Anyone ready for an anti-consumerist movement?

[AlpineButterfly]

Based on my previous thread which I'm struggling to link to using my phone someone suggested I start an anti consumerist movement.

I'm talking
Less stuff - do you need it?
Stuff that enhances your life - do you love it?
Time - do you need to do it? Is it fulfilling? What does it bring to your life, your well-being?
Food - does it help your body? Does it add toxins? Do you need it? Is it mindless consumption?

I'm not talking about depriving myself to become an eco warrior. I'm thinking about mindful ways to improve my life.

@7Days thank you you so much for your advice. I think it's a great idea to start small so I don't get overwhelmed. Unfortunately I will need some kind of raised container as I have a rather mischievous dog who would definitely take it upon himself to enjoy the fruits (veg) of my labour before I have the chance!
For now though, tomatoes grown in a hanging basket is the perfect solution.

babylove I'm going to keep an eye out on facebay type things for old tables I can put in the tunnel. As much as anything I value my back!

I covet some recycled whiskey barrels...

We bought the boys Christmas present off Facebook. I play kitchen with pans,.plates, cups, an.apron, food. Basically everything. Yes it's plastic but it's second hand so I don't feel.too bad. Then they're having my childhood brio that we have stored in the loft, my childhood puzzles and a few pencils, etc that we'll probably buy new. Doesn't help that their birthdays are both in January too!

We have leftover Christmas paper in the loft so unfortunately that can't be recycled this year

I'd love to save £23000 in a year. We earn less than that as a couple

Love the idea of growing more food. The slugs ate my last lot so I'm going to save that for another year when I have more time. 2u2 leaves me little time so it'll just end up as mindless consumption again because it's unachievable at present

I'm in, I don't get it right all the time but want to be better at reusing and recycling stuff.

Which section was your original thread in @AlpineButterfly ? I wanted to go back to read the other posts, but I can't find it

@CurbsideProphet it was in aibu. I'll try to link it later. It's turning out to be an awesome thread. I had a very interesting conversation with my therapist about it. I might gather my thoughts and share later. It's all off the back of a major life and lifestyle change we are currently going through as a family.

I'm fascinated that people are mostly latching on to 'stuff' still/not consuming 'stuff'. I guess it's tangible. Mostly I'm bothered by myself wasting money and time.

Also for me, this isn't particularly an eco crusade but a bid for a simplistic, wholesome life

Yes I’m definitely keen to do this. I think Christmas will be challenging as we have young children and to be honest, they want toys etc. They’re only little.** But things like no new decorations, handmade cards, giving experiences (eg all Nieces and Nephews getting cinema vouchers). Having a massive clear out this weekend of clutter and listing it on free Facebook sites. I want some clear headspace.

Re the plastic waste, we have signed up to ecobricks and have massively reduced our non recyclable plastic by making changes to our shopping, but it’s really hard (much more difficult and expensive than I anticipated) and that’s our ongoing project for 2019.

I was talking to my DP about it last night.
My parents hate buying presents for the sake of it and always have done. They offer a bit of money towards our holiday etc. DP's mum is another matter

I'll have a hunt through aibu now thank you

My kids are spending Xmas with their dad and my MIL - and my god does she like the plastic tat and excess of EVERYTHING. The kids were singing castle on the hill to the radio in the car today so I'm going to try and get some Ed tickets. So it'll be an experience rather than landfill - my MIL will make sure that's covered!

Fwiw we went to the beach today and my youngest found an oracle Halloween trick or treat bucket in the surf. :( I'd refused to buy them the other week and they are totally on board with the less plastic... So to see this thing bobbing along today...

Love this thread. Have been trying to reduce plastic use in the house. Got beeswax wraps, dog shampoo bar but no luck yet with one I like to use. Binned off shower gels too. Reduced car use is good to saving money and hopefully burning calories.

Just had depressing convo with other extended family members who basically can't he bothered to change much in their lives so long as they are all right.

rainin we can't carry the responsibility or guilt for the actions of others. We just need to float in our own superior morality. nah seriously, all we can do is feel happy about the fact we're consciously trying to do something - a drop in the ocean we may be - but so what? We know what we do is right. Our children and their children might ask us why we didn't do more - but we'll be able to hold our heads high and say we started.

I was planning to do up my kitchen/office space next year. Primarily with a new desk and rug. Both are about 4 years old and minging. But - functional. Both were cheap and nasty and all the budget allowed at the time. Neither are good enough to donate. So when I replace them I will do so with a view to the desk being something I LOVE and for life. The rug needs a bloody good clean and I can trim off a few loose threads... But it never was a centrepiece - it's there to protect the floor from the wheels on my office chair - which I bought in 2002!

All will be replaced. But not in 2019.

I couldn't get the naffing ed Sheeran tickets as schools will have gone back here in Scotland so still figuring out Xmas.

Thank you Vintage. You are quite right but they do annoy me.

I'm joining ! This way of living naturally suits us, but I can get drawn into the 'keeping up with the joneses' rubbish and then find myself confused and miserable.

One big way that we're going to put this into practice is by hopefully buying a smaller, economical house mortgage-free rather than taking out a mortgage for a bigger place in a more economically competitive area.

I'm joining....we really need to TTC next year (age) and I'd like to find a simpler way of living to save money for maternity leave and just to feel less stressed!

My parents have been visiting this weekend. My step dad bought a puppet for each of my boys. We don't need any more teddies! especially at £3.99 each

Apart from that, I've eaten too many biscuits, courtesy of my parents being down but the bottle of red that DH and I polished off was well worth it. Going to go through ds1's wardrobe with him this afternoon and see what we need to put in the loft for ds2 and what we can take out of the loft for him

@TiddleTaddleTat really interested that you're opting to go mortgage free. We could potentially move areas in around six years time mid/late thirties and be mortgage free but we're hoping to move somewhere bigger. It's a dream of ours when DH qualifies, to be able to get somewhere big enough so he can set up clinic from home

As well as preventing wasting time, energy and money, there's also the issue of wasting SPACE, as tiddletaddle was suggesting. I wonder if a lot of people get caught up in the having-to-have-a-bigger-house race and maybe don't necessarily think about whether they really NEED an extra bedroom / study / WC. These rooms come with big price tags, need to be filled with 'stuff' and need to be cleaned - which uses up precious resources and time. Of course, many people genuinely need a spare bedroom, but sometimes, if it's just for an occasional family or friend visiting, I would imagine most families can squash up in existing rooms.
What do folks think?

Thewerea66it I do somewhat agree with you. I love real estate and going for a sticky beak at open houses, and I'm astounded by all of the 'extra' rooms that seem to be the norm now - theatre room, games room, etc. I don't need a theatre room and a living room -I just have the big television in the living room with some dark blinds does the job (we love lazy Sunday movie afternoons). My old house had a formal lounge room and a formal dining room - totally wasted space, as they never got used except for opening presents on Christmas morning, then we were back to the open plan living/kitchen/meals area. If I had people over for dinner they either ate at the big table near the kitchen, or we had a BBQ outside. I think that being in Australia, there is often the desire to build big houses with all the extra rooms, rather than having more outdoor space (which is my preference).

Absolutely, having spare rooms is a big waste of space if they only get rarely used. We're not quite playing on the 'theatre room' league, more pondering if we should stretch to buy a house on a bigger plot that allows for extending in future. But we are a small family of three, so three double bedrooms is likely all we need. Plus I am unwilling to pay £100-150k more just to have the potential to extend in future.

Wasting space is a really interesting concept. I guess my aspirations are to have a kitchen big enough to entertain and a spare room for family. I guess in some ways if DH works out of an annexe or outbuilding we wouldn't be using extra space, just avoiding rent on another location. I can definitely see the appeal of not rattling round in a place with 20 rooms. We have a three bed mid terrace and it's perfect for us at the moment

Agree about wasting space. I am still in a largish house now children have left home as moving isn't convenient for a few years. I started having a lodger earlier in the year which makes me feel better.

I'd kill for a room I could dedicate as an office space ! But... I'd not buy an extra 100k's worth of house just to get it - because I've seen a fancy garden office for under 10!

I had a bit of a win yesterday. I had to go rummaging through some boxes hidden away and came across a bunch of thermals, neck warmers and ski jacket which will see me through cold days with the horse rather than buying more.

My parents have a 5-bed house... There's two of them and a handful of pets. My mum hasn't been able to walk upstairs in literally years. My sister lives practically next door to them (in a 3-bed) and is single... Utterly pointless.