Aibu to think everything is such a waste?

[AlpineButterfly]

I went into a home type shop this morning. There were fluffy blankets, ugly mirrors, elephant pictures,.dancing Santa's, colourful rugs, word signs. So much stuff. So much tat.

I'm right now babysitting a friend's boy. The telly is on. My god, the rubbish. Adverts, trashy tv. What a waste of time.

How much of life is a waste of time and materials? I'm right now on MN, also a.waste of time.

I wouldn't even know what to do to stop the waste of time and materials. We do buy mostly second hand but... I don't know. I'm not even able to articulate myself properly right that second

I totally agree. Half the world of starving, while the UK spent £65 million quid on pumpkins to carve this Halloween and NOT eat. Bizarre!!

Half the world IS starving...excuse the typo.

I get this feeling scrolling through Instagram feeds. Such a sea of pointless copycat shit people buy for their homes for pathetic "likes".

It just makes me think what are we doing with our lives. I've just watched an advert about the internet going down. Like that's a disaster. It makes me want to turn aeroplane mode on and disconnect.

We are so connected. Yet are we really?

It is utter madness. I am trying super hard to cut down on the crap we buy. I think before I buy now. Especially for birthday and xmas. Will they use it more than the odd occasional use? If no, I don't buy it!

For birthdays this year we asked for money for swimming lessons off family. Much better use!

I agree. Alot of what people spend their time on seems completely meaningless.

I feel this all the time. I waste so much time on shit. Especially when it comes to technology. I wish I could just stop looking at meaningless social media and even here but when I try I watch crap tv or feel like I want to buy stuff. It's all so pointless. I'm skint and make myself miserable that I can't afford crap. I guess all this meaningless shit helps keep us all distracted from the important stuff.

People often just kick their heels until they die. Can't understand people just wanting to be drunk all the time either. Like, that's their sole aim on their days off.

I suppose getting drunk and ordering lots of plastic tat online is the ultimate pointless waste.

I suppose, in the past, people spent their time struggling to survive and had to cope with bad weather, wild animals trying to eat them and food shortages.

I'm with you OP.

the sheer volume of shite available to buy nowadays is mind boggling. The world has gone mad.

We are post-stuff. Who wants more stuff?

Yes to more security, more food out with friends, more good times in the park eating ice cream. Yes to more cycling, travelling, doing sudoku on our phones.

No, no, no to more make up, more acrylic blankets, pot plants and vases, T-shirt’s and handbags.

I've just come to this realisation .

I fee like I'm being advertised to all of the time.

I was buying and buying thinking that having that new thing that so and so has on Instagram woukd make me happy. It was never enough and I wasn't happy.

I felt overwhelmed by stuff. I'm now trying to get rid of unnecessary things in my life so I don't feel so cluttered and suffocated.

I'm glad I'm not the only one. Then we look at food waste. So much food which goes out of date. Food which isn't even food. What even is the bourbon biscuit I ate earlier? It's a waste of calories with no nutritional value. A nothing food. So much packaged crap which doesn't even help our bodies.

I think I'm having a crisis right now

I’ve been saying this for years! It’s truly awful the sheer amount of plastic tat that people buy for no real reason at all. I just hope that one day before it’s to late we all wake up out of this money/stuff obsessed world.

I agree 

I’m with you on all of this!
More tat, more plastic, more waste. Urgh!!

We must stop buying crap. It doesn’t make us happy and it’s hurting the planet. And making us broke in the process.

Diet coke (or any diet drink) is even worse than the Bourbons. Whatever is in it, your body rejects, so it has no calorific content.

It's a waste of everything, with no nutritional content!

I feel similarly.

I definitely feel like the way I spend my time (losing hours to the internet) is a waste and that I'm wasting my own time and life. I'm not sure how to change it though. When I get home from work I'm busy feeding DCs and DH (often has to be done in two sittings to work round everyone's activities) then busy taxi ing people around. What are you supposed to do with the small, knackered gaps in between except look up shit on the internet?

Oh OP totally. I feel like we throw out so much stuff. Just piles of plastic tat and toys - so many toys. Xmas and Birthdays too many presents.

People now ask for Xmas lists/birthday lists to fill our house with more stuff. I look at kids tv adverts Poopsie Unicorns wtf!

I'm so fed up of how wasteful the world is I can't keep up. I'm so fed up of how much waste we produce as a house. Old technology being a big cause. Old clothing - and I don't buy much at all. The lack of quality in clothing meaning it needs replacing more often. Totally disgusted.

Also I really notice the plastic / waste thing at lunchtime - all the places a worker visits each lunchtime are full of plastic forks and plastic cups and plastic packaging, all going in the bin after one use.

"People now ask for Xmas lists/birthday lists to fill our house with more stuff."

Our lists now have things like:

• swimming lessons
• voucher to trampoline land
• voucher for local ice cream parlour
• voucher for one-on-one grandparent treat time

etc etc.

Heartily agree. No more plastic shit. No more novelty keyrings, pots of revolting smelly cheap moisturiser, no more gag gifts ... no more crap!!

It's good that you're waking up to it though! I had the same crisis a couple of months ago.

I used to buy things just to get that buzz and then realised that I wasn't using any of it and the buzz died once I got home and unpacked it.

We are constantly being advertised to and being made to feel as though we must keep up with everyone else buying all the meaningless shit.

I do love this thread, very thought provoking.

Yes it makes me wonder about all this stuff and tat. What do we need it all for? I am currently in a position where i cant spend unless necessary, and i looked about the Christmas shop and kids wanted tinsel and for me to agree the tree goes up on the first of dec to which i said too early. And no, no tinsel we bought some last year.

We had our kitchen refitted about 7 years ago now. The man that fitted it said his wife has a new kitchen fitted every two years. What a waste that is!

"The man that fitted it said his wife has a new kitchen fitted every two years."

That is fucking ridiculous.

What are you supposed to do with the small, knackered gaps in between except look up shit on the internet?

Lol 😆 love this!

I will say though, pot plants bring me a lot of joy and I would be sad if I was unable to buy them anymore. I love tending to them and helping them thrive. My home is full of them!

I agree with PP re the cheap, rancid moisturisers and bath bombs, the plastic shitty tat and awful gag gifts found in stockings at Christmas.