This is so timely for me. I decided about a month ago that I wanted to be done with Amazon. Of course it is nearly unthinkable to quit Amazon these days and I wasn't sure I could do it. I decided to do a one month trial, like a fast. No Amazon for the month of March. I deleted the app. And you know what, I was shocked to find out it wasn't as hard as I expected. Generally I think I bought less stuff. And I allowed myself to still go to Target and Home Depot even though they are also Evil because it's a process. At the end of March, my husband had to buy something on Amazon because he couldn't find it anywhere else. I went to the local Ace Hardware to look for it, but couldn't find it there or on their website. We decided that moving forward we are going to cancel Prime and do our best to shop local. But if there is a rare case where we can't find anything else except on Amazon, we will buy it. The exercise really makes you think harder about your purchases in general. I would love more community input on where people are shopping as an alternative. It's great if you live in a city that has thriving local businesses, but in the suburbs the pickings are slim.
Seattle Public Library shares access to newspapers (NYT, etc.) and movies. Probably kids movies, too. I know what you mean though. I haven't been able to quit yet. I just saw this cool yard size/kid size badminton net that I would love to get for my grandkids. AAARRRGGGHHH!
When we lost internet for like a 2 weeks in 2021 from all the fires, I started buying blu-rays again. I buy them off of ebay or in/from record stores and it's crazy how cheap they are. I can often buy like 3 or 4 for $12 and that includes shipping. FYI - BluRay players don't tend to upconvert/play DVDs anymore like they used to so I also got a DVD upconverter for all my old DVDs for like $20.
CVS is neutral and they ship for free over $35. It usually comes next day.
This is so timely for me. I decided about a month ago that I wanted to be done with Amazon. Of course it is nearly unthinkable to quit Amazon these days and I wasn't sure I could do it. I decided to do a one month trial, like a fast. No Amazon for the month of March. I deleted the app. And you know what, I was shocked to find out it wasn't as hard as I expected. Generally I think I bought less stuff. And I allowed myself to still go to Target and Home Depot even though they are also Evil because it's a process. At the end of March, my husband had to buy something on Amazon because he couldn't find it anywhere else. I went to the local Ace Hardware to look for it, but couldn't find it there or on their website. We decided that moving forward we are going to cancel Prime and do our best to shop local. But if there is a rare case where we can't find anything else except on Amazon, we will buy it. The exercise really makes you think harder about your purchases in general. I would love more community input on where people are shopping as an alternative. It's great if you live in a city that has thriving local businesses, but in the suburbs the pickings are slim.
Seattle Public Library shares access to newspapers (NYT, etc.) and movies. Probably kids movies, too. I know what you mean though. I haven't been able to quit yet. I just saw this cool yard size/kid size badminton net that I would love to get for my grandkids. AAARRRGGGHHH!
PS, I just found it at Target online.
When we lost internet for like a 2 weeks in 2021 from all the fires, I started buying blu-rays again. I buy them off of ebay or in/from record stores and it's crazy how cheap they are. I can often buy like 3 or 4 for $12 and that includes shipping. FYI - BluRay players don't tend to upconvert/play DVDs anymore like they used to so I also got a DVD upconverter for all my old DVDs for like $20.
A very good analysis of the pros and cons. I am nowhere near extricating myself from these companies, but this post helps increase the guilt.
I’ve broken up with Amazon and Facebook so far. Instagram is next on my list. It’s daunting but we can do it if we do it together!