Wants, needs and homogenised households: just another day avoiding temptation

I’ve been rather quiet recently, but it’s not because I’ve given up, it’s because I’m doing ok. Over the past few months I’ve had a bit of a reassess and I’m trying to live my life more simply. I’ve been buying more bread from my local bakers, buying less ‘stuff’ that I don’t need and generally working out where I want to go from here. I must confess, I have been buying more CDs as I no longer have a TV, but charity shops are pretty good for CDs too! I was starting to think ‘yes, it’s been two years and finally I’m not finding this ethical shopping thing too much of a struggle.’ My mindset of staying out of the shops to avoid temptation was working. I’ve been spending my time gardening, giving new life to my old furniture and picture frames and I have a pile of fabric I inherited that I intend to make cushions from (thank you Kirsty’s homemade home for the well timed inspiration).

However, I returned home from work last night to find an Ikea catalogue on my doormat. Flicking through the glossy pages I found the old familiar pang of ‘want’, clever disguised as ‘need’ nagging at me. ‘But its only £15 for a 100% cotton duvet cover’ my little brain was crying, ‘that’s so much cheaper and easier than spending £50 on that fair-trade organic cotton and making a duvet cover.’ You can’t fault my logic, but the glaringly obvious still remains. How can Ikea possibly make this stuff so cheap and retain their ethics? The catalogue includes a double page spread of how they intend to improve, using less packaging, including more recycled materials and solar powered lamps which is all very commendable but it’s the very nature of Ikea that I’m opposed to. It’s the mass produced, cheap & cheerful items that make everyone’s house look the same which crushes peoples’ individual style, tells us how our homes should look and homogenises households into something that you can buy online in a few easy steps. Don’t get my wrong, for some people it’s perfect, but I like the way that most of my furniture has a past. For example, my desk used to belong to my mum’s yoga teacher friend, my chest of drawers became mine when a friend moved to America and my Grandma made my bedspread. No one else in the world has a patchwork bedspread like mine! Having said that, I’m still tempted to get the £15 duvet cover; I love my ethics but I also love a bargain!