Introduction If you’ve been on the internet long enough, you’ve probably come across videos of people showing off their latest massive Shein haul or someone rev...
Introduction
If you’ve been on the internet long enough, you’ve probably come across videos of people showing off their latest massive Shein haul or someone revealing how much makeup or skincare product they own while scrolling on your phone.
There’s a whole party mix of reasons why we feel the need to spend our pay’s worth on stuff - the alluring cheap prices and frequent discount sales, the insecurity we feel where we think we’re not good enough without the trendiest tech or fashion style, or it’s simply the dopamine rush of putting things in your cart and then opening them all up when they arrive. Whatever the reason, it just feels good to Have Things™️. But, for how long?
The joy we get from buying things is fleeting, but the waste and clutter they leave behind linger forever. Besides the overwhelming mental load of having way too much stuff in your house, the obvious and permanent damage they do to our environment is the most concerning part. Just as I was feeling bummed out about the state of our world, 2025 rolled around and the winds started to shift. I started to see those same Shein haul accounts do “No Buy 2025” challenges, pushing themselves to make 0 purchases the ENTIRE year. It was like everyone was slowly waking up to the idea that the short term happy pill of retail therapy was no longer worth it.
Seeing these videos gave me hope and inspired me to come up with my own entrepreneurial idea on how to help myself and others who want to reduce waste production and beat harmful overconsumerist habits.
Target Demographic + Rationale
The target demographic that I hope to impact would be youths in school (up to poly and university) who hope to find cost-effective and nature friendly alternatives to buying things. Youths are more exposed to the internet, a place rife with potential to breed expensive hobbies and encourage overconsumerist habits by disguising them to look trendy. This environment would push them to use their already limited spending power on things outside of their budget and trap them in a money sucking cycle.
Youths spend a lot of time in school which also plays a part in the type of waste being produced, ranging from used textbooks to various one-time use art materials for school projects.
By targeting this demographic, I hope for my solution to stop the problem of overconsumerism early with the help and support of their schools so that they mature into financially and environmentally conscious adults.
Idea Proposition - Community Library
So the idea I propose would be a community library situated within school premises that loans out materials for cheap or for free to students to use for school projects. This library would also host various events internally and externally to nurture a more nature-minded and economical youth community (more on these activities later).
The library would host drives and utilise apps like OLIO to collect second hand but good quality materials for students’ use. Having the library situated within the school would provide easy access to its resources for the students and for a lower price. This removes the need for students to use their own money to make their projects and reduces the waste they produce as materials left over will be returned to the library for others to use or recycled.
Teachers and staff can also utilise the library and its volunteers for economical class and clubroom decor. If the school wishes to, they can commission the community library to decor other school amenities or even create an art installation as a way to showcase their resolve for the arts and being environmentally friendly.
Possible Events
Overconsumerism and excessive waste production go hand in hand, the latter being the literal consequence of the former. After deliberating for awhile, I concluded that the best way to combat this is to tackle the “consumer” part of the problem. I’m not saying “never buy things ever again” (that’s just unrealistic #capitalism!), I’m saying “what else can we do before we buy?”.
Can we fix and repair this before buying? Can we make one ourselves that works the same? Can we borrow this from someone for a limited time? Can we get it second hand?
I want my solution to normalise this “what else can I do before I buy?” way of thinking. By removing the “need” to buy, we directly lessen the production of waste.
I plan to supplement fostering this mindset with relevant education on the subject and building a tight-knit community of like-minded people.
Education is done via workshops that teach skills like sewing and simple repairing anyone can do themselves, financial literacy to identify cash grabs and learn healthy spending habits, and introducing alternative avenues to buying such as thrift shopping or looking at OLIO listings.
A support system is important when trying out a new lifestyle, so I plan to achieve this by integrating environmentally conscious actions into fun group activities, such as craft making workshops or group trips to various local thrift stores.
Online Presence
As our target audience is tech-savvy, we will have an active social media account for greater reach and easy digesting of different topics. Our main content will consist of informational short-form videos or static posts on subjects similar to our workshops (eg. “Top 10 thrift places to go in SG” or “5 consumer secrets they don’t want you to know!”).
Other content includes seasonal specific ones (eg. on holidays prone to overconsumption and excessive waste like CNY and Christmas, content can give tips on economical gifts or spring cleaning and recycling advice) and highlighting individuals in our community that do important work against waste and overconsumption.
We’ll also have a Telegram channel for updates on upcoming events and for our users to bump listings or requests they have made on apps like OLIO.
Possible Collaborations
It means a lot to me that this library is a community effort as it reminds me and others that we're not alone in our efforts in making a cleaner, greener world. I'm not sure if this sounds too ambitious but I hope to collaborate with thewokesalaryman to give financial literacy talks or with NLB who hosts zine making workshops. Besides collaborating with companies that align with our mission, I hope to also open the doors of opportunities to other youth agents of change within the community to lead and host our events.
Closing Comments + Call to Action
This passion project came to me spontaneously and I have no business experience at all, but I believe in this vision and the positive impact it could have. It means a lot to me and I wanted to share it here because maybe it would mean a lot to you too!
As atas as this post sounds, this project is very much still a WIP and I know there's still so much more work to be done to shape it up - which is why I’m open to criticism and suggestions on how I can improve this concept!
If you have any questions about this do feel free to drop a comment under this post or just contact me directly! If you’re keen on collaborating with me to work on this project, you WILL be welcomed with open arms, heart and mind :D