#landfillcore...so depressing 😞

[Badvocthebad]

I've been irl shopping recently and, of course, ads all over SM...
The absolute tat being sold in all shops with an "autmnal theme"!
Pumpkin cushions, pumpkin mugs, highland cows (?) on everything from socks to pjs to blankets...
Its all mass produced, plastic crap, probably made by children in sweatshops. (Polyester is plastic for those who aren't aware)
The world is burning. Literally. The over consumption is killing us all slowly (some of us not so slowly..)
I'm not against buying things you need (although how much of what what we buy do we really need?) <just spent a year clearing out 2 relatives houses....trust me, you don't need 2/3 of what's in your home>
Just this week I've bought vintage 100% linen napkins and some dinner plates from vinted. All as new, but used. (I don't use plastic or paper napkins)
Cost me about £25.
Plastic tat is killing this planet, plastic grass is killing the pollinators (they die, we all die...)
It's just so...depressing. It's why I don't really do irl shopping anymore. Even clothes are all polyester/viscose/acrylic messes.
I'm currently in the process of de cluttering my house/loft. I don't want my kids to have to go through what I have over the past few years (this is the 3rd house I've had to clear in a decade)
By 2032, there will be the largest weather transfer in history.
The boomers are dying out and there houses and garages and sheds and lofts and cellars which are full of stuff which will be saturating the market.
It's a sunny Sunday morning here and- yet again - I'm going to be doing a tip run to give things to the re-home section.
I know some will say "well, its free will"
But..is it? Really? When we are now bombarded with ads and insta worthy houses and influencers flogging the latest highland cow merch from b&m?
Aren't we all just being played?
Sorry, bit of a rant for a Sunday morning 😬😕

Multiple seasonal decorations - what fresh hell is this? I barely have time to give a fuck about getting a Christmas tree.

Both our neighbours have it. They have to hoover it, Scrub it after picking up the dog shit, and it's lifting at the edges and weeds grow through it. Why on earth anyone would have plastic grass in the UK where we have perfect weather for proper grass is crazy to me. They say it's "low maintenance" but I have never scrubbed or hoovered my lawn. Dh just strims it every few months. Utter madness

Apparently this years Christmas random animal is a yeti 🤷‍♀️

You're welcome!
😄

@Badvocthebad I do like a 46 step skin care routine, love some Halloween tat and have a new colour theme for Christmas every 2 years. I don’t drive, I recycle because I have to and mainly use public transportation. Me not buying this stuff is not going to make an ounce of difference but glad from your high horse you can still look into your children’s eyes and say you tried 🤢🙄

<sympathetic head tilt>
U ok hun?
🤣

Perfectly fine just can’t stand sanctimonious people who want to suck the fun out of everything.

I don't think the world burning is "fun" 🤷‍♀️
Good job not everyone thinks like you...some people are trying to make a difference.
My cousin is a dermatologist and she totally de-influenced me wrt skincare...unless you are having botox, fillers or a neck/face lift, your 46 step skincare routine is a total waste of time.
It's becoming a real issue in her clinics...retinol burns on 12 year olds. Women having fillers injected by Carol round the corner.
It seems to me, the only people benefitting is the skincare companies.

Plenty of ways to have fun that don't include buying plastic tat.

Well exactly. People have been conditioned to believe that "fun" means spending money and buying stuff. Preferably stuff in vast quantities.

It's so lacking in imagination.

I keep our halloween decorations from year to year. No big deal.

I think we're still hunting and gathering, and we get a primal burst of joy when we find the new shiny thing to bring back to the cave, but it's a hollow kind of "fun" when we understand the damage we're doing.

In the same way we’ve been told to ‘treat ourselves’ by eating fatty, sugary over processed junk food.
The article excerpt that I posted about the shop aiming for £30 per garment was M&S. I was hoping for better quality from them. I’m getting fed up in general of buying online and would rather see clothes in person and try them on. M&S should be good for reasonably priced wool jumpers and leather shoes, but it seems that’s not the direction they want to go in.

@ElefantAndCastle
Yes, but that's not what this thread is talking about...
You reuse those decorations every year so how is that wasteful?
I have a fabric birthday banner I've had for at least 17 years. It cost £5. It's been used 4 x times per year since 😊
It's still looking good and I hope my kids will keep using it once I'm gone. But if not, it'll go to charity shop with my blessing 😄
(I still think it was priced up incorrectly in the rather fancy NT shop I bought it from!)

Yes, I agree.
It's like the lipstick analogy.
In times of economic uncertainty, sales of nice, treaty small items (like lipstick) soar.
It's not a coincidence.
I think it's our way of convincing ourselves everything is ok because, look, I just bought a lovely new lipstick!

What's wrong with that thread? It isn't all tat by any means? I think that this thread comes off as quite sanctimonious.

@JeanSimmons
It actively encourages buying things you don't need because "it's a bargain".
🤷‍♀️
I don't think this thread is sanctimonious, but I think it's making some people uncomfortable by questioning buying habits/sm influencing.

Have you actually read the thread, or just assumed? A lot of the things on there are consumables like chocolates and shortbread and soap, and a lot are Christmas requests. None of it is really tat.

I do not partake in any type of "black friday" event. I try to shop in charity shops/ebay/vinted.
I buy from local businesses, many of whom are struggling, not from companies owned by billionaires who pay next to no tax.
I also buy tickets for experiences like the theatre - the arts in the UK are in dire straights.
If that's your definition of sanctimonious, then yes, I am 😊
As I said in my op, by 2032 the charity shops/auction houses will be inundated with stuff. I'll be very interested to see how that affects the tat available in b&m and the range etc and people's buying habits.

Yes, I have.
I find it gets much worse nearer christmas.
Usually lots of "bargain" orders get cancelled as people on the thread go mad and order so much.
The very definition of rampant consumerism imo.

You only find it sanctimonious if you aren't really confident in your own consumption.
You are bothered because you know there is truth in it.

Maybe it's an age thing?
I can remember being fairly horrified when my dc were small at the sheer amount of plastic tat marketed to kids and parents, but it's only in the past 10 years or so when the global effects of climate change are so obvious and affecting so many and the harsh reality of having to empty houses of elderly relatives and having to deal with the huge amounts of rubbish (no one needs 23 broken cameras, or broken china, or rusty tools...) bought over the years and kept for some reason.
I find it so incredibly depressing 😞

^ this 💯

I think I'm going to start my "no irl shopping" rule a bit earlier this year!
I usually start after my bday in October, but it's just too depressing to be in these shops.

No, I'm perfectly comfortable with my level of consumption. It isn't the premise of this thread I have a problem with, it's the attack on the Christmas bargain thread that annoyed me.