Europe

Hi everyone,

a few days ago I shared my ongoing journey of replacing US-based services with European alternatives where it makes sense — focusing on values, resilience, and supporting EU-based ecosystems rather than perfection or ideological purity.

Since then, quite a bit has happened, and I wanted to post a follow-up / progress update, partly to close the loop and partly to ask for more ideas from the community.

Original post for context.

What I’ve Switched Since the Last Post

Shopping & Marketplaces

• Amazon → fully deleted
  • Account is completely gone.
  • For books, I’m now trying to stick to Thalia (German retailer).
    I’m not sure how well-known or available it is outside Germany, but so far it works well for my needs.
  • For everything else:
    • Buying directly from brands whenever possible
    • Using Avocadostore and similar European marketplaces for ethical / sustainable products

This feels like a big mental shift more than anything — fewer impulse buys, more intentional purchasing.

Google Ecosystem

• Google Account → completely deleted
  • Before deleting it, I exported:
    • YouTube subscriptions
    • Watch history
    • Playlists
• YouTube → FreeTube
  • No Google account
  • No ads
  • Much better privacy
  • Videos take a second or two longer to load — a very acceptable trade-off for me

One of the biggest unexpected benefits for me: I also deleted YouTube from my phone entirely.

That means:

• No algorithmic doomscrolling
• No Shorts. At all.
• Much more intentional video consumption

Honestly, this alone already feels like a massive quality-of-life improvement.

Browser

• Chromium (Brave) → Firefox
  • This change was directly influenced by community discussions and comments
  • Still evaluating long-term, but first impression is very positive
  • Feels good to step away from the Chromium monoculture, at least for now

Social Media (or the Lack Thereof)

I should probably add some context here:

• I don’t use social media in the classic sense.
• No TikTok (never had one)
• No Instagram
• No Snapchat
• No Facebook

At the moment, the only thing I actively use is Lemmy.

I’ve been considering giving Mastodon a try, but:

• I never had a Twitter/X account either
• I honestly don’t really know what I would post there
• So this is more of a “maybe at some point” consideration than a concrete plan

If people have thoughts on how they personally use Mastodon in a meaningful way, I’m curious to hear them.

What Stayed the Same (for Now)

Still keeping a few non-EU things for pragmatic reasons:

• Netflix (occasional 1-month subscriptions)
• Steam (gaming ecosystem reality)
• 1Password (Canada-based, but currently still the best fit for me)

Why I’m Posting This Again

Two main reasons:

1. To show progress
   This isn’t a one-time “look how pure I am” post — it’s iterative, messy, and evolving.

2. Because your comments helped a lot
   I got genuinely great suggestions and perspectives last time, and several of the above switches happened because of community input.

Open Questions (Again)

I’d love to hear from others who’ve gone down similar paths:

• Services or products you’ve switched away from US providers
  Especially things people often don’t think about at first.
• European alternatives you really trust or recommend
• Things you tried but would not recommend (also very valuable)

This is still very much a work in progress.
Happy to learn, adjust, and iterate.

Thanks again, looking forward to your thoughts!