Disposable society

Do you also think that, despite all our recycling efforts, the value placed on repairs, mending, and fixing things is still too low in our throwaway society? And the same goes for the value of handicrafts in general—I mean, who actually knits, crochets, or sews if they don’t enjoy doing those things?
Nobody does that just to have something to wear. If that’s all it’s about, you’ve got the biggest selection in stores.
You’ve got to enjoy crafts, after all.

Hello Clara,
I wouldn’t say that the value placed on it is “still too low,” but rather that it used to be higher than it is now.

Handicrafts aren’t exactly a cheap hobby—you have to buy yarn, fabric, knitting needles, patterns, etc., and time is money, so to speak.
So handmade clothes, decorative items, or bags aren’t necessarily cheaper than store-bought ones. But they’re your own creations.

Yeah, throwing things away really rubs me the wrong way, too—a new cell phone is much cheaper than repairing the broken one, even though there are some insanely expensive parts inside???
I don’t quite get that!!!

What I really like about DIY is the fact that they’re usually one-of-a-kind, and people sometimes even ask you about them.

That’s exactly what I think too, Faltenstirn.

Cell phones are a different matter. The finished phones come off the assembly line
, but with broken phones, someone who knows what they’re doing has to look at them individually, and that of course takes time. And apparently time is much more expensive than the expensive parts inside the phone.

I really don’t like this obsession with trends. What do you gain from being totally trendy if it makes you look like everyone else? Because you wear—or carry around—the exact same “building blocks” in terms of clothes, cell phones, etc. as everyone else.
Trends and individuality cancel each other out. Unless, of course, you’re a trendsetter and create your own trends as a pioneer; then of course that’s something different.

Do you know that skinny-jeans trend that everyone has to have now?
I don’t like wearing those things because I’ve got a nice little spare tire around my hips, and that will only go away if I start dieting extremely or if my bust disappears completely, and then I’d get a yo-yo effect, and that’s not the point. I’d rather keep my spare tire. Besides, those things sit more or less halfway below the hips; I prefer trousers with a slightly higher waist.

Anyway, I read something that went roughly like this: Buy skinny jeans, keep your boyfriend, be totally on trend—
because all the jerkers are wearing skinny jeans now.

I’m over 30 and first had to look up what jerkers are ;) it’s a kind of rap dance.
Googling is educational :)

I realize that certain clothes or status symbols can express your belonging to a particular social group or show your status in life to the outside world.
But still. You don’t necessarily have to have what everyone else has just so you can have it too.

Making or having something of your own, even something you made yourself, is sometimes really nicer.
Even if, for example, I wouldn’t think of sewing my own jeans or growing my own vegetables. I don’t have the know-how or my own garden for that. But for my own colorful, pretty, fluffy, hand-crocheted scarf for the winter—that’s enough, if I keep at the crocheting :)

@Faltenstirn
I hope you get lots of compliments on your handmade things :)

The whole point of a trend is that as many people as possible get involved. That’s how art is expressed, and the consumer becomes part of that art at the same time. Fashion like that always reflects the spirit of the times—it’s part of culture and art history.

I see myself as an artist (as a hobby). Consuming ready-made art just isn’t my thing. That’s why I don’t pay any attention to fashion or trends.

I actually sewed a pair of jeans once. They were my favorite pair—I’d worn them for a long time, and they were no longer available anywhere. So I sewed a replica for myself. These days, though, I no longer have a sewing machine, and instead of buying my own expensive equipment, I’d rather hire a tailor.

I’ve noticed that computer repair shops in my area have declined significantly. Every one I used to know is now closed. Some things are also changing for the better. Manufacturers are once again paying more attention to repairability during the production of devices—and in some cases, this is even legally enforced. Unfortunately, most companies still rely on planned obsolescence. It’s also been legally established that consumers are allowed to repair and modify items for their own use. Unfortunately, that’s a bit vague—I can’t remember the details anymore.

Otherwise, though, there are plenty of “5-minute” repair shops and alteration tailors.

Upcycling and recycling are at least generating a lot of interest, even among people who aren’t at all interested in knitting. People love to discuss these kinds of ideas. That brightly colored sweater from my childhood is made of microfiber. I can easily unravel it and turn it into something new. I just can’t find it right now—I’m really keen on the wool.

What motivates me most about handicrafts is seeing how something gradually improves. I make it myself, so I’m able to repair it, alter it, or improve it. I’d like to knit more in the future and develop my own style.

I’ve been sewing all my own clothes for over 30 years, from underwear to jeans, tops like T-shirts and blouses, and even normal elegant fabric trousers. I’d be totally overwhelmed in a clothing store. ;-) :-) However, I also sew because I’m crooked, so I either painstakingly alter bought sewing patterns myself or create the pattern myself from scratch. I already have two summer jersey fabrics lying around that are meant to become trousers and tops, BUT before I start on those I need to be measured again, because my posture has changed again. Thank goodness my oldest daughter is also a dressmaker and can measure me properly.
But I know how it is: people come up to me and ask, can you just quickly...? I always say, yes, maybe die, but with “can you just quickly,” nothing works at all, at least not with sewing, and three times less with knitting!
I also get approached about it very often; it even happened to me once that a lady from our village wanted to buy the jacket I was wearing right off my back, but I kept my mouth shut. :-) Because that particular lady always had her nose in the air and thought she was the trendsetter in the village, and I was wearing a jacket in a style she had been looking for for a long time and couldn’t find anywhere. She said to me, “Sell me this jacket now, because I can’t stand it when someone is wearing something I want.” Oof, with that tone, absolutely not; I kept the jacket until it was no longer wearable and then sewed bags from the pieces :-) I don’t sew for strangers anymore at all; it only brings stress and trouble, even if you keep written minutes during the discussion, and I’m now at an age where I don’t feel like it anymore. The only ones outside the family I sew for are our children’s food bank, and they value what I give them

Best, Inge

It’s not exactly easy to be mindful of our resources, either. No one likes to throw things away when they could still be repaired, but who’s going to fix them? There aren’t any repair shops like that around here at all. There’s a local appliance dealer nearby (not one of the big chains) that still repairs washing machines, but they don’t fix vacuum cleaners anymore.
Today’s TVs aren’t repaired at all anymore, and the cell phone repair shops that used to exist have all disappeared.
When I make things by hand for myself, it’s a hobby—the joy of creating one-of-a-kind pieces, the fun of knitting socks, and so on—but that doesn’t have anything to do with sustainability yet. Whether I buy a ready-made shirt or the fabric and sew it myself, it uses the same amount of fabric to begin with. But how I handle it could lead to sustainability, because with something I’ve made myself, I know how much work went into it and might therefore use it longer.
I’ve never had to chase trends, and now more than ever, I certainly don’t. I might be able to understand it with teenagers—they do want to belong to certain groups—but eventually they’ll grow up, and by then at the latest, they should have developed enough backbone that they no longer need that. It doesn’t really work, as I see time and again, but I just can’t wrap my head around it.
How can some little influencer tell me what suits me or doesn’t? I know that best myself.

When I read about what’s supposedly meant to look good on short women—I’d first have to grow 10 cm and lose 20 kg.
That’s on the topic of “what suits me or doesn’t” @Veronika.

I’ve never really followed trends.
If I happened to like them, I went along with them—if not, then I didn’t.

That’s how it is—I’m way too short for my dress size, too. 🤣
But aside from that, there are some things I just don’t like at all, even if they’d suit my figure. Do you guys remember those blouses with all that frilly stuff on the front? You’d never have been able to get me into one of those—just not my thing at all.

And then there’s ironing all that frilly stuff…
I don’t care about fashion or trends. I buy what I like. If someone doesn’t like it, they don’t have to look at me. I let others walk around with their own tastes, too.

You can still take old cell phones to the recycling center to be dismantled.

A new dishwasher ran exactly three times, then it started rattling as if a Lanz Bulldog were driving through the kitchen. The appliance was replaced with a new one because repairing the pump is more expensive than buying a new one. The defective appliance is thrown away (according to the technicians). That can’t possibly be true.

What really upsets me is stuff like this:


So much waste for seven pills. That really isn’t necessary! With some packaging, you almost break your fingers trying to squeeze the pills out, or the pills end up crumbled because it’s so hard to get them out.

Why aren’t pills sold in those little glass or plastic vials anymore? I used to use them to store small items like buttons or even needles, and I still have them today.

Fortunately, repairing, mending, or patching clothes is becoming more and more fashionable thanks to the “trend” (that’s what it is, after all 😉) toward sustainability and conserving resources.
I remember how embarrassed I used to be about my jeans with patches on the knees—and even worse when my mom sewed something onto the bottoms of my pants to make them longer. It always had a whiff of poverty and/or “you just can’t do any better.” 
Today, so to speak, anything goes, and there are really stylish ways to patch holes or give them a stylish makeover. I’m always happy when my grown-up kids bring me things to repair. I’d be even happier, though, if they’d just do it themselves 😄. 

I’ve also been getting annoyed about the pill strips for a while now. The little bottles haven’t been around for a long time, but for a long time there were blister packs with 25 pills, one right next to the other. But recently, some have switched to this 7-pill nonsense.

Well, the idea of 7-tablet strips isn’t entirely without merit either.
 If I have to take one tablet every day, I can see right away whether I’ve already taken it today or not.
 This is often helpful, especially for older people or those who have to take many different medications. 
However, the blister packs could be made smaller overall.