to continue the trend of underconsumption.
Despite her inclination to over-consume, Villar advocates for sustainability in other ways as well. For example, she reuses plastic bags and uses electricity and water carefully.
Underconsumption is not just a trend for these students, but habits they have carried for a long time.
Coming from a single-income immigrant household, Romero has been compelled to under-consume for much of her life.
She said she drives slowly to improve gas mileage, uses the Fry's app for savings and enjoys thrifting. She also practices sustainable consumption by utilizing every part of her food, mending clothes and taking public transportation.
"It's a good thing that people are trying to cut down on their consumption, but it does feel like actual poor people are being mocked a little bit because some people have no choice but to under-consume, and that's their normal standard of living, their normal consumption,” Romero said.
Despite this critique, ASU students believe the trend may spark change for the better. Any attempt at underconsumption is better than nothing at all.
"I think that people could use less, but then, if you have the resource for it, go for it, as long as it's not harming the environment and other people," Poddar said.
Edited by Andrew Dirst, Sophia Ramirez and Natalia Jarrett.
Reach the reporter at ktale@asu.edu and follow @KasturiTale on X.
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