Lack of Christmas tat might not be a bad thing?

[KingsleyShacklebolt]

News this morning about all those containers stuck at Felixstowe from Asia, and similar problems at ports in the US which are now working overnight to clear the backlog.

These aren't shipping containers with food, it's all the other toys, decorations and associated tat which line the shelves of supermarkets and places like Home Bargains earlier every year.

Maybe if people have a year where they can't buy tinsel, or a musical Santa which drops its trousers, or Christmas bedding, or elves on shelves, or any of the other crap, they will maybe realise that you can have a brilliant Christmas with last year's decorations, or homemade decorations, or charity shop decorations? Consumerism at Christmas has got WAY out of control and this might force a halt to the buy buy buy mentality, focused on single use plastic and cheaply made rubbish from China.

@Mybalconyiscracking

The problem is that people are paid for making that tat, that is how they support their families. These things are never simple.

It’s true but would you be ok with switching from shipping cheaper stuff from China to more local stuff here? Or do you prefer it as it is

We’ve relied on China, say, as the factories but should it change? Or not really

Obviously a family there is important but so is the cost of the shipping to society etc

@Neonplant

Wow your privlidge is showing.

Sometimes of that cheep stuff is all many families can afford for gifts or to make it feel like Christmas. Life is hard enough for these families let people enjoy Christmas.

Your post is exactly what is wrong with environmental activism at the moment. It's not intersectional and doesn't seem to understand people aren't coming from the same security and privlidge.

That's just bollocks.

How is it "privilege" to advocate NOT buying stuff and saving your money? If you're the sort of person who wants the singing santas and snowglobes, you'll have them already. You don't need to go out every year and add to your pile of tat.

Bonkers.

And as for my inlaws who won't be seen dead dropping stuff off at charity shops, we have had the discussion that they are bonkers too. But they have some very odd ideas about second hand in general.

Yes. People like YOU who bought a new PLASTIC Christmas Tree, but seemingly that's ok as it was 'expensive'

And actually, I think there was a study into what's more environmentally friendly, a real or a fake tree. Can;t remember the exact outcome but it was something like if you buy new every year, then obviously a real tree is better. But if you keep your artificial tree for 15 or 20 years plus, that's the better option. The reason we bought an expensive/good quality one was for that reasons - so it would last. Having said that the previous was a B&Q cheapie which definitely cost less than £20 at the time and lasted 20 years.

'tis the seaon to be judgy cunts yaaaay

I atead of judging people for buying atuff, we should be judging people who don't bother disposing of it properly. Lets be frank, UK has masaive issue with rubbish all over the place. The plastic itself isn't issue, the disposal of it is

I agree with you OP and I personally make a point of never buying cheap plastic items. Expensive plastic items are much better for the planet.

Also I only buy one bauble a year. I still have fond memories of our first family Xmas where we sang carols round our £250 plastic tree while DH placed the only bauble we had on it. Now we have 20 baubles, one for each year, and we all get into a cardboard box and weep for the planet. It's a blessed family tradition and I pity the fools who do not do likewise.

Of course buying it in the first place is the problem.

The mantra is : Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

You reduce what you buy in the first place, reuse what you already have, and then only after you have done the first two do you think about recycling it.

I also sympathise with the poster up thread who mentioned relatives who equate a proper celebration (be that Halloween, birthday, Christmas) with piles and piles of presents. We went through similar when ours were younger. But as they have got older it has got easier as they're more interested in experiences and activities so instead of toys/gifts they have in recent years been given tickets to a Go Ape sort of thing, Edinburgh Dungeons, an escape room with pizza after... that sort of thing. And because they're older, they are happy to wait until later in the year for their experience.

Don’t be so sanctimonious and judgemental.

You can reuse the same old tired crap every year if you want to, but I like to have a brand new colour scheme every year. I like everything to match and I like the challenge of doing something different.

Totally agree.

I bought my toddler an escape room ticket.

That was a really quiet Xmas as it goes.

Couldn’t agree more with you, OP. Whole containers with stuff just heading for landfill…so depressing.

@seaandsandcastles

Don’t be so sanctimonious and judgemental.

You can reuse the same old tired crap every year if you want to, but I like to have a brand new colour scheme every year. I like everything to match and I like the challenge of doing something different.

How wasteful. And shallow.

And rude to the people who bring out treasured decorations each year to dismiss it as "tired old crap".

Definitely not tired old crap.

I've read through your posts and I'm confused. Is tat less harmful to the environment and more socially acceptable if it is bought from somewhere like Marks and Spencers or John Lewis?

I agree that yes people should buy less stuff in general. But there are people who need to shop at cheap shops because they can't afford more expensive ones. They should still be allowed to buy the things they need. I've lost sympathy for your argument because it reads like financial snobbery thinly disguised as concern for the environment.

I really want to make paper chains now 🎄

The works needs less tat for sure. I do have some tat, but it's kept for years and mended where possible. We have a whole big box of Halloween decorations that's used every year. Same for Christmas and Easter. I might buy something new if it's special or particularly lovely but that's unlikely to fit the description of tat anyway. The joy for us is in the tradition of using the same things each year and the memories that go with them. I have no time for trends for Christmas.

@starrynight87

This sounds very judgemental to me. Maybe that 'tat' or elf on the shelf is important to a family, that £1 tinsel really brightens up their house.

I don't think having a hand-made paper chain means it's anymore loved or appreciated.

Someone needs to judge the idiots that buy endless tat and then bin each year. The environment needs us all to judge a bit more, get some brains and wise up a bit. Some people seem to go mad and cover the house in tat yet moan they have no money - yep I'd judge them. Idiots the lot of them

Where you buy your tat doesn't really matter, does it? Whether it's M&S, Home Bargains or some chi-chi independent store. If it's poorly made, designed to last one Christmas and be chucked out, it's tat.

I don't have an issue with plastics in general, plastic is brilliant when it's used to make things which can be used for years. But most of the decorations - especially at the cheaper end of the market - are supposed to be treated as "disposable". Use once and chuck. Buy all over again next year.

That's just SO wasteful and must cost a fortune. A whole new set of christmas decorations every year can't be less than £50.

Tired old crap is just that....tired old crap

'Treasured' or otherwise.... love how mumsnet think it brings joy to everyone

Or was it 'tat'?

@gardeninggirl68

Tired old crap is just that....tired old crap

'Treasured' or otherwise.... love how mumsnet think it brings joy to everyone

It died this have to bring joy to everyone

Afaik you won’t be seeing it.

Bit no it’s not tired old crap.

Maybe anything older than a year is to some.

I agree with you OP and said exactly the same thing when I heard about the backlog of containers - and not just I relation to Christmas tat either - just stuff in general that we could all manage without.
I've also got a 20+year old artificial tree which gets dragged out of the loft every year and is adorned with the same red and gold baubles. I am thinking of making some new decorations this year - a branch or pallet hanging Christmas tree, a log reindeer and maybe a teracotta plant pot snowman - all made from things lying around in my garden/garage. DH works for a charity where they have a shed club and craft club and I have been encouraging him to get the participants to make decorations out of recycled materials to avoid all this plastic junk and raise money for the charity at the same time.

Not read the thread, but completely agree, op

Doesn’t - not died - turkey maybe but not the nice baubles

Although I was pissed off when the tree fell over and broke some, they were my faves

Seaandsandcastles - But do you give your decorations from the previous year to a charity shop or does it go to landfill?

We have decorations of the three wise men made by my middle child when she was about 7. So 9 years ago. They are wonky, hats stuck on squinty, one of them has lost his present. But every year when they come out she talks about remembering when she was in Miss C's class, and they made the Wise Men. Or when the fancy glass bauble comes out that she picked out for her little brother's first Christmas when she was 3. Or the hand stitched beaded decorations we got from a fairtrade shop one year in the January sales and they each got to choose their favourite design.

It's profoundly depressing that for some people, this sort of thing is "tired old crap" which should be thrown out, replaced with all brand new stuff in whichever colour an influencer has decided is fashionable, and then thrown out again in January.

I understand OP

I'm particularly puzzled by one person I know who bangs on about the planet and I think supports XR though she keeps quiet after the DLR incident.

She has been posting on social media about how sad it is that her shops are short of Halloween and Christmas stuff, saying "I expected them to be full to bursting by now now".