I thrifted this faux leather office chair years ago, but now the fabric is flaking off and making a huge mess on my carpet everyday. The chair is still solid and works great though. Does anyone know how to fix this? I’m not great with upholstery so I can’t DIY anything that would look decent.

I am new to this subreddit, and I love looking at the posts. It has given me a few ideas of what to apply to my own life. I have never particularly been pro consumption, I just did not care, which is probably just as bad. I grew up like that. 🥲

I would like to drastically change that. I don’t want to be a consumerism pac man. 😭

Where do I start? If I want wax melts, should I gear toward small businesses? Or do something else for the smell good that will last longer.
Stuff like this. 😅

So a video of candied grapes popped up in my reels. Apparently these things are pricey as heck.

And among the comments and owner of candied fruit businness appeared, calling people "broke" for not willing to pay 40 dollars for two dozen of grapes, insisting how we all may die tommorow, so no point in saving money.

I have seen this type of comments on both social media or among my students "oooohhhh, you think this particular thing is not worth the money? That's cause you are broke".

Is it some weird marketing strategy?

In this day and age you could make milions and blow them all on stuff that does not matter and you will not remember.

Have you ever encountered such pressure of not appearing poor IRL?

My dad just bought my mom a new phone for their wedding anniversary because he claimed her existing one was "outdated" and "old", but she only got it TWO YEARS AGO for christmas!!! He seriously thinks that's old. (he also just got a new phone himself, and gifted my sister one this Christmas)

My dad doesn't care about the environment or global warming (or any world issues for that matter). It's not that he doesn't belive in it, he just doesn't think it concerns him or is any of his/our responsibility. He won't bother thinking about it. It infuriates me.

I knew he was buying my mom a phone, and I really tried telling him the consequences of phone manifacturing. The impact on the environment, the earth's resources, the materials/metals used for phones - and about Congo. He just got passive aggressive, but I know it really pisses him off when I talk about that stuff.

Well, my mom is not like him. She only buys used clothes and keeps things as long as she can. So she didn't accept my dad's gift, and now it's up to me if I want it (it can't be returned). I've got a Huawei, and I love it so much but because of the ban there are actually a lot of issues. If I accept the phone, I'll have that on my conscience. My plan was always to get a "new" (used) phone, now there is one and i guess I'll have to take it. I know I'm privileged and this is really a stupid issue to have, but I just feel so bad. I'm really sorry.

I used to wear makeup almost daily, so every holiday I get gifted tons and tons of makeup. I'm at the point that I have more than what I could use in a lifetime, most of it is never used/ used once or twice. It feels wasteful to just toss out since it's just been used a few times if that, what should I do with excess makeup?

r/nobuy has been great motivation to me in the past when I have attempted this.

I plan to begin no buy July starting today!

I will especially miss thrifting, but I am excited to make use of things I already have.

I used to watch YouTubers do hauls or videos relating to excessive purchasing or consumerism but stopped once I started my anti consumerist journey due to just feeling icky. Do you or have you watched these types of vids ?

What can I do with these pleather (faux leather, vegan leather etc) shoes that are stripping? There are no tears or holes so it's a good shoe, and I would hate to throw it out. In the future I'll buy real leather that can last.

Just left a one star review At the gas station for being forced to listen to ads at the pump. I feel like it’s the only way we can make a stand. Anyone else?

I don't know about y'all, but I sometimes forget that anti consumption is not only about individual choices, not also MUST be about large institutional choices. So I am heartened that the newly elected Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the US is scaling down his installation from a massive affair at the National Cathedral to a smaller one with most folks expected to watch online (granted, technology is not carbon neutral! But as opposed to hundreds of people flying thousands of miles...). And that he explicitly stated that it was about the carbon footprint. Again, I just find it heartening.

https://episcopalnewsservice.org/2024/06/28/presiding-bishop-elect-to-forego-installation-at-national-cathedral-scaled-back-event-to-be-held-at-churchs-new-york-headquarters/

Im avid collector of gundam, legos hotwheels and yet its a crippling obsession that just never seems to end but with moderation its a nice hobby once in awhile, but then i thought about scalpers who resell these toys at an impossible markup.

They kill my interest from collecting hotwheels anymore and ive since just shift into another obsession(im sorry) and discourage from buying more

. I felt like scalpers are the necessary evil to detach some of us who were too indulged into the hobby of collecting material but ofc this doesn’t mean that’ll lead us to positive hobby pursuit instantly.

Rather its a temporary pause by sudden intervention like a bomb 💣 . And the recovery from the former hobby gives a space for reflections on what are we doing with our life collecting expensive stuff

What do you think?

How many devices does one need to make toast? Also please tell me, how is a microwaveable toastie maker useful in any way? Genuine question.

I'm having trouble not buying cute plant things. There's people who print 3D stuff on Etsy who make things like chip bag clips that look like Venus Fly Traps, and coasters with magnets that stack to look like Cacti or Monstera, a dimmable lamp that's a Sunflower, and I'm having a very hard time not grabbing them. We needed more chip clasps as we've somehow lost 5 of them (I blame the baby), but then my roommate bought some more today. I use coasters, and others use them when they come over, but my roommates don't. I was looking for a lamp for my bedside table, because I currently use a small reading light, but the reading light is serviceable even if it's small, but I also would like a larger lamp.

Basically, I really WANT these things, but I do not ABSOLUTELY NEED THEM. I love plants, there are over 30 trees on my property and more than 10 house plants. So, the aesthetic of them really makes me happy. I don't love that they're made of plastic, but they are made at least of PLA, which will degrade a long as there's moisture, but I've been reading stuff about "how biodegradable is this stuff, really". I do plan to use this stuff for life, and if I did get these I would just get the tops and use my own Terra cotta pots for the base.

My family and friends are supportive of me, so they all tell me to just go for it since I seen to really like these things, but I'm not sure if I'm actually just getting a pre-high from the potential consumption.... I guess I'm just looking for advice.

Hi everyone! I am new to this group, but am passionate about making our planet and the communities we call home more habitable. I am currently working on spreading awareness of the pollution problem of nurdles.

PROBLEM: Nurdles are lentil-sized plastic pellets that are used as the building block for the plastic industry. I.e. they are melted down and molded to form everyday plastic products like bottles, bags, toothbrushes, etc. Millions of these pellets are regularly dumped down the drain or spilled into our water ways by the facilities that make, use, package, and/or transport them. 10 billion are estimated to make their way to the ocean each year, making them the second largest source of marine microplastic pollution by weight.

SOLUTION (in part): There is a bill going through the US Congress titled

The Plastic Pellet Free Waters Act which will effectively ban the discharge of these poisonous plastic pellets from the facilities that make, use, package, and/or transport them.

ACTIONS:

1. Hold your own Nurdle Hunt. Use the Nurdle Patrol Map to see where nurdles have been found in your state, find a friend and a waterway near you, and go searching!

Nurdle Patrol Map: https://nurdlepatrol.org/app/map

Environment America's Nurdle Hunt Toolkit: https://environmentamerica.org/pennsylvania/articles/how-to-find-nurdles-in-your-local-waterway/

2. Call and write to your US Representatives and Senators to support this bill!

House Reps: https://pirg.org/take-action/tell-your-u-s-house-representative-support-the-plastic-pellet-free-waters-act/

Senate: https://environmentamerica.org/take-action/tell-your-u-s-senators-support-the-plastic-pellet-free-waters-act/

https://preview.redd.it/rpw36jjoqd9d1.png?width=846&format=png&auto=webp&s=4aa69ff32fcb4c5052b715e3426a549bcbcce7ff

"whole back of the phone needs to be replaced" way to go apple! I dont even know how to feel about this. I hate the way newer models look with their alien-esque lens style and on top of that, cant even afford it LOL

hard to leave the eco system too (1st gen airpods n 2017 macbook are my lifeline).

time to hard cope. any tips?

edit: this dmg didnt even become an issue for me until i updated to ios 17 and suddenly having a degraded battery. my phone cant stay on for 5 min. I know the update is "supposed" to have more accurate battery health reading and whatever, but now servicing the battery is prob pointless and impossible without addressing the physical dmg *BIG SIGH*

edit 2: people are struggling to see that I am not OP in this screenshot. I own an iPhone XS, the one pictured on the photo is an iPhone 14 pro. Hope this helps !

last update: repair actually costs $550 gonna just live off the grid ✌️

I used to be a tech journalist and for a time I had loads of smartphones, tablets, even a few computers that I got for review and didn't have to return to the company. (This is normal - only sometimes do they want the thing back so they can send it off to another reviewer. Most times they let the publication keep it, and we'd usually use them for comparison testing on new things.) though I left that behind about 10 years ago, I still have a few devices kicking around. I recently went through them all to see if any still worked.

Several did, as in they would charge and turn on. However, they are so old the companies that make them/the OS won't update them. So they're stuck on an old version of Android, or ChromeOS, or are Windows Phones which... pour one out. You can't always find apps that will work on "old" versions, and the apps still on board won't always connect to the service and the browser is constantly freaking out because of the lack of security.

I was so mad that I had several perfectly good and functioning devices that could not be used. I know I can send them to electronics recycling and at least they'll be taken apart and some parts reused. Still, grr 😡

Couple weeks back I came across PostmarketOS and I love that the folks who work on it have the same philosophy as I do: we should be able to keep using tech until it actually breaks (which is still too soon, usually) and not have to toss it just because Google or Microsoft won't support it.

Do any of you use open source operating systems to keep your older tech working? If so, I'd love to hear details. And what ways, in general, do you use older tech that still works but maybe can't be your daily driver, anymore?

Random ass question just came to my head, and i thought this may be a sub to ask this. And also appreciation. Where i live its normal af, when you got stuff you dont need anymore, but its there either to bad for second hand shops or you dont have time to resell them, you just put them into a box (often with a sign "to give away" translated) and anyone can take it. You can find clothes, shoes, books, games, dishes and other kitchen stuff, toys, technology, and basically everything else. And it doesn't just rot in there lol. Most of it is taken in a few days. Half my fucking closet is shit i found in those boxes. I fucking love it, i found so many useful stuff there, and if i dont need anything someone else will take it. The only stuff thats left in there often is underwear lol. Is this a thing in other countries as well? And if not WHYY??? Sometimes i just go out of my house and just walking to the street i like a big second hand shop, but with mystery boxes you can explore. Sometimes i need something, like new shoes, a shirt, a new cup. And before going into a shop i just wander to the streets a few days and check every box lol. I love that this i such a common concept here.

I haven't been to many other countries in my life, but when i never saw anything like that, but maybe i just didn't notice or was in the wrong part of the city lol. I always wondert if thats common in other countries (im from Germany btw). More people everywhere should do it instead of throwing stuff straight away.

If we think of it like memorabilia that’s one thing, but I’m going to guess this stuff is cheap and being disposed not long after purchase. Not sure why anyone would want to keep this long-term if it requires a drink at the movie to actually put into it and use it.

I’ve been listening to Society by Pearl Jam which captures pretty much how I feel, would love to find more music like that, but don’t know where to start?