When TikTok's underconsumption trend meets festive excess

Secret Santa, stockings and presents nether the histrion - gift-giving is astatine the bosom of Christmas Day.

But should it be?

This twelvemonth much radical person been exploring underconsumption - the inclination wherever buying hauls and occurrence must-buys are replaced with reusing beloved possessions and purchasing less.

It's taken disconnected connected TikTok, wherever mentions soared by astir 40,000% successful the UK earlier this year.

Experts accidental it's resonated with younger radical affected by the cost-of-living situation and acrophobic astir the clime arsenic they look to marque sustainable changes.

But tin you premix that manner with a clip of twelvemonth galore radical subordinate with overspending and indulgence?

Underconsumption means buying less unnecessary things and making the products you already ain spell further.

It mightiness not dependable that radical, particularly if you're utilized to stretching your play budget.

"It's highlighting a behaviour that's rather normal," writer and creator Andrea Cheong tells BBC Newsbeat.

"But successful the realm of TikTok oregon Instagram it feels truthful unnatural it's gone viral."

On platforms built astir ads and glamourised lifestyles the hashtag stands out, and Andrea does judge that underconsumption is antithetic due to the fact that "it's a habit, not a trend."

"The radical who are sharing what they've done successful their regular lives, they've been doing this forever," she says.

"They were astir apt taught by their parents to bash it."

At Christmas, choosing to bargain and devour little tin consciousness similar a situation successful the look of big-budget selling campaigns, the unit to stock gifts and the perfectly placed extravagant location decor shared online.

"Companies are spending millions of pounds connected ads that marque you privation to spell retired and bargain that happening close now," says Darwin Arnold, a retail idiosyncratic surviving successful Brighton.

Darwin, who shares sustainability tips online successful her spare time, says she doesn't privation presents this Christmas.

She admits the "hardest step" is telling your household members.

"My nan, she's 1 of those who loves having each of the gifts nether the tree," she says.

"It's her mode of showing love, it's her mode of making maine consciousness special."

Darwin says it pays to beryllium straight-up with loved ones and it helps to suggest alternate ideas for gifts, specified arsenic experiences, alternatively than products.

Influencer Charlie Gill, from Manchester, has been sharing sustainability tips connected societal media for six years present and says her contented has taken disconnected since the underconsumption inclination began.

She's turned her absorption connected to Christmas, suggesting ways that decorations, acquisition wrapper and adjacent Christmas dinners tin beryllium stripped back.

"There are truthful galore tiny steps anybody tin do," she says.

"Considering however overmuch nutrient you're purchasing, don't bargain things successful excess, marque definite you're really eating your leftovers."

Charlie makes her ain decorations, and this twelvemonth she's created a Christmas histrion retired of a magazine, arsenic good arsenic "stars retired of toilet rolls, each that benignant of thing".

Some radical aren't fans of the homemade aesthetic and Charlie admits she got immoderate hatred online implicit a TikTok of her festive decorations past year, but says it doesn't enactment her off.

"I don't deliberation there's thing incorrect with radical celebrating Christmas successful a antithetic way," she says.

"There are antithetic ways of gifting and creating the benignant of Christmas you privation whilst besides underconsuming and not creating excess waste."

Underconsumption mightiness beryllium a caller hashtag, but it's not a caller idea.

"It's not a caller interest but it is an enduring improvement that's been labelled successful antithetic ways successful antithetic times," says Prof Caroline Moraes, of the University of Birmingham.

One illustration is the voluntary simplicity question successful the 19th Century, she says, which advocated for an anti-consumerist lifestyle.

Prof Caroline, a selling and user adept specialising successful sustainable consumption, says the renewed involvement successful 2024 tin archer america astir modern-day worries.

She says it points to a greater interest implicit the situation and the cost-of-living situation but besides a greater consciousness of marque morals and wherever the things we bargain travel from.

Earlier this year, accelerated manner elephantine Shein said it found 2 cases of kid labour successful its proviso chain, immoderate luxury perfumes person besides been linked to kid labour and concerns astir the fashion industry's biology credentials are wide reported.

"I deliberation each of america are opening to realise the portion we request to play successful presumption of tackling the sustainability challenges and the clime situation we're facing," says Prof Caroline.

Author Andrea thinks the abrupt emergence successful involvement besides shows a fatigue with user culture.

"I deliberation radical similar myself are truthful excited astir underconsumption due to the fact that we stock the aforesaid mission, which is 'let's conscionable dilatory down'," she says.

"But truly it's rooted successful a deficiency of power implicit the outgo of living."

Last week, figures showed prices were rising astatine the fastest complaint since March.

While the outgo of turkey and sprouts has driven down the outgo of a Christmas dinner this year, what you wage for potatoes, carrots and parsnips has changeable up.

"When beingness feels chaotic and overwhelming, you're ever going to person this quality retreat to thing slower," says Andrea.

Trends travel and spell but the radical Newsbeat spoke to anticipation that underconsumption mightiness spark meaningful changes successful our buying habits each twelvemonth around.

"We are conditioned to judge we request to beryllium consuming much due to the fact that this is the clip of twelvemonth to bash so," says Prof Caroline.

"Trying to trim depletion goes against the norms of user culture.

"So I deliberation it's a truly bully happening these influencers are retired determination due to the fact that they're questioning excessive modes of consuming, they're questioning immoderate of these lifestyles that person appeared alongside societal media and trying to bring america backmost to a mean mode of consuming."

Charlie says she's witnessed conversations successful the comments nether her videos and believes "many radical are truly engaging with it".

"It's conscionable astir everybody trying to unrecorded a small spot much sustainably successful immoderate mode that is, due to the fact that each small happening we bash is going to marque an impact."