Most shops are just landfill waiting to happen.

[SummerDaytoNight]

I mean, all are to a point, but I’m talking about the non essential ones.

Our society is engineering its own collapse. We only need food, health, house basics and clothing. And I suppose, technology.

Fast fashion could go. Housing should just be the essentials.

My friend took me into a shop called sostrene grene. It was lovely, but nothing was essential. Most shops are like that.

The horse has bolted, but I wish we could limit the unnecessarily stuff and just have the basics. Im not talking Amish level, but there’s no need for all this waste. It would be so much better if only the essentials were produced.

At the point of production, it’s already basically landfill.

I’ve just been to the recycling place. Re use shed full of stuff that was frankly so worn out that no one will want it. Why was I there? To drop off a portable fridge that still works fine but which to my disgust I can no longer use as my new car - and the old one was 14 years old, don’t flame me! - doesn’t have a cigarette lighter socket. Which is part of the problem too - the incessant « upgrading « of electricals which results in obsolescence.

And here we're back to the hard of thinking variation on the "unless you live in a cave you can't comment" although this time it's someone who can't see a spectrum between crocheting your own lentils on one hand and Primark on the other.

Depressing.

I needed to buy a replacement filter for my 4 year old air purifier. I struggled to find it. When I eventually did, it cost £40. That's a third of what I paid for the purifier. For something with a lifespan of six months (I will attempt to get more from it of course) made of not very much. I presume they'll be discontinuing them shortly so I'll just be left with a useless plastic unit.

But decent things like brand new looking golf bags and suitcases and ski wear etc would be much better off given to a charity shop or given away on freebay rather than being left to moulder in a skip for a few weeks before possibly being recycled at the skip

Likewise it's much better to get a charity to collect decent furniture or give it away on freebay type sites

I shop in primark as I am on a very low income. If I need a black t-shirt, I will be guaranteed to find one there. I don't have the spoons to go around all the charity shops and hope they have one in my size. And one that is not priced as more than new anyway. A lot of charity shops price Primark stuff at more than they cost in the original shop.

And the council has to pay for recycling or disposing of all this stuff too. As if our council tax isn’t stretched far enough, each item should have a cost added to it at the point of sale which covers how hard it is to dispose of it/recycle it.
it annoys me councils are going bust and still recycling all this shit which none of these nonsense merchants asked if it would be ok for the tax payer to fund the disposal of!!

Growing up in the 80s in a family where we’d been made homeless and bankrupt. One parent couldn’t work and one parent out of work till 1986 we were very short of cash @TiredEyesTodaywe didn’t spend money on things. Not because of privilege but because there was no money.

Our Christmas decorations were made from Easter egg boxes! My mum was crafty. The Easter Eggs were given to us by family and Church. My clothes were made for me from my Mum’s old clothes. Her nighties that had holes were cut into nighties for me.

when families are poor, there is no over consumption.

My home still has cast offs from my dps and in laws and stuff off eBay

I have some new furniture but not recently bought.

my house probably looks dated but the furniture is functional

Cotton is TERRIBLE for the environment. I’d be amazing if it wasn’t much, much worse than polyester sqm by sqm

I know a couple who buy new stuff each xmas etc, they have a storage unit full of same stuff but cant be bothered to visit unit and get it out..obviously have money to just waste.

I bet they don’t cook much in the kitchens either. Cooking a pizza would be too much! Just show off kitchens.

I did not know that. I thought it was better as it was a natural material.

Shows what little I know! I wear what I can afford and is comfortable.

Stacy Dooley did a brilliant documentary on this. If I remember correctly, the cotton to produce one pair of jeans is as much as 7 humans consume in their lifetime.

cotton production also dried up at least one SEA.

https://www.un.org/en/chronicle/article/dry-tears-aral#:~:text=The%20world's%20fourth%20largest%20lake,new%20spirit%20in%20the%20region.

Cotton is a water-intensive crop, but the problem with synthetic fabrics, (especially polyester) is that they pollute the water with microplastics when they’re washed.

What fabrics should we wear then?

Extant ones

Stuff weaved from our own hair.

And you stink after about fifteen minutes.

I think the point is it doesn't matter so much what you wear. The biggest issue is the excessive amounts of clothes people buy and the "disposable fashion" trends that mean people are just constantly buying new stuff.

Buy some decent quality clothes and wear them for a long time. Don't buy hundreds of things you will only wear once, if at all. Consider hiring for big events

"Buying (different ) stuff" is never the environmental solution. Buying less is the key

Natural fabrics are better than plastic ones - obviously. Processing for cotton is not great but again if you buy one or two pairs of jeans and wear them until they fall to bits then you're doing your best. Or linen, wool. Plenty of all those fabrics in existence already.

Second hand always better than new. BNWT from Vinted is better than new as that piece of clothing is being bought from someone who has bought it from the original vendor - you are not contributing further to the demand of shite from Shein.

It's not about "weaving your own hair" - patently ridiculous and the cry of someone who thinks shitty Shein is just fine. It's about being mindful of what you buy and at least thinking about your impact rather than not giving a fuck.

I don't shop on Shein or Temu. But thanks for leaping to that conclusion.

I can't help thinking we'll soon go full circle and realise that the skin and fur from the animals we've eaten are the most environmentally efficient way to use our resources. Wool jumpers, leather strides, rabbit hats and gloves.

Wool jumpers, maybe, but the chemicals used in tanning are terrible for the environment.

I agree. All that made in China tat in the likes of Flying Tyger, Sostren Grene, Temu, Shein etc etc is an environmental disaster.

Do you think the chemicals used in making plastic are any better? And then there's the fact that plastics don't degrade like leather does.