Most shops are just landfill waiting to happen.

I agree, but I think there are far worse examples than søstrene grene, definitely have far less plastic in there than other places. Plenty of household things like cups and plates which serve a purpose, and lots of creative things like paints and canvas, not essential but are people not meant to have hobbies? Also, lots of wooden children’s toys. Again should children not have toys. Where do you draw the line?

Have made a concerted effort to cut down on plastic tack and fast fashion and will explain to the kids why we are not buying certain things or from from certain websites. Have just been to søstrene grene though and bought eldest DD some equipment for her jewelry making hobby though!

I'm not sure what point is being made here - the total amount of VAT on one good quality item costing £20 is the same as on 4 bits of tat costing a fiver each.

The message I'm getting from this thread though is NOT TO BUY STUFF, but there's an element of posters saying "we have to buy unnecessary tat because we're in poverty". The difference is whether things are essential or not.

I remember my mum mending my navy PE knickers over and over because she couldn't afford new ones. She did not buy anything unnecessary just to get a "boost" as mentioned up thread.

Not read the whole thread but shops like Home Bargains and B&M depress the hell out of me. I went at christmas last year and the humungous plastic candy canes and absolute tat they were selling and so much of it. All the plastic shite for the garden. I very rarely go shopping anymore. We don't need so many versions of 1 thing. I appreciate choice but its ridiculous.

I agree but this is capitalism- sell stuff people don't really need & encourage them to either change it frequently or be sure it has in built obsolescence.

Nobody “needs“ a lot of this crap. They just don’t. As others point out the VAT position is a policy choice. That probably would need looking at for meaningful change to happen.

B&M sell reusable bags with the slogan "I can't be trusted at B&M" printed on them. They aren't unique in having this strategy but they are pretty much admitting that they want to legitimise people's spontaneous purchases of tat by the fact that the person also bought the clothes pegs/loo roll/cleaning products that they came in for.

We only need food, health, house basics and clothing. And I suppose, technology.

We need entertainment as well. Nobody wants to live in a world with nothing other than basic essentials.

Eid, Diwali.......

Tat raises revenue and helps keep the economy afloat.
VAT brings in over £150 BILLION pounds a year. The only time it dropped was during covid when no one was buying.

We need new years, valentines, mothers' day, Easter, fathers' day, summer parties, tiki bar garden set ups, Halloween, Christmas etc. Same with hen nights and baby showers.
All this stuff has VAT, all this stuff has import tax etc, etc, etc.

Lower purchase based taxation income for the government = higher income based taxation (both paid by us, but purchase based is a choice)

She said she had lots of furniture from B&M and then went on to refer to the 9-year-old coffee table as though that was a particularly notable example. She was trying to use that as evidence that stuff from B&M isn't cheap tat - but a table lasting 9 years tells us nothing as of course it should last that long! And it's not really the point of the thread as references to B&M on this thread are just shorthand for the type of shop that sells the stuff the OP is talking about. A lot of stuff sold by B&M is just normal household stuff but that doesn't mean they (and Home Bargains, The Range, Poundland etc etc) don't sell a huge amount of utter shite.

It speaks volumes that shops like the Range and B&M are getting a tough ride on this thread yet John Lewis and marks and spencer aren’t… surely they sell just as much plastic disposable crap… just at a higher price point.

I agree, we’re completely oversaturated with “stuff”.

I don’t know how dragons den exists- surely there isn’t anything left to invent?!

I've been on a bit of a "don't need, don't buy" mission for a while, along with trying to avoid products with excessive packaging (but here come the Easter eggs... a lot less plastic in their boxes these days though!)

My son was invited to a birthday party recently and I bought the birthday child a book and sweets rather than a cheap plastic toy. Of course, my son came home from the party with a plastic party bag containing cheap plastic stuff, so it feels like an uphill battle.

Agree. I think there is often some inverted snobbery around this issue.

I have the time and money to make ‘good’ choices. Many others don’t.

It's an old friend!

It’s just posters being - deliberately ? - obtuse. I don’t for a minute believe people reading don’t know exactly what is meant.

But that's not what was said...

"my coffee table is about 9 years old and from B&M"

OP may have no intention of getting rid of it - it could last for another 29/49/99 years. Just because it came from B&M doesn't mean anything, it means the table is 9 years old, not that it has exceeded its life expectancy.

People do take care of their furniture which is probably exactly what OP does.

I had no idea people really bought new Xmas decorations ever year. Is that really a thing? I don't think I know anyone who does that. We usually buy one new decoration for the tree when we get the tree.

Lot of people feeling attacked when they’re absolutely not what OP was talking about. Sigh. Welcome to online discussions. Or maybe it’s just humanity. Meanwhile the problems don’t get solved and people cross their arms and harrumph at the “other side”.

Years ago you bought Xmas decorations and the same ones came out year after year. Nowadays people have a new theme, so new decorations and/or tree every year.
My kids plastic Halloween bucket came out year after year for trick or treating, not a new one every year.

I love "seasonal tat". I keep it and it comes back out each year. Really most stuff is unnecessary but I refuse to live my life like a puritan in a barren home.

Not forgetting Halloween, Easter, Mothers/ Fathers Day and all the other dates that have become commercial opportunities

I agree, and hell will freeze over before my precious bunnies go into landfill! I'm never throwing them away!

This thread is a bit negative. I don't know anyone who's this wasteful. Most people I know buy stuff they like and then use it or years, and then donate or sell it on.

Online selling sites like eBay etc have created the secondary economy, which is a good thing. In a way, we waste less than before.

Let's flip the premise of this thread on its head and think for a moment about all the things that ARE used to death and then recycled responsibly!