I am a beginner user experience designer who’s working on a sustainable shopping app for baby/children’s clothing, gear, and furniture. I’m conducting some research to explore some pain points parents/guardians/people shopping for children may face when shopping for sustainable options! Below are some questions I have to gather some more insight on this topic. Please feel free to answer as many or as little questions as you want. I sincerely appreciate any and all answers!!

1. Have you encountered any frustrations or pain points when looking for sustainable or secondhand items for your children?
2. What are the biggest barriers that prevent you from choosing secondhand or eco-friendly options?
3. If you could change anything about how sustainable children’s products are marketed or sold, what would it be?
4. What are your primary considerations when shopping for children's clothing, gear, or furniture? (e.g., quality, brand, material, price)
5. What challenges do you currently face when trying to find eco-friendly or sustainable options for your children?
6. How do you typically source secondhand items for your child (if at all)? What has been your experience with these platforms or methods?
7. When shopping for your child, how important is it to know the environmental impact of the items you’re purchasing?
8. What information do you look for about a product to determine if it meets your sustainability standards?
9. How do you usually dispose of or pass on items your child has outgrown? What factors make this process easier or harder?
10. How do you typically feel after purchasing eco-friendly or secondhand items for your children? Do these purchases meet your expectations?
11. What would make your experience with a secondhand app so satisfying that you’d prefer it over other options?
12. How comfortable are you buying secondhand items online, particularly for children? What would help build your confidence in an app like this?
13. How would you feel about an app providing information about previous usage or condition certifications of secondhand items?
14. What level of transparency about the environmental impact or material quality of items would you like to see in an app?

My thumbs kept slipping off the worn out thumb sticks so I bought new ones. They are for a Xbox series controller but I like how good my thumbs don't slip on them.

Hi everyone! I was wondering if anyone else follows a rule like this. I’m not sure if I came across it somewhere or if it’s something I came up with myself, but it’s been on my mind for as long as I can remember.

Basically, whenever I buy something, whether it’s clothing, tech, or anything else. I aim to make it last for at least five years. For example, I have a belt that will hit the five-year mark at the end of this year. It’s starting to show some wear, and while I’ll keep using it for as long as possible, reaching that five-year mark feels like I'm giving myself “permission” to consider replacing it.

Does anyone else have a similar rule? Thanks!

"... people value their identity as consumers as much as they value their identity as workers. Meaning that if you've lost the ability to consume in the way that defines you, then you begin to treat that as a grievance."

– Evan Osnos quoting a democrat on the The New Yorker Radio Hour this week (clip with timestamp: https://overcast.fm/+AA3KNhmJ0RE/36:40 ).

This isn't a new idea of course, but something about this wording struck me as so so dark. Or maybe it's just the mood I'm in this week.

Some people think cash is tacky. If you write a funny note saying it's a universal gift card, or simply explaining your anti consumerism stance, people will love it.

Skip giving your cash to mega corporations and useless junk.

I don't want to be wasteful by buying a new phone while my old phone is still functional. What are my options?

Where to find like minded AntiConsumerists?

Seriously, are you all mainly in rural areas

If in the US, Which states are most of you in?

Is there a way to do a poll to find out?

I want to find activists around this topic, find a partner and support a family that is as altruistic and giving as possible.

Pardon the many questions.

Currently having a brain Rotting session on tiktok because I have nothing better to do

I think I just found the next level down the rabbit hole of worthless stuff. A themed cover for ones Roomba. Like..... Why? I completely get Roombas because vacuuming and sweeping sucks and the machines can last a very long time when cared for. I just can't understand paying money to decorate the thing. Do people really stare at their Roomba for so long they want to use it as a dress up doll or something?

The skincare brand by Hailey Bieber released phone cases where you can hold your lip balm, I don’t get it, why are people buying into this. Apparently she’s selling them for £56 and £7 delivery for a phone case?

My mind doesn’t understand how people can justify this

I’ll be moving out soon into my own apartment soon, and I remembered something that will both help save me money and reduce waste.

I remember reading in a Martha Stewart book that before cleaning products became more standard, most cleaners were made of baking soda, vinegar, ammonia, and or bleach. However, I’m not sure about anything else like ratios?

Does anyone have any recipe recommendations for the following by any chance if it is still safe (I know some old time things aren’t,) and if it actually reduces waste.

Dish Soap Counter Cleaner Laundry Detergent Mirror Cleaner Dryer Sheets

Also…. Foaming hand soap even though I don’t expect that one to exist. Sensory issues go brrrrrrr.

I always thought it would be a wake up call for corporations to face a nationwide Don’t Shop Day. A Shop Out? An Undollar Day? I dunno what to call it. One day to throw capitalism under the bus and demonstrate mass consumer spending (and not spending) power. Thoughts?

Let's all crush the corporate economy ! Convince everyone you know to stop shopping unless urgent. Use instead, sharing, borrowing, thrifting, repurposing, fixing, etc. Only shop at local owned and ethical stores. Take ALL you $ out of the stock market. Invest in real estate or something else tangible and equitable, or start an ethical local business. Use local transportation, share cars, bike, walk. Do anything and everything you can to stop the evil rich people and corporations! Lets all band together as a new ethical society!

As a mode of protest it feels like the right answer to the future we are facing. Not to diminish the weight of such a conversation, though a conversation is all it takes. Speak with your partner about withholding your offspring, to not give forces that wish to taint our future - a future to taint. You can't exploit what isn't there, you can't indoctrinate or indenture a slave wage class that hasn't been born

It's estimated the average American will pay AT LEASTS $3000 more per year with the tariffs. I understand that anti-consumption is limiting what you don't need, but ultimately there are foreign produced goods that are not manufactured in America that are important for the modern Americans day to day lives. Consumer electronics and components (can't forget charging cables), things like car tires, automotive parts (I drive a foreign vehicle). The last thing I wanna do is stockpile a bunch of things I don't need and waste my money. Admittedly I need to be saving money especially if I need to leave the country and seek medical care outside of the country. But I would rather stay in my home country if it's feasible

Are there any goods I should look into purchasing or stockpiling before the election before prices go up terribly? I'm considering it may be time to upgrade my PC as well.

This blanket’s been in horrible shape for awhile and a lot of people have told me to just toss/donate it and get a new one. But it’s a really nice blanket, and now that’s I’ve gotten part of it done I’m convinced buying a new one would have been silly. Obviously this will take forever to complete, but I’m bedridden for awhile anyway. The restored part looks so good and it’s softer than ever!

I hate buying new textiles for a lot of reasons, but goodwill blankets tend to disappoint me, so this seems worth the effort. If anyone has any cool educational podcasts or reccs for audiobooks on Spotify throw them my way, I need some brain food while my hands are busy lol.

Christmas is coming up but this post isn't just about that. How do you and your family celebrate birthdays, Valentine's days, or any other traditionally gift centered holidays in your culture?

What things do you do to make the holiday special without all the cheap and wasteful items people usually gift?

Many automotive brands are promoting or advertising their affordability nowadays, and I am only seeing monthly payments being advertised, also known as leasing

Changing cars every 2–4 years (depending on your lease terms) does not seem like a good approach, but losing money on a constantly depreciating asset also feels wrong

What are your thoughts about this?

I'm definitely guilty of being a lazy over consumer. In recent years, I've been working harder to change my habits, but the process feels overwhelming. What small steps did you take to shift to an anti consumption mindset? I'm working towards completely divesting from Amazon, which I know will help a lot, but I have a few hurdles to overcome before I can be completely rid of them.