Simplicity and You

I wanted to write a post a few weeks back about Earth Day. I wanted to give tips and hints, and examples on the types of things I do to keep my foot print small but my enjoyment of life big. Had I written such a post it would have contained pointers on composting, recycling, forgoing bottled water for reusable canteens. I would have written about choosing organic when possible, or walking instead of driving. In essence it would have been very similar to all the other Earth Day posts and articles that spring up this time of year. I doubted my followers would enjoy redundancy from me so I sat on it, and gave further thought to my efforts to be Mean Green World Saving Machine.

The answer to saving the planet can be found in simplicity. Simplicity is the act of doing less to derive more enjoyment from those things that truly matter to you. For example, I choose to make my own laundry soap, bake my own bread and shop at thrift stores so I can have the luxury of staying home, something that truly matters to me. I forgo trendy shops and frequent trips to the mall so that I can find better enjoyment from the few things I do buy. I stay home often on weekends. I read books from the library. I go for walks with the kids. I work in my garden. All these things are enjoyable to me in a way that schleping my kids to daycare so I can go to work, running my kids from here to there or throwing a boxed meal into the oven just isn't.

Earth Day should not be about what you do, it should be about what you don't do. I think if people realized the impact of passive earth awareness they would see a much greater impact than the active strategies being put forth by the media. There have been an abundance of eco-friendly products popping up in the market. While I am glad to see mainstream getting on board I can see it for what it truly is...another way for people to spend money, consume and never change their lifestyle one darn bit. Companies are created to make money and eco-friendly is what is selling right now. The average person needs to understand that the very act of NOT buying is better than buying all those products and bringing them home.

Forget the green cleaners, the toys made from recycled materials and the hemp t-shirt. Unless these things are truly a need, people who buy them are just as bad as the person buying t-shirts made in a sweat shop. As a civilization we need to bring things back to basics.

We need to instill this mantra in our kids:

Use it Up,
Wear it Out,
Make Do,
Do Without

That is the key to saving the planet. That is the key to better fulfillment. Learn what is that makes you truly happy and concentrate on that. By focusing on those truly enjoyable things you won't have a need for the other fillers in your life. Save the planet. Live Simply.