New Trends for Sustainable Living
Remember the time when you were moving countries or moving homes. How stressful and time consuming it was? Would it be easier if we would not need to spend hours and days going through our belongings, storage, pre-selection and downsizing process of all items we own? Is this the moment when we ask ourselves why we have accumulated so much “crap”?
Philosopher and psychoanalyst, Erich Fromm, in his book “To Have or to Be?” highlighted that all we own, represents a burden on our back. Nowadays the society has deviated to the materialistic nature of “having” rather than “being”. People of the modern world have lost their inner selves. Modern industrialization has made great promises, it has been developed to fulfil greater interests and increase possessions, leading to the consumer society. Fromm compared this with sickness and addiction if we do not purchase anything for a few days, we feel anxious as if something was missing.
The problem is that industries keep producing everything and anything for the modern consumer, and behind all of that, we are slowly sinking in our waste, exhausting our natural resources, and polluting essentials for living (water, air, land).
It’s a time to re-think and adopt new living practices. Conscious consumerism is a way forward.
Here is some advice:
- Before buying something, ask yourself if you really need it. You will be surprised how many items you will finally put aside after this question.
- When you need to buy something, do research, plan your purchase, choose the products that will last long, that you will keep long, that come from responsible sources.
- Start to read labels, choose healthy and natural products, made locally if possible.
- Shop in bulk, avoid plastic and unnecessary packaging.
- Eat balance, local and avoid/reduce meat consumption.
Look into new modern styles, such as minimalism.
At its core, minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of everything that distracts us from it. As a result, it forces improvements in almost all aspects of your life, including interior design and wardrobe.
Start zero waste living!
Zero Waste is a set of principles focused on waste prevention. The idea is to downsize and avoid waste creation wherever we can. Apply the 5 Rs principle– Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle, in that order. Recycle is better than waste but it’s not an ideal solution, as a process, it consumes the valuable sources such as water and energy.
One step at the time!
Changing our habits it’s not always easy and it takes time. Going out of the comfort zone has the same effect. Take one step at the time and see how it feels for you.
J.L.
