#antihaul

September Anti-Haul!

For those of you who don’t know, an anti-haul is a list of items and practices not to partake in. My goal is to do one anti-haul each month!

Free t-shirts. So many events, non-profit organizations, and festivals have free t-shirts with their logo or a slogan on them. They are cheaply and unethically made; they are often supposed to be single use, as in only for that single event; and finally, they are often covered in advertising. Not. Great.

Free samples. Many grocery stores in the US have free sample bins scattered around the aisles. The samples are individually wrapped in plastic. You eat the little bit of food and INSTANTLY throw the plastic away. Single, 5-second use, and that plastic cup is on the earth for👏🏻ever👏🏻

This one should be obvious, but vending machine food. Not only is it disgustingly unhealthy and overpriced, but it is all individually wrapped in plastic wrappers. No thank you.

In a similar vein from number 1, free flyers. While paper is recycleable and compostable, paper is made from trees, takes massive amounts of energy to produce, takes energy to print, etc. etc. If you need the information on the flyer, snap a photo. I know you have your phones on you.

BOGO. Do you really need two?

Hello there! Yes this is my whole bts haul. It consists entirelly of:

New black ink

A bookstand

A bottle cleaner

Two new succulents (the bottom ones)

Because usually, you don‘t really need as much stuff as you buy at the beginning of a new school year. This year I wanted to focus on this, because I used to buy a lot of stationary at the start of a new schoolyear and many other studyblrs do the same. So here are some tips on how to avoid that this year and also save some money:

Sort trough your stuff from last year and sort out carefully: Are you sure that pencil is to short to use again? Is that folder really broken or does it just habe a few unaesthetic fold marks? Can you repair this with some Gaffa (our lord and saviour) instead of throwing it away? Are you really shure you won‘t need that again?

Write a list on what you will need next year and don‘t yet have. Important while doing this: Do you really need this or is it just for aesthetic purposes? Do you really need to buy this now or can it wait? Stationery is usually more expensive at the start of a schoolyear than later on. Also some of the things you needed last year may not even need to be replased because you won‘t need them in the next schoolyear. Do you not have any of it left? I know it‘s easy to buy replacements when you are shure something will run out soon. But most things don‘t run out as soon as we expect them to. I would only advise you to have one replacement of things that you run out of and can‘t go a day without (for example ink)

Check if you can get it used! This can mean multiple things. As a first step I advise you to ask friends and family: I am getting multiple folders from a friend who just finished school. This saved me money and the environment resources. Win win! I also noticed that my mom already had a hole puncher we coud share .Then check if there are any second hand or thrift shops in your area. There you might get many multiple use things like folders, bookstands, sharpenes etc... If there‘s still stuff on your list, then it‘s time to go shopping!

Buy in shops not online! This is especially important from a social and ecological standpoint. Buying in your town or area strenghtens the local shops instead of giving money to huge companies (please don‘t buy at amazon guys, just google all the shit they do as a company) Also you can avoid a lot of packaging while buying in rl (I will come back to this). You can also compare prizes and sizes better than in an online shop.

Don‘t buy things because they’re from a special brand! I know this is hard for many studyblrs to hear, but a product is not just better because it has a brand on it. Look out for things where the price you pay is for quality and not just brand (counts for everything in life, not just stationery)

Look out for reusable and quality products! Plastic free if possible! This is good for nature and your wallet! Reusable things might be a little more expensive at the start, but they will last you much longer, and in the end you will have saved money. Avoid plastic if possible, and inform youself how to replace markers, rulers, pens and more in a plastic free way. Yes that make take sone time, but it‘s so worth it. We sll want to live on this earth without it being covered in plastic! In calendars and college blocks keep an eye out for recycelt products. The paper will not be as white and aesthetic, but it‘s really not that much of a difference and also cheaper.

Buy something that brings you joy! I suggest a plant, but it could also be that more expensive violet ink, or the beautiful mug you spottet in the shop. It should be something that can motivate you the whole year round.

I know not all of this is possible for everyone. Especially if you don’t live near a city, buying in shops will be hard, and maybe your city doesn’t offer a lot of plastic free options. But we need to stop romanticizing hauls. They are not a good thing. Yes, sometimes we need to buy new things. But some people buy whole baskets of things they don‘t really need, made by underpaid workers in a not environmentally good way. Let‘s pleace stop celebrating this.

Let‘s make this years studyblr a little more environmentally friendly than last years🌱

Oh, the internet. A dangerous tool that entices us to open our wallets and buy things we think we need but will get no use out of. Today’s theme is clothes. Don’t get me wrong, I always have a use for clothes, but I need to have the lifestyle to wear everything in my closet. There is a difference between thinking you need something and needing it. When you buy something and do not wear it, it is…