What is your quiet act of defiance against consumerism and corporate greed?

This week I'm refurbishing a 15+ yr old computer which was stalling on windows 10 and got abandoned. Currently making a huge backup to an Icy box (the self built variant of a wd passport or similar).

On wednesday, a friend comes over and we're repasting the old i5. I might add some ram and a better but used cpu later which should give this thing another 10 yrs as a server. The mainboard is full of features and would accept a 4 core with 8 threads and 16 GBs of DDR3. Nothing to play recent games on but maaaaany docker containers will run on this baby! :)

Let me know what you're doing to spit on consumerism and built-for-the-landfill-economy.

Reminder: I made a petition on change.org to make consumer electronics manufacturers open their devices after they stop supporting them. Please sign it, your support is needed.

71 comments

I don't see any adverts. I only watch stuff with ads blocked, where I can't block them I don't use that service.
Given the widespread data collection going on, the way it's collected for advertising and then used for more sinister reasons, if we could all avoid all adverts as a collective boycott we'd fix a lot of social issues and internet problems.
Reason all the services are inserting adverts is because it's working.
- Very much, yes. I agree fully. But try to tell people they should stop viewing ads or install an ad blocker. They will make a ritual sacrifice out of you. It's always like life of brian when they all scream "he's the messiah". If it weren't so sad, it would actually be a lot of fun. :D
  
  I'm old enough to remember when there were only four TV channels, two of them advertising funded.
  I don't think it's an unreasonable model to fund a company that way, however the lack of transparency in the modern infrastructure gives the impression something is going on that they know we wouldn't be happy with if we knew.
  If your business can't function without keeping secrets I want nothing to do with it.
Just buying as little as possible. I take in electronics from my family (laptops/phones). I format the drives for them so they don't have to worry about that and in return I can use them or pass them on as I please.
- Thats neat! :) You have my respect!
My wife and I are spending as little money as possible this year.
I’ve been building out my server to replace as many enshittified websites/services/software as I can, and the server is an eight or so year old machine that I repurposed.
I bike for transportation as much as I can.
My wife and I heavily utilize our local library
We continue to look for new opportunities to give a middle finger to capitalism
- Thats the most awesome thing I heard today! Thank you so much for sharing this. I think you and your wife are awesome people and great role models. I wish more people were like you two! Congrats to being great! :)
I'm on a quest to make everything from scratch that I reasonably can. !homebrewing@sopuli.xyz my own beer and cider and other stuff. !sourdough@lemmy.world my own bread. !3dprinting@lemmy.world my own house ware organizers. (next up is recycling plastic bottles into filament!) I'm trying to incorporate walking where I used to drive. It's not easy, I'm in a typical American city, but I do what I can.
- Hang on, are you me? Lol
  If you're looking for a good summertime beverage, I'd like to point you to tepache. It's made from pineapple rind and sugar and only takes about 2 weeks to brew out. I recently brewed a batch with apples, pineapples, and bread yeast and the result was somewhere between a strong cider and a tropical punch with a nice golden color.
  
  I've made tepache twice and it suuuuucked. It smelled like if a barn had stinky feet.
  You added yeast? Everything I've seen says not to.
- Damn! Thats very cool! Have you considered making videos about it? People underestimate how much others can actually learn from them.
  
  I do a lot of the same stuff and people are constantly telling me I need to make videos. But they fail to realize.is that moment you decide to make videos you have to buy a whole lot of lighting gear and you will increase the amount of time it takes to do anything by at least eight fold when you figure in camera positioning and editing. Massively increases the mental and time load.
  
  I'd love to. I don't wanna be a content creator, but I'd love to make videos as a hobby. Sadly, it's too much time right now. Full time job, family, and making things from scratch leaves little time.
I buy local and independent. If I need something I can't get that way, I shoplift enough from whatever corporate giant has the thing I need to offset the purchase revenue.
I'm very active in the local mutual support and buy-nothing groups, meaning not only do I spend little on consumer purchases, my neighbors spend less, too.
- Thats crazy! I like it. I didnt know that this is actually a thing. Obviously, big media doesnt talk about it because it gives power to the people. Congrats to you for helping and sticking it to the man! :)
Make things even if it costs more than buying. This requires you to have access to a lot of tools. Especially in the kitchen.
If you hear an advertisement for something that is offering a discount larger than the amount you would actually pay for the item then never buy it from them.
Pay more for something that will last you the rest of your life.
Look for functional items at antique shops instead of buying a nearly identical item new.
Never buy physical media new unless it's literally your favorite band.
Learn to knit, sew. Even if you're buying yarn or fabric from a big corporation your handmade good will surpass fast fashion in quality and life span.
You don't need any merchandising from your favorite movie or comic book. Lego doesn't count because you can build other stuff.
Pawn shops and thrift stores are your friend. I guess this is a footnote to my first point.
Go through your library's website with a fine tooth comb to see what services and goods they offer. This conclude free streaming stuff or seed packets that are picked for your area or any number of other things other than books. And of course books.
- I've been living in a flat since I left Uni (where I lived in the dorms), so naturally I had to buy a garlic press. I couldn't find a good one - all plastic, or half plastic, or metal but definitely didn't look sturdy. After 2 years and a broken garlic press, I went looking and found what I would call The One. Instantly looked sturdy AF, all stainless, all steel, and it was only $40.
  I am almost positive this one will last me till the end of days.
  WMF Profi Plus
  
  That's how you do it. Well, how I did it. It was a mono-tasker so I dumped my garlic press. I either mince it by hand or if I need that juiced vibe I grate it. Rarely pestil and mortar because that means thoroughly cleaning that thing.
- Thats a lot of advice! Thank you very much.
  Quick question for clarification:
  What do you mean by never buying physical media? I‘m not contra piracy but I think that needs to me addressed.
  Thanks again. :)
  
  You don't need that vinyl disk. You don't need that CD. You don't need that DVD. You most certainly don't need that VHS. But if it's your favorite band then that's okay. Even if it's Nickelback. And if it turns out you really really can't be complete without owning Fight Club or Star Trek: Galaxy Quest (the best one, even better than The One With the Whales) then let the buy-used rules kick in. You can get a copy at a yard sale, thrift store, pawn shop. Well, maybe not a pawn shop. A lot of them won't buy DVDs anymore.
Privately becoming bitter and resentful instead of assassinating somebody.
- Boy howdy! Do I feel that.
Learn to repair a variety of things - sewing, soldering, basic woodworking and construction. Discover how things work so you can troubleshoot and assess if something is repairable. There are tonnes of books out there and plenty of YouTube videos.
Buy used. Broken, if you think you can fix it. Dumpster dive. Thrift everything, especially clothing. Hit estate sales for tools and other things people don't get rid of when they are alive. Keep a list of things so you don't forget what you need to buy.
Use your skills to help friends and neighbors to fix or find things they need. Often they have a different skillset and will help you with things you might need in the future. It doesn't hurt to have a network.
Don't be afraid to ask about pricing and haggle a bit, but always be polite and know when to compromise or back down. If you see something has sold for a low price online, odds are it will sell again for that if you are patient and keep watch. Bide your time.
Don't get sucked into trends. Used books read the same, decades old video games play the same even if you get them free on their 10-year anniversary promotion.
All that said, if you must buy, go for quality. Something you use every day is worth paying extra for higher quality, and sometimes quality means excellent customer support or a robust warranty. Quality tools make your job easier, but even cheap hand tools can be worth it if you only need them occasionally.
That's it, I can't think of a cool way to close this. This is just how I manage to do okay without spending a bunch of my hard earned money.
- That is very awesome! Thank you so much for sharing this. I bet this will help people with ideas what to tackle next.
  Do you know of any books about this topic. I bet there are some. If not, you could consider writing one. Since the greedflation, people seem to be DIYing a lot.
  
  Thank you but I dont have the patience to write a book! You can usually find DIY books used. Flip through the chapters to see if it explains things in a way that works for you.
  Black & Decker released a book on DIY home repair with easy to follow steps & photos, broken down by the type of repair (structure, plumbing, electric). There's also a bunch of websites like thisoldhouse.com with DIY tips and walkthroughs.
  You used to be able to find Haynes repair manuals for most cars & trucks, but vehicles are so computerised these days I'm not sure if they still do. Your car's owner's manual should have all the basic information in it for regular maintenance, and YouTube is a good source for car repair videos. If you have the money, most technical colleges hold classes on car repair that cost less than a couple trips to a mechanic.
  Power tools and sewing machines are cheap on the used market if you're patient. A lot of people these days just dont bother with them, so if a family member dies their adult children just get rid of that stuff. Learning to sew a basic straight stitch is easy on YouTube and there are online Singer sewing machine groups that are very helpful for machine repair and maintenance. Find an all-metal vintage Singer, like a Model 15 or 99. These things were built like tanks and are easy to keep running with regular oiling & use. You van make and repair clothing, bags & accessories, and anything you want. With the right needle you can sew leather as well. Hand-sewing is a great skill for minor repairs and popped buttons.
  Basic soldering is also very straightforward, and you can get a decent kit for around US$20 or so. YouTube has lots of videos that walk you through the process, and there is no end to broken electronics to practise on.
  If these's a maker group in your area, find them and see what's up. They can dial you in to all sorts of good info.
I love re-using things, feels like I'm cheating or something. I'm trying to get into fixing and repurposing things, making things out of what's available.
my first-gen i7 is from 2009. still use it every day, and it plays the games i play (which doesn't include any recent 'aaa' games).
among all the systems around here, which are all former scrap and junk, except for an equally-old propus core athlon that was built using parts from old sales--back when pc parts sales were good, it's the best one i have.
- Thats insane! Thanks for sharing. This i5 is also 1st gen I think. Pretty crazy that this thing is still chugging. The fact that so much electronics are perfectly fine if you dont have remote kill switches in them is both great and incredibly sad. I respect the hell out of you for making old stuff work overtime.
I live in the jungle and make shoes out of palm fronds, cups from coconuts, and candles from beeswax
- You forgot to mention making your own marmalade
  
  You don’t want to know what he makes that out of
- Good for you! Send me some candles as well! ;)
Just repaired my 14-year-old bread machine instead of getting a new one.
Then I actually made bread in it for the first time instead of just using it to make pizza dough. Instant fan, definitely will be doing it more.
- That sounds incredibly awesome! Thank you so much for sharing. Do you have any advice for people who might want to get such a machine maybe?
  
  Probably the best advice I saw when I was considering getting a new one was that there are a ton of these things sitting in Goodwill stores, and they all do pretty much the same exact thing and have since the 00s - so if you're interested in one, it's worth just hitting up a couple Goodwill stores around you and there's a good chance you find one. I realized after posting that my machine is 20 years old, not 14, so you're going to have a tough time picking out a machine that won't do the job, and you'll be reducing how much new stuff needlessly gets made and how much goes to the landfill.
  When it came to maintenance, the bread machine kneads the dough with a pulley + a spindle in a pan that connects to a flipper, and my spindle was starting to freeze up, so I ended up using food-safe mineral oil to lubricate the spindle and I was back in business.
  Gl & good hunting! Hope you find something you enjoy.
I've repurposed, repaired, and resold as many (> 85% ?) of my PCs, SmartPhones, Laptops, and Tablets as possible since 2013 as smartcams, servers, and edge computing nodes.
- Thats incredible! My stuff is so old that probably nobody will take it but I‘m having fun and if someone needs something I‘ll just give it away.
I live in a comunist contry.
- Really? Which one if I may ask?
  
  Vietnam
Converting everything in my kitchen to glass, wood, or metal. No more plastic.
- Thats actually a great idea! :) can you give any advice or provide helpful resources for others to follow your lead?
  
  Oh sure!
  It's not like I did it overnight and nothing went into the garbage--I slowly gave everything away as I replaced it. I realized one day that it was stupid to use plastics, especially with all the talk about microplastics and the fact that you can't heat in plastic. Since then, began to acquire new spatulas, spoons for stirring, and such, and then focused on food storage. Although I still have some ZipLoc bags around, I rarely use them (and reuse the ones that are not contaminated in some way). Instead, I went with some glassware--the bases are glass but the tops are silicon. I found them on Cyber Monday one day and jumped on it:
  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09KCL4ZC1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  These do all the things I need and come in all sorts of sizes. Can go into the freezer and microwave as well as the dishwasher. I highly recommend!
  As before, I still do have some plastic. This is a philosophy rather than a religion for me. My goal is to reduce the amount I intake/use as much as possible.
I haven't bought new clothes in years. If something tears I'll sew it myself.
I've got a lot of my furniture from cast offs from family.
- Thats pretty awesome!
Well I reduce my consumption and I reuse what I can and only after exhausting those options do I recycle
- Awesome! Thanks for contributing to a better world!
.
You mean like break stuff at work? No, i don't do any of that.
- No. I mean use old stuff instead of buying new even if you could, repairing things, helping others keep their stuff working and so on.
  Obviously thats just my ideas. Others might see it differently.
  
  Look. I'm not saying an employee should intentionally break or steal stuff. I'm saying there's an understanding that things break or get lost over time. Call it entropy expressing itself.
Wood working first, then 3D printing what I cant make with wood (or printing stuff instead of buying from another country). PLA isnt great, but undeniably better than ABS and other petroleum plastic for most applications. And you can avoid fossil fuel guzzling shipping by air/cargo ship by producing locally
Also finding trying to find activities that aren't consumerism based. Hiking, gardening, reading etc. are good examples
- Awesome comment! Thank you for sharing this! I really like how everyone seems to just have these insanely great habits and shares them with others willingly. An example that there are in fact sane people out there.
- Next you'll be making pottery from dirt harvested from your backyard in a kiln made from dirt in your backyard. Then you'll make forge from the same dirt and start working scrap metal you find around town
  Edit: I replied to the wrong thread but it still kinda works
  
  I know that if I dig two feet down I have clay. I need to dig a pod for my geese and ducks. It's only a matter of time before I try to build a kiln and make my own plates. But I also want to make bread and pizza and I want my kiln to do both bread and ceramic even though I know that it will be a completely wasted effort and I need two separate ovens.
DIYing electronics and self-hosting services that you'd otherwise need several hefty subscriptions for.
- Same! Thanks for sharing. Feel free to check out my setup and share yours.
  Whats your favorite electronics project so far and do you have any advice?
  
  As far self-hosting, I keep run about 25 stacks off of docker compose files and back up all the containers daily. This setup makes it really easy to restore if ever needed. I only run a few performance essential things on bare metal like nginx and pihole.
  I noticed you run a Minecraft server. May I interest you in this project. It's a dockerized Minecraft server that turns off when nobody's on and turns back on when someone attempts to join.
  As for electronics I mainly just solder some IoT devices like a smart lamp. Currently I'm fighting with my room fan that I want to turn smart as I keep running into new problems. As it looks now, I'll need to learn FreeRTOS, IR modulation, and the Zigbee protocol to get it all running.
  Another pending project is designing a custom PCB for my Logitech G613 keyboard. It started typing double letters. At the same time it's kind of the only keyboard design that I'd be fine with. Full size wireless mechanical keyboard with a macro pad. Wishful thinking would also be things like detachable numpad, ortholinear layout, detachable split layout, but oh well. This is the closest thing on the market that fulfills my requirements. Only issue is the Romer-G keycaps. I would much rather have hot-swappable MX switches. Therefore I'll look into swapping the PCB out for something custom so I can keep the same chassis I like but replace all the switches and return to a keyboard without double strokes and better sound, too!

71 comments