The Throw-away culture

The throw-away culture could be defined as buying products intended to be used for a short time before being thrown away, however with the ultra- connection between social media and major retailers, it now goes one step forward.

TikTok has launched a new feature where users can buy products from Amazon directly from the platform, without leaving the app. This practice redefines the concept of shopping at your fingertips. It pushes social media users to consume products seen once in a well crafted ad. 

Consumerism pushed to this extent presents a danger, not only for the environment, but also for our mental health, with such practices we are constantly on the look-out for new trends, never at rest, as we are pushed to consume at every second. The availability to always look better, feel better, be more trendy turns into an ever-going pressure to buy, but also to act in a defined way by our societal norms. 

To this definition, consumerism and sustainable fashion are antagonistic concepts, the first one hurries consumers to accumulate more and more goods, while the ladder slows down the practice of buying for the sake of use, and sometimes wants. 

Sustainability doesn’t have to equal restraint, but can also involve buying better quality products, more respectful of the environment that will in turn last longer, but also in more timeless clothing that does not push us to always be on the look-out for newness.For example, as an alternative to fast-fashion brand Zara and its basic collection , I find that the sustainable brand Colorful Standards presents a great alternative. For every non-sustainable option available, there is a sustainable one. 

This shift in consumption can offer a relative peace of mind in the midst of our consumption habits and offer a different perspective on shopping. Our habits are created by our surroundings and can be changed to better our quality of life, and create a new reality where shopping turns into a thought-out process and clothing has a clear value and is not driven by a desire to always buy what is presented to us on social media. 

The equation is to bring back shopping to a high-value purchase instead of treating it as a low-value one, equating to buying a pack of pasta. By re-injecting thoughts in our purchase process, we have the ability to impact the world at large. The ever-making of clothing is driven by our consumption and if we shift to buying less, we have the power to reduce the over-production, think about your behaviour having an impact on our whole consumption process.

We are about to break the loop.