A bit of a rant. I'm so over weddings!!!

The amount of consumption that occurs for a wedding is disgusting and I hate going to them.

Stats from my sisters wedding:

55 guests

$30,000 for just the wedding

As the sister of the bride I've been committed to at least 8 days worth of pre wedding events against my will. I've been told I can't plan anything for myself between April and June of next year because I'm supposed to be "available for pre wedding stuff".

To top it all off at the start of this situation I purchased one dress that works for all events. We are on event 3 of 8 and people have already had the audacity to make comments about me wearing the same outfit for each event.

I'm at the point I dont think I will give my sister a wedding gift because that adds even more consumption to an already horrible situation.

YouTube is a treasure trove of the lowest level of advertising. This is my inaugural post of absolute shameful marketing that makes it easy to not give in to the hype.

Does wearing an U.S. Air Force hat add to the trustworthiness?

This just made me sad. Like parent like child? Or is the parent projecting and this teen won’t get their wanted gift over a tiny tag and the psychological can of worms attached to it?

At craft store you can buy a big sealed mystery box o’crap for $10. Why?

To those of you that take bottles and cans back to reduce reduce recycle dont do it at sams club.

My local sams club installed bottle return machines and I had to go to sams anyways so I took my bottles back there instead of Meijer. The track on the glass return wasnt working so I brought them to the service counter. He counted and then started throwing them in the trash bin saying that they do that with all of the returnables. And we had a chat about how unethical that is.

Been doing this for over 2 years, so I thought I would share with those who are still at the beginning of the journey and hope it might help someone else.

I started with a budget (Income vs. Costs), and from there I opened another account (in this case a savings account). I move all the money I don't need based on budget fixed costs into it as soon as my salary hits my normal account. From that point onwards I'm "broke"; the money in my savings doesn't really exist until I actually have a need (e.g. dentist, food, medication).

If I really want something that I don't need, I would have to transfer the money back into my current account. This extra step helped me pause and re-think any purchase; also in terms on what it is I buy (where was it produced, environmental impact, who am I giving my money to). This helped me not only build a very good savings foundation, it also changed my mindset even more along the way to consume less.

Of course, it also helps to be content with yourself and know that another set of designer whatever product won't make you happier.

This seems obvious now, but posting it in case others didn't think of it. I have been using cloths cut to 8x8 inside of this napkin holder as "reusable paper towels" for a few months now. I couldn't get behind the gimmicky tubes that you need to roll the towels around after each wash... I had some baby washcloths from my kid that happened to be the exact right size for this napkin holder. The bonus is that there is no folding needed - just launder and stack them back up. I leave these out on the kitchen table and ppl grab one whenever a paper towel would have been used. I have since cut and hemmed a few old towels into 8x8 size to increase my stash.

I dont want to spend 18€ on 8 cartdriges impossible to recycle. Not anymore.

Makeup Eraser initially was marketed as an eco-friendly reusable makeup remover wipe that you just throw in the laundry. I actually use them myself I really like them. However over time that mission has kind of gone to the wayside to make room for brand collabs and hyper-seasonal items.

We spent an hour picking up litter in our village in Switzerland just to see what people throw away when they think nobody's looking. Even in a place with free glass/PET/metal drop-off points on every corner, we collected over 7 kg (15.4 lbs) of trash.

The irony is that among all the single use energy drink cans and plastic bottles we found a kids' scooter that someone just dumped instead of taking it to the recycling center 500 meters away.

Here's the full 11-minute video of what we found and the final weigh-in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkQicGISyAc

First-time poster here. I remembered this sub because I just ordered something from Amazon, then got curious since I rarely visit the site, and realised my last order was in 2020.

Not judging as I know people who use it weekly and are just as happy as I am, but it got me thinking if maybe I´m the one who's in the wrong, the weird (or sad) one? But I just don't feel the need to have lots of stuff.

As I browsed through the site, it occurred to me that I don't see it as a shopping site: all I see is advertising, an as such I automatically ignore it. (Can't explain it any better.)

Sorry for a post about... nothing, really.

Trained for an opening shake shack.

The food waste was insane, we did mock orders and threw away over 100 different burgers/ shakes and drinks. on the menu, mind you for our training to try the menu they gave us pieces of sandwiches, instead of full size ones. Next time I am gonna video definitely posting when I quit. They could’ve donated this food or offered it to the team. Shoot they could have even made us make the burgers and try the menu at the end of the shift with the shakes and drinks we made.

So sad considering how since the first day they’ve been talking about their emphasis on giving back to the community, the location is also in east meadow, New York. So many places in the area the food could have gone to.

I will be quitting, and I will be recording the waste to post on tik tok, for a second I thought they were a good company. But I should’ve known from the general manager talking about how he wants to crush the small burger joint sitting directly across it in its plaza.

And no I am not exaggerating it was over 100 burgers
And around 50 shakes/ and bacon and cheese fries.
I saw them take out 2 XL garbage bags filled with food.

Of course the need to include “Limited quantities”… like… just why… who would want this?

that is all 🙃

Hello,

So as a late teenager/young adult I had this thing where I just collected eyeshadow pallets for the fun of it. I obviously didn’t realise how bad overconsumption is for the planet and it’s not something i’m proud of. However, as an adult I no longer really wear eyeshadow so I have a bunch of pallets in a drawer. Can’t sell or donate them as they have been used, but throwing them away just adds to landfill. Does anyone have any advice on what I could do with the eyeshadows? I want to break the pallets down so all the cardboard can be recycled but not sure what to do with the makeup itself. Any advice is so appreciated! I’m just trying to do my part in helping the planet, even with my past mistakes!

I really love exercise but I get kinda pissed when I’ve to pay a sub that’s barely worth the service just to go to some boxed in place. The problem is that logistically it’s such a pain to to be forced to stick to a fixed timing (let’s say a course or smth). Everyone and their mom wants to do the extracurricular on Tuesday and Wednesday, or just take traffic bogging you down and all the extra planning.

I’d argue the gyms are kind of a necessary evil but structured around working class people trying to squeeze in some minutes or hours for sweating. Work starts at 9 but you got a kid so the gym can offer a quick drop in.

Idk. I don’t want to re sub but I’m missing the convenience. Love or hate? Between 1 and 10 how do you rate?

Edit: And I’m not addressing the body image thing or what it actually does to your body long term. I’m just about the average person. That’s a different and crazy topic

I went to Best Buy today because I needed a new laptop for work. I haven’t stepped foot in BB in probably 10 years but they had the best price for the one I was looking at online. I thought this would be a relatively simple transaction: go into the store, find the computer I wanted, pay for it, and leave.

Instead, I was approached by two different people trying to sell me phone/internet services, then upsold by the employee helping me in the computer department. (Fine, it had more space, figured I could use it longer.) After all of that, I was finally told they didn’t even have the laptop in stock. But! They could order it for me, and it would be delivered in two days.

So I drove to a physical store, dealt with multiple sales pitches I never asked for, spent time being upsold on things I didn’t need, and ultimately couldn’t even walk out with the product I came there to purchase.

I basically stepped into the store and was immediately immersed in what felt like an endless series of sales funnels.

What frustrates me most is that I actually wanted to buy something. I had a legitimate need, had already decided to spend the money, and showed up ready to make a purchase. And somehow, the experience was so unpleasant that I left feeling like I didn’t want to buy anything at all.

This is what gets me about modern consumerism and why I stopped trying to buy anything except out of need. Even when you’re willing to spend money, companies are determined to squeeze every possible dollar out of you through upselling, add-ons, service pitches, etc etc etc instead of just allowing you to make the purchase easy.

I understand that employees have sales targets and companies want to increase revenue (bc the shareholders!!! /s). But ironically this experience made me want to consume even less than I already do.

I went home and just ordered the laptop I originally wanted online since I’d have to have it shipped anyway. But I miss when buying something in store could just mean buying the thing you came for.

I firmly believe that agriculture was a mistake that has led humans to become animals that are mismatched to our environment, both physically and culturally.

I am aware of the tradeoffs.That is worth its own discussion but I want to focus on consumption.

The move to planting and gathering vs just gathering of food was inefficient. We have developed systems to increase the efficiency of planting and gathering but each increase in efficiency is held up by a scaffolding of steps that increase work and consumption sum while removing the autonomy of individuals. With all the technology and advances we have made we have a created a system that in summary has increased work, increased consumption, and still does not feed everyone as well as hunting and gathering.

I'm not suggesting anyone make the hard transition on their own to a lifestyle our ancestors were forced to abandon, and would be difficult to support against forces that would opppse it. However, does anyone think about the life that our ancestors lived until just a short time ago in human history as the nexus of anticonsumption?

Over the last few months I’ve been decluttering like crazy. What really got me is how much I actually bought, especially during the baby and toddler years. Going through it all was kind of shocking.

Now my daughter (5) and I are planning to travel together for a while, so most of our stuff has to go. It’s honestly way too much to sell all of it, although a lot of it is barely used.

Now Christmas is coming and I want to celebrate with her, just without adding more things we’d have to carry or get rid of later. I’m open to any tips, especially around gifts. I’m also hoping my relatives will go for experience vouchers instead of physical presents.

Any ideas for low-stuff Christmas traditions with a young kid are welcome!

Edit: Thank you all for the great ideas! Here’s what I’ve settled on:

I normally do the “something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read” tradition with my daughter. But we’re about to travel for a few months with just two carry-on suitcases, so this year I have to keep things minimal:

• Want: one or two handcarved Ostheimer fairy tale figures (she loves role play). I like that they’re wood, so they won’t turn into permanent trash. If one gets lost or becomes too heavy to carry, I can pass it on to another kid, and in the end it’s biodegradable.

• Need: her own kid-size carry-on suitcase, either a new one or my old one passed on to her. Her grandma already gave her a snorkel mask, which will probably fill it up.

• Read/do: a Highlights Ocean Puzzles book, a Mad Libs Junior book, and maybe a few small picture books I can swap or give away to other English-speaking/learning families on the road. One or two cards for her Yoto Mini player, or maybe a Yoto membership so we can download content on the go.

• Experiences: a ticket to a water park or something similar wherever we end up, plus baking cookies together as a personal gift. Also she’ll love dying her hair in rainbow colors; this will be such a hit! 🥰

I also considered an e-reader, but at 5 I think a physical book is better. We already have an analog camera, and clothes and art supplies are covered by what she already owns.

Thanks again, this thread really helped! 😊

I am a firm believer in the do-what-you-can philosophy. Perfectionism is the enemy of progress.

Here is my dilemma, my local grocery store, has doubled the price of noodles. I like giving my business to this store, because it isnt a giant chain.

Walmart, which I traditionally dont shop at, due to their business practices, has the same noodles, at their "regular" price, as in-not doubled in price.

It literally is just a package of noodles.

In your household, how do you draw the line, on such things?