...to feel sad that MIL has wrapped presents in glitter paper?

[somehowsunshine]

Can't recycle it. She knows we try really hard to recycle. We are always finding recyclable plastic in her general waste bin. My DH and I will have to bite our tongues on Xmas day as we scrunch the glitter paper into the bin. I know my husband will want to say something but it will make MIL feel bad and make us look ungrateful. I can't stand glitter!

@somehowsunshine

Can't recycle it. She knows we try really hard to recycle. We are always finding recyclable plastic in her general waste bin. My DH and I will have to bite our tongues on Xmas day as we scrunch the glitter paper into the bin. I know my husband will want to say something but it will make MIL feel bad and make us look ungrateful. I can't stand glitter!

you ungrateful sods! if thats all your worried about and you where mine i would gladly take it back and return to the shop leaving you with NOWT!

what do you do when it comes to xmas cards? return to sender if they dare send you one with a bit of glitter on it?

totally unbeleavable

I bet you’re vegan too aren’t you?

Is this a parody? Really, all of your recycled wrapping paper will probably produce three sheets of bog roll! Have one less wipe to compensate and don't make a Christmas-day drama out of it

Loads of men treat their mums like shit. Sounds like your dh uses the recycling bollocks as an excuse to bully her.

I presume fil isn’t around to tell him to fuck off.

Sad?

FFS

I hope you get a grip for Christmas

@somehowsunshine

DH tends to look through the top of his mums bin when we're round, and usually pulls out 5 or 6 plastic items or cans that can be recycled. Mil can't be bothered which really pisses us off! He does it to make a point of how much she must throw into landfill instead of recycling.

What a patronising arse. If he did that to me, those cans would be going where the sun don't shine. Sideways.

@somehowsunshine

DH tends to look through the top of his mums bin when we're round, and usually pulls out 5 or 6 plastic items or cans that can be recycled. Mil can't be bothered which really pisses us off! He does it to make a point of how much she must throw into landfill instead of recycling.

Weird behaviour.

Recycling is mostly a load of bollocks. Usually it doesn't actually get recycled. Even if does recycling paper is massively energy and water intensive, barely better than just burning the old and making new as long as the source is sustainable.

Reuse it instead and keep it out of the waste stream entirely for a little bit longer.

@bonfireheart

OP, better not come back with some weird drip fees "MIL knows I have a glitter phobia caused by seeing too many snowglobes was I was 12".

😂

Triggered by Claire's accessories

On a scale of 1 to 10, how worthy are you?

YABU its a bit of Xmas wrap one day of the year get over it! Also I'm guessing you've brought gifts that can't be recycled in which case your a massive hypocrite

What a lovely kind MIL to buy you both presents.

You sound rude and ungrateful

It’s one thing to be this tedious, but to come onto MN and announce it to the world?

Next level tedious.

This has got to be a wind up. Either that or the OP is thick as a plank.

A real eco-warrior wouldn't be scrunching wrapping paper and chucking it in the bin. They'd open gifts carefully, flatten the paper out and reuse it as many times as possible, before even considering whether it is suitable for the (unreliable, energy guzzling) process of recycling.

Very few people live truly ecologically sound lifestyles. We all have our particular things we try to do well. Often people start fixating on one small environmental choice or moment as if that one is the one that makes a difference. You could have a man who makes good choices day in and day out and maintains almost a zero carbon footprint, without buying credits, but happens to still use straws, and many would fault that individual for his horrible disdain for the environment.

Your best bet with your MIL is to remember that that she may make other choices that benefit the earth that you don’t see and that you don’t bother doing.

@Bussinbussin

This has got to be a wind up. Either that or the OP is thick as a plank.

A real eco-warrior wouldn't be scrunching wrapping paper and chucking it in the bin. They'd open gifts carefully, flatten the paper out and reuse it as many times as possible, before even considering whether it is suitable for the (unreliable, energy guzzling) process of recycling.

Yes I would be using it over and over again within the immediate family if I was that emotional about it, not bin it. I've used brown paper with recycled ribbons etc this year but I'm not judging others who don't.

YABU, and a massive hypocrite. Your children are more environmentally damaging to the environment than some glitter paper.

Not helpful

The comment might not be "helpful" to you , op, but it is true. So why are you so concerned about a few bits of glitter paper , when there is a whole world of environmental damage out there that needs fixing ( including people procreating ?)

Gosh what very tiresome children you sound. Do not go through your MIL/Mothers bins and correct her behaviour in her own home. Shame on you both.

Omg. Please just be very happy you have a mil that has bothered. You really don’t know how lucky you are.

Definitely save the paper and use it to wrap her gifts next year. With any luck the paper will still 'glitter' all over her carpets, rather than yours

You can't control other people and really shouldn't even try. She's not being "environmentally conscious". It's not a crime yet.

If you're actually sad because someone else chooses to use glitter wrapping paper, you should take a moment to reflect on the things that really matter. Your MIL using paper you don't approve of is a very small thing. Nothing to dwell on and be sad about, in the grand scheme of things.

Glitter paper really is excellent for use in crafts. It can be used as an accent in a way that plain paper cannot. Environmentalists get a bad reputation as scolds, bores, and killjoys--what a shame when their desire is to do something positive out of love for the world. So please try to look for ways to be positive and not earn that killjoy reputation.

OP, it's one day, and it isn't your house.

Your children will get the pleasure of it and frankly, there are more non-recyclables in the average school day.

Just enjoy that she cares enough to make the effort and try to stop being so judgemental .

With what you have conveyed, I’d count yourselves lucky to get anything at all from MIL, let alone wrapped in glittery paper. The only thing I’d contemplate for the pair of you is a self-help book on how not to be sanctimonious shits. You really don’t sound like a pair where others would enjoy your company.