While I rearranged my T-shirt drawer instead of writing this newsletter, I mulled over a couple of gently relevant stats: more than a million tonnes of new textiles are sold each year in the UK, while at the same time, almost 730,000 tonnes of textiles are sent to landfill or incinerated. Looking at my swill of ugly crop tees, I could see why.
We’re terrible at shopping. Our enthusiasm is totally out of proportion with our ability. Maybe your judgment is better than most, given that you’ve subscribed to this missive from the Filter. But I’ve made more than a few shocking buys over the years. Getting older helped – not least because I don’t care as much about going out and fitting in – but my job has done even more to kill the impulse buying habit. Testing products has given me a respect for quality.
We love a bargain here at the Filter, but not if it’s a false economy for either your bank balance or your carbon footprint. I recently tested mattresses, which range in price from £200 to four figures, and it’s been obvious that investing in quality makes more sense than buying a cheap mattress that’ll be in landfill before you can say “bargain”. My colleagues’ reviews have helped me avoid more than a few bad buys in all manner of categories – and I hope they’ve helped you, too. I’ve also learned a few tricks to curb my impulse buying even further.
Buy better
My first tip is counterintuitive: spend more on individual items. This isn’t just about durability: it makes you value them more, to the extent that you may have them repaired rather than throwing them away. They’re also likely to be better made. Clothes are the most obvious example. When I bought my winter coat 28 years ago, I felt horrible about spending £200 on a single item, but I adored it – and still do. Having it dry cleaned is like an annual vet checkup for a beloved pet. I value it far beyond that £200.
But in that time I’ve frittered away thousands on bargain garments that fade, warp and never quite fit – because hey, they only cost a few quid a pop. Cheap clothes are like diet foods. They’re nearly “free”, so you go back for more and more without ever feeling satisfied. One great tip to avoid this is to learn about how fast fashion is made and where it ends up. You will buy less of it, believe me – or at least you’ll turn your attention to local manufacturers and small businesses (hey, if it’s good enough for Billie Eilish).
Haste makes waste
Online shopping has made it even easier to buy on impulse, so again try a couple of tricks. Gifts, gadgets and homewares are now a click away, often with free delivery and absolutely loaded with hidden ethical and environmental costs. Amazon is hardly a beacon of morality but its “Save for later” button has helped me avoid many a wasteful purchase – and you can apply the same principle to any website you happen to be shopping from, simply by bookmarking pages in a “save for later” folder. Make shopping lists, online or off, and stick to them. If you’re shopping in person, take a photo of any item you feel an unplanned itch to buy, then wait a day or two and see if you still want it.
Anyway, must get back to the T-shirt drawer rearranging. The single most effective way to avoid pointless spending on clothes is to remind yourself what you already have. Go through it all and sort it into “keep” and “donate” piles. The stuff you bought for the person you were 20 years ago? Donate. The stuff you might be able to fit into one day? Donate. Charities such as Oxfam and the British Heart Foundation will even pay the postage for you. You may not achieve total affluenza immunity, but it’ll boost your mood and may even help someone out.
This week’s picks
Editor’s pick
Few buys are more important than the mattress you sleep on every night. So we’ve taken our duty to assess them very seriously indeed. After months of testing – involving a panel of different sleepers, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, sleep trackers, infrared thermometers and, um, our tester’s husband’s bottom – we’re finally confident to give you our rundown of the best mattresses out there.
Monica Horridge
Deputy editor, the Filter
In case you missed it …
With temperatures plummeting across the UK, the Filter’s favourite cold-weather essentials will keep you toasty – whether you want to get outside with warm winter outerwear or cosy up on the sofa with a heated throw (that’s cheaper to run than the central heating).
Get involved
Do you have something that isn’t quite doing its job, but you can’t bear to throw away? It could be an expensive suitcase with a wonky wheel, a beloved armchair with saggy springs, or a favourite jumper that’s gone bobbly. If so, we’d love to hear from you for a new advice column. We’d also love to hear how you look after your own things to make them last longer, from your shoes to your coffee machine.
Send us your questions by emailing us at thefilter@theguardian.com.
