Ask Lemmy

Myself, I am becoming as much "anti-consumption" as possible. I am removing myself from capitalism, as much as possible.

I still have to eat, of course, so I buy food. But I don't buy food from corporations. As an example, I don't buy anything from Nestle, nor from any big corporations. Gadgets and tech, I will be avoiding as much as possible, and if I do find myself needing to buy, I will do so but not from the usual corporations.

Social networks: only lemmy and mastodon sometimes. Fuck reddit and instagram and facebook. Don't have an account there and never will. I don't go there anymore.

I try to keep a "solarpunk" attitude. I do things for the good of the environment. I do/will-be-doing things such as composting, reducing the use of plastic, avoiding cars.

I am also trying to get people on board with my view of things, but I haven't been much successful. I think principled people are very rare. People just don't care.

I’ve concluded that with personal boycotts, perfect is the enemy of good. Time was I’d decide to boycott someone like Nestle but then fall off the wagon when I had a Smarties craving and then just sort of stop doing the rest of it.

So now I take the approach of trying to look for an alternative, but if I can’t find it then I won’t beat myself up about it, I’ll keep trying tomorrow. It’s not great but it’s better than what I was doing before.

That said, it wasn’t at all difficult to cut all the US grocery brands out of my shopping when Trump started his tariff bullshit, cause it’s all hyper-processed artificially coloured crap to begin with.

I'm loving those around me and feeling empathy for everyone on the planet even harder. They can throw me in a concentration camp or kill me, but they can't make me not love.

I’m here, for starters.

I’ve been systematically removing as many parts of myself from the corporate internet over the course of years. So far I’ve managed to drop:

• Facebook
• GMail
• Netflix
• Reddit
• Windows
• Prime
• HBO

I still have some stragglers, like YouTube, that I doubt will go anytime soon, but for the most part, I don’t have to deal with:

• Dark patterns
• Advertisements
• Anti-features (updates that remove functionality)
• FOMO
• Advertisements again
• Advertisements a third time

Really, I just do not like being advertised to, and outside YouTube sponsorships, which can be skipped, I can go whole days without ever coming across an ad on the internet, and even that feels high.

On top of all this, I’ve massively reduced my data collection footprint, meaning there’s far less info available to said advertisers and data collectors that they can use to manipulate me.

I don't buy stuff. I haven't bought clothes in 5+ years (new or thrifted). I pirate epubs, games, shows, and movies. I don't have any monthly subscription--no Deezer, Netflix, AppleSomething, Amazon, nothing. I grow 90% of the veggies I eat, most of the fruit. I trade for meat and bread.
I've never used Uber, UberEats, Doordash, AirB&B, or any of their competitors.
I'm happy.

Does not dying of cancer out of spite count?

I decided to move away from big american tech companies. When I started, the hardest part was finding an alternative to Google Maps.

I decided to be the change I want to see and have been contributing to OpenStreetMap nearly every day for 5 years as I update my local community.

Never in my life have I given 2 week's notice. If they can fire me without warning I can quit whenever the fuck I feel like it.

Working on Lemmy, instead of selling my soul to a company.

I put solar panels and battery storage on my house because my local utility is a publicly traded group of thieves. As much of the system as possible has been bought used except for the batteries.

In that, I buy used as much as possible. Fuck buying new, let someone else buy that 1100 dollar phone I'll buy it on ebay 2 years later for half that.

I deleted my Amazon and am currently de-googling the best I can.

I repair hardware where possible , buy second hand tech. Sail the seas. Running a tor relay. Only buy out of necessity

Not workin and not having kids to force them into wage servitude, now into the climate hellhole we're creating.

I haven't bought anything from Amazon, Costco, Wal-Mart, big box stores for at least 5 years now. I will also never be getting anything from places like Temu.

As well, I try to make almost all my food, shopping, etc choices to benefit something small, or someone local, that needs my money more than things that further drive the Machine in the end.

Just not buying new shit anymore unless it is something I need. And then? The cheap one. And I will make it last until it screeches out its last death rattle. I even swapped to scrubs so I can wear the same outfit every day.

Started a mutual aid group in our small town. Mostly deals with some local agriculture etc but hoping to expand it to more community needs etc. Trying to make the local community more resilient in turbulent times

I'm doing what I can, as small an impact as it has. I've become much more aware of what I buy, use, and consume. I've begun to repair things instead of just buying new replacements, I don't buy American whenever possible, and I don't use any AI at all. I've completely cut out Google, Microsoft, Apple, Meta, Amazon, Reddit, any streaming service and any social media except the Fediverse, and of course nothing from Musk.

However, the biggest impact I've been able to make has been getting a couple people to re-think what they consume from fascist-enabling big tech companies. Small wins.

I cycle and don't own a car. I will not be registered or licensed to move around under my own power. Do as much bike maintenance myself as I can.

I even brew my own mead

Take that, Big Food Processor! I don't play by your rules.

Stopping buying things new.

I quit commercial Social Media and am only here and on Mastodon. So I'm not spending my time at Facebook, X, TikTok and so on anymore where they can show me ads and make money from them. I've moved most of my online stuff to a selfhosted solution and switched my computers to Linux.

The most impactful thing is something different, however: I put solar on my roof. Most of my power consumption is now from solar, which means that all those texan oil barons, saudi sheiks and russian dictators that are funding Trump, are getting less money from me. That are over 1000€ every year that I'm saving and that is not going into their pockets. And it is good for the environment, too!

Moved out of the US, legally stopped paying earned income taxes using the FEIE via physical presence test, an IRS procedure that allows you not to pay taxes if you live outside of the US for 330 or more days out of 365 consecutive days including the day you pay taxes.

Mostly just leaning hard into ad blocking extensions and apps.

aligning my focus back to art, people, listening, empathy, understanding,

(versus the separation they want us to live, and away from the phone that stole so much time from me)

adblocking, barely buying, if buying then second hand, gifting stuff in sharing is caring groups,

praying, staying kind and calm, spending time in nature, staying healthy

I don’t shop if i can help it. I buy used whenever possible and repair things even when the cost is almost the same as replacement. when i do have to shop, i favour small local businesses. i also avoid american goods and services like the plague.

Similar to what OP is doing - minimizing consumption as much as I can, and being selective with sources when I have to. If I need something, I try to buy used first.

This includes, but is not limited to, avoiding US products and services. I still have investments, but try to focus on ESG as much as possible (though I'm aware that participating in stock markets etc is problematic in itself, but I don't have a lot of choice in the matter).

I'm also trying to move away from a profit/monetary value maximizing mindset, and want to focus on sustainability, durability and social benefits.

In reality, these are all goals that I often fall short of. But I want to keep trying and get better.

Fix things and keep them, fix things and sell them on the secondhand market, or fix things owned by friends who have broken things. By applying my technical knowledge to repairing computers, appliances, tools, furniture, plumbing, I'm building my own self-sustainability, I'm enabling others to avoid buying new things and instead spend their money in better ways, I'm networking with people who have skills that I lack, I'm denying the manufacturers the revenue they would get if there wasn't someone like me to fix their shit, and I'm denying the govt the taxes involved in new purchases and income tax on my secondhand sales, and I'm denying the voracious landfill of its tasty, tasty whitegoods.

Ive started saving and only buy what i need, when needed

Mostly i buy real food, so no processed foods like corn flakes or whatever. So i avoid those asshole companies, like nestle, kelloggs etc

Clothing, here i just buy what i like.. but i buy it from good reputable brands, and if possible from local stores (i live in a tiny town but i try!)

As for electronics things are .. well impossible. So here i buy less often. I upgraded my pc this summer of 2025, and i replaced one from 2017. I hope my new one can last roughly as long. We will see (i buy somewhat high end when i do buy, because I want it for a long time)

I dont have a car currently

All the savings i can manage based on this, is going towards a house, so i dont have to rent. Though I currently dont rent from a “landlord” but more like a housing association which helps keep costs down. We are quite a bit below the avg rent price currently.

I work for a large non profit owned business, which i like

Replaced Visa/Mastercard with local payment methods and cash. No practical change whatsoever in terms of convenience, was unexpected.

All Linux. No Amazon. Support local. Hosting my own pages, servers and not using online clouds. Changing habits on what sites to use to avoid AWS where possible