10 things i don`t buy anymore to save money and the environment

1-Brands

I stopped buying brands because i don`t see the point paying more money for a product just because its on tv. I make exceptions for products that don`t have a good knockoff, most products do tho. In germany we have Aldi and LIDL, so we get good variety of generic products. Why pay the triple amount of money for a cleaning product when a cheap one does the same trick. Same goes for toiletpaper and other householdstaples. 

2-veggies and fruits out of season 

You`ll find every sort of fruit in the supermarked at any time, strawberries in winter, pumpkins in spring and so on. There is no limit of what you can get, it doesn`t matter what season it is, you can have it, but for what cost. It get`s flown in, harvested unriped sealed in little plasticcontainers and the taste is horrible. Strawberries in january never taste like good strawberries, apples flown in from the other side of the world because your appleseason was 3 months ago. Blueberries from china because it`s not autumn yet. Those products cost a lot of money and they taste like fruitinfused water. Plus it takes a huge toll on the environment to fly these things around the world.   

3-coffee pads or keurig 

I deeply despise the packaging of keurig cups and coffee pads. But that is not the reason why i don`t buy them and why i got rid od my padmachine. The reason why i don`t want them in my house is the overpriced coffee. Those coffees cost up to $80 a kilo, for a less then mediocre coffee, for $80 per kilo i could buy handpicked eco friendly coffee whose coffeebeans have gotten lullabys from the farmers every evening.

4-massproduced decoration

We have tons of those cheap dollarstores. Want some vintage looking lamp or some zebra cushions. You`ll find all that your heart desires when it comes to decoration, it`s the Ikea effect. Coming into a strangers place and realizing you got the same desertprint, the same plastic orchids and the same wooden pictureframes. And it`s so cheap, so why stick to something, you could literally replace all decoration with a few bucks on a yearly or monthly base. That`s the issue and why i don`t buy it anymore, it`s so cheap and often poorly made so we don`t stick to it. I stopped buying christmas decoration after i saw how it was produced all year around in some third world country. Kids as young as 10 spent each day spraying glitter on angels, santa clauses and so on. After that i started making my own decoration and looking around in small local stores to find handmade german products. I buy way less but the things i buy, i cherish. 

5-coffe to go 

There is not much to say about it, it`s crap. The coffee is crap the cups are shitty for the environment and it`s way to expensive. I don`t know anyone who buys black coffee to go, because it tastes so horrible, you have to add milk sugar or syrups to make it drinkable. No matter where you are. I think there is a conspiracy to only sell crappy coffee to go. If there is anyone who can confirm that, leave me a message. 

6-presliced fruits or veggies 

To much plastic wrap and to `lil for my money. Presliced apples are easy 4 times the price of a normal apple. I know they are very conviniant and easy to use, but why not have a normal apple and cut it at home. Cut some carrots at home you`ll save money and the environment. 

7-bottled water

I am fortunate to live in a place where my tapwater is drinkingwater, so we just drink tapwater. Bottled water is often overpriced and the plastic bottles are hard to recycle.   

8-most beauty products

I don`t believe the promises of the beautyindustry. There is no cream that will make me age less, or make my wrinkles dissapear. I believe in what my dermatologist said, drinking water helps more then any cream ever will. Also there is no need for tons of eyeshadows and foundations.   I utterly despise the packaging of those products, small tiny amounts put in massive glas or plastic jars, and put in even bigger boxes. When you start reading the label and realize how little they have in their products, it makes you wonder why they want so much money for it.   I buy my cream from an eco friendly company, that is actually cheaper then the most known beauty companies. The packaging is simple, functional and the cream is good quality, plus they don`t have highly photoshopped celebrities in ads. 

9-styletrends 

I stopped following styletrends a few years ago, when i was a child there was 4 new seasons for clothings. Today the stores push out new styles and trends on a weekly base, sales all over the year. And the sad reality is, the quality of those clothings has sunk rapidly in the last decade. These clothings are not meant to last, they are meant to be worn, washed a few times and then thrown away, so you can buy the next new trend. It`s a huge waste of money in the longrun. Better quality is more expensive but will last so much longer. But be aware, expensive doesn`t equal quality, let`s not forget that kanye got a  white simple t-shirt on the marked for $200. Do some research, find some styles you like, go thrifting or buy good quality even if it`s more expensive then a $5 shirt from Primark, you will save in the longrun.
 

10-magazines

 It`s simple, i have internet, why would i buy a magazine, that is printed on paper. It costs money is full of commercials and the articles are rarely worth the money. A magazine that doesn`t offer me an internet subscription is not worth my time anyway. On the other hand, i do miss the times when i could just use them to put my coffeemugs on.