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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think most people have any idea where the contents of their homes comes from?

57 replies

Skinterior · 05/04/2022 14:03

I work in manufacturing and until very recently took it for granted that most people have a basic understanding of where the things they buy - eg food, clothing, furniture, electrics, petrol etc - comes from.

DH is from a knowledge based industry and even though he's far from uneducated, it's becoming apparent that he has absolutely no clue. Asking around it seems like most of my family and non work friends are the same.

As supply chain issues really begin to impact our quality and cost of living - AIBU to think that most people don't know how products are sourced and therefore why these problems are occurring?

Could you look at a random thing in your house and explain to someone how it was made, where it came from and how it got to you?

OP posts:

SafeMove · 05/04/2022 14:09

You just (unintentionally) IKEA shamed me.

Nnique · 05/04/2022 14:12

Well someone a thread a while back seriously couldn’t understand why food security is important to a nation...so no, I don’t think a lot of people do understand where the contents of their homes come from on even the most basic level.

Silverclocks · 05/04/2022 14:14

I've got a rough idea of where the biggest producers are for a lot of goods, but I have to admit the logistics of how it all gets to us sometimes seems like black magic.

For example, I cought a small item from Amazon late yesterday. Probably made in China, presumably held in stock somewhere in Uk. It arrived first thing today.

I don't like it TBH no one should be working through the night to bring me my impulse buys.

I'm struggling to get fence panels to repair a broken fence atm. Apparently the bulk of the wood comes from the sawmills in Poland but they get their timber from Russia...

stargirl1701 · 05/04/2022 14:15

Well, I try to always buy second-hand so, no. I can't trace my stuff.

Is it relevant to people who don't buy new?

Lillyhatesjaz · 05/04/2022 14:18

I know where most food comes from but other things not really

TheseDaysGoBy · 05/04/2022 14:22

Same can be said for all the food eaten. Do we really know how it has been handled and sourced? If more people knew exactly how we got meat, fish and other animal products, there'd be a lot more vegans.

TeacupDrama · 05/04/2022 14:22

I think OP means more that furniture requires trees forestry workers saw mills and then a factory that your phone needs precious and semi precious metals mined, that cotton for your t shirt is grown somewhere and dyed somewhere else then shipped round the globe etc etc not which shop it came from

there has been a timber and steel shortage since beginning of pandemic

tabulahrasa · 05/04/2022 14:25

Food yes, other things no...

But I’m not convinced I need to tbh. I know very little is manufactured in the U.K. and even with those things that are some parts and materials won’t be, so it’s pretty easy to understand why there’s issues.

Nnique · 05/04/2022 14:26

Well quite. I mean it’s common sense really but a lot of people just don’t think about it, don’t really have any concept of how it works globally, and don’t really consider much other than they want it and should be able to find it in the shop.

NoSquirrels · 05/04/2022 14:27

I couldn’t tell you the ins and outs of the manufacturing journey of every item in my home, no. But I understand in broad enough strokes the process and logistics involved in making stuff, selling stuff and buying stuff.

MangyInseam · 05/04/2022 14:27

I think you are probably right.

There is another thread about price hikes and such, and it seems like a lot of people don't really understand that it's not something caused by bad government at the national level. Similarly I see discussions where people don't understand how oil prices affect food prices.

Silverclocks · 05/04/2022 14:27

It does worry.me how fragile it all is. I know we can shout about "idiots" panic buying etc, but that's what's going to happen in times of crisis and our supplies chains can't cope.

OTOH, the crisis was generally short lived, so maybe it can cope?

Trulyweird1 · 05/04/2022 14:28

You raise a good point. Listening to the news just now about ending red diesel and the impact that will have on agriculture and distribution costs. It could not come at a worse time.
Additionally, I would like to make an informed choice as to which economies I am supporting with my purchases ,and what environmental impacts, transport miles etc are, and find that difficult with online buying.
I do think online shops , including supermarkets , should state where the items are manufactured/farmed/ grown, so we can make more informed choices.

Silverclocks · 05/04/2022 14:30

The one that always puzzles me is people coming about others making, spending or wasting money. Other people, even government, splashing their money about helps us all by creating jobs. Large companies making big profits helps pension funds and generates tax income etc etc

Deliaskis · 05/04/2022 14:34

I think a lot of people have just not thought about it though, but probably could have a good stab if they tried.

In my 20s, I used to work for a company that among other things, provided information in a little kind of filofax format, and it was only whilst working for them that I really became involved in understanding decisions on things like thickness of cardboard under fabric, type and colour of fabric, glue or switching used to build it, type of ring mechanism, assembly etc....all sourced from different suppliers. Before then I just don't think I would have looked at a filofax and thought about what went into it.

So to answer the question, sort of!

Tabitha005 · 05/04/2022 14:58

@stargirl1701

Well, I try to always buy second-hand so, no. I can't trace my stuff.

Is it relevant to people who don't buy new?

I'm the same. I own very few items of furniture and other home items (lighting, rugs, decorative items, vases, kitchen, cooking & tableware items for example) that came to me as brand new. My bed and mattress and the mattress in on the spare bed, three mirrors and a couple of little boucle upholstered pouffe-type things are the only items I can think of when I look around my house right now.

I know the two pouffe-type things were made in China because there was a sticker on the bottom of each of them saying so. They were from 'Cult Furniture' online, but I've just checked and the country of origin isn't mentioned on the product page - which might have made me think twice about purchasing them if it had been, even though I would have known, had I given it any amount of careful thought, that they were probably made in the Far East. They were an unusual purchase for me, because I will normally ALWAYS only buy used, refurbished/refinished furniture.

I take less care/interest in where the food I buy comes from, which I'm gradually changing - and trying to eat more in line with the seasons, as opposed to buying food that's clocked up thousands of air miles to get to me. It's really, REALLY hard to do, I think - much more so than furniture or clothing and other textiles for the house (eg: curtains, cushions, towels, bedding etc - most of which I've also bought new now I think of it).

I like to think I'm aware of the massive carbon footprint of many home, personal and consumer items, and that I don't buy things I don't actually need or will use regularly before mindfully disposing of them, but outside of furniture and 'big' items, I know I could do more to mitigate my purchases of such products. That said, I don't think I'm anywhere near the league of some people I know who acquire huge amounts of mass-produced, non-recyclable consumer items produced overseas and don't think twice about the fact they'll end up in landfill because they won't dispose of them correctly (I've got friends who don't even sort their own household waste for recycling because they're too lazy to do it)!

Bonheurdupasse · 05/04/2022 15:01

I don't know for sure but I am assuming the vast majority of items are made in China, with the odd one from a cheaper/different country in Asia. And the very odd one in Turkey or even Europe.

BrightYellowDaffodil · 05/04/2022 15:08

Food and clothes etc, yes. Furniture, not necessarily unless "The second hand furniture shop/someone I know was getting rid of it" qualifies.

Alaasi · 05/04/2022 15:09

Electronics I know a lot about the chain due to a previous job, have traveled to drc cobalt mines etc and I feel guilty a lot about it.
With other stuff like furniture I don't know as much about.

SpringLobelia · 05/04/2022 15:11

@Nnique

Hmm. Considering someone on a thread when Russia invaded Ukraine had a response of 'It won;t affect us- Ukraine is very far away' I do not have a great deal of confidence that people have a wider understanding of the world at all tbh.

Pootles34 · 05/04/2022 15:17

I think that's true of most industries though, isn't it? Unless you're in it, its very hard to really understand it. I work in finance, and I'm sure most people think we make rules up to annoy them.

Manufacturing is mind blowing - so many little parts to all the stuff we use day in day out. There's a rocking horse workshop near us, we had a tour a while ago - really fascinating stuff, hearing about how they source all the little bits. Apparently they were having a bit of a crisis at the time as the old guy who was the only producer of the glass eyes of the horses in the UK was retiring.

housemaus · 05/04/2022 15:20

Roughly, yes? In that I have a good idea what goods are made where and (generally) how the supply chain works - I wouldn't know specifically where each item came from. DH worked for a big FMCG manufacturer for a while so I know a lot about supply chains for chemicals!

BigWoollyJumpers · 05/04/2022 15:24

The most ridiculous thing I saw on TV recently was that shellfish caught in British waters are exported to Asia to be hand shelled, before being return to UK for sale. Just fucking unbelievable. It's things like that that need to be stopped. The environmental cost of doing things like that is reprehensible, also that it is still cost effective to even be doing it in the first place!

EmpressaurusWitchDoesntBurn · 05/04/2022 15:26

@stargirl1701

Well, I try to always buy second-hand so, no. I can't trace my stuff.

Is it relevant to people who don't buy new?

This. A lot of my books & furniture would be ‘charity shop over the road’ or ‘swapped with friend’.

MrsMoastyToasty · 05/04/2022 15:34

I know that cars have components which are made all over the world. DH used to work for a company that only made parcel shelves for cars. Then they would be boxed up to either go to Toyota, Audi etc or to the vehicle spares market.

In the days when the car manufacturers were striking or the company that sold them the raw materials had s issue then it would affect their own work and they would put people on reduced hours.

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