Zen Habits Always has Something Inspiring to Read

I have been subscribed to the blog Zen Habits for a few months now and enjoy receiving updates in my email every day because there is generally something uplifting, inspiring or just awesome involved in every single post. Today of course was no different.

Here is an excerpt from the blog:

“This is the addition to “Omit needless things” that is necessary: not that you have as little as humanly possible, but that every thing you do have counts… In anything you do, see if you can apply these principles. There’s no need to get obsessive about it, of course, but it’s always useful to examine what we do, how we do it, and whether we really need to do it.”

The post discussed our need to omit superfluous stuff be it physical things in our homes or offices, foods we ingest or even the goals we set out for ourselves. This minimalist lifestyle is one I attempt to live in most areas of life but reading someone else’s take on the subject really got me thinking about what is needless in my life and exactly what I do about it.

I am the worst offender of two things -- committing to way too many plans and allowing food to spoil in the refrigerator.

As you have all been reading I have been quite busy with Green Leaf reviews of late but that is just one area of my business. I am also a painter (as in wall treatments, not on canvas) and a writer. I have been working on all of these things simultaneously in addition to spending time with family and friends and keeping up with everyone and everything (paying bills on time, reading blogs, grocery shopping, etc). After a while the pace takes a toll and it is vital for me to find a way to blow off steam.

Matt and I take a walk almost every night which really helps my mind decompress. True that in essence it is another plan but we spend the time talking about our day and releasing any of the stresses we had allowed to sneak in. In the midst of go-go-go we both really look forward to that twenty minute span of time that is reserved for no one but us.

Not only does this allow us to purge the chaos from our minds by laughing about it but the endorphins from the exercise are a double benefit!

We now plan weekly meals to reduce the over spending on, and needless waste of, extra foods we never eat and go bad in the fridge. I write out a list of meals we will have for dinner and all of the ingredients used to make them. Things we can not make right away are frozen and as I make the meal it is checked off. Meals that leave a lot of leftovers are put in small containers and one or the other of us has it for lunch the following day. I guess one might say we reduce, reuse or recycle our food.

Not only has this cut down greatly on the food that goes bad, it has helped us save a lot of cash and fat by not eating in restaurants for lunch or dinner all the time!

These two things are small steps but steps none the less toward a simpler life.

Other things I do to cut out needlessness:

- Turn off the television (the over stimulation causes brain chaos!)
- Unplug things not currently in use (why drain the planet too?)
- Continuously remain aware of every action I take
- Smile and laugh, a LOT (happiness is lighter than negativity trust me!)
- Sell, donate, trade and / or share

I have a long way to go before my home will look as simple as the photo on the Zen Habits blog post but I am working on it by starting with the two areas where have the greatest issues and it truly feels great!

I hope all of you will read the rest of today’s post over at Zen Habits.

In case this post wasn’t enough to convince everyone how much extra there really is out there I strongly encourage everyone to check out the Story of Stuff again. If you’ve never seen it believe me it is a total eye opener.

An Oldie but Goodie -- The Story of Stuff

Written and narrated by Annie Leonard, The Story of Stuff is a twenty minute movie which takes viewers through the entire lifecycle of, well, stuff. All kinds of stuff. This movie was first released in November of 2007 after Annie had completed about ten years of research into the concept. Her information is in your face but well worth addressing and her reasoning is solid and sound.

Annie describes to viewers in great detail how our stuff goes through the total cycle:
extraction => production => distribution => consumption => disposal
and how it relates to our planet and its resources.

Please click on the picture below to be taken directly to the movie site then just click on Play to watch this incredibly insightful video. Whether you have seen it before or this is the first time you are viewing it I promise the statistics and information related to what we do with our stuff will be astounding.

Film review: The Story of Stuff

Note: Hey all, Jenn's SIL Melissa here. Went to a movie...Jenn asked for my two cents, so here it is. Enjoy!

For most of us, a trip to the nearest mall or mega-mart means picking up a quick handful of items at a nice, cheap price. A no-brainer. But after viewing the short film The Story of Stuff, you just might find your brain piping up to remind you of all that goes into (and comes out of) all those things that find their way into your shopping cart and your home.

The film, a 20-minute Web documentary, was screened by Ayer Local, a new community organization in my hometown of Ayer, MA, with an ambitious slate: “to raise awareness of sustainability issues, reduce energy consumption, and promote local food & economy in order to build a resilient community that is sustainable for future generations.” (Thrilled to have them in town!)

Released on the Web in late 2007 (http://www.storyofstuff.com/), The Story of Stuff is narrated by Annie Leonard, “ an expert in international sustainability and environmental health issues, with more than 20 years of experience investigating factories and dumps around the world,” according to her Web site bio. She is also coordinator of the Funders Workgroup for Sustainable Production and Consumption, a funder collaborative working for a sustainable and just world.

The Story of Stuff is the current centerpiece of Leonard's mission to spread the word about the impact of consumerism and materialism on global economies and international health.

Leonard spiels her spiel in front of an animated backdrop detailing the entire life cycle of, well, stuff, from extraction of resource materials through production, distribution, consumption and ultimately, you guessed it, disposal.

Along the way, she touches on the many problems inherent in this cycle, supporting her arguments with statistics that make viewers sit up and take notice. Among the more illuminating observations:

• The U.S. has five percent of the world's population but consumes 30 percent of the world's resources and creates 30 percent of the world's waste.


• Each person in the United States makes 4 ½ pounds of garbage a day, twice what we each made 30 years ago.


• For every one garbage can of waste you put on the curb, 70 garbage cans of waste were made upstream to make the junk in that one can.

The one I found maybe the most disturbing:

• 99 percent of everything we purchase is disposed of within six months (!).

Cute, clever graphics aside, it's hard to miss the message: this is a recipe for destruction. But as the picture grows grimmer and grimmer throughout the narrative, Leonard ends on the ultimate positive note: “It's not like gravity that we just have to live with. People created this problem, and we are people, too.” Ergo, we can un-create it.

OK: The movie's eye-opening and it's entertaining. And it definitely makes you want to do something. But if you're looking for balance, you probably want to look somewhere else. This film is short, and the problems it details are, well, not. The Story of Stuff is geared to provoke: discussion, action, you name it. It's opinionated, and it pulls no punches.

That said, the message is completely valid: When it comes to stuff, we all need to think beyond our desire for instant gratification and remember that a cheap price may be hiding a far steeper cost for the environment, for natural resources and for communities around the globe.

GLR rating: 4 out of 5 leaves

Note: In case any Ayer townies out there are reading this, The Story of Stuff was the first in Ayer Local's “2nd Friday at the Movies” series, aimed at introducing the new organization to a wider swath of the town and getting some meaningful dialogue underway about how to get some positive changes going in Ayer. Look for more thought- and discussion-provoking films in the coming months.