To think Christmas has descended into a pile of landfill?

[TheLostMonopolyTopHat]

I’ll start by saying this way of thinking is getting me down. I find it overwhelming and depressing as it takes the magic away but I can’t unsee it.

Everywhere you look there’s Christmas tat. As I was shopping in the lead up all I could see was shelves and shelves of total shit: plastic stocking fillers that wouldn’t last two minutes, plastic toys that’ll sit in landfill long after the children who receive them have grown up, plastic polyester Christmas pyjamas for the whole family you’ll wear for one night, Temu shit, SHEIN shit, loads of shit. People buying ‘token gifts’ or secret Santa crap, new colour themed decorations every year, shelves full of cheap stuff, it never ends.

I used to get swept up in it but the past few years I’ve found myself struggling to buy toys children in the family ask for because it’s adding to the destruction of the planet. I, like everyone else, have been guilty of buying things for the sake of buying and I hate it.

Christmas has become a consumerist hellscape. How much worse will it get? We’re all full of microplastics yet very few people seem to stop and think before buying it all only to chuck it all away.

Completely agree with you. So depressing, Christmas is pretty much lost on me in recent years because of this. Not forgetting all the food waste too. Sister and i did charity donations in lieu of presents this year - made me feel a little better…

Saw a good few SM posts with the whole family in the matching pyjamas.
"Happy Christmas from our family to yours."
How much did five sets of pyjamas cost? Just for the Christmas Eve FB post.

It's their money to throw away I guess. It's up to them.
It's up to me that I find it utterly facile and a complete waste.

One of the contestants on Sewing Bee this year was applauded for using 20 odd pairs of Christmas pyjamas to make a dress. But nobody questioned WTF the family were doing buying 20 odd pairs of pyjamas in the first place.

We had some renovation done to the house this year, so DH and I said we had spent quite a lot on that (and are really happy with newly done room) so we agreed we wouldn't spend a lot on Christmas for each other. We ended up buying useful/functional things for each other and chocolate. It was actually less stressful not having to think of stuff to buy.

The crackers I bought had no gift/toy/novelty which I didnt initially anticipate but actually better than a silly plastic spinning top or puzzle.

I actually think now my kids are teens i buy less "fillers" for stocking although I do confess i bought DD a few bits in sostrene green.

Exactly. I asked for a really lovely box of chocolates once within the agreed price limit - something I wouldn’t buy for myself from a speciality shop as it was quite a luxury. I received three tubs of Celebrations because the giver felt they and I got more for the money. The giver could not understand at all why Celebrations were not the same.

I am also fed up of the Temu shit. I have asked family not to buy me stuff from Temu but they continue to do so - bags of it! I really would much rather have one small quality item than 20 pieces of tat.

We do a secret Santa amongst the adults, which gratefully reduced the amount of stuff! The kids usually receive a mix of second hand and new gifts. We also give experiences. This year we're going to see a musical. Just some ideas.

I don't know why there is always this narrative that people only wear Christmas PJ's for one night - we only do them for kids and they wear them the whole winter through from getting them at the end of November until it gets too hot for long pyjamas. Do people really just wear them once...?

I have tried to encourage a meal out together rather than relentless gift swapping. Money otherwise spent on gifts going towards an occasion to enjoy together. Partially succeeded but still received three huge bags of Temu stuff on my doorstep. Equally I am sure they don’t understand why I buy them a smaller, quality item from a small business!

I buy the kids winter themed pjs, so not just a Christmas print and then I keep the big set to hand down to the little one next time. We don't match but we're toasty and it'll do

Recycling is not pointless and needed more than ever. If you don't want to play your part then I guess don't, but to say it's pointless is wrong. It's a crucial behaviour.

But that doesn't look the same on social media, does it @Emergencysandwich ?

Totally agree but having read a thread on here about a week ago from a Mum panicking that one of her kids had something like 30 gifts and the other 'only' 20 and what else can they buy etc, there's no hope really.

At least recyclable wrapping paper is becoming easier to get hold of now.

I agree with PP who say the next generation don't want all the tat. My DDs are 15 and 17 and they both wanted a replacement phone as theirs was broken and old but had no interest in anything else.

This is why I resent all of the blame being put on big families for the state of the planet when there will be smaller families not giving teeny weeny little fuck.

Agree OP, I try so hard to steer people away from buying me and my family stuff because it’s just piles of unnecessary rubbish. Sounds grabby but for my children, I usually say give us money for their savings accounts if they absolutely must gift something because lord knows they don’t need anymore piles of plastic toys.

we’ve yet to visit PIL…my FIL trawls Amazon every year and ends up buying the most random plastic crap that ultimately ends up in the bin. They proudly declared the other day they have loads of presents for us…help!

Aye, being totally honest I just (not sarcasm) I try to block it all out, I don't use it (MN aside, and it's mostly anonymous text on here) I grew up in the 90s and I vaguely remember it wasn't a thing then, I mostly try and remember back then, a tablescape would have been met with a "you what now" and although there was a fair amount of destined-for-landfill-tat, we had nothing that could be described as a decorative "theme".

Imagine. No Pinterest. Bliss.

Instead of buying plastic toys ask your family what books they would like and always buy books. My sister always bought my children books and I loved it.

Totally agree OP, consumerism to the point of destruction and don’t even get me on the subject of packaging

Look guys I tried to play "mn says tat or landfill have a drink" and it's 27th and it's just too much😂
Stop it😂

Do I get bonus points?! I said both tat and landfill in my post 🥳

No, you're right OP. There was a recent thread about "Christmas Eve boxes" and people described what went in theirs and YES it did meet the description of pointless tat despite all their justifications about how great they were. As if kids need even more presents over Christmas - insanity.

I honestly think the tide is turning at last - people are so fed up with the mass consumerism and the rubbish plastic tat. Let's go back to a low key Christmas without the excess,

Yep! For this reason I don’t get my kids to write a Christmas list, I get an idea what they want through out the year but don’t just buy endlessly from the Argos catalogue. Me and my sister give second hand presents to the kids(very cheap) and put money in their bank accounts. My mum gives about 3 dustbin sacks full of Poundland plastic crap that smash apart around my house for a few days and then Go straight back in the dustbin sacks then to landfill. I tell her not to every year but never listens!

Went shopping this afternoon (food bits). Tons of Christmas themed stuff left over in the sale. Popped to the Post Office, which happens to also be a Morrisons local. Loads of tatty crap left over there too. I can't decide if people are buying less of it, hence the leftovers, or if manufacturers are making more of it and there is a surplus. Either way, the consumerism is bonkers.

I can't throw stones though, I ended up buying more than needed over this period. I swear next year to buy less food and gifts for DC. There's absolutely no excuse for it.

If you’re not drinking out of plastic b&m cup it doesn’t count