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.

I think people like us are very much the norm and the armies of others buying mountains of tat, Christmas pyjamas to wear once and throw out and decorating the house then binning everything on Jan 1 are in the minority at least and more likely a figment on MN folklore, dreamed up to make posters feel superior about their new-found habits.

@Katypp Have you located my offensive posts yet?

How less miserable are you when you’re buying crap?

But you still took the time to comment and I appreciate that. Thank you. And yes, I do feel a bit like I’ve seen the light. It gets worse year on year.

@GivingUpFinally

While I completely agree. I also think what some (most I hope) see as cheap tat may be the only things that some can afford. For example my sister sees a bunch of cheap presents looks and may be feels better than one modest one for her dc.

That's what my mother did when I was a child and I hated it. I'd far rather have had one decent present than a sack full of plastic cheap tat but had to pretend to like it, play with it and be grateful. My DH was the opposite - his parents had no money either but they made home-made presents that cost virtually nothing along with one decent present. He still has some of the home made things that meant so much to him, such as a hand made fort out of scraps of plastic and cardboard that his father made and painstakingly painted which he spent hours playing with, other presents typically included hand made clothes!

I voted YABU for not being the change you want to see in the world. Talk to your relatives and friends about it, just be mindful of what you're buying and why.

'Less but better' has been around forever. Recycled and recyclable wrapping can still be beautiful - for example, I've been using the same satin ribbons on presents for at least 15 years. My parents did the same.

Prioritising locally made things so the money goes to the local economy and stimulates jobs, trying to stick to natural materials where possible, and not panic-buying extra stuff because you think you should isn't that hard. It's just a shift in mindset.

I agree with this. My parents used to do the same. Bin bags of cheap plastic gifts all of which have long since been thrown away. I would have loved to have just had one special present which I could have kept as a keepsake.

I agree with all that. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. But we should be doing more to reduce and reuse and not just rely on "recycle" to justify our actions because recycling may make us feel virtuous but still uses an enormous amount of energy (causing pollution) and huge amounts of it isn't recycled at all and still ends up in landfill. So, we should all be doing what we can to reduce and reuse. Like you, we recycle our wrapping, gift bags and bows/tags, etc and that's nothing new, we've been doing it for decades before the environment impact became so mainstream - we did it to save money! Some of our gift bags must be 20/30 years old - it's become a family joke that they keep appearing and almost becomes a race to see who gets to the drawer first to get the best ones!

My friend and I swap the same fabric bottle bags that I sewed about 20 years ago back and forth, @taxguru. I crocheted a couple as well, out of leftover yarn from a jumper that itself was made from recycled denim cotton. They get passed around between the relatives.

Which company made the shirt @HelloIcetime ? I’m trying to buy good quality / British wherever possible ( and only when necessary), so I’m trying to create a list of companies to use.