Moneyweek: New mood of Austerity beckons for US consumers

Sapphire

fc123 wrote: »

It's not obvious green....more recycling. Have been investigating auctions this week..........it's going to be quite fun too.

Frugal living has a look about it too...becomes a trend in itself (for those that don't have to be REALLY frugal) they can just appear to be.

For me, seeing people cut down couldn't come soon enough. There is currently a huge amount of waste in our society, with things being disposed off that have plenty of life in them, many of which will take hundreds of years (if ever) to degrade.

I've always bought antique furniture - think that it is frequently better made than all the plastic new stuff, looks better, and is often one-off. I just don't like the 'empty office look' for homes, and also think that a lot of old properties have been totally ruined by 'upgrading'. I also consciously try to buy stuff that is made in Britain, or at least in Europe, whenever I can, and not things that are transported vast distances from places like China and India. I particularly do not want to buy Chinese-made goods because of their record on human and animal rights and the way they are polluting the environment.

I also don't own a car, and think it is unnecessary for most people who live in London to have a car (let alone 2 or 3 cars in a household!).

Do people ever sew these days? There was a time when all women could sew, and would mend and adjust clothes instead of chucking them away after a season, make their own curtains and cushions, etc. I learned to sew from my grandmother and mother. Apart from anything else, it's a satisfying thing to do, though I must admit that I haven't used a needle and thread for a while (too busy).

So overall I think it is great if the unprecedented conspicious consumption ceases. :cool:

P.S. Moreover, some people may lose a bit of surplus weight if they cut down on the bickies...

fc123

Sapphire wrote: »

For me, seeing people cut down couldn't come soon enough. There is currently a huge amount of waste in our society, with things being disposed off that have plenty of life in them, many of which will take hundreds of years (if ever) to degrade.

I've always bought antique furniture - think that it is frequently better made than all the plastic new stuff, looks better, and is often one-off. I just don't like the 'empty office look' for homes, and also think that a lot of old properties have been totally ruined by 'upgrading'. I also consciously try to buy stuff that is made in Britain, or at least in Europe, whenever I can, and not things that are transported vast distances from places like China and India. I particularly do not want to buy Chinese-made goods because of their record on human and animal rights and the way they are polluting the environment.

I also don't own a car, and think it is unnecessary for most people who live in London to have a car (let alone 2 or 3 cars in a household!).

Do people ever sew these days? There was a time when all women could sew, and would mend and adjust clothes instead of chucking them away after a season, make their own curtains and cushions, etc. I learned to sew from my grandmother and mother. Apart from anything else, it's a satisfying thing to do, though I must admit that I haven't used a needle and thread for a while (too busy).

So overall I think it is great if the unprecedented conspicious consumption ceases. :cool:

P.S. Moreover, some people may lose a bit of surplus weight if they cut down on the bickies...

Problem is that so much of our society is based on excessive consumption..all the businesses, employees that provide all the stuff won't have anything to do anymore.
Our business was in Vintage clothing from 1986 to 2000....and we cleaned up
as few understood what we were actually doing. By the time we diversified, it had gone mainstream and the margins (and supply and Japan in recession) were no longer there plus fashion had moved on.
We made the most margin by re-cutting, re-shaping items that were the wrong shape in their existing state...and, so created new shapes and trends from them.
Could also retail them at really low prices as costs were my time plus £2 per kilo.
I processed around 3 tons per fortnight for years.
You would not believe the quantities of clothes that were in the textile waste yards.
Sadly, many have gone as recyclable textiles such as wool now have no market and many couldn't make the business pay as they needed to process / sell everything (except underwired bras which, then, were unrecyclable)
The addition of lycra killed off the acrylic recycling as the elastane content jarred the mincing machines...unless they have been changed now.

I am just to about to diversify again merging all the past 22 yrs of experience and, included in the 'Plan', OH (carpenter) is going to cut and shut furniture into pieces that have a place / use in a modern, mainstream home.
Designs worked out so far are created from unwanted, unsaleable items such as sideboards etc which I will pick up at auctions, Booties.

Have a wicked 'Made in England' scheme afoot too for my clothing ranges, accessories.

A few of us out here are battling the mainstream...but in a commercial way.

Generali

fc123 wrote: »

Have a wicked 'Made in England' scheme afoot too for my clothing ranges, accessories.

Don't forget the environmentally friendly/moralist angle. The clothes aren't transported halfway across the world (the cotton used to make them probably was but don't lets get bogged down in detail) and they weren't sewn together by kiddie-widdies earning 10p/hour.

Think Body Shop and all that Greener Than Thou marketing or Jamie Whatsit and his chickens. It's great for margins, I reckon, pointing out that a £3 pair of jeans involves some morally complex choices

jamescredmond

!!!!!!? wrote: »

http://www.moneyweek.com/file/46576/what-consumer-downsizing-means-for-stocks.html

The “next big thing” our friends at The Daily Reckoning recently predicted, “will be downsizing, cutting back, making do. Barely on the radar screen now, thrift is coming into focus more clearly day by day. So far, people are a bit embarrassed about it…a bit ashamed that they have had to cut back. But soon, it will be popular…fashionable…and, finally, almost obligatory.”

Not before time and we'll hopefully see it in the UK too. We've had years of conspicuous over-consumption on borrowed money. Frankly, the notion of 'Shopping as a hobby' sticks in my throat.

Too bad for retailers and those working in that sector but the whole thing has become so bloated and overblown that a clear-out is necessary.

ah yes. 'conspicuous consumption'.

soon to be conspicuous by its absence.

jk galbraith (economist) decried - and probably coined the term- conspic. consumpt. way back in the early 70's.

so the wheel has turned full circle.

good.

maybe people will return to saving scraps.

nothing shameful in that, and there never was.