AIBU to ask if that bit of plastic is really necessary **title edited by MNHQ**

[Ifwisheswereunicorns]

If you think of every plastic toy you had as a child, every plastic wrapper or box it ever came in, every bit of plastic curling ribbon that made a pretty bow around that gift you gave, every happy meal toy you got as a kid, every happy meal toy you got for your kid, every drinking straw, every shampoo or conditioner bottle, every washing up liquid bottle, every milk bottle, every party bag filler toy (that falls apart in the car on the way home!), every bit of plastic your food of drink comes in; IT STILL EXISTS! In one way or another (unless it's been insinorated, causing atmospheric polution, cluttering up our planet; polluting our oceans, shores and land.
Our planet is in crisis.
AIBU to ask if you could think again about what to buy at Christmas? X

I've also told DD 9 we are having a low plastic Christmas and she's on board. We often go for a walk along the beach and have recently started taking a black bag and some litter pickers with us. The amount we pick up is ridiculous.

At least some plastic toys like Lego and playmobil are good quality and can be passed down or sold on. It's the rubbishy collect a figure craze L.O.L dolls etc that get me they don't look any better quality than kinder toys and come in so much plastic wrapping.

We either use paper bags for loose fruit and veg or a small cardboard box. And we just reuse.

All the presents my DD is getting this year are wooden or books. We have very few plastic toys. However, she is not yet 2 so it's easy whereas when she is 7 and is desperate for whatever plastic crap, I realise this will be more difficult!

We don't buy much for the families. I almost always get books for the nephews & nieces. Chocolate or similar for siblings and parents. Usually an "experience" for DH, like tickets to a show or event
I don't think Christmas increases our personal plastic use by much.

What gets me is all the plastic packaging in supermarkets. Everything comes in at least one layer of plastic and while I do try and buy veg loose, things like meat, cosmetics and rice/pasta all come in plastic.

Yes, I'm really sorry about the title and the time I posted the thread... I had been meaning to post something for a while and just not got around to it, I was up at that time and not doing anything else so just posted it. I've not posted anything before (I'm a lurker!), do mumsnet ever let you change a title? I'm embarrassed how bad it actually is! Sometimes I'm tapping away on my phone and haven't realised it's not caught up and I've missed letters and words out of things. Apologies again!

Anyway back to the subject. When it comes to wrapping gifts, I was only saying to my husband yesterday, think of all that tape that'll be gone through world wide at Christmas alone. I hadn't realised paper tape was a thing, I'll be looking out for that. I was planning on just using string, though that's not great for little kids. Thanks for that MyNameIsJune!

Mama every little helps, cutting down in any way you can is great. I just can't deal with the guilt of it anymore! My kids do have plastic toys such as duplo and playmobil but just about all of it is second hand, otherwise it's been given as gifts. It's rare that we buy new, both for money reasons and for environmental reasons. Same goes for clothes, it's not always easy finding nice stuff in the right size and made from natural fabrics but I try. Everything we no longer want is passed back to charity shops or Freecycle so it can be used again.

It's awful the sheer tat in shops that appears for Xmas but I suppose it must sell or they wouldn'tdo it - not even something a child could play with, just 'decorative' shit with slogans/sparkles/unicorns
We are not sentimental family. We just all ask what the others would like. Restaurant vouchers for students, money for young adults setting up first home, Debenhams voucher for the 70% off after Xmas
I know some say this is not in the spirit of Christmas but at least I don't waste my money and keep tat out of landfill

I try to be as environmentally friendly as we can throughout the whole year rather than just at Christmas, far from perfect but every little bit helps!

I try to buy less "stuff" in general so I don't grudge the kids a bit of plastic every now and again, especially at Christmas if that's what they have asked for. DD has one thing on her list, a plastic toolbox, she has specified the colour so that's what she will get.

I will however not be buying more plastic tape and opt for paper instead and when last year's wrapping runs out I will be replacing with recyclable stuff instead.

I recycle where I can, reuse and reduce too but at the end of the day it's all pretty pointless, we are way past the point of return for the environment.

I live in hope that, if we all try, we can come back from what we've done to the planet and that we're not really past the point of no return. It's all too depressing if not!

Why does loose fruit need its own bag/box? I just shove it in the trolley, into my shopping bags then into the fruit bowl at home.

I live in hope that, if we all try, we can come back from what we've done to the planet and that we're not really past the point of no return. It's all too depressing if not!

We aren't really trying though, are we.

But that's no excuse to give up. I'm not doing Christmas presents this year, it's such a waste, I hate it. Apart from the waste, it's stressful thinking of what to buy, and stressful pretending I like the shit gifts I receive when I don't. I've talked to family and they agree no gifts.

I'm just focusing on celebrating, however that is also a big waste because of the amount of food and drink we'll consume.

Buttered, no, as a whole the world is not trying even nearly hard enough. But that's my point, as individuals we can all try, we can make better choices and do our bit. If we start really looking at each small bit of plastic that we throw away then maybe we can make small adjustments. Nothing will change over night but we, as a planet need to change pretty sharpish or hashtag's point will be accurate!

As newplace pointed out, the other massive issue is palm oil. No that is so difficult to get away from if you buy things pre made (bread etc), Iceland's stance on that is fantastic, however, I went in there the other day for the first time in years and there selection of foods is limited (for the kind of food I normally buy). Other supermarkets need to hurry up and remove palm oil from their products too.

*now

• their

Whilst it's absolutely fine to agree that adults get no presents, not really great for young kids, is it.

There isn't a lot for kids post toddler age that isn't plastic.

A lot of the more eco friendly options in general are really expensive comparatively so that definitely limits what people can afford to do.

That's absolutely true, cheshirecat, it's a conundrum and not something I've fully worked out yet. We've thought about buying tickets for an 'experience' of some sort, but for kids of my son's ages it's not going to be very exciting on Christmas day, I don't know, maybe that's where we need to change our attitude a bit. Plan Toys are great but so expensive, I might have one more year in my eldest where he can still be interested in some of their stuff. We've never fallen into that trap of feeling like we have to buy loads for our kids for birthdays or Christmas but they still need something. I hope that more environmentally friendly options for kids toys become available soon!

I've had a really quick look, but plan toys are for toddlers IMO, possibly just what I've seen though. And the issue with toddler toys is that they tend to be outgrown a lot faster than the toys you get later on so by definition they're not very eco friendly really.

I totally agree OP, it is frightening and I feel I am only fully realising this now. With two young DC we do have a lot of plastic in our house but about 95% of their toys, books & clothes we have bought second hand and will sell or donate again when we are finished with them. Just debating with DH if buying milk in plastic bottles or switching to milk delivery in glass bottles would be better, but what about the fuel used for the deliveries.. how do you weigh that up? Hard to know where to start to be honest!

I appreciate the 3 people who commented on this thread; I'm so disappointed that no more did. Wow. It seems like a head in the sand kind of thing.

Or the fact that the thread was started at 1am.

They do do games and 'Plan Toy World' stuff which are lovely. They are so well made and robust that they'll last for years. Although the child who has been given it initially will outgrow it, it can be sold or passed on to another child who will get lots of use out of it. Not always true for a lot of plastic toys. Obviously things like Lego and playmobil will last and can be passed on but they will also still exist in 100s of years. I don't have the answer and I'm sure I'll struggle with what to get my kids in years to come and mine at 2 and 4 are easier, I have my fingers crossed that different options will become available. For now though, perhaps just thinking about quality over quantity when it comes to toys would be a start?

I know pickachew, I already apologised for that.

kidkraft

I have something similar from a charity shop (only paid £10!) And it's suitable for slightly older children, particularly if you change the characters and accessories.

It's also the only wooden toy that survived my DS, I'm not a fan of wooden toys as they just don't last in my house.

Whilst a travesty in some ways, for teenagers and up, a Kindle book is a heck of a lot more eco friendly.

Food is also relative as a present, too much food => gets binned => lots of wasted resources. I remember reading once, though I can't remember the source, that the wasted resources are an even bigger issue in some ways than plastic.

And a rather annoying factor is that it's quite difficult to take advantage of eco friendly options if you don't drive. For example, I'll sometimes buy smaller packs as I know I have to be able to carry them, things need to be bagged usually and I do buy drinks while I'm out if I'm out for longer as there's no way I can lug around enough drinks for two people (me and the kid).

The problem is that it is not just plastic and palm oil. Cotton is a hugely damaging crop, even organic cotton, and other oils, such as soybean, can be more destructive than palm oil. I am pretty obsessive about avoiding plastic and I do all the little things to feel environmentally conscious that I can (I wrap presents with newspapers picked up out of other people's recycling, for instance), but it all seems like an empty gesture.

Really, we need to work relentlessly to change government policies and to change the idea that the economy is supposed to keep on growing endlessly. Most of all I am overwhelmed with horror at what the current administration is up to in the US (I am American).

barleyreed I'm in exactly the same boat regarding second hand toys and books. Also considering glass milk bottles. As far as fuel for delivery, the wagons that deliver milk to supermarkets and then driving to buy milk would outweigh that somewhat, wouldn't it? (We don't have a shop in walking distance so is always a drive). For me, it's the price of it, another thing I need to change my way of thinking on though I think!

It is so depressing. I really try to do as much as I can but no one else I know seems to care. I wrap my christmas presents up with brown paper (100m on amazon for £15) and string. But all the presents the kids receive from others is wrapping paper that we can't recycle.

My mum is really bad for getting the kids plastic crap like keyrings ect. That they don't even play with