Whenever I open TikTok or Instagram it’s always just “You NEED to buy this new top,” “You NEED this new cup” and “You NEED this makeup palette.” 

It’s just an endless cycle.

It feels like there is a new trend every other week. One minute it’s bows then it’s camo then it’s “Y2K.” 

These microtrends are just short fads that go viral, only for them to be replaced with something else in a couple of weeks.

I feel like microtrends have affected lots of people’s self-esteem. 

For a lot of people, they feel the constant pressure to keep up with what’s trendy like buying this new Charlotte Tilbury lip liner or this new “aesthetic” tank top. 

A lot of people are just buying this stupid stuff just so they can stay relevant online or look “cool”.

But in all reality, microtrends have heavily impacted the environment. 

Fast fashion brands like Shein, Edikted and Fashion Nova make new clothes at the snap of a finger to keep up with the trends. People buy these super cheap clothes, wear them once, and throw them out once it’s not trendy anymore. Tons of these clothes end up in landfills.

When these clothes decompress the toxic chemicals coming from the cheap dyes they use can leach into the groundwater and our soil causing water pollution. 

In landfills when they burn all this junk it releases pollutants into the air causing air pollution. Air pollution can cause horrible diseases in your lungs like lung cancer.

Social media has taken microtrends to an extreme level especially ever since TikTok created their shop. I feel like if people were just to focus on what they actually like and not just what is trendy, people’s self-esteem wouldn’t be as bad, and it would be so much better for our planet.