20 Outdated Items Losing Popularity as Millennials Take Over

This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please read our disclosure policy here

Millennials—the generation that’s single-handedly sending entire industries into existential crises. Born between 1981 and 1996, this tech-savvy, eco-conscious crowd is changing the game when it comes to shopping habits.

Forget about clinging to outdated household staples; millennials are all about convenience, sustainability, and making sure their purchases align with their values.

And let’s be real: if you’re still hanging on to these 20 items, you might want to ask yourself why you’re not embracing the millennial way of life.

Printed Phone Books

phone book and phone
Image Credits: Depositphotos/flashon.

Remember those chunky yellow books that used to clutter your doorstep? Yeah, millennials don’t. With smartphones glued to their hands and Google at their fingertips, printed phone books have become about as useful as a floppy disk.

Disposable Plastic Straws

plastic straws
Image credits: Depositphotos/mobi68.

Plastic straws? In this economy? Millennials have ditched these environmental nightmares faster than you can say “turtle video.” Instead, they’re all about reusable metal or bamboo straws because saving the planet one sip at a time is the new black.

Traditional Incandescent Light Bulbs

light bulb
Image Credit: DepositPhotos/bagiuiani.

Millennials are shining a light on energy efficiency. Out with the old incandescent bulbs and in with energy-efficient LEDs that last longer and save money on utility bills. Because why not do good for the planet and your wallet at the same time?

Single-Use Plastic Bags

plastic bags
Image credits: Depositphotos/chones.

Single-use plastic bags are getting the cold shoulder as millennials tote around their trendy reusable bags. With retailers and governments pushing bans, it’s clear that plastic bags are headed for extinction—and millennials are leading the charge.

Disposable Plastic Water Bottles

Water Bottle
Image Credit_ Depositphotos/oleg_odessa.

Disposable plastic water bottles? Not in a millennial’s eco-friendly arsenal. They’ve upgraded to reusable stainless steel or glass bottles because the planet doesn’t need more plastic, and neither do they.

Paper Towels

paper towel on counter
Image Credit_ DepositPhotos/belchonock.

Millennials are wiping out paper towels in favor of cloth towels and reusable cleaning cloths. It’s all about sustainability, baby, and cutting down on waste is the name of the game.

Traditional Cable TV Packages

couple cuddling watching tv
Image credits: Depositphotos/AntonioGuillemF.

Why pay for cable when you can stream what you want, when you want? Millennials are cutting the cord and diving headfirst into the world of on-demand streaming services. Traditional cable packages? So last century.

Landline Telephones

Older Woman Phone
Image Credit_ Depositphotos michaeljung

Landline telephones? Please. With smartphones that do everything but tuck you in at night, landlines are just another unnecessary relic of the past. Millennials are all about mobility and convenience, and landlines just don’t make the cut.

Traditional Wedding Registries

Woman Tea Night Computer
Image Credit_ Depositphotos/Syda_Productions.

Millennials are rewriting the wedding playbook, ditching traditional department store registries for cash funds, honeymoon funds, and charitable donations. Why register for a toaster when you can fund your dream vacation or give back to a cause you care about?

Printed Newspapers

a stack of newspapers
Image credit: Depositphotos/zharate1.

In a world of instant updates and digital content, printed newspapers are gathering dust. Millennials are turning to online news sources for their fix, leaving the old paperboys with nothing to deliver.

Fax Machines

fax machine
Image Credit_ DepositPhotos/Nomadsoul1.

Fax machines? Millennials have better things to do than wait for a piece of paper to slowly inch its way out of a machine. Email and digital document sharing have made the fax machine a relic of the past—where it belongs.

Encyclopedias

young woman with books
Image Credit_ DepositPhotos/stockasso.

Remember encyclopedias? Millennials don’t. The internet has replaced those heavy, dust-collecting books with endless information at their fingertips. Sorry, Britannica, but Google won this one.

Traditional Bookstores

bookstore
Image credits: Depositphotos/gregorylee.

Millennials still love reading, but they’re doing it on e-readers or buying their books online. Brick-and-mortar bookstores are struggling to keep up with the convenience, variety, and prices that online retailers offer.

CD and DVD Collections

CDs and DVDs
Image credit: Depositphotos/ronstik.

Who needs shelves full of CDs and DVDs when you can have a digital library in your pocket? Millennials are decluttering their lives and saying goodbye to physical media in favor of streaming and downloads.

Traditional Alarm Clocks

Woman holding a clock while also holding her belly
Image credit Depositphotos/Elnur_.

When your phone can wake you up, remind you of your meetings, and show you the weather, a traditional alarm clock feels, well, redundant. Millennials are opting for multifunctionality, and alarm clocks just don’t fit the bill.

Physical Photo Albums

photo albums
Image Credits: Depositphotos/Andrzejsowa.

Why bother with bulky photo albums when you can store and share your memories online? Millennials are uploading, tagging, and sharing their lives digitally, leaving physical photo albums in the dust.

Film Cameras

woman with camera
Image Credit: DepositPhotos/Goodluz.

Film cameras might be nostalgic, but millennials are all about the instant gratification of digital photography. Capturing, editing, and sharing photos digitally is the way to go, leaving film cameras for the hipsters and the nostalgic.

Traditional Retail Banks

banks
Image Credits: Depositphotos/Paha_L.

Millennials are all about convenience, and that’s why they’re ditching traditional brick-and-mortar banks for online banking and digital payment services. Mobile banking apps make managing money a breeze, and standing in line at the bank? Hard pass.

DVD Players

dvd player
Image Credits: Depositphotos/dell640.

With streaming services offering more content than ever, DVD players are quickly becoming obsolete. Millennials are all about watching what they want, when they want, without the hassle of physical discs.

Desktop Computers

woman working at a computer on a picture
Image Credit_ Depositphotos/REDPIXEL.

Desktop computers? So 2000s. Millennials are embracing the portability and flexibility of laptops, which let them work, play, and binge-watch from anywhere. Desktops are just too bulky and tied down for their fast-paced, on-the-go lifestyles.

15 Things The Elderly Regret They Didn’t Do Earlier in Life

elderly woman looking sad
Image Credit Depositphotos Chai2523

If you look back on your life, you probably have some regrets, but what regrets do our elderly commonly have? What are the things they wish they had done earlier in life?

15 Things The Elderly Regret They Didn’t Do Earlier in Life

15 Food Price Hikes That Finally Made You Walk Away And Never Buy That Item Again

Man screaming looking angry
Image credit: Depositphotos deagreez1.

Food prices can be a deciding factor when it comes to our dining choices. But sometimes, an unexpected increase in the cost of a beloved item can lead us to reevaluate our preferences.

15 Food Price Hikes That Finally Made You Walk Away And Never Buy That Item Again

What Hobbies Are Middle Aged Women Even Into?

Woman Sitting On Green Grass Field

What does that look like for a woman in her mid-forties? Should I try a hundred different classes all around town and try and figure out if I fit into any of them? Is there maybe a cotton candy tasting club I could be a part of?

What Hobbies Are Middle Aged Women Even Into?

Similar Posts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *