Most shops are just landfill waiting to happen.

Hear hear.

I've just had enough with crap, and feel a combination of bewilderment and disgust at the extent of it.

I also feel the same way about UPFs (ultra processed foods). Supermarkets are heaving with them, and could easily be half the size by cutting half of them out.

Dunno my children have played with their squishmallows for years and when they're done, I'll stick them in the wash and donate them to a charity shop as they're pretty well made they will have plenty of life left in them.

Yes let's only have what we need no room for wants no Christmas cards gifts that are ethical only clothing that is reliably sourced and not dyed frivolous colours because that's bad for the environment too pare everything to the bone who cares if jobs go and people can't afford to live without them we need less people on the planet anyway plus isn't the government pulling in that assisted suicide law anyway so we will be fine will we still do cremation? Apparently in other countries they are composting people that might be more eco friendly and we could probably fit more people in

I bought my baby an Easter themed babygrow for £1 in the charity shop.
That was last years £15 babygrow worn once and at least given to charity.

I had considered buying her one for Easter Sunday but really I didn’t want to spend money on something that is barely worn. I’m as guilty as the next person - so was delighted with this find!

I bought a hand made wreath for Christmas this year.

it cost me three times the price of the plastic one I normally put up that I’ve had for twenty years.

it was lovely but because it was all real holly etc after Christmas I had to dis assemble it and the plants could be composted but the ribbons etc went in the bin.

it takes time and or money to decorate with plants.

plastic tat is a lot cheaper.

Agree, but its supply and demand so even though 70% agree with you, there are also creating a need for all this crap

Yes there is lobbying from the retail industry, but much of the stuff this thread is talking about us not only made in China but sold directly from Chinese retailers, so it doesn't even benefit the UK economy.

@MrsWinslowsSoothingSyrup ’china seems to think we want’ could just as well read ‘China is just the latest in a line of countries feeding our inexorable appetite for…’

It isn’t going anywhere anyway.

If there wasn't demand for it, the resources could be used for essential things. So that's what would happen in an ideal world.

Honestly if you genuinely need a piece of coloured plastic from China every three months to make your life worth living then you have problems than need sorting... and I am sympathetic but I realise this isn't going to fix it so why screw with the things we actually need for a temporary fix?

There's so much out there that could be reused yet we churn out more and more of it.

We can buy services and experiences rather than items.

We can eat at local organic food, use local cabs (not giant chains), eat locally made ice cream, cheese, beers, wines. Hire a local venue and a band/dj for your birthday instead of getting an expensive item as a present, buy locally grown plants, local art or craft or food for people as presents instead of items made a thousand miles away.

We can still spend money and fuel the economy without buying shit.

it's not hard to make a personal decision not to consume as much.
I'm struggling to think of a single gov. policy which would make me buy stuff I don't need

There are plenty of ways to find joy in life that don't involve buying excessive amounts of cheap plastic shite from Temu/Shein/B&M.

Never heard of sostrene green but it seems to be usual tat but in posher looking shops?

The name is far too close to soylent green for comfort!

We're conditioned to measure ourselves and our value against others. Marketing is such a sophisticated thing, based in propaganda techniques. It exploits and encourages vulnerabilities and FOMO. Internet, social media and YouTube are full of "influencers" promising that your life will be magically improved by this or that "lifestyle" which requires a bunch of accessories to achieve.

The first episode of the new Black Mirror series is chilling and enlightening.

I agree that home decoration aren't essential to life but there's nothing wrong with decorating one's home.

There is if it's going to landfill, which is what this thread is about.

Ridiculous amount of the Earth's resources needed to create it, ship it all over the world, store it, use for the selling facility, then destroy it a year or two later with the chemicals and microplastics leeching into the earth for centuries to come.

Then people will wonder why food isn't growing and there are wars over resources.

Obviously buying things that you keep isn't quite as big a problem. It's the disposable stuff that will suffocate us.

I am trying to buy less and less and only buy what we need. It is hard though when government etc are measured so much on consumption based growth measures. Policy and decision makers want us buying more and more and more.

Well sort it out them please.

Life is hard, monotonous, sometimes boring so people want these things as a distraction. Decorating their home, buying clothes, celebrating events.. let people have their bit of fun and happiness. It isn’t going anywhere anyway.

There is just so much shit produced. China seems to thinks we want all this crap in the world and keeps churning it out for 10p on Temu.

It's actually grotesque and makes me feel sick with disappointment if I think about it for too long.

The biggest question is: why can't people stop buying all this absolute rubbish???

But these things get used over and over for years

The point is that they very often don't get reused for years. They get chucked out when they invariably break or when the person "declutters" and/or replaced with next year's shiny new piece of tat, new colour scheme etc. A PP mentioned living in a flat - seasonal decorations will often get binned because of lack of storage. Or, things get put in boxes and shoved in the garage to be binned in 20 years' time when they declutter/move house/die.

I agree but I have ADHD and have an issue with spending. At the detriment to myself AND the environment!

The Range - whom I've heard people rave about - opening a store in my town last week and I went along to see.

I actuallt mentioned then to my DH that we seem to be in a toxic relationship with China; we buy all that plastic tat and overwrought stationery from them, and then pay them to take it away again and landfill for us.

But these things get used over and over for years. We still have the same Christmas decorations I bought in the 1990s, likewise the vases I bought for the 'new home' flowers. Nothing expensive, ikea, BHS, Wilko or similar.

I agree that home decoration aren't essential to life but there's nothing wrong with decorating one's home. Do people really have none of these?