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 .

There are loads of Zero Waste bloggers out there with useful hints and tips. Some of theme are fairly hardcore but most will have lists of top useful things to do e.g. reusable coffee cup, refuse straws, napkins and plastic cutlery, carry a water bottle

I usually swill the containers out but don't take the labels off.

This is a great thread. But it's convinced me I need to do more.

I give all DS' clothes away to a friend for her DS, and some go through 5 boys before going to the charity shop. I also get second hand clothes for DS from other friends.

Definitely going to investigate a mooncup and try and reduce the amount of stuff we buy.

There is such a pressure to buy new stuff though, my mum is always going on about how we could afford a new sofa (14 years old) and a car (11 years old) but can't understand why we don't get new ones when we can afford it.

madmomma,

I feel horribly ignorant in asking these questions, but am going with a better late than never approach...

Sanpro- I take it that it won't break down then? Is there somewhere you would recommend buying washable towels from?

I use a copious amounts of baby wipes, I expect there is a better alternative?

I buy soap from body shop that is not wrapped, as it helps with skin condition so am ok there.

I do use bags for life and take my own reusable coffee container every where.

I must have alot to learn about basic recycling so I will look into that.

I drive an old car and don't really care enough to replace things that can work with other things but really know I should do more.

Any other suggestions really welcome?

RE ethical christmas crackers - I saw some nice origami ones in whole foods yesterday. I imagine everything would be recyclable in those

Great thread

YY to a card for the class...or none at all seeing as they see each other everyday

I twitch at birthday parties and the amount of tat/plastic that is given. I'd rather have the child's presence than presents

I've been to the tip to recycle some boxes today and was cringing at the amount of things being chucked away. You can't help wonder where the tipping point is going to be for the planet

This thread has certainly got me thinking further

haven't read the whole thread but yes absolutely. Last year I worked with 5 teenagers every Saturday. The amount of plastic bottles and sweet wrappers they got through in a day was horrific. I couldn't believe that they didn't think anything o buying so many individual drinks in a day let alone how many bags of sweets, sandwich packets etc.

This is one of the very few long threads that I have actually read in full. Sitting on the sofa with my DDs watching The X Factor.

Great thread, and so great to read that so many of us do things to try and lessen the impact we have on the environment.

We don't do enough by far, I know that but we don't have loads of 'stuff', I don't like having things in the house that are not useful. We buy on eBay and when the kids were young, most things were bought second hand (having an amazing Red Cross book shop near us helped) or were passed on to us. I have no qualms using second hand stuff.

We rarely eat meat and are careful about what we buy with regards to plastic. It's not enough though, nobody's doing enough.

Our rushed lives mean we don't think about what we are doing.

There was a similar thread to this but it was after Christmas last year, when frankly, it's too late. So this is a great time for people to be having a little rethink about consuming habits.

I was clearing out the house after Christmas 2016 as we were moving to a place with less storage. There were charity shops that couldn't accept any more donations as they were bursting at the seams with all the unwanted Xmas gifts and tat. Truly depressing!

It's a battle when you have young kids and families who like to spoil them with gifts, no one listens when you say please don't go mad with gifts. I know I'll be bagging up 90% of what they receive for charity. Not because I am mean or ungrateful, but because they already have more than enough.

My newest reusing tip: the bags that sliced bread comes in are the perfect size to line those small cylindrical bathroom bins.

I absolutely love this thread! I work in retail currently, and the tat, everywhere is unbelievable. If the item they came for is out of stock, just order some other random thing- how much thought and consideration actually goes into what we buy?

This year I am spending much less of Christmas, and buying vouchers for some kids instead of more plastic tat.

I am shocked about the coffee cups, I am very guilty of using single use cups! I have ordered a metal cup and will no longer use single use cups.

Lovely positive thread. Last time I was part of a discussion like this was when I was campaigning for the Climate Change Bill.

I hope the tide might be turning again a bit.

I'm also giving Christmas gifts like 'going out for donuts' voucher, or 'family cinema date' which is much more fun for my oldest ds than more plastic shite to clutter up his tiny room!

@OpalIridescence That's right, just like nappies and baby wipes, sanpro is not biodegradable and the amount one woman can get through in a life time is pretty shocking. It ends up in landfill and would take an eternity to break down.

A mooncup is a good alternative to tampons but not for everyone. There are lots of other options out there though.

opal San towels are usually plastic backed, like disposable nappies are. Mooncups/diva cups are good, thinx knickers if there's any concern about leakage, and there are zillions of companies who make the cloth pads, which are much of a muchness really.

I was talking to my DS about this at dinner tonight because he asked what Black Friday was I explained that it was nothing but a marketing ploy designed to make people buy things they don't need. They easy after Thanksgiving, which, at lkeasdt when I was in America years ago was just a day to spend with family and give thanks with no presents or tat (although a lot of food!) and instead of importing something with a good heart like Thanksgiving we have imported the horrible consumerist consumption worshipping day after. Someone upthread said our economy depends on excessive consumption. The Chinese are lending us money so that we can buy their cheap goods. They know we can't get enough of them and if we stop, their economy will slow down too. Its a vicious circle.

I’m getting a mooncup for this exact reason! And the fact the pads and tampons have so many chemicals on them and I’ve already had lots of cervical cancer scares. I used a cardboard box tonight at Asda. Popped it from the garage in my car, then into the trolley, £40 worth of
Food and loaded it all into the box and then into the boot and back home! Was soooo easy to unpack, definitely the way forward for me.

Ooh, while I think on, I've recently found a pottery travel cup, with a rubber lid in laura Ashley of all places. It's fab. Just in case anyone prefers pot to plastic/ metal.

That bread wrapper bin liner tip is brilliant!

We have three bins in the house - bedroom, bathroom, kitchen. The first two are emptied into the last and the liners not replaced.

No adult presents, no amazon, food waste is peelings, teabags, eggshells. Recycle as much as possible, avoid tetrapaks as my council doesn't recycle them. Try to minimise use of paper products. Bulk cook and freeze portions in plastic tubs ( yes, I know..) But they get reused repeatedly.

Car doesn't move for 3 days sometimes - but we work from home so that's how it should be.

Clothing buying absolutely minimised, helped as I hate shopping.

Always more to do.

Contigo thermos coffee mugs are amazing. They actually keep the drink hot for up to eight hours and do not leak. Mine can end up upside down in the bottom of a rucksack and has never leaked. And they can be put in the dishwasher with the inner workings of the lid loosened so everything actually gets clean. They are pricey, about £20 I think, but dh and i have had them about a year and not bought a single takeaway coffee as any trip we make we can easily make coffee in the morning before leaving and know it will still be hot when we want to drink it.

I do notice this too and I find I'm much happier buying and owning less. I can't remember the last time I bought clothes. Probably a year or so ago. I buy plainish things and add jewellery. I buy good quality bits not always expensive and wash them correctly etc. They last and last and I look clean and smart (not tatty).

We tend to buy good quality appliances that last too and I won't replace until the item has died which dosnt happen often! I hate the 'buy cheap buy twice ' business of a cheapo washing machine that only lasts a year or two.

What really upsets me is te amount of toys my kids have partly bought from us but loads from grandparents... i had a huge falling out with them for keep buying plastic shit and offloading it onto me (mil loves shopping) I hate storing it all it never got played with and would end up in a charity shop. ok fine it's being reused but it's such a waste if it gets thrown away or not sold by the shop.

Baby items every new parent are marketed with, nappy bins, jumparoo, baby baths... none of this junk is necessary it's just throwing money away and ending up in landfill.

Just remembered one thing I do every now and then which has not been mentioned (so maybe someone will tell me it's not great to do). I keep any plain black clothes that are looking washed out and re-dye them. I've kept t-shirts, vests and various pairs of trousers going for years for dh and I. It really does make them look new and smart again.

⬆⬆ This.

With an eye on the type of fabric and a link to these lovely people on my phone, it's possible to dye some artificial fibres now.

I've finally had to get rid of a cotton towelling bathrobe after over 20 years of use.

It had been blue, green, grey and finally yellow but it is now holed and balding in places.

I bought its grass green successor from a charity shop for less than a fiver too.

www.thedyeshop.co.uk/index.php

We do a charity shop/second hand secret santa which I like.

I used to live in Cambridge and I really really miss the recycling there - they wanted things rinsed but didn't expect things spotless, took film in the recycling and glass and took all food waste so you didn't have to bin anything really.

My current town is much more limited in what you can recycle and that creates an activation energy (e.g. Glass recycling) that then reduces what gets done.

Keeping an eye in charity shops means I do very well on second hand clothes - I think at least half my wardrobe is second hand.

I'm definitely no saint though - I drink milk, eat cheese, some meat, and put more than 10,000 miles a year on my car.

Agree and feel the same

Shameful and disgusting and Christmas makes it worse

I went out today and was too tired to make a packed lunch . But the sheer amount of waste generated by the Pret A Manger lunch we had was staggering . I so rarely get takeaways I forgot how bad they are

This thread makes me want to tweet them as they have embraced veggies so why not consciously use less packaging . They would have a competitive edge

Reallly good thread

Stop, Pret are doing refills on glass bottles now I think.

Opal, you mentioned using copious amount of baby wipes, if you let us know in what way, we could help with alternatives? At home you can just do cloth, bucket with disinfectant. If it's also for removing make up, just use cleanser or whatever.