In the age of the internet, trends come quickly and die out even faster. In order to not feel left out, many people buy all the trendy items without a second thought and get rid of them the moment they aren’t trendy anymore.
While these items might be trendy objects, trendy clothing is also an issue with 100 billion clothes produced each year and 92 tons thrown into landfills. Additionally, predictions are that the clothing industry’s global emissions will increase by 50% by 2030. These statistics only account for the clothing industry, many of the clothes being dumped into landfills are fast fashion clothing items made only to be trendy and are not built for longevity.
Think about how much waste that is only accounting for clothing; nowadays fidget toys, figurines, and just about anything can be trendy.
What is even more concerning about the trending items is that it isn’t about just buying that one thing; it is overconsumption. One of the currently trending items is the blind box dumpling squishies. They are fidget toys shaped like dumplings that come in blind boxes. Each dumpling is a different color and rarity and so many people have decided to buy numerous dumpling blind boxes in order to get a “rare” one.
Searching on the YouTube homepage, you can find many unboxing videos of these viral dumplings where creators open tons of them for views. Then what happens to all of the duplicate dumplings or the ones they don’t want?
Usually they go straight to thrift stores. The EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, estimates that around 84% of all clothes donated to thrift stores go to the landfill. That statistic only applies to clothing, but imagine how many other items from thrift stores go to landfills. Trendy items usually have fake versions of them created to gain profit, so not only are the real trendy items going to landfills, the fake versions of them are too, creating even more waste.
This same basic principle applies to all the other trendy items we’ve had over the past couple of years. Labubus, Stanley cups, NeeDoh squishies, burr baskets, boo baskets, and so much more. These items have been so popular that stores have been completely sold out and there have been recordings of people shoving others to the side and harassing others for the trendy items. Why do people keep buying trendy items that they don’t even want or need?
This is the bandwagon effect. It is a psychological concept where people will do something because other people are, regardless of how they personally feel about it. Usually it comes from a fear of missing out and wanting to be included.
Additionally, there is a concept in psychology called “groupthink” which is essentially the same thing; people in a group will align their beliefs with the others in the group instead of what they personally believe.
Humans are social creatures and are very easily influenced by other people. Anytime something is so popular that many people are participating in it, others will be influenced to join in as well. It’s all about fitting into social norms and doing what other people are doing.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with liking something that happens to be popular, it only becomes an issue when you are only interested in said items only because they are popular.
Mindlessly consuming and buying trendy items to fit in only leads to more environmental destruction. Next time before buying something trendy, think about if it’s something you are actually interested in and will actually use. These shocking levels of environmental destruction will only increase, if you keep buying all the trendy items without a thought.
Take a minute and ask yourself, “Do I really need this?”
