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RWMorris
Guest
Meaning, what do you do to create less trash; do you recycle? Drive hybrid cars or live close to work? Live in a small house rather than a McMansion? Garden?
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KarenNC
Guest
I don’t know that any of these steps consistently “simplify” our lives as they are often more work or take more time/planning than the alternative, but they do hopefully lessen our impact on our environment, support our local economy and help us live in harmony wiht our religious principles.
Buy our vegetables from a local organic farmer in a community supported agriculture program (no packaging) and most of our meat from a known individual farmer in our region (would like to find one closer) with minimal packaging.
Recycle trash as much as possible (will be glad when we get curbside here as we currently have to drive a ways to the local recycle center with our bins every so often)
Buy bulk when possible to reduce packaging. leftovers and work lunches usually in reusable plastic containers, carried in canvas bags, use the canvas bags sometimes in shopping, reuse the plastic grocery bags for garbage bags around the house when we forget to take canvas (which is too frequently). Pack lunches/snacks as much as possible rather than get fast food .
Almost all of our clothes, books, toys, household items are secondhand from thrift stores, used book stores, consignment sales, yard sales, etc. Anything that is still usable when we are done with it goes to a thrift store, used bookstore, handed down to friend, listed on freecycle, etc. Use the library a lot (we homeschool, so this is a biggie). Use reusable gift bags for holidays and birthdays and reuse gift bags we receive
Live in a smaller than average house (1900 sf, avg is 2349 sf) on a small lot (.2 ac), one that was already built rather than building new, as close to most of our activities as was available when we needed it, taking multiple factors into consideration, including energy efficiency.
Bought secondhand cars with the best gas mileage/safety/affordability/reliability mix we could and drive them for as long as possible
Converted most of our bulbs to CFLs and limit usage, as well as keeping thermostat higher in summer/lower in winter than previously
We are incorporating edible landscaping as much as we can (replaced redtips with rosemary bushes in front of our garage, for instance). We aren’t big gardeners/yard people.
There are plenty of other ways we have thought about, but have yet to institute, hope to do so down the road (composting, rainbarrels for irrigation, etc)
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Pug
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I agree with PP that this is more about having a small footprint in the world and less about simplicity. Our vegetable matter is composted in our back yard and not thrown in with the regular trash. This takes more effort that keeping them together.
I live in a developed country. My footprint is going to be fairly large. The infrastructure supporting my life is complex (sewers, government, roads, phones,…), my food is often delivered from another country (though some is organic local grown), I have used batteries throughout my life, I’ve traveled a lot (using fuel), etc.
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Pug
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I just meant that I find it odd to describe the things you list as things to do to “simplify your life”. To me, they seem less simple to execute. I do agree with doing a number of things like what you had in mind. For example, I compost. This reduces my trash load.
We only own one car. To do this, one of us walks 50 minutes to work (one way). We can afford another car, but we choose not to have one. Having only one car is more complicated in several situations, but overall, we are putting out less pollution. Also, a 50 minute walk is a simple sort of thing. It gives time to think and pray and look at the scenery.
Oh, I also meant that most people in developed countries do account for a massive amount of resources just by having grown up here. Sort of like if you take me when I die and compare me to someone in a different country, and you look back at the total amount of resources that went into the life each of us led, it will look like I used a lot more stuff. And this will be the case no matter how much I conserve from now until I die. I was just musing about how I can’t really make up the difference even if I conserve a bit. Hope that makes more sense.
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Viki59
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I think having way too many choices is one of the things that make our lives complex.
We try to limit our choices to a reasonable number, but it’s not easy. For example we shop in only three stores for clothes (a thrift store, JC Penneys, and Target). I only buy Timex watches because they are reliable and inexpensive. We don’t go to malls. If I find a car repair place that’s reliable, I stick with it.
(The only place I go overboard is books – I have hundreds. Am trying to persuade my kids that reading is fun . . .My daughter is starting to enjoy reading and being read to, though.)
Limiting choices seems to open up more time for enjoyable activities. Not easy as the kids start into adolescence.
My son wanted a $250 gorilla suit for Halloween. I said that would be a lot of fun, and gave him $10. He’s going to be a spooky mobster with a cane. My daughter will be Robin Hood with a great cap I sewed myself and a thrift store shirt.
Hopefully limiting choices makes more room for creativity. Cross my fingers.
We try to limit our choices to a reasonable number, but it’s not easy. For example we shop in only three stores for clothes (a thrift store, JC Penneys, and Target). I only buy Timex watches because they are reliable and inexpensive. We don’t go to malls. If I find a car repair place that’s reliable, I stick with it.
(The only place I go overboard is books – I have hundreds. Am trying to persuade my kids that reading is fun . . .My daughter is starting to enjoy reading and being read to, though.)
Limiting choices seems to open up more time for enjoyable activities. Not easy as the kids start into adolescence.
My son wanted a $250 gorilla suit for Halloween. I said that would be a lot of fun, and gave him $10. He’s going to be a spooky mobster with a cane. My daughter will be Robin Hood with a great cap I sewed myself and a thrift store shirt.
Hopefully limiting choices makes more room for creativity. Cross my fingers.
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mapleoak
Guest
Don’t really worry too much about it. There are more important things in life that vie for my attention.
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puzzleannie
Guest
get rid of stuff periodically, and cease buying more stuff.
stay out of the StuffMart store
cut up credit cards and only use them for emergencies, travel, business or necessary planned purchases
buy the smallest house that meets our family’s needs
when we do buy new appliances, put energy & water saving as a priority
make buying decisions based on real need, not fake desires
want less
use less
buy less
covet less
be satisfied with less
eat less
drive less
when gift-giving consider the expression of love for the recipient, not fulfillment of my own needs for acceptance, love, self-satisfaction.
stop useless seeking for any satsifaction or fulfillment from material possessions.
completely abandon the whole notion of “collectibles” little trinkets gathered and displayed to gather dust, simply because they are like objects, without any utilitarian or other value except to other collectors. One of the pernicious habits of modern life in consumer-land.
get rid of mementos, scrapbooks etc. take one picture of a cherished item, and of the person or association who makes it important to you, ditch the item unless it has use in your life today.
when you take a roll of pictures, choose the 2 or 3 that actually turned out and show what you wish to remember and trash the rest.
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didymus
Guest
I live pretty simply but that’s more necessity than virtue: I dropped out of college and I can’t drive because I have epilepsy. I make less than $25K/yr, live in a flat and take the bus.
Even so, I’m amazed at all the stuff I have: digital cable, two TVs with attendant DVD/VCRs, PC w/cable internet connection – in other words, technology that couldn’t even be dreamed of not so long ago. Plus a bunch of assorted gadgets and knick-knacks that always seem to be clogging up the house so we certainly could simplify, certainly in the area of buying more local food, though that tends to be more expensive and less convenient since I’m planning my shopping in terms of walking & bus rides.
Even so, I think I’m rich – richer than most of Earth, richer than 99.9% of the people who have ever lived. It seems odd to me that no American, even DINKs with an income over $100K/yr will ever admit to being rich.
If I were going to simplify I would probably get rid of cable.
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Al_Masetti
Guest
Well, I used to be a Type A personality, but I find that having converted to being a Type B personality, now I’m much more relaxed.
I don’t let as many things bother me anymore.
Really simplifies my life.
I don’t let as many things bother me anymore.
Really simplifies my life.
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KarenNC
Guest
There’s an example of the way that available options shape our choices, as does Pug’s statement about walking to work. Unfortunately we do not have access where we live to an actually usable public transportation system (unless one is only going downtown at rush hour and then home at the end of the day). Living where my husband could walk to work was very cost-prohibitive for us because of the location of his office and the housing prices in the surrounding area. We actually did live in a place with more frequent public transportation and where I could walk to work and the grocery at one point, but chose to move because of falling property values and skyrocketing crime rates. Choices that seem obvious to someone in one situation are much more complex in another situation.
We did this when we moved two years ago, not because of any philosophical objection to TV, but because we realized we had not actually plugged the cable into the back of the TV even though we had been there for 3 months and we hadn’t noticed. I have to say that it does free up time, and that it has lessened the “I wants” in my 7 yo. With the ready availability of most shows on dvd very quickly, we have been more than happy to use a service like Netflix and simply get the ones we want to watch and do so at our convenience without the commercials.
Now, no one had better get between me and my internet service
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Sr_Sally
Guest
This list sounds about like mine. We have only had one car for many years when alternate transportation worked with our jobs/other needs. We now have 2. The most noticable thing we do not on puzzleannie’s list is take our own bags to the grocery.
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Pug
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This is so true. For example, in my area there is a local farm that you can contract with to get “shares” of their yield through the spring, summer, and fall. Once a week you go pick up your share. It is organic and they give you a good variety of produce. Obviously, this is a local kind of option, that could not be done in another area.
Also, it just isn’t feasible for every family to manage to get housing five minutes from both spouse’s jobs. Similarly, if you have a job at night, then the buses don’t run, so you need a car to work the late shift. The steps each family can take will vary by circumstances.
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KarenNC
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Yes, this is the community supported agriculture (CSA) program that I mentioned initially. It took us several years to find one that had an opening, as there aren’t a lot of them in our area and interest is growing. This is our second year with our farmer and we are quite pleased. It has also challenged me to find ways to use produce I would not ordinarily think to buy (again, not simplifying necessarily
).There are also limitations imposed by income. As has been noted, many of these things are in fact more expensive than the standard option (or, like the CSA, require upfront lump sum payments) and may not be possible even if one foregoes other things. I am fortunate that my husband makes enough to allow us to make some of the choices.
It’s all about doing what you can with the set of circumstances you are given and within what is reasonable for your family. For instance, I am never going to be a farmer. It’s just not going to happen and I know that about myself, so I make the choice to support someone local who is.
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Pug
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Ah, I had to figure out what to do with baby swiss chard the other day. I ended up fixing it like spinach.It has also challenged me to find ways to use produce I would not ordinarily think to buy (again, not simplifying necessarily
There are also limitations imposed by income. As has been noted, many of these things are in fact more expensive than the standard option (or, like the CSA, require upfront lump sum payments) and may not be possible even if one foregoes other things
You are right about initial outlays of money. For example, getting a new air conditioner could be the wise thing for a family, but that requires a lump sum of money, whereas the money for each month’s electric bill seems doable, but more expensive in the long run. Or you don’t install better insulation because you only plan on living in that place a few years, etc.
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scottm
Guest
We do not have TV reception. We rent videos.
We only have one car. Yes, only one car.
We purposefully live close to where I work so that I can walk or bike to work. No it’s not the prettiest house you ever saw, but hey, I’m not in rush-hour traffic.
Wife and I do not buy Christmas presents for the kids. Grandma and Grandpa and other relatives take care of that.
We buy half our Christmas presents before August, and just stick them in the closet for later. The rest we buy mail-order. That way we’re not fighting crowds in December.
I second that.
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DocQuark
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…Not a thing and proudly so! 
I don’t recycle unless it’s convenient , and it is so I only bother because they give me a big trash can and separation allows more space for the other trash. Wouldn’t do it otherwise. Don’t give a hoot about the all-sacred “environment”, though I am an outdoorsman with a small “footprint” out of just gentility to nature.
I drive gas guzzling cars with lots of horsepower
and would never drive a hybrid until they have ample horsepower to my content. They’ll get there someday and some of my engineering helps that. I like them. I look forward to the destruction of all these import bubble, neo-communist cars with big, wide, American grills and non-aerodynamics again…once a new generation of hybrid makes that possible.
I own an RV that gets 6 mpg in town and 10 at best on the highway. That’s my SUV for longer road trips and general ranch heavy hauling.
I do save gas when riding a motorcycle, but that’s more fun than for giving a hoot about “stewardship”.
Of all things, I conspire to “overpopulate” the planet with adorable, earth-consuming babies most of all!
I pray for the day the old Hippies all die off as my Catholic greenie nature and “stewardship” ethic.
…Couldn’t help myself here when seeing the thread.
I don’t recycle unless it’s convenient
, and it is so I only bother because they give me a big trash can and separation allows more space for the other trash. Wouldn’t do it otherwise. Don’t give a hoot about the all-sacred “environment”, though I am an outdoorsman with a small “footprint” out of just gentility to nature.I drive gas guzzling cars with lots of horsepower
and would never drive a hybrid until they have ample horsepower to my content. They’ll get there someday and some of my engineering helps that. I like them. I look forward to the destruction of all these import bubble, neo-communist cars with big, wide, American grills and non-aerodynamics again…once a new generation of hybrid makes that possible.I own an RV that gets 6 mpg in town and 10 at best on the highway.
That’s my SUV for longer road trips and general ranch heavy hauling.I do save gas when riding a motorcycle, but that’s more fun than for giving a hoot about “stewardship”.
Of all things, I conspire to “overpopulate” the planet with adorable, earth-consuming babies most of all!
I pray for the day the old Hippies all die off as my Catholic greenie nature and “stewardship” ethic.
…Couldn’t help myself here when seeing the thread.
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KarenNC
Guest
Wasn’t aware that the Pope qualified as an “old Hippy”….I pray for the day the old Hippies all die off as my Catholic greenie nature and “stewardship” ethic.
…Couldn’t help myself here when seeing the thread.
catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0604876.htm
guardian.co.uk/religion/Story/0,2066711,00.html
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DocQuark
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Well, at this rate,I’m about to turn some form of Protestant. Maybe Orthodox Catholic or something.
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DocQuark
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Oh, that’s right, I don’t have to defect just yet. It’s not a serious and grave matter of Faith & Morals. He didn’t absolutely say we have to buy into it. Didn’t swear up and down that he’s infallible on it. Therefore, I don’t have to buy into it.
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