Stuff: What You Already Have, What You Want, and What You Really Don’t Need
Drowning in debt while we suffocate the planet
I’m buried in stuff but I keep buying more stuff. Christmas is coming, so I keep shopping to give other people stuff. Do I need another Deadpool Bobblehead? No, of course not. Nobody needs a toy figurine of anyone or anything. We won’t starve without it. So why do we buy it?

You’ve probably heard me talk about how I grew up poor. We rinsed out the Parkay margarine bowls and lids and used them for food storage because Tupperware was beyond our price range. Our matching drinking glasses were recycled jelly jars. Most of my clothes came from the Goodwill thrift store. Who knew that being poor was environmentally friendly? Now, I have more dishes and clothes than I need.
Back in the previous century, if someone had suggested to any of us that we could sit on our sofas and order anything we desired and have it delivered to our door in a day or two, we would have told them they were insane. Even in the early days of the current century, we might have had the internet, but we were collectively dying of dysentery on the Oregon Trail (IYKYK), and online shopping didn’t exist.
We take for granted the ease of point and click shopping, but it was insidiously engineered to be easy. Big retailers like Amazon and Walmart worked hard to design their websites to make your shopping experience as quick and easy as possible. Want a new spatula? Add to cart and checkout. Your address and payment information are already saved to your account. Two days later, that spatula arrives at your front door. Surely, we have reached the pinnacle of human evolution.
Stop and think about that spatula/pair of shoes/bobblehead. Where did it come from and where does it go? Think about the manufacturing process, shipping to the warehouse, shipping to you. The people and resources involved in that whole chain of events. Think about what happened to your old spatula that snapped when you tried to scrape that burnt food out of your frying pan. You tossed it in your trash bag, then where did it go? Off to rot in a landfill.
What happened to that shirt you don’t like anymore, or the pants that never fit right? You donated them to charity, so you feel virtuous. But what did they do with them? Maybe those items were sold and raised needed funds. Or maybe they didn’t sell so they were bundled up and sent to a reseller who shipped them to needy individuals in foreign countries. You might imagine that your outdated Gucci blazer with shoulder pads is clothing someone in Ghana, but it’s far more likely to be washed up on the beach and polluting the water with microplastics.


Netflix has an eye-opening documentary called “Buy Now” in which the marketing tactics of modern retailers are exposed. They really are using psychology to try and lure us to buy more than we need. Not only is this disastrous for many of us financially, but it is destroying the planet. I urge you to watch it now.
You can watch the trailer here: Watch Buy Now: The Shopping Conspiracy | Netflix Official Site
The documentary “Buy Now” is narrated by Dr. Mara Einstein, the author of “Hoodwinked: How Marketers Use the Same Tactics as Cults.” Available in February of 2025. The description for this book, as it appears on Amazon, ironically, reads: “Powerhouse marketing expert, narrator of Netflix's Buy Now documentary, shows how today's biggest brands are using cult-like tactics to capture not just your wallet, but your devotion. From viral leggings to must-have apps, Dr. Mara Einstein exposes the hidden parallels between cult manipulation and modern marketing strategies in this eye-opening investigation. Drawing from her unique background as both a former MTV marketing executive and a respected media studies professor, she reveals how companies weaponize psychology to transform casual customers into devoted followers.”

After watching the documentary on Netflix, I look forward to reading the book when it comes out. The timing for the release of “Buy Now” coincided with Black Friday, and I watched it shortly after I did a lot of online holiday shopping during the “hottest sales of the year.” I felt rather foolish and guilty as I realized I didn’t need to buy more junk but I still did.
For the new year, I’m doubling down on my desire to be more environmentally friendly and fiscally conscious. First thing, I don’t need to keep adding money to the already overstuffed pockets of any billionaires. If I need something, I’m going to try to find it in my own community, hopefully at a small business where my consumer spending will support a family’s dreams of stability instead of a wealthy man’s dreams of a bigger rocket ship.
I’m a hopeless book addict, and I will never stop buying books since that does help to support authors. However, I’m going to try to buy directly from small presses or at least route my book purchases through bookshop.org instead of mega-retailers like Amazon or Barnes & Noble. If you set up an account on bookshop.org, you can choose an independent bookshop to receive a percentage of your purchase. This way, I can support my book habit and support a small bookstore in my community.
There are several small changes I’ve already made to be environmentally friendly. Instead of using liquid laundry detergent in big plastic jugs, I’ve switched to laundry sheets. Little sheets of compressed detergent go right in the washer and clean just as well as the liquid without the waste of the plastic jug, and they take up less room in the laundry room. It’s a double win! Some of the brands I’ve tried and like include Earth Breeze, Good Juju, and Grove. They all clean well. I have a subscription with Grove products, so I get mine shipped to me with the rest of my products.
Other small changes to my consumption include purchasing trash bags made from recycled plastic. Since trash bags are “final use” products, it makes sense to create them from plastic that’s already been used. Ditto for doggy poop bags. Earth Rated doggy bags are made from recycled plastic. I get both as part of my Grove subscription. I also get dinner napkins made from bamboo, with everything arriving together in one box to save on shipping.
Bathroom tissue is another final use product. During the pandemic, when the whole world was searching for toilet paper, I signed up to receive shipments of bathroom tissue made from recycled paper. It comes from a company called “Who Gives a Crap?” WGAC is a B corporation, which is a type of company that operates for the benefit of stakeholders such as employees and the larger community rather than simply for its shareholders. They donate 50% of their profits to help bring clean water and toilets to communities around the globe.
Check out their impact here: https://us.whogivesacrap.org/pages/our-impact
Each one of these product changes might seem small or gimmicky, but over time, they do have an impact. If more people mindfully selected consumer products based on their environmental and social contributions rather than shiny packaging, we might have a better chance of slowing down the rate of climate change.
I’m not one to make New Years resolutions, but I can try to implement small changes. In the coming year, I’m going to make an effort to only buy consumable products – food, medicine, cleaning supplies, and other similar items. I have enough clothes and shoes. And I certainly don’t need another Deadpool action figure. But maybe Dogpool?
If you watch “Buy Now” and decide that you do want to make an effort to live sustainably in the new year, check out Grove and Who Gives A Crap. I’ll give you my loyalty codes below. If you sign up using them, you’ll get $10 off your first order with WGAC and 30% off your first order with Grove. And I get credits toward future purchases, so it’s a win-win.
Who Gives A Crap Loyalty Link: https://whogivesacrap.mention-me.com/me/referee/registerko/167591152/667261512/er/8fe253f2386f06a1ec41ba1f8aec646b5f6a4f35/ol/cw
Please let me know if you have any sustainability practices that we all might be able to use to help save our planet and support each other in the coming year.
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Great post, Dawn. I love Netflix documentaries, and I'll check out Buy Now. I buy most of my clothes lately at ThredUp.com, an online thrift store. I sew, so I also sometimes repurpose local thrift store clothing. As for EarthBreeze, we used that until we learned it likely contains microplastics, so we switched to Tide in a cardboard box. Messy, but environmentally friendly. (Who knows--that may contain microplastics, too. Sometimes you can't win!)
I have used Who Gives a Crap for years and love it. I'm in the process of moving in with my daughter. Each time I move, I get rid of more stuff. It feels good.