The Ugly Holiday Sweater and other wasteful items

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:K cups. My job only has keurigs for coffee and it drives me batty.

And it’s gross coffee! I can’t believe people bought into that fad.

Totally agree. My work only uses k-cups and while it’s terribly annoying… my dislike of k-cups does help me cut down on what might otherwise be a terrible all-day-coffee habit!

Wrapping paper is my pet peeve. People spend $ and use resources for themed paper that is NOT EVEN REALLY LOOKED AT and just immediately winds up in the trash. We switched to fabric, Japanese-style a few years ago for our family… everyone has a color and I get a bit more after Christmas when it’s all 75% off. Much less waste and it looks super cute (esp now that I am getting a bit better at it lol).

I have no idea what Japanese wrapping is but I sewed gift bags in a bunch of sizes out of holiday fabrics more than ten years ago when my kids were little, and we use them every year. No wrapping paper under our tree.

I also sewed a HAPPY BIRTHDAY banner that we bust out and use for everyone's birthday, that gets folded up and tucked in a drawer. If you cannot sew, it's easy to find similar items on Etsy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And stop with the plastic tablecloths! Used once and tossed.

oooh I love a plastic tablecloth when I do art activities with the kids. I just had friends over for cookie decorating ( yes they ate the cookies) and after we were done we just balled up the tablecloth and threw it away. I guess it’s a waste of plastic but I’m alright with it 2-4 times a year.

For art activities, buy a tarp.

We use old sheets and/or old placemats.

For my plastic annoyance, I’d have to say all plastic dinnerware. I picked up mismatched silverware, plates, cups that I keel all in a zip up bag that I keep in the basement and grab for parties. I have 20 sets of my China that I pieced together from Facebook marketplace over time. Purchased cheap so don’t sweat breakage.

[Anonymous]

I have an ugly sweater and it no longer has a smooth texture. It feels like dry yarn. It's also bright golden yellow with some brown designs. I can't get rid of it because my grandmother made it so I've had this for over 40 years! She made one for everyone including the cousins but theirs are in better condition than mine. Maybe it wasn't the best yarn to get at that time.

[Anonymous]

Do people actually buy ugly sweaters for Christmas? Isn’t the idea that someone you cared about gave you a sweater that you thought was ugly but couldn’t throw away?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am in the process of downsizing so very tuned into the wasteful stuff in my house. The worst right now are presents that people gave us especially the little cute Knick knacks. Ceramic baby blocks, figurines, vases, it goes on and on. So hard to get rid of (no one wants them) but feel bad trashing them.

and this is why I'm a grinch and am refusing to exchange gifts with my siblings and their kids. None of us need anything and we can all buy exactly what we want. There is nothing meaningful I can buy for any of them so I'm done with it. One sibling and I have kids the same age and every year we exchanged gift cards in the exact same amount. Stupid. We also were exchanging gift baskets of food. Think about the waste there. The packaging and the fuel and resources used to move crap from one place to another is terrible.

I love Christmas but I'm over the gift portion of it.

All this. The responses to this thread surprised me because the biggest waste is obviously the gifts people give each other. I grew up celebrating x-mas so I know how hard it is to separate the commercialism from other parts, but it's really such a relief that my family now does none of it.

Though last year I did buy some lights to hang. It's was such a dreary time and they really lifted my spirits. But I use them almost daily as mood lighting so I don't really consider that a holiday purchase.

I grew up celebrating Christmas too, but we never had a lot of gifts? My parents would buy me a set of earrings and my brother an action figure toy. That was it. Somehow we were fine and didn’t feel like we didn’t get enough.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was just thinking about the wastefulness of ugly holiday sweaters! Waste in America—where to begin?
1. The worst for me are the plastic party cups and flatware. These things are so sturdy and easy to wash/reuse but people blithely throw them in the trash. There are now compostable versions but that’s not what fills the trash bag after the holiday parties.
2. Another wasteful thing: The cleaning people at work put plastic trash can liner bags in every cubicle, and if there’s so much as a Kleenex in there they pull the bag and give you a fresh one. Not in my cubicle, they know to leave the liner in.

I’m a fed and on the good news front, the cleaning crew in my agency do NOT do this. They retain the liner and only replace it when the liner gets very dirty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:K cups. My job only has keurigs for coffee and it drives me batty.

Does Keurig offer recycling? Nespresso does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:K cups. My job only has keurigs for coffee and it drives me batty.

Does Keurig offer recycling? Nespresso does.

I think the recycling is largely BS that was started after the keurig inventor expressed public regret over the waste. They do sell reusable capsules so PP. Lior get one of those and just bring in a container full of preground coffee to put the the reusable for herself. She could even bring in a second container for composting the used grounds. My parent has one of them because they are depression era cheap and couldn’t tolerate the cost of the individual K cups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oh I’m excited about the fabric wrapping! Is it hard to store? I also hate wrapping paper but I do think it’s nice for people to open gifts.

I’m curious now about fabric wrapping too. Although I will say that I reuse gift bags over and over again in lieu of wrapping. Also, Kraft paper is good for wrapping and can be recycled.

[Anonymous]

We used newspaper for all Christmas gifts this year and I am never going back. Not only is it entirely recyclable (and reusing), it is SO MUCH EASIER!