Tuesday

Welcome to Tuesday! Today, we're discussing:

• How overconsumption can impact our mental health

• What you need to know about “underconsumption”

• Get unbiased news for free

• How underconsumption benefits the planet

Is Overconsumption Impacting Your Mental Health?

It can be super exciting to purchase something you’ve been looking forward to for a while.

However, we may often feel pressure from social media to constantly make purchases to keep up with the latest trends.

With new trends seemingly coming up every day, social media completely normalizes overconsumption — buying much more than we truly need or can ever use.

Overconsumption may not only lead us to have cluttered homes — it can also impact our mental health in a number of ways.

First and foremost, continually buying new things may lead us to spend more than we can afford. Trying to constantly keep up with trends can be expensive.

Experts also note that making a purchase to fill a void or to show others something about ourselves — rather than to buy something we truly enjoy or will use — can lead to a continuous cycle of not feeling we have enough and making the next purchase to try and make ourselves happy.

Furthermore, when we have an excess of items, this can make our homes feel cluttered — leading to anxiety, stress, and more!

While shopping can definitely be exciting, it can also have the opposite effect when it happens in excess.

What Is Underconsumption? How To Embrace It in the Name of Self-Care

If you’re on social media, you may become familiar with the concept of “underconsumption.”

This idea was sparked in response to overconsumption, in a move of people to normalize using less than is necessary.

Some people argue that there’s no such thing as true “underconsumption,” and that anything less than overconsumption is simply “normal consumption.”

However, those who have embraced the idea of fighting back against overconsumption have found it beneficial for their minds, wallets, and the planet.

Rather than always buying into the newest or latest trends or buying more than we need, this concept leans into:

• Using what we have first before buying something new

• Only buying what’s necessary

• Reducing, reusing, repairing, and recycling

Here are a few ideas to spark some underconsumption (or normal consumption, however you prefer to think of it):

1. Buying clothes you love and wearing them on repeat

2. Use all of the products you have before buying new ones

3. Shopping with intentionality and avoiding impulse spending

4. Searching for secondhand options first when possible, instead of always buying everything new

5. Leaning into at-home self-care

1440: Your Source for Unbiased News

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Thank you to 1440 for sponsoring Note To Self. 

How Underconsumption Can Benefit The Planet

Underconsumption isn’t just great for our minds and wallets — it also benefits the planet!

This is a prime example of how intentional acts of self-care can impact so many different areas of our lives. Mindful consumption can be mental self-care, financial self-care, and environmental self-care!

When we consume less and provide more mental space for ourselves, this also reduces the amount of resources we use directly and indirectly.

For example, buying our products when we run out and in a single trip to the store (or a single online purchase) saves materials from the products or items themselves and helps cut back on resources like packaging or carbon emissions from driving or shipping!

Using every last drop of our items and repairing what we have also prevents unnecessary things from going into the landfills, which over time, can add up to have an immense, positive impact!

A Note From Us

Parting Thoughts

• ✅ Did You Know: The average American throws away more than 81 pounds of clothes each year! Clothing is just one area we can consider when being mindful of our consumption habits.

• 🙋🏼‍♀️ Snapshot Of The Day: We'd love to see moments from our readers lives that they are proud of! If you recently accomplished an achievement, experienced a joyful moment, or are proud of a picture you have taken, be sure to capture it on camera and send it to us for a chance to be featured next week! 

• 💭 Final Self-Care Thoughts for Today: Think about your shopping habits — for the planet and self-care — and how making small yet mindful shifts could make a positive impact!

Enjoying Note to Self?

Know of a great self-care tip or article you'd love to share with the community? Want to send us pictures of you completing one of your self-care rituals? Email us at [email protected]!