To suggest that people should buy less stuff

[Noras]

i just think that the mess we are in is because we get stuff from overseas that we don’t really need. People buy a lot of tat and junk eg cheap clothing, rubbish confectionary and artificial tat for homes. If we all just cut down on huge chunks of it we could cut out our balance of payment deficit.

Also people need to buy less from overseas owned companies. People need to check each and every company they buy from and go for smaller independents etc There needs to be an online list of stores to avoid.

I agree op. Consumerism is getting worse and worse especially that you can now buy furnishings to change with all seasons etc. I also hate fast fashion.

Buying less stuff would certainly be better for the environment.

I'm not sure if it would overall be better for the economy. There'd have to be more fundamental changes than people just stop buying stuff I think, otherwise we'd be looking at mass unemployment. Lots of people have jobs based on our consumerist culture.

As soon as we moved from a manufacturing economy to a retail economy we set ourselves up for living in a society that needs people endless buying, " stuff" for it to function.
Unfortunately.

I agree. People buy tat because it momentarily cheers them up without spending too much, but it just ends up in landfill soon afterwards.

We're indoctrinated into buying more. Years ago you bought something to last a lifetime. Now items have a shelf life built into them.

We exploit people for cheap, disposable goods, then we dump them in developing countries.

We would have a bit of a job to buy stuff which was manufactured here though.

We consciously buy as much British as we can. It's extremely hard though to source certain things.

I often wonder about this. I figure there is enough clothing sloshing around in people's wardrobes, attics and garages, as well as in charity shops, to keep the populace clothed, warm and dry for a very long time if redistributed sensibly. Ditto furniture, sundry home furnishings and decorative knick-knacks.

As in, we don't really need to buy more of anything, whether manufactured here or abroad. We just don't need to trigger further manufacturing of more stuff by signalling demand through gratuitous consumption.

I agree that it would require fundamental changes. Moving back to a manufacturing economy and away from the services/hospitality economy that we have ended up with - well, not ended up with randomly, it was actively pursued by a succession of governments for the last 40 years or so.

I think there would be benefits from making those changes, although those changes would be deep and wide, and the transition would involve unemployment in the same way as happened as we shed our manufacturing industry. I don't think any government would have the guts to so much as suggest it, never mind the guts to set the ball rolling.

Yes well that's capitalism for you. Screw the world just generate the profits. Make people feel they need more things to be happy.
Yes we need to radically buy less. And to find happiness in real things of meaning - connection to other people and community. Valuing what matters - kindness and supporting each other. Not stuff.

What about when the washing machine breaks, we can mend ours easily ourselves but many need a new one as they can't seem to do stuff like that

I don’t disagree, I know I buy too much ‘stuff’ and that’s with an awareness and attempt to not do it.

However we / I are bombarded by messages as to what we should or should not be doing and it’s all just a bit much. Eg here is a list of things I’m trying to do

• eat more veg
• eat local
• home cook most meals
• make most kids snacks
• avoid UPF
• avoid microplastics
• buy british
• avoid high air mile food
• buy second hand clothes
• chose smaller businesses
• fly less
• drive less
• walk more
• be thinner
• be stronger
• look less tired but in a ‘natural’ way because heaven protect those that resort to ‘unnatural’ solutions from society’s scorn
• drink enough water
• drink less alcohol but still enough to be fun at social events
• grow my own fruit and veggies
• reduce my use of electricity
• get enough steps
• get enough vitamin D but always wearing sunscreen
• eat less sugar
• buy second hand books
• work full time and pay v high taxes without complaint and whilst acknowledging that yes I’m lucky to be a high earner, no I don’t take it for granted, yes I went to state school, no I didn’t get any parental cash input, but yes, i’m lucky and continually humble
• be knowledgable about current affairs but not too forceful in any opinion
• be intelligent and successful at work, but whilst maintaining a perfect home life and cooking endless junk free meals, but ever letting that home life impact my work life where I’m surrounded by middle aged men who have minimal home life
• participate in local community events, helping others and raising money. Run some events, because I don’t have enough to do
• be an active parents who attends all school things despite working full time
• be an attentive and interesting partner
• have hobbies and interests outside full time work, parenting, school events and endless meal planning

It’s exhausting trying to keep up with the demands we (maybe just me) impose on ourselves / myself. So yes, I will try to buy less, but sometimes I just really want another lip balm or a new book

My kitchen is 30 years old and my bathroom much older apart from a replaced toilet, Many buy new even if not 20 years old, kitchens and bathrooms last years but people still replace

There will always be a need for specific goods to be replaced/newly created, which is where manufacturing industry comes in. Not all consumption is gratuitous, some is necessary.

We need to buy more local and British made if you want to sort the economy.

buying less full stop wont do that.

I'm on board op!

@BobnLen , I know. I specifically didn't put tech in my short list of surplus items as that's just one bridge too far for many. But I buy all my family's tech and appliances second hand and repair where possible.

Things like washing machines can easily, at least in theory, be put into public use. I'm from Scandinavia where many homes have shared laundry facilities with great appliances available in clean, smartly maintained communal laundry rooms as part of housing association or local authority tenancies (which are much more commonplace than in the UK), so no need for individual washers and driers in people's homes.

We're in "the mess we're in" for a great many more reasons than buying too much unnecessary shite from Shein etc.

It's not just clothes and ornaments though, it's the whole house, people decorate every 5 years and stuff like that, put in new kitchens, carpets, all that sort of stuff when not needed

I am consciously trying to buy less stuff and get rid of the crap I have. Not necessarily for environmental, ethical or political concerns but because I'm a huge Hoardy McHoardface with little room to move for all my crap. 😳

Yep, a lot of us have got as addicted to the dopamine hit of buying as much as sugary food and our phones (I speak for myself here).

If we could revert to making much better quality things, and more of them made locally, I’m not sure the economy would be badly hit, because we’d spend a lot more on the purchases we did make, and at least a chunk of them would be made here. Plus you would hopefully see an uptick in socialising and activities with the time not spend buying and redecorating.

That’s a lot of big changes needed, but then a lot of small changes do gradually add up to big changes, so.. we just start with what we can I guess.

Part of the problem with fast fashion is that people are no longer learning how to mend their clothes, either at home or in school. So if a hem comes down, a seam gives or a button comes off, it is easier to throw away the garment, and buy a new one.

And the quality of fast fashion is poor, so it doesn't take being mended too often anyway - plus higher quality clothing costs more. So it is easy to get sucked into a vicious circle - buy cheap clothes, then don't last and aren't easily mended, but you can't afford to buy the more expensive, longer lasting replacement, so you get the cheap replacement instead, and the cycle continues. You can mend cheap clothes - I do, and I make cheap clothing last much longer than the manufacturers and retailers would want me to.

Terry Pratchett refers to this in one of his books - the boots hypothesis. Captain Vimes can only afford to buy cheap $10 boots, and these wear out quickly, so need replacing. The hard wearing boots cost $50, but he can't afford that. But the expensive boots would last much longer than five pairs of the cheap ones, so would be a saving in the long run - but a saving you can only make if you can afford the $50 boots upfront.

So, to wean people off fast fashion, we need to make better quality clothing more affordable, and we need to make sure people have the necessary skills to mend their clothes when they need it.

Totally. I can't believe the amount of people I know who are constantly buying from Temu Shein etc. These aren't people with loads of money or huge houses to put all the shit.

Being told what to do just pisses me off and makes me want to go and buy something just to piss you off. The educated adult in me however won’t actually act on these feelings. This condescending attitude needs to stop.

@BobnLen My house is the same ‐I refuse to replace a working bathroom suite, kitchen, flooring etc just for the sake of it. The carbon and resource footprints of a refurb kitchen must be massive.