TAKE a few moments and glance at the items around your home. How do they make you feel? Happy? Fulfilled? Or is there a niggling doubt that perhaps everything isn't quite as it should be?

You're not alone. Five years ago, Tara Button had an epiphany: her love of buying shiny new things had left her feeling anxious and overwhelmed. A self-confessed impulse shopper Button realised that her purchases were almost always regretted in hindsight.

"Longevity wasn't one of my criteria," she writes in her new book A Life Less Throwaway. "So, I owned temporary things, poorly thought-through and soon-regretted clothes or hobby and fitness equipment bought in fits of short-lived enthusiasm."

Button, 35, recounts how her grandmother's tights used to last forever. "They were so strong, people could tow cars with them." But her own experience of reaching for a pair of tights felt akin to "playing pantyhose Russian roulette" as she pondered: "Which pair will break this morning?"

But it wasn't just a drawer filled with half-laddered hosiery that was getting Button down: it was a life stuffed full of things that regularly failed, were poorly made or fads. Why didn't we surround ourselves with beautiful, well-made objects that lasted forever instead of "for now"?

The watershed moment came when Button's sister gave her a Le Creuset casserole pot as a gift. Instantly she felt a strong sense of emotional content. "When I held it, it just felt like an heirloom."

It was this which planted the seed for BuyMeOnce.com which has seen Button champion a lifestyle called "mindful curation". The idea is to carefully select each item in our lives – from kettles, pots and pans to coats and dresses – choosing the best, classic and longest-lasting options.

The aim is to not only make us feel happier and more fulfilled, but to bolster global sustainability and help protect the planet by moving away from being a throwaway culture.

"I realised it could be a game-changing idea, especially for the environment," she says. "If you buy a T-shirt that lasts two years instead of one year it reduces the carbon emissions by 24 per cent. That is a very simple indication of what a huge impact that buying for longevity could have.

"By buying for the long-term, you force yourself to take a step back and think about what will make you happy: not just in terms of spending money, but life in general. Immediately it helps get out of that short-term gratification cycle which can make us feel anxious and unhappy."

Her website lists products which Button recommends based on factors such as the quality or durability of materials used, independent reviews and length of manufacturer warranty.

"It really is a case of buy cheap, buy twice – or even buy 10 times. It is not worth buying a cheap item over and over," she says. "Not merely from a money perspective, but also because it means another trip to the shops, more hassle and stress."

She acknowledges not everyone will have £100 – or more – to spend on a cooking pot. "Try and get one second-hand, either from a charity shop or eBay," says Button. "If you can get away with not buying it new, then brilliant because that means one less pan that needs to be made.

Her goal is to bring longevity to the forefront of the eco conversation and Button is campaigning for manufacturers to include what she has dubbed "life cycle" labelling on all appliances.

"If all you can see when you go to the shops is the price and what the product looks like then that is all your decision can be based on," she says. "It is no wonder people go for the cheapest one.

"But if there was a standardised label which says this washing machine is expected to last five years or 10 years, then you have a real sense of the value of that product in the long run which allows people to make better choices about what they buy.

"If something is £200 and it lasts five years or something is £300 and it lasts 10 years, then immediately it is obvious which is the better value."

As for her own outlook? "Most of the things I need in life to be happy aren't objects at all. They are community, being creative every day and keeping myself healthy. The mindfulness that comes out of buying for the long-term has created a whole ethos of stability and serenity."

Here Button shares some her top tips:

1. Mindful curation

"Identify the things that are manipulating you to buy mindlessly. Take a step back and reprioritise what is going to bring you the most happiness and then apply that to your spending habits."

2. Planned obsolescence

"Also known as 'why they don't make things like they used to?' This is when we get rid of items earlier than we would like to due to them being shoddily made or simply no longer on trend.

"If something you buy has been made to break, then complain. If you are being made to feel bad about what you already have – for example, feeling embarrassed for having an avocado bathroom suite because that is seen as being very 1980s – then stand tall and stick by your choices."

3. Spot the tricks to overspending

"Celebrity influence is a huge part of this. Kate Middleton only needs to breathe on a dress and it sells out. It is fine to take inspiration, but make sure that you like an object for itself – not just the celebrity it was seen on.

"There is a very easy way of doing this. Imagine the actor Jennifer Lawrence holding a Dior handbag. She is cool, laidback and beautiful. But Jennifer Lawrence doesn't come with the bag.

"Instead of Jennifer Lawrence what I do is picture Katie Hopkins holding same the bag. If I still want it, then it must be a really good bag."

4. De-clutter your home

"Anything that isn't being useful, beautiful or nurturing – which doesn't give you a good feeling when you look at it – is a drain essentially. I'm not saying that the loo brush needs to give you good vibes, but if something isn't fulfilling a purpose, then it is a negative and consider letting it go.

"Go through your wardrobe and chose your A Team. All of us have those favourite items that, if everything is washed and hanging in your wardrobe, you always reach for first. Then, as the laundry cycle goes on, you end up down to your B and C-list items.

"Select your A-list and then make the rest of your wardrobe fight for its place in your life. When everything you wear is A-list then that is such a wonderful feeling. It is freeing and calming to open your wardrobe and think: 'I could happily and joyfully wear any of this.'"

5. Find products that will serve you best for life

"Think longevity. There are two aspects to this. Firstly, is an object physically up to serving you well and is it solidly made? Secondly, does it correspond with the stable aspects of your aesthetic taste? Don't buy something simply because it is on trend."

6. Rediscover the art of keeping and caring for things

"People have got out of the habit of daily or weekly maintenance, such as protecting furniture and turning the mattress over, but it does make them last longer. These small maintenance tasks are worthwhile to keep things from breaking or getting worn before their time."

7. Find happiness, success and self-worth beyond buying

"The key is putting our focus and energy – and to an extent our money – into experiences that make us happy rather simply buying stuff. The things that matter most to me, for example, are community and building strong relationships. Figure out what is most important to you."

8. Identifying impulse-buying triggers

"It is worth going through your bank statement to see what items make you wince. Is there a shop you regularly visit and end up buying more than you need to? Or is it an online impulse buy which was triggered by an ad?

"It is about realising what makes you spend above what you are comfortable with and coming up with a strategy to avoid that trigger in the future. Before you randomly buy things online make it a rule to have a 24-hour cooling off period first."

9. Saying goodbye to an object

"This is about when you lose or break an item that is special to you. For example, my husband lost his late father's hat and was devastated.

"The trick is being able to reframe that item in your mind. It was hugely important to him, but at the end of the day it was just an object. What it represented – the relationship between my husband and his father – was incredibly special and no one can ever take that away.

"The exercise I recommend is closing your eyes and letting the item recede in your mind, then bringing the relationship and memories it represents to the forefront. When you say goodbye to it in a mindful way it stops the guilt, anxiety and pain of not having that object."

10. Turning necessities into luxuries

"Consumerism tries to make us do the opposite. Turning necessities into luxuries is a visualisation exercise whereby you imagine that item not existing in your life. For example, I imagined I didn't have a shower and needed to pump the water, heat it and then pour it over myself.

"Afterwards the luxury of standing under the warm water made me feel incredibly grateful. It is about igniting gratitude for the things you already have and often take for granted."

A Life Less Throwaway: The Lost Art of Buying for Life by Tara Button is published tomorrow by Harper Thorsons, priced £12.99