We all have to eat to live. Fine. But, what foods keeps me healthy, are environmentally sustainable, and socially just? On top of these basics, how do I balance my personal food consumption with the energy it takes to work on broader social justice issues like poverty, reducing environmental pollution especially from plastics and fossil […]
Living Lightly
Susan Vogt on living more simply but abundantlyBrowsing Posts in The Process
Today I want to share excerpts from an article I just read on EarthBeat by Brenna Davis, Do you have too many spatulas, too? It raises so many of the questions I’ve been asking myself for 10 years I could have written it myself – but why spend my time when she says it so […]
During the first 2 weeks of July I challenged myself to discern how much stuff was enough and take at least one step to simplify my life. (Of course this follows a decade of working to declutter and simplify my possessions and life. One would think I had barely anything left to prune. One would […]
In my ongoing challenge to clear my life of clutter, Covid-19 has helped me identify four areas: 1. WORKSPACE CLUTTER: Although I consider myself a pretty organized person, I’ve found that having more Zoom meetings has resulted in more scraps of paper accumulating on my desk. Since I don’t have to actually pick up these […]
I have a Challenge and a Riddle for you today. BUT,.. it’s going to take some work on your part. So,…stop reading right now if you don’t want to do the work – unless of course you’re a curious soul like me and don’t want to stop until you find out what the challenge involves. […]
Recycling is virtuous. Most of us at least make an effort to do the right thing. We probably put out stuff for curbside recycling pickups. We may carry a reusable water bottle and take cloth bags to the grocery. BUT, what about when it gets more complicated and time consuming? Here’s my recent story. FAILING: […]
As destructive as Covid-19 has been, it’s forced me to learn some new lessons during this time of change. I’ve become more: Grateful for many people (essential workers, family, friends) Grateful for the lifestyle I take for granted (my health, a steady income from Social Security and a pension, ability to work from home…) Aware […]
LEAKS: Last week we had several days of torrential rains. No problem. Handy Jim had dutifully cleaned out our gutters of tree debris which often causes them to overflow and water seeps into our basement – where my office is! BUT, this time it was a side of the house which has no trees and […]
There are several layers to Recycling Christmas:I’ll start with the traditional religious and gift-giving concepts and the go on to those that fit the more classic ecology dimensions. 1.The SUPER-SPIRITUAL: This approach goes back to the basics and reminds us that Christmas is about the Christ coming into the world as a human being. It […]
My last post on giving away socks was easy peasy. This one took some homework and research. We’re all familiar with the environmental slogan, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” This is good; but I sometimes rant about how folks often jump to the Recycle part and overlook the more substantive Reduce/Reuse aspect. After all, we wouldn’t have […]
Sometimes life gets messy, complicated, too busy, or painful. We, who like to think of ourselves as responsible hardworking people, can beat ourselves up thinking we’re not doing enough. It might be missing deadlines, not recycling enough, being lazy, or not living up to our values as fully as we would like. This week was […]
Our daughter was home for Mother’s Day. Yay! Now that she lives back in the States, I encourage her to take her stuff that’s been stored at our home to her home – a much delayed goal. In the process Heidi identified 6 books that she said were obsolete and should be pitched. The Best […]
Simplifying one’s life need not mean eliminating all luxuries but it might be a helpful practice to ask ourselves whether a contemplated purchase or possession is a necessity or a luxury. This can focus our decisions about how we spend our money and time. For example, during this cold winter I thought about those who […]
I’ve been writing this blog since 2010 and over these 7 years have explored many angles of voluntary simplicity (material, emotional, spiritual, and technological). The question I keep coming back to is: How much is enough? – How much is too much? On the material level I realize that there is a point where more […]
Recently our daughter moved to a new city. Many of her belongings stored at her previous home in Africa would take at least 3 months to arrive in Washington, DC. She thought she would help me out with my ongoing disbursal of extra household items by taking a few things from our home. She really […]
When a crisis or catastrophe strikes, people are often motivated to be generous. Floods, hurricanes, fires, accidents, etc. are hard on the victims but they often bring out the best in those who are in a position to help. Maybe this is the easy side of letting go because it’s clear that someone else needs […]
Plastic items are light, easily cleaned, and often cheaper than cloth, wood, metal, or brick. Maybe the three pigs should have built their homes out of plastic. But, of course most plastics do not biodegrade easily or quickly which make them anathema to environmentalists like me. They can, however, be recycled. Conscientious citizens already know […]
Christmas has come and gone. That means that we have gratefully received some nice gifts – often clothes. This also means that a natural consequence is the timeliness of giving away older things that are no longer needed or wanted. This is not bad, but it’s also not sacrificial giving. As I looked over the […]
I recently ran a little contest among colleagues to find out how folks commonly or creatively tackled the environmental trio of Reduce-Reuse-Recycle. Out of 222 responses I was especially impressed with the clever, albeit human energy intensive, submission of Therese Brennan. She saves the used shampoo bottle, buys the same kind again, then pours ½ […]
A success I couldn’t fit anything more into the file cabinet drawer assigned to NACFLM, my professional family life association. At this same time, a NACFLM committee I was on decided to archive former newsletters. For many years I had been the newsletter editor. Hmmm. I decided to bite the bullet and go through all […]
