New school bag and lunchbox every September?

[AvocadoHo]

Light hearted debate with OH.

Making a list of school uniform needed for daughter (8) going back to school.

He rolled his eyes snd asked "why does she need a new bag? What's wrong with the one she has?"

Nothing is wrong with it, it's just a bit grubby and battered. But when I was growing up we had a new bag and lunch box every year. He feels this is excessive.

Is it really that uncommon?

@ihearttc, have you read any of the dozens of posts about the environmental impact of frequently buying new stuff? Just wondering as you don’t seem to have responded to any of those points.

@waterlego

I’ve read them but quite honestly I’d be more inclined to be concerned about it if the posts weren’t so pearl clutchy and hysterical about people actually daring to buy stuff.

In the real world and not on MN most people aren’t concerned about the long term implications of whether people have purchased a new school bag for little George.

Of course it concerns me on a low level as it should most people but it’s not the first thing on my mind as I’ve got more important to stuff to think about.

[quote ihearttc]@Neverrains

I didn’t realise you could only do one or the other.

I am also shaking my head in disbelief that people are getting so worked up over what people spend their own money on. Does it effect you or your day to day life? If not then just carry on doing what you do and let others do the same. People have their own reasons for doing things so I always try to not judge, something which many people on this thread seem to really struggle with.

By buying my kids new bags doesn’t mean I don’t do things with them…what a ridiculous comment to make![/quote]
It’s not a ridiculous comment , I didn’t say you don’t do things with them. I just said that spoiling doesn’t have to mean buying stuff.
It doesn’t affect me what you spend your money on. It affects the planet though. People are buying too much stuff.

I don’t know, maybe I just have weird kids. I bought them both nice rucksacks and lunchboxes a couple of years ago that they chose. They haven’t trashed them and they still like them… they haven’t requested new ones 🤷🏻‍♀️.

I’m glad you’re aware of the environmental impact of buying stuff unnecessarily. Whether you find the tone of posts pearly-clutchy or hysterical makes not a jot of difference to the facts.

I agree that a lot of people in the ‘real world’ don’t think very deeply about what they’re buying. That is exactly the problem, isn’t it? So glad you recognise it.

[quote waterlego]@lazylump72, because we are in a situation in which our endless consumption of new things is a big contributor to climate change, and our children and their children will suffer more than we will. Many of them will ask us why we didn’t do more to stop the destruction of our planet. If you feel you can answer that question with a clear conscience, then good for you, I guess.[/quote]
If I had the power to stop commercial fishing dredging up the sea bed and disturbing all the flora and fauna then gladly I would but it isnt going to happen,I cannot save the rain forests and dont kid myself I could try,I cannot stop the use of fossil fuels in china and neither could you,Our tiny consumption is just that ..tiny compared to the huge issues of climate change, We spend years of our life recycling,donating,planting trees to ofset our carbon emmissions in the long run it will not make a dent.For all the talk of Governments reaching targets well if you believe that it isnt me thats dillusional

If I had the power to stop commercial fishing dredging up the sea bed and disturbing all the flora and fauna then gladly I would but it isnt going to happen,I cannot save the rain forests and dont kid myself I could try,I cannot stop the use of fossil fuels in china and neither could you,Our tiny consumption is just that ..tiny compared to the huge issues of climate change, We spend years of our life recycling,donating,planting trees to ofset our carbon emmissions in the long run it will not make a dent.For all the talk of Governments reaching targets well if you believe that it isnt me thats dillusional

Oh well we all might as well just not fucking bother with anything then.

Question for the posters who don't know/care about the environmental crisis they're blithely contributing to - don't your kids care either??

If I suggested to my son or daughter (12 and 9) that they should get a new school bag or lunch box when there's absolutely nothing wrong with their old one, they would quite rightly look at me as if I were daft.

Surely part of parenting is instilling the right values into kids? I'm proud of my kids for making good choices and having the right priorities, instead of clamouring for whatever shiny new tat is in vogue, only to toss it in landfill when the next trend comes along.

Sad to see how many kids aren't being brought up like that, at least if the many selfish, irresponsible posters on here are anything to go by.

@lazylump72, I’m as frustrated as everyone else about the lack of action from governments and industries. But it’s not an all-or-nothing situation. It’s not a case of ‘well, those in power aren’t doing enough, so I’m not going to bother doing anything at all’.

My actions might not make any difference whatsoever but at least I can tell my children I tried my best.

Also worth mentioning that one of the reasons China produces so much CO2 is that they’re busily manufacturing mountains of crap to be shipped around the world for our consumption. We live in a culture that constantly tells us to buy stuff. We’re encouraged to ‘treat’ ourselves. We deserve it. And yet our collective mental health is the worst it’s ever been.

@waterlego

I’m glad you’re aware of the environmental impact of buying stuff unnecessarily. Whether you find the tone of posts pearly-clutchy or hysterical makes not a jot of difference to the facts.

I agree that a lot of people in the ‘real world’ don’t think very deeply about what they’re buying. That is exactly the problem, isn’t it? So glad you recognise it.

I wonder how many wouldn’t buy a new bag would drive their car on a short journey, travel by plane, eat meat etc.

If you’re asking me…I don’t plan to fly anywhere at any point. I drive an electric car but also walk and cycle. I do eat meat, but try to buy from local farms whenever I can afford it.

@CocoPrivileges well done to you! Just because I buy my kids a new lunchbag doesn't mean I don't instill them with values! Only on Mumsnet would buying my kids a new backpack or lunch bag mean that I am reckless, irresponsible and teaching my kids to be selfish

How many people buy things they NEED rather than want? We all do it, every single one of us! We don't NEED baths (showers are more economical) or dishwashers, or to eat meat, or go on holidays etc. If I want to buy my kids a bloody bag I will do, without being made to feel guilty about it

I wonder how many wouldn’t buy a new bag would drive their car on a short journey, travel by plane, eat meat etc.

I don't even have a driving licence.

Does it effect you or your day to day life?
Well, yes: that’s the point. There’s nowhere on earth that will be unaffected by climate change. There’s nowhere to hide. Other people’s choices do affect me and will affect everyone.

As for me, I’ve scrapped my car, no longer fly and never will again, I went vegetarian, use a green energy supplier, have switched pensions and banks to those that don’t invest in fossil fuels. Yes, I had a kid and that’s about the worst thing I could do for the environment so I’m trying my best to mitigate that, even if I can’t force the government to act and act faster.

Dismissing genuine worry about the very real consequences of our actions as “pearl clutching” or “hysterical” is mind-boggling to me. It’s no longer a case of “do the best you can, but have some treats because YOLO”. It’s (or should be) a big red stop button to everything we’re doing.

@waterlego

If you’re asking me…I don’t plan to fly anywhere at any point. I drive an electric car but also walk and cycle. I do eat meat, but try to buy from local farms whenever I can afford it.

So you’ve never been abroad, not booked flights etc? Bought anything that can’t be recycled and wasn’t an essential? Driven to a destination that wasn’t essential?

There would be very very few people who could claim to be fully environmentally friendly. Be it a new bag or another purchase or journey, most people do things that aren’t good for the environment.

Also worth mentioning that one of the reasons China produces so much CO2 is that they’re busily manufacturing mountains of crap to be shipped around the world for our consumption

Yes, this.
I'm certainly not going to comment on how people parent their children, but I might try to persuade you to reduce your own consumption (in other ways, if not this one) to help the planet.

So you’ve never been abroad, not booked flights etc? Bought anything that can’t be recycled and wasn’t an essential? Driven to a destination that wasn’t essential?

Yes, I have done all of those things in the past, and am trying to avoid doing them now that I know more about the crisis. I also had two children, and had I known then what I know now, I probably wouldn’t have, although I obviously love them dearly and am very glad they exist.

So you’ve never been abroad, not booked flights etc? Bought anything that can’t be recycled and wasn’t an essential? Driven to a destination that wasn’t essential?

I can't speak for the other poster, but yes I've done those things in the past. However times change, and now I know better I try to make better and more responsible choices. In the case of the thread surely it's an easy choice not to buy a brand new item when the previous one is still functional?

@qualitygirl

WTAF do all of these children do with their lunch bags that they get "RUINED, TATTY, DESTROYED...ETC??" My dc walk in and put them in their cubby or on the lunch box table, take them off, eat lunch, put them back, take them off, walk out of school and put them in the boot of the car. Are they kicking them down the corridors or carrying them?? It's actually beyond me how they end up in such bad condition that they are deemed unusable!

Well one is severely dyspraxic so very hard on things like zips and struggles to get her bag on her back sometimes so it tends to get bumped along the ground more than you'd expect for a child her age, and the other persists in taking a million books to school so the bag doesn't get an easy life.

Some people have kids who are harder on stuff than others - or school settings that are harder on stuff than others... some little shits in the school I moved the kids out of loved throwing and kicking each other's school bags around. Some schools don't have space for a lunchbox trolley - my kids' current school doesn't - they don't even have a dining room, the kids move the tables at the start of lunch and the serving hatch is in one classroom that splits into two with a movable screen... the kids hang their lunchboxes on their pegs all day.

Pencil cases it's usually a pen top coming off and leaking, or the points of pencils making holes in them.

DD has had a new bag but only because the one she had wasn't big enough and by the end of term we were lugging stuff in our arms. Old one will be used when going out though.

She hasn't had a new lunchbox because the one she has has been used about 10 times if that since lockdown 3 so she doesn't need a new one

@CocoPrivileges

Question for the posters who don't know/care about the environmental crisis they're blithely contributing to - don't your kids care either??

If I suggested to my son or daughter (12 and 9) that they should get a new school bag or lunch box when there's absolutely nothing wrong with their old one, they would quite rightly look at me as if I were daft.

Surely part of parenting is instilling the right values into kids? I'm proud of my kids for making good choices and having the right priorities, instead of clamouring for whatever shiny new tat is in vogue, only to toss it in landfill when the next trend comes along.

Sad to see how many kids aren't being brought up like that, at least if the many selfish, irresponsible posters on here are anything to go by.

Your vegan family? Who live on locally produced food you grow or source which you walk to to collect? You run your home with totally sustainable energy? You never take a flight or take your kids to a bonfire? You see I am being obtuse here but what I am trying to get at is its very admirable to preach about havung the right priorities but its not always easy to do..are you bring your children up to have no children of their own who in turn would leave a carbon footprint? Maybe being irresponsible isnt just for a few of us....The values we all hold are different and thats not wrong,its life and what suits one does not suit another and people should not be castigated as being poor role models for making different choices. You dont win the parenting stakes on talking the talk if you dont truthfully walk the walk too and very few people do despite all the noise they make,,some of us are just a bit more honest about it.

What a load of old bollocks.

We had wipe clean plastic lunch boxes when I was a kid.

Nowadays not so; all insulated material etc.

I would prefer my kids lunchboxes to be hygienic than make them eek out another year. That's pretty vile.

Oh and we have school dinners

We had wipe clean plastic lunch boxes when I was a kid. Nowadays not so; all insulated material etc.

Sistema lunch boxes are a pretty popular choice at my school. It's basically a fancy plastic lunch box with sections. So no different to when you were a child.

Oh stop whingeing

@lazylump72 but can't you see it's about questioning everything we do and trying to make the right, or at least better, choices? So many people jump in cars for short journeys when they could easily walk. Buy and wrap an obscene pile of presents for a baby who's not even going to be aware of them (thinking of a similar thread on here recently). Or replace school bags just for the sake of it when the old one is perfectly fine.

Sorry, but it's pathetic to say that because you can't do everything, you should do nothing. We can all make mindful decisions with regards to our choices and behaviour, and do the best we can. That's what I believe and what I teach my children.