Climate change, deforestation, species extinction, population explosion, the energy crisis . . . all of these factors are leading more and more people to ask: “How can we live a more sustainable lifestyle?”
In 1992 over 1,600 of the world’s senior scientists, including a majority of the living Nobel laureates in the sciences, signed a “Warning to Humanity” in which they declared that:
“A great change in our stewardship of the earth and the life on it is required, if vast human misery is to be avoided and our global home on this planet is not to be irretrievably mutilated.”
At the same time, people are seeking deeper sources of satisfaction than those offered by a high stress, overly-competitive, consumption-obsessed world. They’re shifting away from the rat race, forgetting about the Joneses, and leaving behind mindless accumulation; instead, they’re moving toward a life that’s rich with family, friends, and community, and looking for authentic and lasting sources of satisfaction and meaning, as well as spiritual fulfillment.
Below you will find ten snazzy ideas on simplicity to help you get off the thankless treadmill of materialism, and allow you to start moving toward the satisfaction and creativity of a simple life:
1. Jay Shafer lives in a house that is just 89 square feet. His philosophy–”Dream Big, Build Small”–is a result of his concern about the impact a larger house would have on the environment; also, he didn’t want to maintain a lot of unused or unusable space. He’s been building these small houses for over ten years and he explains that they allow its inhabitants to live a slower, simpler life.
2. Famous small houses include Thomas Jefferson’s Honeymoon Cottage–where he took his bride Martha– Henry Thoreau’s Cabin at Walden Pond, and George Bernard Shaw’s Writing Hut. During his writing years, Bernard Shaw had the wooden hut built at the bottom of the garden and mounted on a revolving mechanism so that as he worked, he could follow the sun throughout the day. The image below of his writing hut was taken from “Shedworking”:
simplicity
3. The company Simple Shoes makes eco-friendly shoes—using materials such as hemp, bamboo, and recycled bicycle tires–and was born “as a reaction to all the over-hyped, over-marketed, and over-teched sneakers out there”.
4. In the book “To Have or to Be?”
5. Add simplicity to your transportation: ride the bus or take the subway, ride your bike or walk to places that are close-by, and choose energy-efficient cars.
6. Simplicity is about being more authentic and dropping the pretense. To quote Gertrude Stein: “Let me listen to me and not to them.”
7. People who embrace simplicity live more in harmony with nature, and ecotourism is on the rise throughout the world. Responsible ecotourism includes programs that minimize the negative aspects of conventional tourism on the environment and enhance the cultural integrity of local people.
According to the definition and principles of ecotourism established by “The International Ecotourism Society”, ecotourism is “Responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people.” Ideally, ecotourism should satisfy several criteria such as:
- Tourism to unspoiled natural areas with minimal impact on the environment. Local culture, flora, and fauna are the main attractions.
- Conservation of biological diversity and cultural diversity.
- Promotion of sustainable use of biodiversity by providing jobs to local populations.
- Sharing of socio-economic benefits with local communities and indigenous people by having their informed consent and participation in the management of ecotourism enterprises
8. Simplicity is about purging exterior clutter. Living with less brings increased financial freedom and more opportunities to find our life’s path, and it decreases the impact of our consumption on the planet.
9. Simplicity is a path of cooperation and fairness that seeks a future of mutually assured development for all. For example, VerTerra makes paper plates that can be reused up to eight times, and then you place them in your garden where they decompose and feed your plants. In addition, all of VerTerra’s products are made in south Asia, where workers are paid fair wages in accordance with international standards.
10. The quote below reflects the simplicity of getting back to basics:
“The simplicity of the typewriter is alluring to writers who may be overwhelmed (or underwhelmed) by increasingly elaborate technology. A typewriter is also appealing in its transparency — whack a key, and watch the typebar smack a letter onto a piece of paper. Try figuring that out with a laser printer. Many people also find typewriters charming ambassadors of a bygone era.”
photo credit: Nihit Goyal
Related Posts:
Recommended Reading:
- “A Tiny Home to Call Your Own”
- “Voluntary Simplicity: Toward a Way of Life That Is Outwardly Simple, Inwardly Rich”
- “Inner Simplicity: 100 Ways to Regain Peace and Nourish Your Soul”
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