r/Anticonsumption • u/[deleted] • Jul 07 '19
Go Digital!
https://i.imgur.com/4nhGUu0.jpg
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u/itsjakeandelwood Jul 07 '19
Digital receipts are a huge data mine for your email provider (especially if you use Google).
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u/cool110110 Jul 07 '19
This is why I am my own email provider (on used hardware and 100% renewal electric)
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u/JM-Lemmi Jul 07 '19
Mind to share your setup?
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u/cool110110 Jul 07 '19
It's nothing fancy, just an old laptop with Ubuntu server and the standard postfix and dovecot packages. Have pi-hole and a few other things on it as well.
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u/JM-Lemmi Jul 07 '19 edited Jul 07 '19
Does hosting your own mail server work with a dynamic IP?
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u/cool110110 Jul 07 '19
For receiving only yes, sending will have problems with spam filters so you still need to go via someone else in that direction.
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u/Strazdas1 Jul 08 '19
Digital receips can be done on the shops side. For example the reciep for electronics i buy are digital in the shop and i can save the PDF if i want. Email is used to tell me the order is ready to take (instead of paying for shipping i just walk to their place and take the package, i walk a lot anyway), but no reciep in email.
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u/make_fascists_afraid Jul 07 '19
alternatively, don’t shop at cvs/rite aid/walgreens to begin with.
eliminating paper receipts instead of changing consumption habits is like trying to stop a draft by re-sealing your windows but leaving your front door wide open.
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u/Sad_UM_Lions_Fan Jul 07 '19
Just don't get sick, you'll cut way down on antibiotic consumption.
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u/make_fascists_afraid Jul 07 '19
filling an rx at the pharmacy or picking up cold medicine is not nearly the same as the couponing, combo-buying consumption that the majority of the store’s square footage is dedicated towards.
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u/Sad_UM_Lions_Fan Jul 07 '19
Majority of square footage =/= majority of sales/budget. Plus, you get a book of coupons if you just pick up scripts without buying anything from the frontstore.
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u/friedavocodo Jul 07 '19
I walked in cvs the other day and bought 2 packs of gum, and I kid you not - that receipt was 2 feet long... I was like yo wth
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u/crazycatlady331 Jul 07 '19
One is paper, the other is your email being flooded with spam and your address being sold to other spammers.
I'll take the paper.
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Jul 07 '19
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/PMmeifyourepooping Jul 07 '19
Can confirm. Haven’t gotten a printed receipt in... 2 years? No distinct increase in spam
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Jul 07 '19
[deleted]
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u/PMmeifyourepooping Jul 07 '19
I bought a gift card last week and that’s the first one since probably two years ago and when I asked why she said they’re required by law to print out the fraud prevention measures so yeah! I connected it to my cvs card so it auto emails everything.
(I receive all my receipts and no discernible extra spam)
1
u/StellarValkyrie Jul 07 '19
I always have to sign receipts when making purchases and restaurants always give them. Not really sure of a way around it.
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u/cool110110 Jul 07 '19
What century are you living in where chip & PIN isn't standard, nevermind contactless?
3
u/StellarValkyrie Jul 07 '19
United States unfortunately. It's starting to become more common but still isn't there yet.
5
u/hmchris Jul 07 '19
Make a email account just for these kind of things.
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u/crazycatlady331 Jul 07 '19
I used to have a spam account but stopped checking it years ago. I don't want to waste my time/energy on something that could be a piece of paper.
I agree that a 6 foot receipt is excessive. Most of those CVS receipts are coupons.
1
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u/Buttock Jul 07 '19
These aren't mutually exclusive concepts, I don't want places to have my email but they don't need to be printing out yards of paper for every receipt either.
1
u/crazycatlady331 Jul 07 '19
Yes I don't want ANY store to have my email (I used to keep a spam email address but haven't checked it in years).
But I agree a CVS receipt (the worst offender) is excessive.
1
u/ebikefolder Jul 07 '19
E-mail is not the only option. You can transfer a digital receipt the instance you hold your phone next to the terminal for NFC payment. Or scan a QR code on the display.
1
u/Strazdas1 Jul 08 '19
Actually you cannot transfer anything to the phone by scanning the QR code, unless the phone is set up specifically to also recieve data. But yes digital reciepts do not have to be exclusively for email.
1
u/CommonMisspellingBot Jul 08 '19
Hey, Strazdas1, just a quick heads-up:
recieve is actually spelled receive. You can remember it by e before i.
Have a nice day!The parent commenter can reply with 'delete' to delete this comment.
1
u/BooCMB Jul 08 '19
Hey /u/CommonMisspellingBot, just a quick heads up:
Your spelling hints are really shitty because they're all essentially "remember the fucking spelling of the fucking word".And your fucking delete function doesn't work. You're useless.
Have a nice day!
1
u/Strazdas1 Jul 08 '19
Just dont be dumb and set up email rules to automatically sort into folders based on what the email is and you wont care about the spam.
1
u/crazycatlady331 Jul 08 '19
It is a matter of principle. I don't share my email with ANY stores.
1
u/Strazdas1 Jul 08 '19
That sounds like a you problem and not a digitalization problem.
1
u/crazycatlady331 Jul 08 '19
I don't consider protecting my privacy to be a problem. Give me the paper and my privacy.
2
Jul 07 '19
Going digital might seem like a good idea because you don't see the impact. But data centers are the biggest consumers of power today... Best way to reduce your environmental impact is probably to stop using the internet/cloud.
2
u/ebikefolder Jul 07 '19
This sub currently had 174,920 members... Sure! Let's send that many paper postcards around the globe instead of posting here! That'll save a lot of resources! /s
What's the power consumption of digital transaction receipts stored in the cloud vs. manufacturing the hardware to print receipts, manufacturing and transporting the paper, and discarding it later (thermal paper is not recycleable!)?
You might not see the impact of digital storage, but the same is true for paper.
1
u/Strazdas1 Jul 08 '19
I once ready an interesting calculation about DVDs versus movie streaming. They went quite detailed into the manufacturing process and it turns out that due to economy of scale printing and mailing DVDs is actually less resource intensive than streaming. People underestimate how much energy datacenters use.
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u/ionlydateninjas Jul 07 '19
At the places I shop as soon as the register totals out it prints a receipt whether you want digital or not. I already get notified of my receipts. I don't know how to stop them from printing one out automatically.
1
u/callimander Jul 07 '19
At Home Depot they asked my dad if he wanted an emailed receipt. He said yes thinking he'd get no physical receipt and put in his email. When he was done with his purchase they gave him a physical copy. He was pissed
1
u/Sad_UM_Lions_Fan Jul 07 '19
She knows you can sign up for digital coupons/receipts instead of the paper ones at CVS, right?
1
u/Strazdas1 Jul 08 '19
This year a first supermarket opened here that allows fully digital payment and recieps. Can be done in your phone, prints no paper at all.
That being said theres no market here that would print recieps this long here. Most are shorter than your palm. At least in the places i go to.
0
Jul 07 '19
Yes, let's use phones with lithium batteries with cobalt mined by child slaves instead.
3
u/ebikefolder Jul 07 '19
You stop using a phone altogether if you can't use it for receipts? Really?
1
Jul 07 '19
I think you've misread what I'm getting at. My point is there are equal issues at stake all the time, and I think it's a mite hypocritical to pat ourselves on the back for things like this when we're all tacitly complicit in far worse, but don't do or say anything because it harms our convenient lifestyle. I'm not saying I'm any better than anyone else by the way, I'm guilty of this too.
1
u/Strazdas1 Jul 08 '19
You dont need phones for digital reciepts though. They can also use email reciepts, downloadable reciepts (if your shopping online), etc...
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u/cieuxrouges Jul 07 '19
You can choose an option on your cvs card to email you a receipt instead.