By Isabella Kelly-Goss

In 1971, the human population overshot .01% past the Earth’s biocapacity for the year on December 29. Now, in 2025, we have already reached our biocapacity as of July 24.

Biocapacity overshooting refers to the limit at which humanity can use resources, while Earth successfully regenerates them in a single year. The overshoot “day” is arriving sooner every year, while the percentage of Earth that cannot regenerate is growing larger. According to data collected by Earth Overshoot Day, in order to safely, without detrimental corrosion of the earth’s atmosphere and resources, continue our rate of consumption, we would need nearly 2 different planets. 1.8 planets, to be exact.

So, how did we reach this point? The answer is simple: overconsumption.

We have officially reached a point in overconsumption that is detrimental not only to our planet’s climate but to our society. From the shift in what defines “viral trends” to the multitudes of new options shoved in our faces on social media, “overconsumption core” is here, and it’s impacting us negatively.

The push of “You just have to try this product!” has been around since the invention of product ads, but with social media influencer ads and product reviews, they are in your face practically every time you open an app. Enter the invention of things like TikTok Shop— which allows you to go immediately from influencer ad to add-to-cart— and the latest fad is as easy to purchase as a double click and smile for your Face ID Apple Wallet authentication. We’ve entered into a dystopian society where you can quite literally hit add to cart with your remote to purchase the product you see actors using on Amazon Prime television shows during commercial breaks.

Taking a closer, more critical look at social media reveals a lot. It can be entertaining to spend hours down a rabbit hole of accounts like Emily Lulamay, who has 1.8 million followers on TikTok, or RayahSunshine, with 217.3k. But, taking a look at how this impacts trends and supply and demand, as well as environmental impacts such as landfill pollution, it becomes more obvious that overconsumption is the problem.

Emily Lulamay shows her 1.8 million followers a variety of videos, but the most popular ones revolve around her extensive “body care” collection. In a video with 16 million views from May of 2024, she showcases her collection that includes 54 different body scrubs, 11 unopened bars of Dove soap, 7 different spray-on deodorants, 4 scents of Eos shaving cream, and many more. The way she markets her collection and displays this level of overconsumption promotes the idea that not only does one need this many different products for one person, but that you’re not a “clean girl” without them.

In a recent $200 Target haul on her account, she also displays the large Stanley Cup she purchased for her boyfriend.

Stanley cups are another point of the “overconsumption core” at its finest. Accounts like RayahSunshine show just how quickly the Stanley Cup fad took the internet by storm. She has accumulated 10.4 million likes on her TikTok videos that showcase countless Stanley Cups in her home. From her videos, it appears she has enough cups to fill at least two, four-story shelves (including cups on top), which stand on either side of a cup-filled china cabinet. The drawers house her dozens of accessories.

What was originally the HydroFlask morphed into the now dwindling popularity of the Stanley Cup, which has now trickled its way to the Owala. Fads like this pressure users into purchasing the latest “trend” before it’s no longer cool. This leads to large numbers of stores selling out, leading to overproduction to counteract, which eventually leads to overstock once the fad starts to die away. This is an endless cycle only fed by videos such as RayahSunshine’s recent call to her followers to “get urs before they sell out,” in regards to Target’s latest Halloween-themed Stanley’s.

Other fads, such as the recent Labubu craze, prove it’s not just about people wanting to purchase sustainable drinking options or hygiene products. Labubus, which are created by Beijing-based company PopMart, have quickly gained popularity on the heels of the company’s other big trinket, Sonny Angels, which have somewhat fallen out of fashion. While Labubus have been around for a while, their recent popularity has caused a large uptick in supply and demand. This, in turn, has caused the prices to skyrocket and dozens of knock-offs, more commonly known as Lafufus, to be a cheaper alternative.

As Gut Instinct Media’s very own Alivia Stonier points out in her article “Labubu Mania: How a Strange Little Toy Took Over Pop Culture,” the toys are made of synthetic, non-biodegradable plastics and polyester fabrics.

“A significant amount of Labubus and other blind box purchases have been ending up in landfills, as 80% of all toys are estimated to meet this fate, according to sources such as Commons,” writes Stonier.

Faded out fad trinkets, out-of-style water bottles, expired lotions and body scrubs, how does this impact our society and our environment?

Well, a study from nearly 20 years ago conducted in North Carolina showed that communities dominated by people of color tended to be more likely than not to be located in areas in which poorly kept and overfilled landfills increased their likelihood of having poor water supply, air, and general public health.

This is just one of many examples showing that overconsumption becomes a societal problem rooted in deep classism and racism.

In the last 20 years, things have not changed much, and they are on track to get worse. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development published a study in 2012 that by 2050, Greenhouse Gas Emissions would increase by more than 50%.

Their global prediction by 2025 was that the GHG production would be just under 60 gigatonnes of CO2.

For clarity, NASA compares one gigatonne to 10,000 fully loaded aircraft carriers, or 2.2 trillion pounds.

According to an article published by the Brookings Institution, 60.1 gigatonnes were produced in 2024.

Big corporate capitalism is driven by a greed that is being paid for, literally and figuratively, by our citizens. Our Earth, our one and only home planet, is paying the collateral.

With the constant push from large companies and influencers to buy, buy, buy, it’s only natural not to see how much you’re consuming. But, it gets to a point where you have to take a look around your home and ask yourself: do I really need to purchase the next “big thing?”

Overconsumption Core: The Viral Trend We All Need to Ditch

By Isabella Kelly-Goss

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