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.

Plastic yes, but we are still using the lego collected 25 years ago (and longer as I was given a huge box second hand).

We always get the ‘lego box’ (and 25 year old Brio) out for visiting children to play with.

I bought more chocolate in the sales to see me through but I do eat quite a bit of chocolate every day and it is expensive to buy at full price now so hopefully I should be good for a while. I could never have too much chocolate.

@SoftBalletShoes yes Lego is plastic but my Lego won’t be going into land fill any time soon
I’m 61 and still have my childhood Lego which I will be sharing with my grandchild soon along with all the collectors sets in the future

Recycling is all well and good. We do it too, this year Aldi had some very good (and cheap) wrapping paper which was basically brown paper printed with festive designs, fully recyclable. There is no excuse for not doing it, especially in most areas it just means sticking it in a separate bin.

However. Recycle only comes after reduce and reuse. It's pointless to buy all the tat and overconsume everything because you plan to recycle it later. Or buy things you know are single use that you cannot reuse.

We don't really have food waste - we do buy more than usual but there is space in the freezer and it will all get used up. Same with toiletries.

Certainly a mounting thought about the pressures of Christmas. On this thread a PP has suggested a ‘Reclaim Christmas’ campaign. (page 2).

How amazing would that be, back to basics, simple, local quality, sharing time and events.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5465302-over-stimulation-or-christmas-ruined-by-overcommercialised-high-expectation-december?page=2&reply=149421454

No. It is SINGLE USE or poor quality plastic which is the issue.

Lego is well-made and lasts forever. It is not overly-packaged. There is a thriving second hand market for complete sets, or bricks sold by weight. Once your child has finished with their Lego they can easily sell it and the same pieces of Lego will go on for decades.

There is really no comparison with a poorly-made plastic toy which cannot be resold and which will be in landfill by Easter.

Not everyone is buying all this crap!! My kids have christmas pjs that are the same quality as their usual ones, coming from places like next, boden or m&s. They are worn all winter & passed down to siblings.

We don't buy plastic tat, or low quality character themed toys. In their stockings my kids had quite traditional stuff - bananagrams game, socks, book, chocolate orange, candy canes, a skipping rope, a card game etc. I don't actually know that many people buying the plastic tat, i think its just very visible on supermarket shelves.

Lego/duplo are not plastic tat. My own lego is still in perfect condition & being played with by my kids, i expect it to last many more years. I'd say its lasted slightly better than the brio track of similar vintage - which has held up, but not without some splits/broken ends.

Oh and everyone i know buys the brown recycled & recyclable paper and uses brown tape or ribbon to secure it.

We definitely don't waste food either. We buy what we use and it will all get eaten.

MIL went mad in Shein for the kids again but at least we insist on leaving it at hers now.

Yep. I think we should all go on purchase strike on year at Christmas. Get back to basics. The shopping frenzy of tat and unnecessary stuff is out of control.

Most people are though.

The most enjoyable parts of Christmas for me are seeing friends and family, playing games, not having to go to work, treat food, decorations in the house, calming carols and twinkly lights and candles. The presents are really the least important aspect for me. I know for children it’s different but even then I think most kids would just be happy with 5 gifts instead of ten. And we need to stop being snobby about second hand stuff. I’m not and neither are my kids but I know some people would be horrified that we buy each other second hand gifts.

Because these influencer types make a thing about buying a different family set of Xmas PJs every year. Where do they all end up? Nobody needs/can wear that many pairs of PJs.

Nobody needs a new set of pyjamas every year?
My kids grow. They need a couple of new pairs of winter pyjamas and a couple of pairs of summer pyjamas every year, to accommodate that growth. One of those new pairs of pyjamas is Christmas themed. They get them on 1st December and wear them until they no longer fit, just like with any other pyjamas they own.

If it makes you feel any better I love my christmas tacky stuff! But I will fill boxes and put it all in the loft for next year 😍

I don’t think I purchased any plastic tat at all. Never shopped in Temu and Shein. No idea what anyone else did but I’m certainly not responsible for crap hitting landfill.

@RedRiverShore6 my husband got me perfume and chocolate (perfume I chose) and I got him posh shower gel and after shave and Lego. We do this every year now as both ‘need’ and ‘use’ these things (me definitely requiring the chocolate).
My DS18 got me shower gel (went to Boots and bought one of everything which made me laugh) and DS21 got me a big bag of yarn as I crochet. He was so pleased with himself that he had gone to my local yarn shop and chosen it himself. I was impressed as well!
DD23 got me smellies and useful bits that she had heard me mention I actually needed. She is very good like that.

It amazes me walking around the shops all the Christmas themed tat on sale though. I mean who actually buys all this crap? You can’t use it after Christmas Day (well you could but I never notice it) and need to wait until next December and by then there is more Christmas crap to choose from!!!!

But those influencer types are business people peddling dreams to thick people. Stop watching them.

We do no adult gifts and all dc gifts are second hand and as we get them we re-list or donate ones they no longer use. So their plastic tat toys are essentially rented for a few years and then passed on.

I don’t watch them. I don’t use Instagram or TikTok. I hate shopping and fashion. I hate celebrity culture and ‘influencers’. I was trying to explain to the previous poster why the concept of Xmas PJs is wasteful. Obviously if you buy one pair of Xmas PJs and then wear them every winter for ten years, that is not wasteful. I’m trying to understand how people can justify buying Xmas PJs every single year.

That’s you assuming most people do. I don’t think most people are doing this at all. You are feeling cross about a perception you have, not a reality.

Well for me it’s because my kids grown, they tend to need a new pair of pyjamas or two every year, and one of those pairs is usually Christmas pyjamas (unless last years still fit, in which case I don’t buy any new ones). Not many kids can wear the same pair of pyjamas for 10+ years, I’d wager.

Yes children need new clothes reasonably regularly because they grow. Obviously. I’m talking about adults.

The thing about Instagram and the like is that it shows you more of what you spend time watching. So if you watch a video of Milly-Molly, who was on Love Island, decorating her christmas tree, then it will feed you more of that sort of stuff. And if you are not in the best living circumstances yourself, you watch Milly-Molly's lifestyle and are envious, it's something to aspire to.

Those of us who are more secure in our own skin aren't interested in the monetised antics of Milly-Molly so see nothing of what she is up to. My instagram feed is full of knitters, geocachers, UK travel content, recipes and people doing clever stuff with recycled materials.