To be bothered by how much we consume as a society...

[Cakelesswonder]

Don't get me wrong I love a retail therapy session but today just felt utterly gluttonous in the amount of ads for Black Friday, the 'deals, I couldn't move for emails offering me 20% off lots of things I don't need. I'm not suggesting everyone knits their own yogurt and lives like Mormons but I really feel we don't have the resources on Earth to keep consuming, throwing and consuming like we do. Everything is disposable, straws, clothes, we buy water in bottles then throw them away polluting the oceans and planet for ourselves and future generations. I have no idea what the overall solution is but it really got to me today .

It worries me a lot.

Often wonder when I'm in the shops do we need all that?
I know we don't, no one needs a ton of new stuff but why do we want it?

Society has never been quite so consumerist and this just isn't sustainable.

We have been doing one present, and it's usually a bottle or a jar of something edible.
I reuse the decorations, just buy a one every year to add to the old ones.

I'm on a FB fashion group and we sell and swap to each other. It's cut down the number of new clothes I buy. There could be a similar section on MN maybe?

I really think plastic bags should just be banned. Paper or bags for life. Christmas consumption is crazy and I do feel uncomfortable seeing people get piles for their kids. I am very considered in my shopping, far from perfect but I try. I buy and sell clothes on eBay and I do think more people seem to be open to this now.
I have a friend who goes totally over the top at Christmas for her 2 kids under 3, lots of plastic tat. So depressing.

I thought take away coffe cups were cardboard they feel like it

Coffee cups are coated and non recyclable.

And the lids are plastic

So glad to see this thread and hear that others feel the same way. I love Christmas but increasingly dread the crazy consumption that goes with it.

A couple of years ago I saw a Christmas jumper in Next, with a design on the front saying something like "Happy Xmas 2015!" I just thought it summed up everything that's wrong about our wasteful habits now. A woolly jumper should last a good long time, but here was a shop basically admitting it was to be worn as a joke a couple of times, then be no use and binned.

OMG- I just looked it up - they ARE recyclable but there's only two places they CAN recycle them so only the tiniest percentage are recycled

And Costa/Starbucks/Nero get to put the recyclable logo on their cups so people think it's a green choice

That's fucking terrible, I am never buying take away coffee again

This is the best thread on mumsnet ever!
I’m taking these tips I didn’t think of before ( loose fruit )
I do recycle all my plastic but I want to be better. Buying second hand clothes on eBay is better than primark you get labels like Reiss for cheap & the quality is so much better!

Juan , I would love a MN Green board. I am so pleasantly surprised reading this thread, as often threads like these get lots of shouts of kill joy , mind your own business and I work hard so I deserve it , eventually shutting down the conversation.
Most of my kids' gifts are second hand for both environmental and economic reasons and they are fine with it (for now, being 4 and 7).

Absolutely agree, it's becoming something I'm more and more aware of and terrified by. Plastics are the worst.
This year I switched to a stainless steel water bottle and started being very aware of mindless waste. Next on my list is a mooncup so I can ditch the tampons, going to have a look at some of the blogs recommended here for some more ideas too.

have placed the onus on convenience at the expense of everything else and society has been geared to spend spend spend.

It's not always about convenience though is it?
DM is disabled and has a problem with muscle waste in her hands. To the point where she cant cut simple soft things like cheesecake up. There for she'll often buy prepared veg which she doesn't have to struggle to cut up herself and then she can still eat healthily. She won't be the only person in this world with the same condition, so whilst it's a convenience for most, for a significant proportion of society it is also a help.

I just didn't go shopping yesterday, at all, it's only going to get worse in the run up to Christmas.

Christmas consumption is crazy and I do feel uncomfortable seeing people get piles for their kids.

Me too, but the people on my facebook who post pictures of the present mountains are simply unfollowed.

Op there's a lot of information about the affect of plastic on water. Near Disney in Florida fish have been found with gender deformity due to the amount of plastic bottles leaking chemicals. I'm desperately trying to remember the name of the book I read!

Fully on board with this. Would like a green board too. Love the idea of abandoning the excess packaging in the shop. Make it the retailers problem!

I had to buy a plastic carrier bag for the first time this week. I had taken a bag for life but bought more groceries than intended and had walked to the supermarket instead of driving. Still felt dreadfully bad though. But, it will be reused many times. Shocked how many people still buy them by the handfuls. Why??

Jonsnowswife I don't begrudge people with disabilities needing things like that, but I have seen things like two bananas placed on a polystyrene trap and wrapped in glad wrap to be sold! Not cut up or anything, in their skins. That is just ridiculous and helping no one.

In fact disabled people must often find all the excess packaging difficult. I bought some knives and they were encased in so much hard plastic even I found it difficult to hack them out - and my hands are fine. Your poor mum would have had no chance.

Not to mention having to carry all this trash down to dispose of it all the time.

I used to be so much better than I am now, in terms of being conscious of this kind of stuff. However, we do try to buy almost everything 2nd hand, and we don't buy mounds of plastic tat for the kids (poor deprived souls!). It's great to see this thread.

I also hate the thought of bulking out gift piles.

As my 9 year old said “presents aren’t what’s good about Christmas”.

I follow on Instagram “balloons blow” (I think) and it breaks my heart that there are a few fabulous people out there like them trying to change the world and others are oblivious.

I have banned balloons, straws, disposable cups and bags. I’m trying to buy second hand when possible to avoid packaging.

I'll stick a post in Site Stuff asking for a board

So many good points here.. I was in the city centre yesterday and had an hour to kill - simply shocking to see how much people buy and the amount of tat people buy.
It’s the way you bring your children up.. We were brought up not to buy any unnecessary thing and not waste any thing ( was brought up in a different developing country) I was in shock about the way people bought and used things here.. After living here for more than20 years my outlook has not changed.Even then
My mum complained about unnecessary packaging there was in everything sold...Sadly I have seen people like me ( come from my country)change completely ( it’s their choice of course) !
Most of the books I get for my kids are from charity shops or used books..wont anything which isn’t absolutely necessary. Fortunately my kids are the same..My eldest is turning 17next week and she said that she does not need anything for her birthday as she has everything she needs but I know what her friends are all having for their birthdays...
Agree mumsnet should consider a green board

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/site_stuff/3096250-Please-can-we-have-a-Green-Living-board?watched=1

Here we go - feel free to pile in and add your voice for a new board

This thread is really helpful. I feel the same. My current pet hate is the nespresso pods, they have just put nespresso machines in at work. Every bloody cup of coffee creates pointless chunk of plastic and metal foil waste straight to the bin. Various relatives now have them whereas they used to use a metal coffee pot on the job to make a nice coffee. They’re retired, and not particularly time pressed people.

I also switched to stainless steel water bottle and bring along my own reusable cup at coffee shops. Some of them give a small discount for this. We could encourage that to be more of a thing which might help although I am not sure making the reusable coffee cups are that great for the planet either, but i really want to try to do something more responsible. It’s bloody depressing.

(The waste is depressing I mean!) not trying to do something about it- that cheers me up.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/ethical_living
oops... Completely missed it, pile in everyone! It really could do with a bit more visibility

Trolling - if they are real nesspresso pods, they can be recycled!! You can take them into the nespresso shops or they do a click collect for them. It would be a small change to get your company to sign up to recycling them!