Just bought a secondhand ssd for my secondhand steam deck. I am now the proud owner of a 512 gb steam deck for sub 300. I love buying the shiny things covered in dust by others
first of all, the irony in this comment is incredible. Second of all, literally just start buying used shit first and foremost (it’s already out there, using it is better for the environment) and if you do buy something new, try and buy something that you know you can get a good lifetime out of.
have a proper sit down, and think about what you really need to keep going in life. Focus on that. I’m not saying you should drop every hobby you’ve ever had, but if you collect newly released shit, maybe pivot into finding older stuff that’s interesting to collect. If one of your hobbies has a consumable material/s maybe think about how you can better fill that gap. Perhaps try a different hobby every once in a while.
I’ve always enjoyed computer hardware, i recently got my hands on a few older thinkpad models. x20 series and an x50 series. Both used, both seen some shit in their day and age. Gave me a handful of usable laptops, most of the parts i bought for them were used. All of them are fantastic machines though.
that’s true, i forget about them pretty frequently on account of the whole modern society thing. I have no idea if they would even have more recent releases tbh lol.
Though i guess you could probably go through your library to acquire it anyway?
idk, i was just pointing out that it was somewhat ironic, that we’re on lemmy, a result of modern internet consumption (which is yet another problem) talking about the concept of degrowth, and this person was asking about a book about it.
That’s pretty ironic. There’s nothing wrong in something being ironic, irony is literally just when two counterintuitive things are in the same place (for lack of me googling the definition to properly explain it lol, look more irony)
Regardless, i still provided my thoughts on how it could be done, i feel like i provided something of substance.
E-Books are a thing, as are libraries, which allow you to borrow a book and return it. You also have the option of buying books second hand and then sell it again or give it away. That is really one of the key parts of degrowth. As soon as you share things, you need less things as a group. Hence the impact is much lower.
Besides a paperback book has a climate impact of 1kg of CO2. The average US American emits 4.6t per year just by driving their car. The impact of reading books is a complete joke against that and again no libraries, no second hand or anything else to reduce the impact.
Also books are really incredibly usefull resources. They are much better at actually explaining more complex ideas, then shorter articles.
So please do not just presume, somebody is going out to buy something. For the most part the big choices an individual can make on personal consumption are housing, transport and diet.
i know i just thought it was funny, let me have my 7 words or however many they are, of amusement smh.
I mentioned second hand stuff, as well as other non physical methods of cosumption in my comment, so some of this is quite redundant. The tidbit on carbon emissions is interesting though.
Also books are really incredibly usefull resources. They are much better at actually explaining more complex ideas, then shorter articles.
i mean yeah, i just don’t know how much one would need to explain the concept of “hey just don’t buy things, or if you do minimize the impact of it.” But that’s just me i suppose.
So please do not just presume, somebody is going out to buy something.
i guess so, but owning things is an inevitability in a materialist society. Even if you’re homeless, you’re still going to own something, even if it’s just the clothes on your back. Seems like the most obvious first step to the concept of “degrowth” to me. I suppose continual consumption could be a bigger deal, but most of that is unavoidable (eating food for example) though you can still optimize it, i feel like that should be much more obvious frankly, considering how much we do it every day at the very least.
i mean yeah, i just don’t know how much one would need to explain the concept of “hey just don’t buy things, or if you do minimize the impact of it.” But that’s just me i suppose.
Thats because degrowth is not just anti consumerism although it is part of it, but to limit economic growth to stay within planetary boundaries. This means that degrowth also wants to built up systems to stop over consumption for everybody, while providing everybody with a good quality of life. This is far from simple, since we currently overuse earths resources, while billions are starving, despite us having enough food to feed everybody with ease. So you end up with stuff like universal basic income, forced recycling systems, commons, global justice, measuring well being and a lot more. There is easily enough to write a book about.
that’s fair i suppose, i wouldn’t call it degrowth though. I’d call it global economic minimalism or something. Degrowth is pretty broad, but then again people probably aren’t going to buy a book titled “economic minimalism” are they? Lol.
No one said magic cheat code dipshit. You are not the arbiter for how people do things. If reading a book helps them then you stfu and let them do it their way. It’s clear on a few levels you haven’t picked up a book since grad school based on your opinions on learning. Fucking Christ you’re jaded.
you can cook a meal at home and travel locally. but few are interested in this because it is not a ‘display of wealth’, the way your week in Bali is or your tiktok dining blog.
Going to Bali- absolutely an experience Going to Bali so you can show off your luxurious lifestyle to your online following - display of wealth.
I’d say it all comes down to your motivations. I think travel can be very rewarding and a chance for growth. I also don’t have any social media and I don’t really care what people think of me outside of my family and a few close friends.
I had to buy “business casual” clothes for a work trip and went to a thrift store. I found a pair of pants that was $15, but they didn’t fit great. Since I needed at least two pairs of pants I went to Costco and they had brand new Dockers for the same price.
I have never bought a car, I looked at prices for new cars last year and I was blown away. I didn’t know at the time that they were at an all time high
Yeah for a while going to goodwill and stuff became trendy so they pumped those prices up. I see just awful stuff priced at new or near New prices which is insane
I went to find a used cassette player, just a little boom box. Found a crappy brand one beat up and with a $40 price tag. Gtfo with that. I can buy a brand new Sony for $50
Oh that’s so true. I have looked through all the thrift stores in my surrounding and they all had really bad clothes for bad prices. When you can get a new top in a size that fits for 5€ at H&M it makes no sense to pay 12€ for an H&M shirt that has holes in it and doesn’t fit right just because it is from a thrift store.
I don’t buy clothes often, I have much more than enough from when I was a teen. But I think that when I do, in the future, I’ll just go straight to a normal store. I don’t see the sense in spending the time and energy if it isn’t worth it at all.
I look for thrift stores in or around proper rich neighborhoods. There’s one I go to that routinely has stuff from last year or that no one’s ever worn, tags and all.
There’s also this thing now where “trendy” thrift stores go to regular thrift stores and pick them clean of anything worth buying, then they Jack up the price.
What's are some of yall's less obvious "always buy second hand" items?
Crockery, cutlery, pressure cookers and computer peripherals are some things I think it makes no sense to buy new. 2nd hand they're usually under a tenth the price and often better quality.
I've heard some arguments that buying 2nd hand cars is usually better for the climate owing to how much of a car's lifetime carbon generation is the manufacturing.
The better quality is the key here. The shit made today are intentionally made to be replaced.
Pyrex is the best example. The old-school Pyrex logo means it’s made from really tough glass whereas the newer logo means it’s shit and will shatter when going from hot to cold (oven to countertop).
applied science actually has a really good video about leaded glass. And it’s tendency to cause shenanigans, i don’t remember much from it, so you should just go watch it.
Even if you do need a truck, most of the models marketed here are stupidly oversized in all the areas that DON’T matter. As a builder, I don’t need to be lifted into the stratosphere and have a teeny-tiny bed! I want to be able to fit an entire sheet of plywood in the bed and two people in the cab… ideally without having to hoist myself up into the seat!
Tools! With the exception of a few big power tools like a table saw or miter saw, where the new safety features make it worthwhile, I get everything I can used. I prefer stuff passed down from family with sentimental value, but I get a lot of my tools from Everything is Free, junk stores, yard sales, estate clean outs, swap shops etc.
Older tools tend to be simpler, easier to fix, and remarkably sturdy. I’ve read that the metallurgy wasn’t as good sixty+ years ago so they overbuilt them a bit to compensate, and then decades of use weaned out the weaker ones, so anything left still working is basically survivorship-bias guaranteed. I’ve got a drill press that’s been in the family for four generations and will probably outlast my grandkids.
They’re cheaper, sturdier, easier to fix, generally well-documented online (sometimes better than the new stuff), and they don’t come with sheaves of unnecessary styrofoam and plastic packaging. And they have history and stories in them, even if I don’t always know what those stories are.
Definitely most furniture (i.e., without cushions so you avoid bed bugs). New furniture is incredibly expensive and (seems to be) lower quality. Second hand furniture can still be expensive but it’s usually heavily discounted, especially if someone is trying to get rid of it quickly.
Local thrift shops are a good option of course, but also try garage/yard sales, Craigslist, OfferUp, etc. If your area has estate sales you can find some pretty killer deals on good furniture there too.
Man it just gets dumber the more times I read what you said. I hope you’re at least self aware enough that you don’t consider yourself an intellectual on any level.
Maybe I’d feel differently if I’d read their comment (they deleted it), but that seems a touch harsh. By their comments they don’t seem like a bad person. Maybe it’s just because we’re from the same instance, and I’m not especially smart
Why? Most people are not intellectuals. Lord knows I’m not. But way too many people consider themselves above the curve for intelligence and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with pointing that out.
Then I misunderstood. I thought you meant it as a put down.
Yes, not many of us are intellectuals, it’s true. I still prefer to assume goodwill or a bad day from posters that otherwise seem pretty cool. Treat it as a learning opportunity kind of thing.
gonna suck when those underwear, sheets, towels get huge holes in them. gonna make their own soap, shampoo, and deodorant? how bout medications, not buying any of those? subway, L, bus tokens? gasoline? bicycles? shoes? smartphones? lol. this should be interesting to watch.
Completely agree that making things yourself is a good idea. Food is probably the easiest, as almost all places to live have an entire room with equipment for making and storing food.
Disagree about going to any “prepper” meetups, unless you want to listen to angry people rant about “the government” when they’re really just upset at their ex-wives. Very few preppers learn how to do anything themselves. Buying a pallet of bottled water and a generator is not helping the world.
Just don’t mention that it’s what makes the stock market go round or people lose their shit when they realize you can’t retire at 65 by magically making money from hoarding it through compound interest.
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