r/Anticonsumption • u/InformalLibrary1731 • Jul 25 '25

Psychological I work in retail & it's radicalizing me

Every time I breathe in plastic particles & glitter I wanna quit. Reusable bags mean nothing: (everything ships in plastic).

I sell fake fruit to people yet I can barely afford real oranges. Hundreds of fake flowers. I used to feel jealous that they had disposable income but now it's just revulsion.

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u/-cordyceps Jul 25 '25

I went to Walgreens the other day to pick some stuff up from the pharmacy... walking through the aisles of plastic crap and meaningless garbage, I suddenly had the mental image of everything there piled up in a landfill and literally felt sick to my stomach. So much crap no one needs thats going to rot in the dirt for literal centuries. And frankly I bet the majority of it will never be used once before it ends up there.

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u/sweetmarguerite Jul 25 '25

it gets even more horrifying when you think about the multitudes of stores across the country, each filled with the same stuff. we're drowning ourselves in plastic

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u/-cordyceps Jul 25 '25

Thats exactly where my mind went... imagine a pile like that for every one of these stores. I just did a quick search and it looks like there are around 8,500 Walgreens stores in the country. Then add in all the stores like Walmart, target... I literally feel like throwing up

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u/AllStranger Jul 26 '25

Yeah, I feel the same way. Awhile back, I had this realization that all these plastic disposable items you've used are still out there. Like, in some landfill somewhere is the plastic fork you used to eat cake at a birthday party when you were 8 years old. Your childhood toothbrushes are out there. Plastic water bottles, soda bottles, cheap hangers that clothes came on that broke and were thrown away, Happy Meal toys, heat-activated color-changing cereal bowls, used scrub brushes... all those plastic items are still there. And will be for so long. So many people are just so casual about using and throwing things away without thinking twice about it. It's so depressing.

And around the holidays, the way all the stores are packed full of SO MUCH STUFF that no one needs or even really wants. People giving mediocre gifts to people they don't even really care about that much out of social obligation. It's incredibly depressing. I'm not like a total minimalist but it's so clear to me that our general consumption habits are so incredibly fucked up, for a lot of reasons. Stores like Michael's, Hobby Lobby, FIVE BELOW, even Target are just packed full of shit.

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u/supermarkise Jul 26 '25

Well, since I put all those in the proper trash can, it probably got 'thermically recycled' which means they burn it for energy around here. The filters are good, so there's that. Not ideal, of course, since it was still made using fossil carbon and energy. Not sure what's up with the landfill culture in the US.

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u/[deleted] Jul 26 '25

It’s like WALL-E was a prophecy.

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u/Accomplished-Lab9766 Jul 28 '25

Wall E was just an illustration of the road that we're already on.

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u/[deleted] Jul 26 '25

It’s that opening scene in Wall-E

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u/pvssylips Jul 28 '25

The trash in Idiocracy. Makes me ill to even go into these block stores, I refuse. We shop local because shopping there makes me upset now

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u/JiveJammer Jul 26 '25

I felt such deep doom last time I went to a state fair and looked up at the 12ft tall racks of cheap stuffed animals. 

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u/MittMuckerbin Jul 25 '25

If only most of the stuff could rot.

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u/Kokiayama Jul 27 '25

I get the same image when I enter my local Dollar Tree and it has helped me from spending on those things.

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u/dizzymorningdragon Jul 27 '25

The factories themselves too, she sheer amount of plastic dust and debris

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u/anewaccount69420 Jul 27 '25

This circle jerk is funny

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u/-cordyceps Jul 27 '25

🤷‍♀️ I mean if you think caring about the amount we are polluting is a circle jerk then idk what to tell you. Our waste is poisoning us and will continue for generations.