In 2024, Underconsumption Core was trending. The idea took hold for many reasons, including but not limited to a counter-cultural movement to the weekly hauls on social media, climate concerns about overconsumption, frugal living, and a desire to show what everyday lives look like for a majority of people. People, who did not think owning “store-front worth of items” was normal. Or necessary.
2025, started with many creators taking this to the next step. A “no-buy” year.
While, this isn’t a new concept, having started according to Indian Express, as a mindful living and financial wellness concept, now it has taken hold in environmental circles with popular creator-activists like Shelby Orme of Shelbizlee hopping onto it. The idea is simple. Try and cut out items that are unnecessary.
While the benefits of recuing consumption are numerous, no doubt, there might be some concerns about economic stagnation, and mental health concerns for those that take this to an extreme and end up hurting themselves out of misplaced guilt over individual impact. Just like voting with your wallet has people speaking for and against the idea as a means of ethical and planet-friendly living, so has underconsumption. To curb this, perhaps, the trend has become tailored to each individual partaking, despite everyone having somewhat similar reasons to go for it. Shelby Orme, for example, decided to cut out gifts while for Gittemarie Johanson that was a necessity.
In short, no-buy 2025 is trending.
Yet, can this concept fly in a North_Indian Hindu context?
And no, not just because of what the aunties will think, which while funny can be an important factory in a guilt-driven community culture like ours, but because of how our culture has evolved. Sure, we can tailor it to our needs, but given how much our culture has evolved to be centred around consumption, to outsiders our necessities might seem excessive.
Just to be upfront, I am always open to learning more about my roots and culture, but this is what I see the pre-dominant understanding and norms are today in middle class urban centers, where I have lived the majority of my life. And yes, I know the arguments which that our culture was not always this materialistic.
Regardless, here’s my attempt to explore where “modern” North Indian Hindu cultural expectations push us towards consumerism, whether that consumerism is harmful or unnecessary, and what a no-buy year can look like in our context.
Vastu and The Idea of New
A recent comment I saw on a video by ClimateWali on second hand-furniture mentioned how buying second-hand items for the home are inauspicious according to vastu. Vastu is an important technique many use to ensure their houses are built and furnished for peace and prosperity. Not only this, but there are other reasons some discourage thrifting in Hindu households, including but not limited to ideas that Gods cannot be presented with or welcomed into our houses while wearing second-hand or even used clothing, the fear of spirits, and how one’s luck can affect another through their belongings.
In such cases, being sustainable might seem tough, but options remain.
From small business to rural business, locally owned businesses, factory discards, hand-me-downs, heirlooms, eco-friendly and fair-trade companies one can still be green. Plus, the idea of repair and upcycling are integral parts of any Indian household, regardless of religion.
You might be wondering, how is this related to a no-buy year? After all, thrifting remains a form of buying. Well, when one cannot swap or borrow from others, unless you know them very well, and hand-me-downs can be seen as uttran unless taken from family, one has to shop. Sure, we can remove a lot of items still, and a no-buy year allows necessities, but you cannot limit yourself to five pieces of clothing a year in our families without a huge discourse, now, can you? Especially given that every festival, you are expected to buy new or not be allowed in the puja at times. Sometimes, it is even mandatory to gift new items to family members. And while we can try to stand up for eco-values, we have to pick our battles on what gives us most value, our cultures, and also what has the most positive impact for the planet. Which begins in the case of clothes with refusing fast-fashion.
In such cases, upcycling can come to our rescue, allowing us to support local artisans and also reuse our items, reducing the need for shopping for personal items. And while some look down on handmade gifts, not many will turn away experiences.
This also serves us to remind us that sustainable living and trends in this area are always going to change according to individual circumstances and hence feeling guilty for not being as sustainable as the West or social media demands isn’t useful.
Festivals and The Idea of New
In the previous section, I mentioned that in many communities it is mandatory to wear new clothes for festivals or it is seen as inviting poverty and thus, inauspicious. For example, Bengalis wear new clothes for the entirety of Dura Puja, especially when visiting pandals. For Marwaris and many other North-Indian communities, wear new on Diwali is a must. On Makkar Sakranti, you must give all the elders new clothes in some traditions to ensure prosperity and show gratitude.
In olden times when people only shopped at these times and perhaps when necessary, this could have been sustainable, especially since most clothes were made by artisans and passed down generations. Yet, it is no longer the case. Now our homes and festivals are flooded by cheap fast-fashion outfits. But that does not change the cultural context, now does it?
While some may argue that the idea is to wear clean clothes, not necessarily new ones, and that thrifted or hand-me-down pieces can work, others disagree. Add to this, all the new items for worship such as untouched diyas for each puja, which are required by some, or fresh flowers for every deity, and suddenly given that we celebrate over 12 festivals a year in some households, a no-buy year seems more and more like virtue signaling to outsiders who don’t understand our context, which shouldn’t be our burden to explain, but this is a reminder to not let them shame you despite you doing your best. Instead, aim to build sustainable habits and try to be more susty with the passage of time, while focusing on high-impact areas and easy to transition aspects first.
There is a case to be made for changes to be brought to such practices, whether it is eco-friendly disposal of samgari or challenging the idea of new, but change is slow. Until then, we have to look at other ways to maintain harmony at home and our eco-friendly ethics. For me, that often looks like wearing my sister’s hand-me-downs, something that is accepted with great reluctance, giving sustainable gift-vouchers as gifts when possible, and accepting defeat many-a-times, and doing my best in other areas.
For you, it could look like thrifted clothing or perhaps, cutting down consumption in other areas. After all, my partner buys new books every month, which is extremely important to them, and thus not seen as overconsumption in my household as the books will be read numerous times over many years and exchanged between friends and family, provided they’re treated with respect.
Sustainability does not have to be minimalistic. While eco-minimalism, a philosophy championed by Shelby Orome, is one way to be sustainable, mindful consumption can be another. Sure, some say ethical consumerism is a scam, and with good reason given greenwashing, but others swear by voting with your wallet.
In my opinion, both philosophies have their points and we need to reduce consumption where possible, but the focus should be on reducing fast-fashion, fossil fuel usage, and food waste over anything else and meat and dairy where possible. When we shop, let’s go for durable, reusable, and upcycle-able items over single-use ones and look at the entire lifestyle of something, rather than just disposable or production or travel.
Is it a lot? Yes.
Can we do it all the time everywhere? Perhaps. Perhaps not.
But if you are here, you are perhaps trying to cut down and go green where you can- which will inspire others- and nothing helps as much as community action.
A Parting Note
Cultural concepts aren’t the only reason people spend or buy items. Other than necessity, whether that be for physical survival or mental happiness or social obligations, there is also the fact that India is a growing economy and more and more people are gaining access to money. While that is a great thing to improve quality of life and access to healthcare and education, as economies grow, people tend to spend more and the idea eventually comes in that the more you own, the better off you are. In many cultures, this has become a sign of success and you are ostracized and looked at as a failure unless you have the necessary markers of being affluent. This can range from you not given business opportunities or like I experienced, vendors simply not showing you certain products, to family members treating you as less then. Can we justify these behaviors? Maybe. Maybe not.
Yet, all these make low-waste living, underconsumption, or a no-buy year, a challenge.
While some of these hurdles aren’t limited to India, we still have to account for the explanations we will have to give and the social stigma we might face when living a more eco-conscious life, unless we can show how it truly aligns with old Indian identities.
Thus, it is important to remember one of the key concepts of a no-buy year and even sustainable living. Being realistic. Allowing for mistakes. And not cutting out items that are necessary or add value to our lives, because YOLO. Sorry for that joke.
At the end of the day, we have to live a life within our means as a person and a planet but that doesn’t have to living like a hermit or fit any particular aesthetic. We are allowed to live fulfilling lives while doing our part, something I struggle with to this day. But that’s a story for another day…. until then, be susty!
P.S.- If you want something to make low-waste living easier to tailor to your needs, as this piece has shown many of us might have to, I released a sustainable-habit building planner for the same…and to make it even more eco-friendly, for those interested, I will conduct a webinar to teach you how to make your own from diaries and notebooks you may have around the house. Email me on roongta.bw.anjali@gmail.com to get a webinar!
Author’s Note: Thanks for being here and do share your thoughts! To support you can ask your circle to give this a read.
