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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that you don't get to be smug about recycling...

54 replies

Drowsybutawake · 03/06/2015 11:50

unless the majority of the furniture in your house is second hand or ethically sourced?

I was having this conversation with the auctioneer who is clearing out my grandparents' house. He said that the bottom has fallen out of the market for brown wood furniture because everything is so cheap new these days. I just find this really sad - there is so much beautiful/useful furniture out there going to waste just because it is brown. DH is also from a developing country which is being ruined by illegal logging, which breaks my heart.

AIBU to think that sending your rubbish off in a nice green bin to god knows where, or even using reusable nappies or second hand clothes, is nothing to be proud of if your home is full of brand new furniture?

OP posts:
DoughDoe · 03/06/2015 13:37

"Most of the areas forest being chopped down at an alarming rate are to make room for grazing for cows to fuel the worlds fast food habit, not to make Ikea tables."

Actually it is to plant palm oil for food, soap and to put into people's cars.

Not cows at all.

SaucyJack · 03/06/2015 13:42

Part of the reason there's no market for second-hand stuff any more is because charity shops have got greedy and convinced themselves any old piece of shite is "shabby chic" or retro and that they can sell it for £100. Er, no.

Plenty of people buy new cos it's easier and cheaper to go to Argos or DFS these days.

prepperpig · 03/06/2015 13:46

That really is the case. The bedside cabinet I wanted for DS is reproduction and is from the 1980s. The sellers are asking £195 for it even though it has "signs of age". It was probably less than that when it was new. It's far cheaper to buy something from ikea.

SomewhereIBelong · 03/06/2015 13:47

cheaper and easier to buy new though (free delivery etc)...

and no woodworm.

ArcheryAnnie · 03/06/2015 13:49

On the other hand, unless EVERY decision you make is based on how green it is, you're being unreasonable and hypocritical.

Well no, TedAndLola. Nobody can be perfect, and it's better than someone does something than nothing.

I am really, really tired of when anyone suggests a sensible, easy, environmentally-friendly idea, other people (who are doing nothing) jump down their throats, calling them hypocrites if they've ever sat in a car or bought anything new, ever. How does this help? How does this change anything? In this case, the perfect really is the enemy of the good - and it's mostly being peddled by people who don't honestly see much value in being perfect, either.

(As it happens I do have junk-shop furniture and hand-me-downs from friends, mainly because it's what I could afford at the time I got it, and I tend to stick with stuff rather than replace, as I like it. But if I did go mad and bought some bit of furniture new, that wouldn't make all the rest of the environmentally-careful stuff I do meaningless.)

ArcheryAnnie · 03/06/2015 13:51

And I've got some really nice stuff from freecycle, too, for free. And much better made than if I'd got it from Argos. One thing I had to pay £50 to hire a van for delivery as it was huge, but if I'd bought it new it wouldn't have been as nice, and it would have cost me £600+.

ToysRLuv · 03/06/2015 13:51

Oh, and after having had bedbugs (courtesy of neighbours) around six year ago, I would be extra wary of used beds or bedside furniture. Bedbugs really are the stuff of nightmares. Sad Angry Sad

BabyMurloc · 03/06/2015 13:56

Is anyone REALLY smug about recycling though? Round here you're just smug if you don't get your bins nicked, we must inhabit different worlds you and I. grin

We consider it a bonus if we get our own bin back...

Theycallmemellowjello · 03/06/2015 13:58

Yeah have to say having lived in NYC (bedbug central) I wouldn't do 2nd hand mattresses, sofas etc because of the bedbug risk. But there shouldn't be a risk with a bed frame etc so long as it's properly cleaned and inspected (you can see the eggs).

OstentatiousBreastfeeder · 03/06/2015 13:58

I don't know anyone who is smug about recycling. It's just something you do isn't it?

ToysRLuv · 03/06/2015 14:05

All you need, though is two stray eggs or adults and all hell breaks loose. We established that we had only a few bedbugs, but living with the idea and then trying to get rid of them was almost impossibly hard, because the level of infestation was too low to render any visible signs. In the end what got rid of them was putting poison in the gaps between carpet, wall and surrounding boards, and then sealing them with putty (the buggers must have travelled thst way across the whole building).

CrystalMcPistol · 03/06/2015 14:11

Mid century modern furniture is currently very fashionable but auction houses are filled with 19th and early 20th century furniture going for a song. Some of the pieces can be too bulky for modern homes but there are some gorgeous pieces that are just overlooked as people would rather head to Ikea or Oak Furniture Land.

ArcheryAnnie · 04/06/2015 08:05

I do need more shelves so I might look at the auction house near me!

Mamus · 04/06/2015 11:02

I guess we can be smug then, apart from the baby's cot and most clothes and toys literally everything in our house is second (or third or fourth etc) hand or made by my dh using reclaimed materials. Although we smoke which I think wipes all our recycling, bus using, small house dwelling goodness out at a stroke :(

museumum · 04/06/2015 11:08

I'm not going to buy my furniture at an auction house! I have a busy life with work and children and do not have weekends free to go to viewings and sit through auctions and pay an amount that is uncertain until the hammer goes down!

As far as i can see, second hand auctions and perusing vintage fares and shops is a 'hobby' for people with loads of time on their hands. Good on them, but it's not for me.

If we need something new, i want to be able to order it, know it's in stock, with dimensions so i know it'll get into my house, sit in for half a day while working from home and have it arrive... even that's a hassle i'd rather do without!

IKnowIAmButWhatAreYou · 04/06/2015 11:18

friends who regularly boast about their ethical credentials

Says it all really. Confused

I chuck paper, plastic & glass in a bin. I buy a new sofa every 8-10 years. All of my furniture was chipboard, I've now "upgraded" to glass & plastic (living the dream) as it dates less & lasts longer.

I'd never have any of my parents/grandparents furniture in my house - 'cos it's old looking tosh and wouldn't look good with a TV & all the gubbins on top of it....

ArcheryAnnie · 04/06/2015 11:39

I have a busy life with work and children and do not have weekends free to go to viewings and sit through auctions and pay an amount that is uncertain until the hammer goes down!

So do I, but buying an item once every decade or so (which will last a lifetime) is hardly a fully-time hobby, is it?

I love IKEA (for the meatballs, mostly), but that's not exactly a quick in-and-out, either, but a long trip on the tube. If I get there once a year, that's more than most years. (And mostly for the meatballs and picture frames.)

squoosh · 04/06/2015 11:43

Exactly. Unless your home has an east and west wing buying furniture for it can hardly amount to a full time hobby.

TedAndLola · 04/06/2015 11:45

Well no, TedAndLola. Nobody can be perfect, and it's better than someone does something than nothing.

Did you read my post? I made the same point.

museumum · 04/06/2015 11:46

Archery - I need some form of toy storage unit. Was going to go to Ikea for a kallax which i've seen online and know fits the storage i need and the space i have... now if i say i want to buy something reused/second hand how many auctions/shops/markets am i going to have to go round to find something suitable?

SomewhereIBelong · 04/06/2015 12:15

Can I boast about my ethical credentials.

just don't buy stuff, minimalist is the way to go - no need for storage either then

It is called "not-having-money-to-spend-on-stuff-right-now" - but it certainly means my bin AND recycling boxes are practically empty.

(a full recycling box is nothing to boast about)

ArcheryAnnie · 04/06/2015 12:15

museumum I'm not saying you can't buy whatever the hell you like, from wherever you want. I am saying your "oh it's a full-time hobby to go round auction houses" is ridiculous for secondhand stuff.

FWIW, my son's got a lovely small 1950s sideboard-with-drawers-type-thing (wide and low, but not too deep, so works as a display table too for his stuff) for his bits which I got for £30 from a branch of the British Heart Foundation that I was walking past one day - it was in the window. It's beautiful and very well-made, suits my 20th-century modern flat, and will serve him well even when the drawers are no longer full of craft stuff and leftover lego.

ArcheryAnnie · 04/06/2015 12:18

Then I misunderstood your post, TedAndLola, and am sorry.

Trinpy · 04/06/2015 12:26

Our local bhf shop is crap. Stock is all overpriced and falling to pieces. There was a sofa in the shop window the other day that must have been lovely when it was new but it was in horrible condition, really stained and sagged in the middle. Fine for freecycle, but not to sell! I'm amazed it's still going tbh.

motherinferior · 04/06/2015 12:27

It's not either/or, dammit. I recycle. I am not particularly smug about it, but do find myself rather scandalised by people who don't (and I've recycled stuff since long before collections were available).

I do buy loads of stuff from charity shops, though, and will concede I am distinctly smug when I get compliments about something that cost me a few quid. And I do like the recycling aspect of that too.