Do you think commercialism/materialistic tendencies will turn?

[NotMissMaterialistic]

Personally, I can't wait to see the back of it. A move back to make do and mend, generic items rather than branded, a more eco approach. Reduce, reuse and recycle. Hand me downs and not updating car/tech/house decs etc just for the sake of it/to keep up with trends/the Joneses?

Do you think the tide will ever turn?

I just wrote a long reply, lost it, re- wrote it and now it says MNHQ are looking at it? WTF... there was nothing controversial in it!

Don't worry there are some weird trolls which means perfectly normal words automatically get hidden.

If you type the name for the black canvass shoe starting with P commonly worn for PE it will happen too

I think organisations should be held to account for items that aren't fit for purpose. And by that I mean how long they should last.

We had new radiators put in 3 years ago. They're all rusty already. No leaks or humidity just crap products. These things should last 50 years not 3!

I hope so.

I think the world has enough stuff, the focus needs to be recycling what we have.

But how?

If we didn't all have to work til we drop before we get our pensions snd mortgages paid off we might have time to go to these places and mend things. I say this as an avid sewer and I love fixing things.

But I'm back at work full time and my mending / alteration pile isn't being touched!

I wish it would change but I don't think it will. People are too busy. I have a lovely pile of fabric and plans for most of it but it's been waiting for almost a year since I have no time.

I also have loads of furniture waiting to be upcycled. Again it just sits there

God yeah. Nothing lasts like it used to and as for phones...I wish we weren't funneled into using them for everything, constantly needing to upgrade them or buy brand specific chargers etc., otherwise I'd willingly give it away!
Built in obsolescence forcing us to dispose of products for waste when they should be fixable or at least salvageable for parts. Makes me really angry. I try to buy stuff that can be repaired but it's a challenge. It's such a massive source of satisfaction when you can fix and mend things and when you don't need stuff, pass it on.
Awful when you think of how we're stripping this planet of it's resources and then dumping shite in landfill/the ocean/another country.

😂😂😂😂

A fair few houses are decorated already round these parts!

And I get it sort of, we currently live in a seemingly pressured, busy society. More and more people thinking they need to scramble up the pile. Parents working so much that there isn't as much time to bake, walk, play in the evenings, roads are full of cars, everyone posts webcam footage if a group of kids walk down their road with hoodies on, so I get people wanting to throw money at creating some childhood magic.

And that is what most things come down to time or money. Many don't have the choice it's money. So you fill in the gaps with decorations, toys, events.

It's not a case of people not wanting to mend things, it's just they don't have time. Not juet to mend the item, but to source the right equipment, learn the skills, that's if you have space to keep all these things. It's easier to buy a new bag. Sometimes it's the only option, or no bag.

I was in an "upmarket" garden centre Christmas section and consumerism is just as ripe there as B&M, same raw materials and factories that make the baubles, you just pay £8 a bauble so you can have the "woodland" theme instead.

There's consumerism for all social classes!

and it’s nuts that that stuff is practically given away now even though there’s no more of it - I’ve just bought 6 pieces of antique mahogany/ walnut furniture for less than you’d be able to buy the chipboard/ MDF equivalent in Next or similar. Like I know dark wood is kind of out of fashion but even so.

I'd like to see huge hypermarket sized shops that sell second hand. I know they do this in Europe.

I work full time and don't have the time to trawl 40 charity shops for the thing I want but I could go to a huge store once.

I have been stunned by the amount of autumn decor and the Halloween stuff in the shops. Why are we decorating inside for seasons ffs. And why are we now made to feel like we have to get all involved in Halloween. I’m not buy a load of tat to toss it out at the end. Not a chance.
my last Christmas tree did us fine for over 20 years till it broke. My new one already has broken arms.

Depends where you live but there are often sort of vintage/ antique warehouses on industrial estates. Good for a trawl.

apologies for being a pedant but isn’t it material rather than materialistic?

I lived in a make do and mend household when I was a kid and it was a bit shit to be honest.

I hated taking my lunch to school in a used ice cream tub. My jeans and the sleeves of my school coats were always a bit too short. I just never had the 'nice' comfortable-looking things that other kids had. My underwear was stretched, holey and grey. Our house was often cold and draughty. We were never starving but our food was pretty rudimentary. We took packed lunches everywhere on days out. I had mismatched bedroom furniture and old carpet in my bedroom that my parents had had in two other houses previously. We used to cut the mouldy bits off bread and cheese before eating them and still use milk that was only 'on the turn' but not completely sour. There were a lot of places we simply never went because it was too expensive.

I think a lot of the current make do and mend mindset is pretty rarefied. Making do out of necessity is a bit bleak.

I'm just allergic to shopping these days. Everything seems so expensive and boring. I usually just get everything from charity shops or Vinted.
My DS does the same and I see loads of teens browsing through the rails in charity shops.

I think rampant consumerism is filtering down very, very slowly.

Nope. The world will be burning and iPhone 27 will come out.

I'm very pessimistic about our future and the well-being of the planet.

I agree with you. Shopping for new is boring ... cheap, poorly made items. I'd much rather buy second hand / older items though it is very time-consuming.