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.

Back in the 1980s Marks & Spencer had big banners on the wall of their store, proudly proclaiming that 75% of the goods sold were made in Britain. I doubt if so much as 1% is now.

We 'buy local' as best we can, but to do so you have to bypass the big retailers such as M&S. Not everyone has the time to do that, or the access to alternatives.

A lot of people moaning about other people buying stuff just because it's not the stuff that they buy are probably thinking about the design of their new kitchen or extension, new car, etc. but because it's their stuff that they want it's ok.

YANBU. People buy too much. Someone i know changes her living room every year, new sofa's, new lightshades, curtains, ornaments etc She also has new bedding, towels, plates and other household bits. The "old" Stuff goes to the tip. She doesn't have little children or pets so nothing gets ruined, she just likes to buy new. A waste of money and a waste of resources.

Condescending attitude? I feel there's more a tone of sad despair to the subject.

Isn't it about spending mindfully? Make sure that you buy things you need, but reduce, reuse, repair when you can.

Sometimes it can feel like people telling you what to do, but actually all advertising does that - someone taking the moral high ground about eating meat, for instance, can be annoying but no worse than the barrage of Shein and Temu ads surely.

Engaging with your community too, and reducing the amount of monetised activity you take part in. Use the library rather than buying books, take the kids to the park rather than some expensive play activity.

Yeah, this too - the trouble is that ‘buying less’ and the other good-things-to-do you mention have also become monetised in their own way, via media/influencers/social pressure to perform a particular way.. and all this shit is exhausting.

I think controlling how much of the info flow we consume is key - not just via media, but crap conversations about diet/fitness/holidays (I am not saying all conversations on these topics are crap, but a lot of them are unhelpful in that they fill our heads with nonsense fads, or the feeling we should be doing things we’d otherwise never have thought of).

Also, accepting that some consumption is good - which includes not just essential things, but things that bring joy and connection, which certainly includes books and lip balm. The ‘everything in your life should be either useful or beautiful’ idea is a good one, I think.

She doesn’t really send it to the tip does she?! Charities like the Heart Foundation will happily come and collect good furniture and electrical goods, so please tell her if she doesn’t know - and unlike the tip, it’s free.

@Noras You are suggesting we should buy less stuff (some of that stuff may make us happy) so that we are better able to afford the essential stuff, like the car, rent money, or the mortgage, yet, the issue is that cars and houses are far more expensive than what they should be.

Cars are not supposed to cost £20,000. Homes are not supposed to cost £200,000.

If the prices of cars and houses were brought down, we would have more disposable income to afford a few nice things that make us happy.

I’m not sure that’s true, I think most people on this thread would acknowledge they buy too much. It’s the way society is set up right now, lots of people do it, but wish they didn’t (like they wish they didn’t spend so much time on their phones or eat so much cake or whatever).

I agree OP. I know people who complain the city centre is getting dangerous with more empty units and isnt it a disgrace etc yet then tell me they bought 5 new dresses on Shein or Temu. They complain their kids or nieces or whoever can't get part time jobs locally yet buy everything online for delivery. They buy food shipped from god knows where because they feel like eating it that weekend although it's not in season. And don't get me started on Christmas and the 'stocking filler' gifts.

I agree!!

I recommend the book "How to be Free" by Tom Hodgkinson. Total change of mindset.

Sometimes it can feel like people telling you what to do, but actually all advertising does that

Great point. I'm not sure how we deal with the massive issue of people's stubbornness around 'do gooders'. It's fine for people to manipulate you into buying crap, but not to explain how those choices affect everyone? Are people going to torch the planet just because 'people told them not to' and if so, how can we get them to grow the fuck up?

Gotta say, watching 'Buy Now' on Netflix has certainly made me focus more on not buying new stuff. There's some privilige in that I'm at a stage of life where I can stop relying on the high street as much, as I think one sign to avoid a clothes supplier is when they produce reams and reams of new styles every week, month or even every day. That is leading to masses of waste. But as I said, not everyone can afford to do that.

I'm already buying a lot of clothes and other stuff second hand where I can and for my kids, who both are very happy for everything to come off Vinted and charity shops.

I think house prices are one of the great evils - we would be so so much happier if they were a reasonable price, and that there was enough social housing for those who will never have the income to buy. I really hope the government comes good on the building plans, and we update the old green belt legislation and break the HUGE stranglehold developers have on planning. (I dunno so much about car prices, but anyway you can get a good second hand one for lots less than 20k so I don’t think that’s such a pressing issue - and I also think cars need to be built better so they last longer, more than be cheaper).

However, we still overall need to buy a lot less. This is not to say we shouldn’t buy some things, and some of those things should just be about making us happy and adding beauty to the world rather than being practical - but having, for example, enough clothes in landfill to clothe 6 generations (as we apparently do), and many of those clothes being made from cheap materials that cause huge damage to water quality and marine life.. that is not something our kids ans grandkids are going to thank us for.

I think that my post was a musing to myself almost telling myself what I should do. I don’t need that sandwich from pret a manager. I don’t need that new dress . The less I spend the more I can pay off debt and be further liberated. It’s tough but o don’t want to give more than I should to these invisible corporations. Even lots of pub chains are foreign earned so I will try to avoid those. I am going to avoid Shein, cut down on Amazon and avoid Cadburys. Everywhere I turn on the high street there is another foreign owned brand eg Zara.

If I didn’t work I would become a hermit and avoid it all.

I have a small handmade business. I make home decor product using local component manufacturer. The end product costs £65 and it is something every person has in their house. You can technically live without it but you have multiple of them in your house anyway. Say, for the argument's sake it's in the same kind of category as toilet roll holder. You can do without, but most people have one. Anyway, the point is that you can pick one up made in China for £15-20. Now, I would live for more people to buy my product but I am also not delusional. I can't imagine most families being able to drop £65 on a whim. There will always be people who need cheap alternatives and we can't make them locally given the cost of materials and labour. Even if I hire someone for minimum wage, I can't make my product any cheaper and still keep my business going.

I recommend reading Patrick Grant's book, Less.

Lots of 'need' there :).

I don't think it is quite that simple.

I agree. Items used to be made to last. Now we live in a throwaway society where we're encouraged to buy tat for Christmas, have seasonal homeware - surely no-one has enough storage for Halloween-inspired soft furnishings followed by Christmas plates, bedding etc and so on. I'm guessing it's thrown or given away once that season ends. Instagram has a lot to answer for. Yes it all looks lovely but is it fair on the environment when you switch things up as the wind changes? I only buy what I need, be it food or furniture. I'd love to buy British-made products and produce and to see people thinking about what they're purchasing and if they actually need it. I feel like I'm on my own living ethically. It's been good to read all the other posts saying the same.

There should be more awareness in schools about sustainability. They talk about fast fashion but not the other problems with consumerism. Also, a lot of people still don't know how to recycle. In my workplace, there are recycling bins everywhere but I seem to be the only one using them. Everyone just keeps putting plastics, cardboard cans etc in the rubbish bin despite me encouraging them not to. They say they don't care.

Do you have a website?
I know that's the problem. But if everyone only bought essentials and not so many cheap items of clothing etc we could buy more things made here.
There aren't as many people or businesses who make things because it isn't profitable. I hope your business is doing ok?

I also recommend Patrick Grant’s book!

I don't shop online.

I don't have an Amazon account.

I buy second hand and patronise local independent shops where possible.

But I'm in a minority even in my own family. There is a fucking furrow in my drive caused by delivery drivers going up and down delivering shite to DH and my teenage DCs. 😢

I wish it were different but it isn't. We - as a society - have ruined our own high streets.

Do you all remember that kids' film Wall-e with slug like humans just lying there having stuff brought to them by drones. That's where we're heading.

House prices are such a strange one. People feel like they're getting richer because the value of the house goes up, but this just means the value of the money goes down. I'd rather have money that buys more. The zero position on housing is 1, not 0.

Completely agree OP. I felt like I was drowning under the amount of ‘stuff’ we had in our home (granted we’re at a time when children grow out of clothes/shoes/toys quickly). I did a ‘no buy’ January (my monthly Amazon spend was £300-£500, including birthday party presents, formula, toiletries and cleaning products, but still A LOT) and only purchased consumables. Food, toiletries, cleaning products.

It was amazing. I did not stop to think of the mental load associated with purchasing but when broken down:

• open the box
• is the product fit for purpose
• if not what is returns process and window
• if cost of return higher than item then find somewhere else for it to go
• recycle the packaging
• find a home for said new item
• if item is replacing something outgrown/finished the sell/recycle/charity for old item
• then the whole return palaver

I also only allowed myself social media scrolling on Friday mornings as a ‘treat’. Initially I had deleted because I found myself buying too much from the ads, but then missed finding new music and seeing the creativity of people (interiors, art, fashion). I used the time to offload (nothing to landfill) clutter, go on walks, do jigsaws and now we have multiple empty shelves in cupboards! SO FREEING

I need to buy the DCs new clothes but that always comes from Vinted/Marketplace/Ebay or charity shops, as do toys and books.

We still have a way to go towards our consumption re food plastics and packaging and supermarket shopping still has my head being turned by the latest book/serveware/toy but we’re all a work in progress!

This condescending attitude needs to stop.

Er...