101 things we can do without

[catalyst]

how about turning this on its head. what things do us ishers prefer to live without?

ornaments - i hate ornaments, mantel-piece mostrosities, unnecessary mass produced plastic rubbish, tacky holiday purchases, work surface clutter....

better off without them :)

[red]

2 air freshners - hate them give me the bad smell instead any time
3 patio heaters. please... trying to warm up 'outdoors' is just madness

[Annpan]

4. Cleaning isle in the supermarket... discusting stink that gives me a headache when I am trying to find soda crystals

5. Like wise weed-killer isle in garden centre. I understand that sometimes you need to resort to it when all else fail, but most people just regularly dowse their garden (and the environment) with needless chemicals

6. Tumble dryers

7. Urban 4x4/ Chealsea tractors/ School run off roaders. I lived opposite a private primary school for 4 years and you daren't leave the house between 3 and 4 for fear of these giant cars driven by mums who can barely see the 4 year old they are about to run over

[Peggy Sue]

8. Hoovers- what happened to the old push carpet cleaners and a dust pan and brush? Well that and I hate hoovering- noisy, pointless

9. Aircon- obvious but why is it standard in cars now? And offices too! Two of our directors even have portable aircon in their individual offices to top up the aircon!! Nasty cold air blasts

10. Replacing stuff thats OK- new sofas why? new driveways?

[Masco&Bongo]

11. Ice making machines in fridge doors
12. Shop-bought ice - it's only frozen water!!

[Silver Ether]

13 Tescos.
14 ... dog poo in plastic bags hung up in trees ... Oh yes it exists ..

[Ranter]

15. Teabags.
Loose leaf tea is better quality & produces a far superior cuppa.
16. Ready made pancake mix
17. Ready mashed potato
18. Ready grated cheese
Why does anyone buy this stuff? takes mere seconds to do it yourself

[magnuscanis]

19. Television.

I've never owned my own telly and since moving into my own flat last year never really missed having access to housemates' TVs. Of course, I couldn't do without the DVD player on my computer.

- Magnus

[Thomzo]

20. Sandwich bags. What a waste! Someone gave me a box. It took me years to use them up. In the end I use them to protect my home-made cards when I sell them then ask people to let me have them back so that I can re-use them.

21. Those espresso coffee machines with the individual capsules of coffee. All my friends have them and think I'm mad that I don't have one. Bit pointless as I can't drink coffee!

22. X-box, game boy etc. What a waste of time! Get a real life!

23. MP3 player - my solar radio is fab. Why would I need anything else?

[red]

24 jars of ' cook in sauce' - people should learn how to cook....
25 bread makers ( I realise I am in a minority here )
26 all those presents 'for men' that people buy cos they cant think of anything - like soap in the shape of golf balls, or homer simpson beer tankard....

[Wombat]

27. In-the-bowl toilet "cleaners". I was involved in some of the research that went into them 30 years ago - useless and polluting.

Nev

[Tigerhair]

28. Stand-by buttons. Why can't off be off? It wouldn't give anyone the opportunity of using all that electricity for no benefit.

[Clara]

29. Irons
30. Mains electricity - controversial
31. Hairdryers, straighteners, etc....
32. Tumbledryers

In fact anything which attempts to turn electricity into heat - pointless and wasteful.

[pskipper]

Yesterday I was in such a mood I was tempted to add '90% of the worlds population' to the list (Don't worry guys you were all in the remaining 10%)

29. Consumerism

30. The Litigation culture (Have you been offended by a lawyers4U advert, call LawyerULike and we'll sue them for you *no win large fee*)

[Wombat]

Yesterday I was in such a mood I was tempted to add '90% of the worlds population' to the list (Don't worry guys you were all in the remaining 10%)

Thank heaven for that!

Nev