For js libraries, I generally prefer something that offers a prebuilt package. If I need to use NPM just to include a Javascript file on a webpage, I generally look elsewhere. Same with CSS themes.

For command line tools and packages that require Node, again I generally look elsewhere. Dealing with a rest API on a command line shouldn't require so much bloat.

If a tool requires Node as part of a build script, I avoid it like the plague.

In other cases, I use a VM to build the JS package, but I honestly dread this workflow. Whenever a README/INSTALL contains, "Just npm our package..." or "first install node, then npm our helper utilities..." I start looking for alternatives.

Maybe I'm becoming a curmudgeon and maybe my dislike of Node is irrational, but this is how I'm coping.