Tiny House Living, Off the Grid

Having a life with less stuff and more experiences is a big driver of the tiny house movement.

by Cat Johnson

This piece originally appeared at Shareable.

Photo by Tammy Strobel / Flickr.

LaMar Alexander grew up in a homesteading family. For him, self-sufficiency, including gardening, raising animals and “doing for ourselves” was normal and necessary. He tried city life after college, but says he felt like a slave to a house, bills and employers. At 35, he made a change.

“I had a wake up call,” he explains, “that made me realize that what I really wanted was a simple homestead cabin and to eliminate my dependence on the system, so I could live sustainably while I pursued my dreams.”

Tiny house living is a good way to reduce your ecological footprint, save money, and simplify life down to the things that truly matter.

So Alexander built a house. A very small, 14 ft. x 14 ft. house. A solar and wind powered off-the-grid cabin with a kitchen, bathroom and living room downstairs and a bedroom and office upstairs. It cost him $2,000 to build not including the recycled doors and windows, the front porch, and the solar system.

Being an avid outdoorsman, Alexander didn’t need a lot of indoor space, but as an author, videographer, and off-the-grid builder, he did need modern amenities including a cell phone, Internet access, electric lights, indoor toilet, and shower etc., and he has them. Alexander says his tiny house is easy to clean, cheap to heat and cool, and he has no house payments or monthly utility bills.
“I now have the freedom to pursue my dreams,” he says, “and the money I make stays in my pocket and can be used for vacations or to help my family and for a secure retirement. That is the freedom that an off-grid lifestyle makes possible.”

Alexander is part of a growing movement of tiny housers. The options for going tiny are growing. In fact, tiny house villages are even being tested as solutions to homelessness. Within the tiny house movement, there's a contingent who are taking the simplicity, sustainability and freedom of tiny houses to the next level by building their tiny homes off the power grid.

Shareable connected with four experienced, off-the-grid tiny housers to find out how they made the move to living off-the-grid in a tiny house; what challenges they face; how they handle practical matters like electrical, sewage and water; what someone considering off-the-grid living should know; and the benefits of living tiny and off-the-grid.

Contributing to the conversation are Laura LaVoie, who, along with her partner Matt, built an off-the-grid tiny house in the mountains of North Carolina. She also authored the book 120 Ideas for Tiny Living and blogs about tiny house living at Life in 120 Square Feet; Merete Mueller who, along with her partner Christopher, built a 130 square foot, off-the-grid tiny house and documented the experience in the film Tiny: a Story About Living Small; and Alexander, who has produced several books and videos about going off-the-grid, and writes about off-the-grid living at Simple Solar Homesteading.

Benefits, challenges, and legalities

Tiny house, off-the-grid living is a good way to reduce your ecological footprint, save money—"Our bills for energy and water are zero dollars,” explains LaVoie—and simplify life down to the things that truly matter.

"People survived and thrived just fine before electricity came along and still can if you are willing to do things by hand."

“One benefit to tiny house living,” says Mueller, “is that it frees up the money, time and energy that would otherwise be spent on maintaining a house and rent or a mortgage, to be used on other things, like working on creative projects, starting a business, spending time with friends and family, or on other hobbies that bring a lot of satisfaction to one's life.”

She points out that with tiny house, off-the-grid living, the drawbacks can be the same as the benefits.
“One obvious challenge is a minimal amount of space inside,” she says, “But one benefit related to that is being forced to spend more time outside, and being forced to simplify possessions and think about which things matter most.”

Emptying the composting toilet, hauling water and the other “challenges” that come with tiny, off-the-grid living were, for Mueller, part of the allure. “We wanted to know and understand,” she says, “exactly how much water we were consuming.”

Alexander says that the biggest challenges involve government regulations and “burdensome codes.” He also mentions outside interference from neighbors and businesses in the area, securing an adequate water supply, and, if you live in a rural area, isolation and making money in a rural economy.

Regarding zoning issues, all three recommend talking with local authorities as regulations are different in different counties, towns, and even neighborhoods. Mueller suggests calling your local town office to ask questions before making any long-term plans. She also advises getting to know your neighbors.

“In many places with restrictions, those rules will only apply if the neighbors choose to report you or are somehow offended by your situation,” she explains. “So getting to know your neighbors early on, explaining to them your motivations for choosing this lifestyle, and how all of your utilities work, can help to avoid that from happening.” She adds, “It's good to develop allies early on.”

Generally, the closer you are to a city the more rules there are to follow. Because of this, off-the-gridders often choose to live in rural areas in counties that want to increase their tax base and may be more open to alternative structures. Alexander lists Colorado, Oklahoma, Alaska, Wyoming, Arkansas, and Missouri as some of the states that promote off-the-grid living.

Taking a tiny house off-the-grid

There’s a direct relationship between tiny houses and off-the-grid living. Having a life with less stuff and more experiences is a big driver of the tiny house movement. Going off-the-grid allows tiny house dwellers to take that simplicity even further.

For LaVoie, the connection between tiny houses and off-the-grid living is one of personal preference.
“The beauty of the tiny house movement is that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for everyone who wants to go tiny,” she says. “With the right resources someone can be connected to the grid if they want to. Otherwise, the smaller the house the less energy it needs to run efficiently, so off-grid systems are an easy match.”

Mueller points out that there’s a DIY element that connects the tiny house and off-the-grid movements.

“Not everyone builds their own tiny house, but certainly a very high percentage of people do,” she says. “This means that people living in tiny houses have a greater understanding of how their homes and their utilities work, which is conducive to off-grid living. Tiny housers often like the idea of being self-sufficient and environmentally sustainable, and it's certainly much easier to heat and power a tiny house through off-grid methods than a larger, more traditional house.”

She adds that because many tiny houses are built on wheels—a necessity to bypass building codes—they can't use traditional utilities (a septic system for example), so off-grid methods are often used even if the house is parked in a location with access to the grid.

How much does it cost?

The consensus on how much a tiny, off-the-grid house costs is: it depends. Variables include whether you build the house yourself; how you choose to heat it; how much you spend on off-the-grid energy sources; whether you want to go super-simple or have a luxurious, off-the-grid tiny house. Here’s what LaVoie, Mueller and Alexander had to say about building their tiny houses:

"I think it is especially important for everyone to recognize that there isn't one right way to live simply or off-grid."

LaVoie: We worked with an online company called the Alt-E store and put together a solar power package that was exactly what we wanted. It included two 245 watt panels, a 45 amp charge controller, and three 110 amp hour AGM batteries. We also use an 1800 watt inverter that we already owned. We were able to purchase all of this for around $2,000. The only other investment we made for our off-the-grid lifestyle was our Berkey water filter which cost around $300.

It costs us $0 a month for electricity, heat, and water in our tiny house. There are, of course some other minor costs but paying nothing for energy helps to offset those. For instance, since I work for myself I pay for my own health insurance. We, of course, have phone and internet bills. There is some small cost for fuel like propane and butane but it is really less than about $20 a month.

Mueller: [The cost] completely depends, but in our case when our tiny house was parked in an off-grid location, we only had to purchase a small propane tank once every few months for heating and we purchased water, which we hauled up in large jugs. Our solar system is a pre-made unit called a Sol Man (manufactured by a company called Sol-Solutions) and cost about $5,000. It cost us about $26,000 to build our tiny house, but people have built similar tiny houses for much more and much less, depending on how they were sourcing their materials and the amount of building experience they have.

Alexander: That all depends on what lifestyle the person wants. You can be a minimalist and go without any electricity using wood stoves or propane for heat and candles and lanterns for light, and a basic yurt, cabin or other house style. Or, you can build a very high-tech green home with the latest Leed's sustainability guidelines, which can be very expensive.

Older homes can be remodeled for off-the-grid efficiency or there are many small off-grid cabin designs like mine that people can use and modify to fit their needs. The style of the house may be modest or expensive depending on what you want.

My cabin cost under $2,000 to build and about $5,000 for the off-grid system and I believe a smaller off-grid home under 400 square feet that is very efficient and also nice and comfortable to live in can be built for under $20,000, and much less if people are using recycled materials and doing the work themselves. Land, water and a power system are not included in that figure because they vary greatly depending on your needs, the area, and where you want to live.

Options for generating electricity

One option for electricity is to go without. Alexander explains that one quarter of the world’s homes do not have a grid electricity connection.

“People survived and thrived just fine before electricity came along,” he says, “and still can if you are willing to do things by hand and go without much of the entertainment that people think they need to survive.”

If going without is not an option, there are several options for generating electricity for an off-the-grid house, but solar is the most affordable. At approximately $1 per watt you can have an inexpensive system for basic power needs for under $5,000. Solar also works in cloudy conditions and snowy areas.

Wind is another option, but wind turbines are expensive and only work when the wind blows. If you have access to a river or stream, you could look into hydro power for generating some of your electricity.

Both Alexander and LaVoie advise doing a lot of research before you invest in anything. LaVoie recommends getting an energy meter before making any decisions to figure out what your electrical needs are. Alexander says the best tip he can give is to first study how you can greatly reduce your power consumption using more efficient appliances and non-power using appliances.

“Heat, cooling and refrigeration are the main power consumers in any house,” he explains, “so off-grid houses use wood stoves, propane heat, fans, passive cooling and alternative power fridges to take those appliances out of the system. Once you eliminate those appliances from your power needs,” he continues, “you can use a very small solar system for everything else.”

Alexander’s current system is 580 watts solar, a 400 watt wind turbine, and propane for heating and cooking with a wood stove back-up. He does passive cooling with fans, porches, overhangs and trees, and refrigeration is done using a converted freezer run off solar.

How to get water

Finding a water source is one of those things that you’re going to want to research before you buy land. Most counties require an approved source such as a city water connection, a professionally drilled well, or a cistern tank with a delivery system. Drilling a well can be expensive, so find out what your options are. Hand-drilled, shallow wells and rainwater catchment can be used for agricultural purposes, but these generally don’t meet county codes.

Alexander, who has a hand-drilled well and a 300 foot deep Artesian well, warns that if you’re using rainwater to supplement household usage, it must be filtered and treated to make it safe for consumption. He explains that giardia is a “real problem” with rain water but it is safe for washing clothes and flushing toilets.

LaVoie counts herself lucky that the land they bought has a running spring. She adds that you can also purchase water, but cautions that the costs begins to add up. She says that the thing that she is the most proud of is their conservation of water.

“The average American household can use over 200 gallons of water a day depending on the number of people in the home,” she says. “In our tiny house, Matt and I use a total of five gallons a day, not including drinking water. We have an air pressurized shower sprayer that holds two gallons of hot water and is plenty to ensure that we are clean.” She adds that one of the biggest culprits for water use in a traditional household is flushing the toilet.

The lowdown on the toilet

Outhouses are a proven solution for dealing with human excrement, but composting toilets offer a solution that can be brought indoors, have all the comforts of the modern toilet, and are allowed in many rural areas. Another solution is a conventional septic tank or, where allowed, a leach pond.
Alexander and LaVoie both recommend the book The Humanure Handbook: a Guide to Composting Human Manure by Joseph C. Jenkins for getting the facts about all things poop. LaVoie uses a dry composting, sawdust toilet that she describes as “easy to manage.” She adds that there are commercially available composting systems, but they can get pricey. Alexander designed and built a solar enhanced composting toilet that keeps the microbes at a higher temperature so they work faster to compost the waste.

“If you eliminate gray water from your tank,” he says, “you do not need a leach field and there is nothing left over but some dry composted material when the process is complete.” The plans for his toilet are in his book Off the Grid.

How to handle garbage, recycling, mail, internet

Another question that arises is, if you’re off-the-grid, how do you deal with details such as garbage, recycling, mail and internet. The consensus here is to use the local dump for garbage and recycling and set up a P.O. box or a mailbox at a UPS store if there’s one nearby, or just use a mailbox on the road.

Having a life with less stuff and more experiences is a big driver of the tiny house movement.

There are other options as well. Most household waste can be composted or incinerated in rural areas. Alexander explains that most rural people have an incinerator barrel and what is left over is hauled off occasionally. He adds that the key is reusing or repurposing everything possible.

“Everything gets recycled at my place,” he says, “and all wood and metal is held on to for other projects or sent to the scrap yard for someone else to use.”

Internet access is available through a cell phone hotspot or a satellite system. If T.V. is a must-have, satellite T.V. works everywhere and with Internet access, you can get Netflix, Hulu etc.

The big picture on tiny, off-the-grid living

The big picture takeaway on becoming an off-the-grid tiny houser is that there are countless possibilities when it comes to building a home that's right for you. Making the move requires a big, hands-on commitment, but it’s a lifestyle change that, according to LaVoie, can be personally fulfilling.

“I think it is especially important for everyone to recognize that there isn't one right way to live simply or off-grid,” she says. “Tiny house living shouldn't be viewed as a competition or that someone is doing it better than anyone else. The most important thing is to live in a way that is comfortable for you.” She adds, “Always make sure you enjoy the adventure.”

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Cat Johnson wrote this article for Shareable, where it originally appeared. Cat is a freelance writer focused on community, the commons, sharing, collaboration and music. Publications include Utne Reader, GOOD, Shareable, Triple Pundit, and Lifehacker.
Read more:

• Tiny Houses for the Homeless: An Affordable Solution Catches On
• Tiny House Village to Shelter the Homeless in Texas
• Resilient Ideas: Get Off The Grid

Source: http://www.yesmagazine.org/planet/how-to-live-off-the-grid-in-a-tiny-house

Building Social and Emotional Skills: Empathy

Image credit: iStockphoto 

 

This is part seven of the nine-part series from the Project Happiness curriculum. We are looking at important factors that influence the happiness and social and emotional learning of elementary school age children, helping students learn life skills, manage emotions, and increase empathy. Each blog post features one letter of the acronym HAPPINESS:

1. H = Happiness
2. A = Appreciation
3. P = Passions and Strengths
4. P = Perspective
5. I = Inner Meanie/Inner Friend
6. N = Ninja Mastery
7. E = Empathy
8. S = So Similar
9. S = Share Your Gifts

In this post, we will explore Empathy.
Why is it important to "walk in someone else's shoes?" According to a study by the Brookings Institution, "Higher curriculum standards don't correlate to higher student achievement; empathy does." Empathy is also gaining attention as an important component of emotional intelligence and as a way to reduce bullying. When a person learns to understand and share the feelings of another, the pro-social behavior that results shows up in better relationships, closer friendships and stronger communities -- it's that important!
Here are five steps to cultivate empathy:

1. Watch & Listen: What is the other person saying, and what is his or her body language?
2. Remember: When did you feel the same way?
3. Imagine: How does the other person feel? And how would you feel in that situation?
4. Ask: Ask what the person is feeling.
5. Show You Care: Let him or her know that you care through your words and actions.

(Click the image to download a PDF of the lesson plan, and find additional resources at projecthappiness.org.)

Click to download the PDF of this lesson plan. (559.44 KB)

Credit: Randy Taran

How is Empathy Being Developed in Schools?

There are many approaches to teaching empathy. Here are ten interesting ways that aspects of empathy are being introduced:

1. Start with Teachers: At a recent EduCon Conference, an important issue came up. Teacher burnout increases when teachers are expected to be supportive but receive no emotional support at all. One teacher summarized it well: "How can I have empathy for my students when no one will have empathy for me?" The solution one school adopted was to have regular staff meetings in which everyone sat in a circle and shared how things were going. Teachers felt closer to one another in creating a more supportive environment where others cared about how everyone was feeling.
2. Infants as Educators: Roots of Empathy is a program that brings a neighborhood infant and parent to visit the classroom every three weeks over the school year. Students are taught to observe the baby's development and discuss his or her feelings, which opens the door to students identifying their own feelings and advocating kindness for the baby and for each other.
3. Validation and Trust: Making sure students have a voice -- and that all voices are heard -- is a building block for empathy. One teacher states:

   The students learn that I trust them to be kind, loving and intelligent. And they are learning to trust that I will think of them that way. We learn to trust each other . . . help each other if we fall . . . and use our voices to make change. When children first start to use their voices in the classroom, it provides for a test as to how they may be received. Will they be listened to? Will they be laughed at? Are they important?

4. Power of Teamwork: Working in teams to affect the greater good is a great way to creating a culture of empathy. At AXL Academy, each child is assigned to a "crew" for two years. Inspired by Outward Bound founder Kurt Hahn's quote, "We are not passengers in life, we are crew," students learn to work together and create close bonds with one another and their teacher.
5. Grading on Character: The school also grades students on character, with big questions like, "What makes a good friend?" broken down into learning outcomes; and with performance targets, which teachers and students use to collaboratively evaluate students' progress.
6. Practice Emotional Literacy: Having students learn what feelings are (including reading people's faces and body language) as well as how to name those feelings are necessary steps to empathy. If they can learn how to express their feelings and how to interpret when others express feelings, they have important tools for life.
7. Befriending the "Other": To teach empathy, one school is helping students learn to initiate relationships by becoming friends with students who are different, have a disability, or are new. The motivation is friendship and better relationships.
8. Students as "Changemakers": When teachers guided students to identify school problems and encouraged them to work together to come up with solutions, this caused a shift in the school culture. In one fourth grade class, the oldest grade in the school decided to create reminders for the younger grades about how to treat each other well. Because of the project, the older students began to see themselves as role models and empathic leaders for the younger kids.
9. Service-Learning: In Georgetown Elementary Day School, students do grade-wide service-learning projects. In pre-school and first grade, for example, students made sandwiches for a local nonprofit's family support programs. By the fifth grade, students could choose their own service project culminating in four days of service and advocacy.
10. Encourage Empathy at Home: Empathy is reinforced at home when parents model it. When parents positively demonstrate sharing their feelings in authentic, engaged and non-judgmental ways, kids (influenced by mirror neurons) tend to imitate or mirror the intention and emotional state of what they see. Empathy is a family affair!

Do you see this as an important issue? In what 

Sustainable is possible

"Ma'ikwe Schaub Ludwig is the Executive Director of Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage, the pioneering sustainability educator who heads up Ecovillage Education US, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Fellowship for Intentional Community. She believes strongly that sustainability is possible, assuming we can learn to cooperate, share and assess what really makes us happy, rather than staying bought in to the material excess culture we've been raised in. In addition to more common sustainability work, she teaches cooperative group dynamics as a key skill set in moving us toward sustainability and spiritual activism as a framework for linking the personal and political. Ma'ikwe is a regular writer for Communities magazine and is the author of Passion as Big as a Planet: Evolving Eco-Activism in America."

The Movement to Live More Simply Is Older Than You Think

What might history teach us about living more simple, less consumerist lifestyles?

by Roman Krznaric

The ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes took simple living to the extreme, and lived in an old wine barrel. Painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme, used courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

When the recently elected Pope Francis assumed office, he shocked his minders by turning his back on a luxury Vatican palace and opting instead to live in a small guest house. He has also become known for taking the bus rather than riding in the papal limousine.

Simple living is not about abandoning luxury, but discovering it in new places.

The Argentinian pontiff is not alone in seeing the virtues of a simpler, less materialistic approach to the art of living. In fact, simple living is undergoing a contemporary revival, in part due to the ongoing recession forcing so many families to tighten their belts, but also because working hours are on the rise and job dissatisfaction has hit record levels, prompting a search for less cluttered, less stressful, and more time-abundant living.

This article is based on the author's new book, How Should We Live? Great Ideas from the Past for Everyday Life.

At the same time, an avalanche of studies, including ones by Nobel Prize-winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman, have shown that as our income and consumption rises, our levels of happiness don't keep pace. Buying expensive new clothes or a fancy car might give us a short-term pleasure boost, but just doesn't add much to most people's happiness in the long term. It's no wonder there are so many people searching for new kinds of personal fulfillment that don't involve a trip to the shopping mall or online retailers.

If we want to wean ourselves off consumer culture and learn to practice simple living, where might we find inspiration? Typically people look to the classic literature that has emerged since the 1970s, such as E.F. Schumacher's book Small is Beautiful, which argued that we should aim "to obtain the maximum of wellbeing with the minimum of consumption." Or they might pick up Duane Elgin's Voluntary Simplicity or Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin's Your Money or Your Life.

I'm a fan of all these books. But many people don't realize that simple living is a tradition that dates back almost three thousand years, and has emerged as a philosophy of life in almost every civilization.

What might we learn from the great masters of simple living from the past for rethinking our lives today?

Eccentric philosophers and religious radicals

Anthropologists have long noticed that simple living comes naturally in many hunter-gatherer societies. In one famous study, Marshall Sahlins pointed out that aboriginal people in Northern Australia and the !Kung people of Botswana typically worked only three to five hours a day. Sahlins wrote that "rather than a continuous travail, the food quest is intermittent, leisure abundant, and there is a greater amount of sleep in the daytime per capita per year than in any other condition of society." These people were, he argued, the "original affluent society."

In the Western tradition of simple living, the place to begin is in ancient Greece, around 500 years before the birth of Christ. Socrates believed that money corrupted our minds and morals, and that we should seek lives of material moderation rather than dousing ourselves with perfume or reclining in the company of courtesans. When the shoeless sage was asked about his frugal lifestyle, he replied that he loved visiting the market "to go and see all the things I am happy without." The philosopher Diogenes—son of a wealthy banker—held similar views, living off alms and making his home in an old wine barrel.

We shouldn't forget Jesus himself who, like Guatama Buddha, continually warned against the "deceitfulness of riches." Devout early Christians soon decided that the fastest route to heaven was imitating his simple life. Many followed the example of St. Anthony, who in the third century gave away his family estate and headed out into the Egyptian desert where he lived for decades as a hermit.

Later, in the thirteenth century, St. Francis took up the simple living baton. "Give me the gift of sublime poverty," he declared, and asked his followers to abandon all their possessions and live by begging.

Simplicity arrives in colonial America

Simple living started getting seriously radical in the United States in the early colonial period. Among the most prominent exponents were the Quakers—a Protestant group officially known as the Religious Society of Friends—who began settling in the Delaware Valley in the seventeenth century. They were adherents of what they called "plainness" and were easy to spot, wearing unadorned dark clothes without pockets, buckles, lace or embroidery. As well as being pacifists and social activists, they believed that wealth and material possessions were a distraction from developing a personal relationship with God.

Woolman insisted on paying slaves directly in silver.

But the Quakers faced a problem. With growing material abundance in the new land of plenty, many couldn't help developing an addiction to luxury living. The Quaker statesman William Penn, for instance, owned a grand home with formal gardens and thoroughbred horses, which was staffed by five gardeners, 20 slaves, and a French vineyard manager.

Partly as a reaction to people like Penn, in the 1740s a group of Quakers led a movement to return to their faith's spiritual and ethical roots. Their leader was an obscure farmer's son who has been described by one historian as "the noblest exemplar of simple living ever produced in America." His name? John Woolman.

Woolman is now largely forgotten, but in his own time he was a powerful force who did far more than wear plain, undyed clothes. After setting himself up as a cloth merchant in 1743 to gain a subsistence living, he soon had a dilemma: his business was much too successful. He felt he was making too much money at other people's expense.

In a move not likely to be recommended at Harvard Business School, he decided to reduce his profits by persuading his customers to buy fewer and cheaper items. But that didn't work. So to further reduce his income, he abandoned retailing altogether and switched to tailoring and tending an apple orchard.

Woolman also vigorously campaigned against slavery. On his travels, whenever receiving hospitality from a slave owner, he insisted on paying the slaves directly in silver for the comforts he enjoyed during his visit. Slavery, said Woolman, was motivated by the "the love of ease and gain," and no luxuries could exist without others having to suffer to create them.

The birth of utopian living

Nineteenth-century America witnessed a flowering of utopian experiments in simple living. Many had socialist roots, such as the short-lived community at New Harmony in Indiana, established in 1825 by Robert Owen, a Welsh social reformer and founder of the British cooperative movement.

Parisian artists lived off cheap coffee and conversation while their stomachs growled with hunger.

In the 1840s, the naturalist Henry David Thoreau took a more individualist approach to simple living, famously spending two years in his self-built cabin at Walden Pond, where he attempted to grow most of his own food and live in isolated self-sufficiency (though by his own admission, he regularly walked a mile to nearby Concord to hear the local gossip, grab some snacks, and read the papers). It was Thoreau who gave us the iconic statement of simple living: "A man is rich in proportion to the number of things which he can afford to let alone." For him, richness came from having the free time to commune with nature, read, and write.

Simple living was also in full swing across the Atlantic. In nineteenth-century Paris, bohemian painters and writers like Henri Murger—author of the autobiographical novel that was the basis for Puccini's opera La Bohème—valued artistic freedom over a sensible and steady job, living off cheap coffee and conversation while their stomachs growled with hunger.

Redefining luxury for the twenty-first century

What all the simple livers of the past had in common was a desire to subordinate their material desires to some other ideal—whether based on ethics, religion, politics or art. They believed that embracing a life goal other than money could lead to a more meaningful and fulfilling existence.

Let's enlarge the areas of free and simple living on the map of our lives.

Woolman, for instance, "simplified his life in order to enjoy the luxury of doing good," according to one of his biographers. For Woolman, luxury was not sleeping on a soft mattress but having the time and energy to work for social change, through efforts such as the struggle against slavery.

Simple living is not about abandoning luxury, but discovering it in new places. These masters of simplicity are not just telling us to be more frugal, but suggesting that we expand the spaces in our lives where satisfaction does not depend on money. Imagine drawing a picture of all those things that make your life fulfilling, purposeful, and pleasurable. It might include friendships, family relationships, being in love, the best parts of your job, visiting museums, political activism, crafting, playing sports, volunteering, and people watching.

There is a good chance that most of these cost very little or nothing. We don't need to do much damage to our bank balance to enjoy intimate friendships, uncontrollable laughter, dedication to causes or quiet time with ourselves.

As the humorist Art Buchwald put it, "The best things in life aren't things." The overriding lesson from Thoreau, Woolman, and other simple livers of the past is that we should aim, year on year, to enlarge these areas of free and simple living on the map of our lives. That is how we will find the luxuries that constitute our hidden wealth.

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Roman Krznaric, Ph.D., wrote this article for YES! Magazine, a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas with practical actions. Roman is an Australian cultural thinker and cofounder of The School of Life in London. This article is based on his new book, How Should We Live? Great Ideas from the Past for Everyday Life (BlueBridge). www.romankrznaric.com @romankrznaric

Source: http://www.yesmagazine.org/happiness/the-movement-to-live-more-simply-is-older-than-you-thought

From The Story of Stuff To The Story of Solutions

 

--by Annie Leonard , syndicated from Yes Magazine, Nov 21, 2013

The final film in the “Story of Stuff” series asks, What if the goal of our economy wasn’t more, but better—better health, better jobs, and a better chance to survive on the planet?

In an ad for a major phone company blanketing TV this year, a circle of doe-eyed children is asked: "Who thinks more is better than less?" You know the one—an eager kindergartener answers, "We want more, we want more," before the commercial voice intones, "It's not complicated..."

To economists, there's no distinction between money spent on stuff that makes life better and money spent on stuff that makes life worse.

When it comes to our economy, most Americans also believe that more is always better. More, in this case, is what economists call growth, and we’re told that a bigger GDP—the way we measure economic activity—means we're winning. So it’s the number that thousands of rules and laws are designed to increase.

After all, what kind of loser wouldn't want more?

But unlike in the commercial, it's a little more complicated.

To economists, there's no distinction between money spent on stuff that makes life better and money spent on stuff that makes life worse. GDP treats both the same. If GDP goes up, we're told we’re golden—even though it doesn't actually tell us a thing about how we're really doing as a society.

In what I call the "Game of More," politicians cheer a steadily growing economy at the same time as our health indicators are worsening, income inequality is growing, and polar icecaps are melting.

But what if we changed the point of the game? What if the goal of our economy wasn't more, but better—better health, better jobs and a better chance to survive on the planet? Shouldn't that be what winning means?

That’s the question I ask in my new movie, "The Story of Solutions."

In it, I acknowledge that changing the goal of the entire economy—from more to better—is a huge task. We can't do it all at once. But I argue that by focusing on game-changing solutions, we can steadily build an economy that values things like safer, healthier, and more fair as much as we currently value faster, cheaper, and newer.

So what’s a game-changing solution look like?

It's a solution that gives people more power by taking power back from corporations. It values the truth that happiness and well-being don't come from buying more stuff, but from our communities, our health, and our sense of purpose. It accounts for all the costs it creates, including the toll it takes on people and the planet—in other words it internalizes costs instead of externalizing them as most businesses do today. And it lessens the enormous wealth gap between those who can't even meet their basic needs and those who consume way more than their fair share.

When I see a solution that does all that, I'm in. And they're popping up everywhere:

Like the Evergreen Cooperatives in Cleveland, where worker-owners are running green businesses—a laundry, a solar company, and a super productive urban farm—that are healthy, safe—and democratically run.

Or in Capannori, Italy, a so-called Zero Waste town where local citizens, businesses, and government aren't just aiming to manage waste better, they're questioning the very inevitability of waste by working together as a community to reclaim compost for the soil, to find reusable substitutes for disposable products, and put discarded material to good use.

And how about the new trend of "collaborative consumption"—formerly known as sharing? Sharing may sound like the theme of a Barney song, but it's a huge challenge to the old game. Things like bikeshare programs and online platforms that let us share everything from our cars to our homes get us off the treadmill of more, more, more, conserve resources, give people access to stuff they otherwise couldn’t afford, and build community. Nice!

Like I said, it’s hard to change the goal of the economy all at once. But as transformational solutions like these gain traction, I think we'll reach a tipping point—if we keep focused on the new goal of better. I believe that within a generation it’s possible we'll be hearing way less about the share price of the latest start-up or the battery life of the latest iPhone and way more about the health of our planet and neighbors.

So next time you hear someone preaching the virtues of more, tell them you choose better.

Annie Leonard: How to Be More Than a Mindful Consumer

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YES! Magazinewhere this article orginally appeared, is a national, nonprofit media organization that fuses powerful ideas with practical actions. This article is shared here with permission. Annie Leonard is the author of The Story of Stuff and the director of the Story of Stuff Project. She is also the creator of The Story of Cap & Trade, The Story of Cosmetics, The Story of Bottled Water, and The Story of Electronics.

Serving Your Community

by Madisyn Taylor

Being of service to our community is part of being a good citizen of the planet earth.

To live harmoniously, we need to be supportive and helpful to all people, creatures, and plant life that share this earth with us. While “being of service” is part of being a good citizen of the world, it also feels good to help others. When we do something for others in service, without the expectation of anything in return, we are turning our actions into offerings.

There are many ways to be of service to our community. There are the obvious and much needed volunteer opportunities, such as serving Thanksgiving dinner at a shelter, mentoring our youth, or cleaning up a beach. Then, there is the kind of service that we may not even think of as being acts of service. Learning a new language (perhaps sign language) so that you can talk to more people is a way to reach out to others. Inviting someone who isn’t motivated enough to exercise on their own to join you on your daily walk is a way to give of yourself. Sharing flowers or vegetables from your garden, organizing a poetry reading, offering to babysit for a busy parent, or donating pet food to an animal shelter all are simple ways to offer your services to your community.

There are many ways that you can serve the world. Imagine the impact we would have on the environment if we picked up one piece of trash off the street everyday and chose not to drive our car once a week. Even gardening tactics such as throwing wildflower seeds onto a vacant lot can brighten the lives of others – including the lives of birds and insects. Everyday, you can do something to make this world a better place. During meditation, ask for guidance on what you can do to be of service. This can be a wonderful way to start your day. Smiling at a stranger who looks down in the dumps or teaching your neighborhood kids how to whistle will impact someone’s day or even their life. Giving of yourself is the best gift that you can give.

Voluntary Simplicity

Source: http://www.dailygood.org/story/559/voluntary-simplicity-duane-elgin/

--by Duane Elgin, syndicated from ecoliteracy.org

What kind of "stewardship" fits our emerging world? When we consider the powerful forces transforming our world — climate change, peak oil, water and food shortages, species extinction, and more — we require far more than either crude or cosmetic changes in our manner of living. If we are to maintain the integ­rity of the Earth as a living system, we require deep and creative changes in our overall levels and patterns of living and consum­ing. Simplicity is not an alternative lifestyle for a marginal few. It is a creative choice for the mainstream majority, particularly in developed nations. If we are to pull together as a human commu­nity, it will be crucial for people in affluent nations to embrace a deep and sophisticated simplicity as a foundation for sustainabil­ity. Simplicity is simultaneously a personal choice, a community choice, a national choice, and a species choice.

What does a life of conscious simplicity look like? There is no cookbook we can turn to with easy recipes for the simple life. The world is moving into new territory and we are all inventing as we go. For more than thirty years I've explored contemporary expressions of the simple life and I've found such diversity that the most useful and accurate way of describing this approach to living may be with the metaphor of a garden.

A Garden of Simplicity

To portray the richness of simplicity, here are eight different flow­erings that I see growing in the "garden of simplicity." Although there is overlap among them, each expression of simplicity seems sufficiently distinct to warrant a separate category. These are pre­sented in no particular order, as all are important.

1. Uncluttered Simplicity: Simplicity means taking charge of lives that are too busy, too stressed, and too fragmented. Simplicity means cutting back on clut­ter, complications, and trivial distractions, both mate­rial and nonmaterial, and focusing on the essentials — whatever those may be for each of our unique lives. As Thoreau said, "Our life is frittered away by detail…. Simplify, simplify." Or, as Plato wrote, "In order to seek one's own direction, one must simplify the mechanics of ordinary, everyday life."

2. Ecological Simplicity: Simplicity means choosing ways of living that touch the Earth more lightly and that reduce our ecological impact on the web of life. This life-path remembers our deep roots with the soil, air, and water. It encourages us to connect with na­ture, the seasons, and the cosmos. An ecological sim­plicity feels a deep reverence for the community of life on Earth and accepts that the nonhuman realms of plants and animals have their dignity and rights as well.

3. Family Simplicity: Simplicity means placing the well-being of one's family ahead of materialism and the acquisition of things. This expression of green liv­ing puts an emphasis on providing children with healthy role models living balanced lives that are not distorted by consumerism. Family simplicity affirms that what matters most in life is often invisible — the quality and integrity of our relationships with one an­other. Family simplicity is also intergenerational — it looks ahead and seeks to live with restraint so as to leave a healthy Earth for future generations.

4. Compassionate Simplicity: Simplicity means feel­ing such a strong sense of kinship with others that, as Gandhi said, we "choose to live simply so that oth­ers may simply live." A compassionate simplicity means feeling a bond with the community of life and being drawn toward a path of cooperation and fair­ness that seeks a future of mutually assured develop­ment for all.

5. Soulful Simplicity: Simplicity means approaching life as a meditation and cultivating our experience of direct connection with all that exists. By living simply, we can more easily awaken to the living universe that surrounds and sustains us, moment by moment. Soul­ful simplicity is more concerned with consciously tasting life in its unadorned richness than with a par­ticular standard or manner of material living. In culti­vating a soulful connection with life, we tend to look beyond surface appearances and bring our interior aliveness into relationships of all kinds.

6. Business Simplicity: Simplicity means that a new kind of economy is growing in the world, with healthy and sustainable products and services of all kinds (home-building materials, energy systems, food pro­duction, transportation). As the need for a sustainable infrastructure in developing nations is being com­bined with the need to retrofit and redesign the homes, cities, workplaces, and transportation systems of developed nations, it is generating an enormous wave of green business innovation and employment.

7. Civic Simplicity: Simplicity means that living more lightly and sustainably on the Earth requires changes in every area of public life — from public transporta­tion and education to the design of our cities and workplaces. The politics of simplicity is also a media politics, as the mass media are the primary vehicle for reinforcing — or transforming — the mass consciousness of consumerism. To realize the magnitude of changes required in such a brief time will require new approaches to governing ourselves at every scale.

8. Frugal Simplicity: Simplicity means that, by cutting back on spending that is not truly serving our lives, and by practicing skillful management of our per­sonal finances, we can achieve greater financial inde­pendence. Frugality and careful financial management bring increased financial freedom and the opportu­nity to more consciously choose our path through life. Living with less also decreases the impact of our consumption upon the Earth and frees resources for others.

As these eight approaches illustrate, the growing culture of simplicity contains a flourishing garden of expressions whose great diversity — and intertwined unity — are creating a resilient and hardy ecology of learning about how to live more sustainable and meaningful lives. As with other ecosystems, it is the diversity of expressions that fosters flexibility, adaptability, and resilience. Because there are so many pathways into the garden of simplic­ity, this self-organizing movement has enormous potential to grow....

The Choice for Simplicity

The circle has closed. The Earth is a single system and we humans have reached beyond its regenerative capacity. It is of the highest urgency that we invent new ways of living that are sus­tainable. The starting gun of history has already gone off and the time for creative action has arrived. With lifestyles of conscious simplicity, we can seek our riches in caring families and friend­ships, reverence for nature, meaningful work, exuberant play, social contribution, collaboration across generations, local com­munity, and creative arts. With conscious simplicity, we can seek lives that are rich with experiences, satisfaction, and learning rather than packed with things. With these new ingredients in the lives of our civilizations, we can redefine progress, awaken a new social consciousness, and establish a realistic foundation for a sustainable and promising future.

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Reprinted with permission. The Center for Ecoliteracy where this article originally appeared, supports and advances education for sustainable living. You can follow its work at www.twitter.com/ecoliteracy. Duane Elgin is an internationally recognized speaker and author. His books include The Living Universe, Promise Ahead, and Awakening Earth. He received the international Goi Peace Award in recognition of his contribution to a global "vision, consciousness, and lifestyle" that fosters a "more sustainable and spiritual culture."

Sustenance for the Soul

by Madisyn Taylor

Modern life compels us to rush. Because we feel pressured to make the most of our time each day, the activities that sustain us, rejuvenate us, and help us evolve are often the first to be sacrificed when we are in a hurry or faced with a new obligation. It is important we remember that there is more to life than achieving success, making money, and even caring for others.

Your spiritual needs should occupy an important spot on your list of priorities. Each task you undertake and each relationship you nurture draws from the wellspring of your spiritual vitality. Taking the time to engage in spiritually fulfilling activities replenishes that well and readies you to face another day. Making time for the activities that contribute to your spiritual growth has little to do with being selfish and everything to do with your well-being. Regularly taking the time to focus on your soul’s needs ensures that you are able to nurture yourself, spend time with your thoughts, experience t! ranquility, and expand your spiritual boundaries.

It is easy to avoid using our free moments for spiritual enrichment. There is always something seemingly more pressing that needs to be done. Many people feel guilty when they use their free time to engage in pursuits where they are focusing on themselves because they feel as if they are neglecting their family or their work. To make time for yourself, it may be necessary to say no to people’s requests or refuse to take on extra responsibilities. Scheduling fifteen or thirty minutes of time each day for your spiritual needs can make you feel tranquil, give you more energy and allows you to feel more in touch with the universe. Writing in a journal, meditating, studying the words of wise women and men, and engaging in other spiritual practices can help you make the most of this time.

Making time to nurture your spirit may require that you sacrifice other, less vital activities. The more time you commit to soul-nurturing activities, the happier and more relaxed you will become. The time you devote to enriching your spirit will rejuvenate you and help you create a more restful life.

Daily OM

A Guide To Life's Turning Points

by Brian Browne-Walker

[Listen to Audio!]

Progress is made in steps, not in leaps. Move only as far as the opening allows. Remain neutral and tolerant of adversity. When in doubt, remain still.

By accepting things as they are and not making fruitless comparisons to the situations of others, or some imagined ideal, one engages the power of the Creative.

Though outer conditions appear unpromising, success is possible if you look faithfully for the good in others, yourself, and the situation.

It is a time for moderation in everything. Moderation of enthusiasm keeps you balanced.
Moderation of despair deepens your understanding.

Accept natural limitations. When there is an opening, go forward with balance.

When the way is closed, withdraw willingly into stillness.

Do not enter rashly into a conflict, stand quietly in the center and keep your balance.  This enables a true and lasting resolution to be found.

Shock frightens us, and at first we are convinced that it is bad. When we learn the lesson that it has come to teach, we are thankful for it.

Restless effort undermines one’s interests. It is unwise to charge repeatedly at a closed door. Withdraw into stillness and accept both the challenges and the blessings of the day.

The difficulty is coming to a close, but only if one is firm against harshness, doubt, and despair. Help only comes when there is room for it to enter.

One who gives up a stubborn and harsh way of acting will not regret it. No harm comes if you soften now.

Abandon ambitions, anxieties, and agendas. What is necessary and worthwhile arises from the stillness within.

A true change of heart is possible when we accept the necessity of adversity. Peace comes when we discontinue the strivings of the ego.

Look not at the outward situation, but at the effects of your own thoughts and actions.

Through self-contemplation and self-correction, you arrive at a proper understanding.

Remain patient until the Creative does its work. Modesty will bring greater rewards than the aggressive maneuverings of the ego.

The solution to every situation is always available. By remaining open, innocent, and moderate, you allow the Creative to aid you. Do less, not more.

-- Brian Browne-Walker, excerpted from, "The I Ching or Book of Changes: A Guide to Life's Turning Points"

Sustainable Everyday - Scenarios of urban life

AUTHORS

E. Manzini, F. Jégou

with contributions from: F. Butera, B. de Leeuw, G. Mojoli, W. Sachs, A. Seassaro, J. Thackara and from A. Formentini, J., A. Meroni, P. Rosa

PRESENTATION

What might everyday life be like in a sustainable society? How do you take care of yourself and other people? How do you work, study, move around? How do you cultivate a network of personal and social relationships and create an undistorted relationship with the environment?
What do the sustainable societies we are able to imagine today have in common? How wide a range of options do we have open to us on the basis of these common elements?

Sustainable Everyday offers us a state-of-the-art picture based on the answers we are in a position to give to these questions today. It goes on to outline possible scenarios and workable alternatives applicable in the wide, though not all inclusive, field of the everyday dimension of existence (the world as we, its inhabitants, see it). Particular reference is made to the urban environment (whether historical cities or the up-and-coming new conurbations). It deals with the future of our domestic lives, but it does so in a very different perspective from the many examples of “future homes” we are used to imagining. The focus is not on the technology which is to reshape traditional functions, but rather on emerging “living strategies” which are becoming possible and, at least for some, desirable today; different ways of living that arise more from social and systemic innovation than from technological development.

The book, which is also the catalogue for an exhibition of the same name, is the result of an international research programme and a series of 15 design workshops in 10 different countries. They lay out a detailed scenario of sustainable everyday life: a scenario which sets limits and opens possibilities; which raises new questions, offers new solutions and reveals possible, different ways of living. It leaves the reader, and the visitor to the exhibition, space to form his own opinion and make his own choices.

Sustainable Everyday talks about the future using the tools of design: design which, in this case, does not prefigure tomorrow but takes part in shaping it.

(Septembre 2003)

Source: http://www.sustainable-everyday-project.net/

Sharing the Idea of Collaborative Consumption

The idea of Collaborative Consumption is gaining traction throughout the world, and would be of great relevance to Asia as our consumption level rises.

Collaborative Consumption refers to sharing that is empowered by technology and social or peer-to-peer networks. It has the potential to change how we consume and the way businesses operate.

Sharing also covers renting, swapping, lending, trading, exchanging, bartering, and gifting. The advantages of sharing are that fewer resources are used to make and ship stuff, and less waste are generated and disposed.

The term Collaborative Consumption was first described in 2010 in the book What’s Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption by Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers. Other resources with similar ideas on sharing include the book The Mesh: Why the Future of Business is Sharing by Lisa Gansky and the Shareable website.

At Asia is Green, we believe that Collaborative Consumption is an important and emerging idea because consumers are starting to realise that they can share rather than buy more stuff. This is motivated by greater environmental awareness and cost consciousness, the proliferation of mobile peer-to-peer technologies and social networks, and the need to be part of a community.

In the book What’s Mine Is Yours, the authors describe three systems of Collaborative Consumption – Product Service Systems, Redistribution Markets and Collaborative Lifestyles.

Product Service Systems

Product Service Systems is where you pay for and enjoy the benefit of using a product without having to own the product.

Local examples in Singapore include HollywoodClicks.com, which rents movie DVDs to customers who receive and return the DVDs via post; Maternity Exchange, which offers maternity and nursing wear rental for mums-to-be; and smove, which provides an electric vehicle sharing scheme.

Another example of Product Service Systems is MyRideBuddy, a dynamic and real time carpooling solution in Singapore, which matches users near common start and end points so that they can share a car ride together according to their convenience and preferences.

It allows individuals to benefit from the convenience of the car without owning one, while reducing costs and the problems of congestion and air pollution.

Redistribution Markets

The second system of Collaborative Consumption is Redistribution Markets, where you transfer used or unwanted stuff to somewhere or someone where they are wanted.

Local examples in Singapore include SG Freecycle, where anyone can post their unwanted items or request for stuff that they want; Offstock, where companies can buy or sell excess stocks of chemicals and raw materials; and Pass It On, which allows the public to donate used furniture and appliances, which are given to needy families and charities.

Another example of Redistribution Markets is BlockPooling.sg, an online platform for neighbours to lend, borrow or sell unused items within the community. This reduces waste and keeps valuable resources out of the incineration plants and landfills while helping residents save time, money and reduce their environmental impacts.

Collaborative Lifestyles

The third system of Collaborative Consumption is Collaborative Lifestyles, where you share and exchange less tangible assets such as time, space and money with people of similar interests.

Local examples in Singapore include Ecosystem, which provides a collaborative and coworking space for the green community to work and collaborate; Give.sg, which allows anyone to organize their own fundraising campaigns; and SG Cares, which matches volunteers with volunteer groups and opportunities.

Another example of Collaborative Lifestyles is Milaap, a social enterprise providing a microfinance platform that enables individuals to make microloans that help villagers in India gain access to basic services, such as education, healthcare, electricity, and clean water.

While Collaborative Consumption is still in its infancy in Singapore and Asia, we believe that this idea would gain more interest in the coming years and more companies would start to explore the business opportunities of sharing.

The above-mentioned business examples show elements of sharing, but they have not really made full use of technology and social or peer-to-peer networks to better enhance sharing. Companies have to work with the green and tech community, and maximise the use of technology to come up with better and more sustainable ways of sharing.

For consumers in Asia, it’s time to get ready for Collaborative Consumption.

Images: Hands by michelini; Collaborative Consumption Graphics – The Complete Picture by Rachel Botsman under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported license

Source: http://www.asiaisgreen.com/2013/10/08/sharing-the-idea-of-collaborative-consumption

Mindfulness Practice and Sustainability

by Miranda Phillips

One goal of meditation or “mindfulness practice” is to promote wise action: that is, to help us act constructively despite certain common mind states (e.g. fear, anger, sadness). This in mind, mindfulness strikes me as a great potential support to sustainability activism, where fear in particular can hinder constructive action.

We live in an age of enormous and looming twin threats, climate change and peak oil: the first, with its accompanying rise in floods, droughts, fires, and warm weather diseases (malaria and smog-related asthma); the second, with its (at the least) social turmoil as we adjust to dramatically new habits, or worse, food shortages and economic collapse.

I find both of these threats deeply frightening. For most of the last fifteen years, I’ve responded to my fears in various ways: sometimes feeling overwhelmed and paralyzed to do anything; sometimes taking action but compulsively, washing out and reusing every plastic bag rather than considering: what would make the biggest difference in reducing my environmental impact?

Even when presented with solutions that experts agree are the best place to start, I’ve found that fear can still get in the way of taking action. I recently had such an experience regarding bus travel. In this case, however, thanks to mindfulness techniques, I was able to meet my fears more wisely and productively.

Conventional wisdom has it that, for most people, the largest part of our carbon footprint comes from transportation and home heating. After insulating my house a few years ago, I knew that reducing my car travel was the next step. I believed strongly in the value, indeed the necessity, of alternatives to driving. And yet, I still had made no moves in this direction until about a month ago, when my daughter’s enthusiasm for bus travel (and frequent requests for this as way home from daycare) gave me opportunity to reflect: Why don’t I just ride the bus with her?

When considering bus travel, I had a number of reactions: 1. Fear: “It’s going to take so much longer, and cost more”. 2. Guilt: “You really should”, and “why aren’t you already??” All accompanied by a knot in my stomach that has led me to, well, not ride the bus.

But recently, it occurred to me that I could respond differently. One standard mindfulness technique is to observe feelings in one’s body – one’s breath, or other strong sensations – and simply note whether these are pleasant, unpleasant, or neither. On reconsidering the bus, I again noticed the knot in my stomach, but this time just noticed it: knot, unpleasant. And, as often happens in my experience, the knot eased. In its place a space opened up for something else to arise: ideas for possible next steps. (By the way, if you try this, make sure your goal is simply to notice and name the knot rather than make it go away. Such “wanting it away” is another sensation that itself needs to be noticed and eased to allow for wise thinking and action to happen).

It occurred to me that I had been associating bus with these unpleasant feelings of fear and guilt and therefore avoiding it. I didn’t actually know whether the bus was itself unpleasant.  Certainly, it couldn’t hurt to try once and see. Long story short, my daughter and I are now very happy weekly bus riders. We get home only 15 minutes later that we used to. I get my exercise by walking up the hill to meet her before treating ourselves to the ride back. We’ve cut our local driving by 1/3. And the $3 we pay weekly I consider a voluntary tax on the luxury I have of being able to drive the rest of the time.

In yoga, it is a key principle that, in order to stretch safely, one must simultaneously stretch in opposite directions: “ground down in order to reach up”. Indeed, if I try to stretch up without also grounding down, it hurts, and sends me off balance.

I see this as a helpful way of understanding the value of mindfulness practice for activism in the world: to the extent that we can ground ourselves (with meditation or other practices) we are that much better equipped to stretch in the ways we want and need to in this age of climate change and peak oil. I see it as a form of preparedness as important as a stocked larder for helping us meet possible crises ahead. To the extent that we can bring our best selves to these situations, acting in wise, considered ways rather than out of fear and habit, we can help one another weather the change more gracefully.

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Also below is a link to a list of local resources for those interested in meditation practice. I myself have no experience with any of these venues except the last, which has been wonderful for me. They are listed in no particular order. Please feel free to contact me if you have questions about any of them, though I’ve listed specific contact information for each below:

http://tinyurl.com/IthacaMeditationResources

Miranda Phillips
(Ithaca resident, Sustainable Tompkins board member
Contact Miranda@sustainabletompkins.org)

Source:
http://sustainabletompkins.org/sustainability-blog/mindfulness-practice-and-sustainability/

Mindful Living Revolution

As mindful living revolutionaries, our primary tool (for the heart does not need weapons) is simplicity. When we become clear about our daily intention, and are willing to simplify our purpose without confusion, in other words, when we know that conscious compassionate awareness is our core commitment, nothing stands in our way. Everything in our life experience - every interaction with our self, with one another, with our world-at-large - becomes an opportunity and part of our transformation. Deborah Eden Tull

Mindfulness is the practice of focusing our attention and awareness on the present moment with a gentle curiosity, an openness, and a willingness to be with what is. This gives us the opportunity to disengage from the conditioned mind and let go of unskillful and unsatisfying behaviors and habits, opening ourselves to the world of possibility. Mindfulness is a simple pathway to personal freedom. We can bring compassionate awareness to every moment and every aspect of our lives - from our relationship with ourselves and others to our relationship with work to our relationship with the environment.

Through Mindful Living Revolution, Deborah Eden Tull offers weekly classes, workshops, retreats, and personal consultations, to support us all in our efforts to create a kinder, more sustainable world from the inside out. She also offesr a blog and daily awareness practices on Facebook. Her second book, Mindful Living Revolution: How to Live Sustainably from the Inside Out, is in process.

Deborah Eden Tull’s blog: http://www.deborahedentull.com/schedule.html

Join the Mindful Living Revolution Facebook page for daily awareness practices to cultivate a kinder, more sustainable world from the inside out.

Source: http://www.deborahedentull.com/mindful.html

Psychology of Sustainable Behavior

It's a tough balance in offices trying to move towards institutional changes in sustainability. There are often many changes that occur, regardless of how the occupants consume. Higher efficiency heating and cooling equipment, or renewable energy sources can reduce our overall environmental impacts without changing our daily lifestyles. It is also a quick way to reduce our environmental footprints.

But, on the other hand, there is something to be said about the individual initiative to reduce our own consumption levels. While seemingly not as quick and impactful, there is always a place for small scale changes. And, one of the biggest misconceptions about individual behavior changes towards sustainability is that our individual actions are too small to make an impact.

Christie Manning, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies and Psychology at Macalester College, has investigated this topic in a recent paper, "The Psychology of Sustainable Behavior" (Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, 2009). She discusses why we are not always rational decision makers, and that despite a lot of evidence backing man-made climate change and the need to reduce global levels of greenhouse gas emissions, many of us don't take action.

Her paper explains that while we have a rational side that understands rules and logic, there is also an associative side that works in parallel with the rational. This side is the one that takes cues to other, non-rational, associations we might have for any image, object, idea, or words. For example, she discusses the idea of biking to work. While the benefits of lowered transportation costs, and exercise appeal to the rational side, there is always the side that reacts badly to the thought of helmet-hair or coming into work sweaty. While quantification points towards biking, there is another, more personal side to us that just doesn't want to.

This happens almost everywhere. I find myself printing out articles to read so I can take notes, even though I am fully capable of this digitally on my computer. On days when I am in a rush, I find myself forgoing the reusable shopping bag, or my coffee mug, for the disposable versions. So, Manning offers some seven suggestions, based on psychological studies.

Tip 1: "Make sustainable behavior the social default"

This is already true in the Netherlands, where curbside composting is as common as recycling for us. Don't let anyone see you throw it into a garbage bin instead of the compost bin, as neighbors are known to find it socially objectionable if you don't compost. To establish this type of social default, Manning suggests communicating that there is social proof. You may not need to show that the whole country is doing it, but you can give evidence that a large group of people are "being green." In addition, being able to show off sustainability is also a part of the social default. Being able to demonstrate that you are, like many others, acting sustainably, helps positively reinforce behaviors and encourage more of it.

Tip 2: "Emphasize personal relevance"

Rather than referring to the abstract environment or polar bears, the key to creating individual change is to make it relevant to that individual. And, unless they have a pet polar bear, or are personally invested in the icebergs in the North Pole, messages about these abstract issues are not going to hit home. Instead, issues must be catered to the individual's worldview, and their location. This requires determining who your audience is, what matters to them, and how to frame the issue in a way that is significant to them.

Tip 3: "Make hidden information visible"

This doesn't mean that the challenges of climate change should not be conveyed to people. Making this type of abstract information understandable to people can also be an important factor. There are many graphic designers, artists, and other industries that try to overcome perceptual barriers. Chris Jordan's photography captures ideas of waste and consumption in his mosaics. Also, this type of communication can be used as a feedback system, giving people updates about their progress, and helping motivate continual action.

Tip 4: "Foster mindfulness"

The fourth tip is to "foster mindfulness." Awareness of what is going on around makes the decision towards sustainable behavior much more lasting. For example, understanding that there are vampire loads to appliances left plugged in, even when in standby , can help people make the conscious decision to turn off, or even switch off appliances at the power strip.

Tip 5: "Create opportunities for competence, skills, and knowledge"

According to Manning, people are more drawn to activities that they feel they have autonomy and knowledge about. Thus, hands-on approaches, and letting people try strategies , or conveying effective strategies to people can help give a clear sense of direction when they are faced with a decision in the future. For example, the MetroTransit offers a bike rack test station at the Minnesota State Fair, and at St. Paul office. Users who might have been intimidated to use the bus bike rack when faced with traffic, an impatient bus driver, and a bus-full of people eager to get to their destinations, can now try out how to secure the bike and release the racks, without all the pressure. This allows one less barrier to get in the way of biking somewhere.

Tip 6: "Make change a byproduct of other events"

This tip is based on our habit-prone human natures. Making sustainable behavior something that you must opt-out of, rather than opt-in to, can make the sustainable behavior the habit. Alternately, when we do change major elements of our lives, such as job changes, or moves, it is a good time to intervene and propose other changes. For example, the last time I moved, I received a coupon book with cleaning supplies. Since I was in flux and had nothing at the time, I opted to get what the coupons indicated. If chemically-benign and safer cleaning agents were introduced at the time, I'd likely have gone for those options instead.

Tip 7: "Balance urgency with realistic hope"

The doomsday threats and constant message of having to change, or else…. has the potential to move people to gravitate towards inaction. Manning suggests goals that seem achievable. This can be done by establishing goals that people can tackle on a daily basis, instead of goals of saving the world. These incremental goals should also be expressed as such, in smaller portions, over time. For example, most goals for sustainability are set in stages - 10% reductions by 2015, followed by 30% reductions in 2030. Phasing helps make the goal seem much more achievable, and gives people small wins to feel motivated to continue.

Many of these suggestions seem like common sense - why wouldn't we present information that is relevant to the audience? However, despite the simplicity, there are often many cases where it is not done. With so many audiences in the sustainability realm, many reports and studies attempt to appeal to all of them with the most data and the most chapters possible, hoping one will stick. However, the result is that not many of the general public are captured with these types of data-filled reports. Even when presented with scientific data, from an expert that has spent years studying and understanding climate science, people are still doubtful. Thus, taking Manning's suggestions to heart, and carefully constructing audience analysis, and establishing goals and messages that will inspire people rather than turn them off to sustainability will be an important next-step in our Institutional Sustainability project.

Sources:
Manning, Christie. (Sept. 2009) "The Psychology of Sustainable Behavior." Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. Full report found at http://www.pca.state.mn.us/index.php/topics/preventing-waste-and-pollution/sustainability/sustainable-communities/psychology-of-sustainable-behavior-report.html

Source:http://blogs.mnhs.org/node/73

Less Work, More Living

by Juliet Schor

Working fewer hours could save our economy, save our sanity, and help save our planet.

Millions of Americans have lost control over the basic rhythm of their daily lives. They work too much, eat too quickly, socialize too little, drive and sit in traffic for too many hours, don’t get enough sleep, and feel harried too much of the time. It’s a way of life that undermines basic sources of wealth and well-being—such as strong family and community ties, a deep sense of meaning, and physical health.

Earn less, spend less, emit and degrade less. That's the formula. The more time a person has, the better his or her quality of life, and the easier it is to live sustainably.

Imagining a world in which jobs take up much less of our time may seem utopian, especially now, when a scarcity mentality dominates the economic conversation. People who are employed often find it difficult to scale back their jobs. Costs of medical care, education, and child care are rising. It may be hard to find new sources of income when U.S. companies have been laying people off at a dizzying rate.

But fewer work hours for people with jobs is a key step toward solving the unemployment crisis—while giving Americans healthier lives. Fewer hours means more jobs are available to people who need them. Living on less pay usually means consuming less, making more of the things one needs at home, and living lighter, whether by design or by accident.

Today, driven both by necessity and the deliberate choice to live simply, more Americans are shifting toward fewer work hours. It’s a trend that, if done correctly, could get us out of our current economic crisis and away from unsustainable economic growth.

Finding Time

Economists today focus solely on growth as a mechanism for job creation. But for much of the industrial age, falling hours have been roughly as important a contributor to employment as market growth.

The grueling schedules of the 19th century undermined health and prevented people from achieving what we now call quality of life. Hours of work in the United States began to decline after about 1870—from about 3,000 a year to 2,342 by 1929. In 1973 annual work hours stood at 1,887 (fewer than 40 hours per week, on average). If hours hadn’t fallen, unemployment would have grown even before the 1930s Depression.

Since the 1970s, Americans have been working longer. According to government survey data, the average working person was putting in 180 more hours of work in 2006 than he or she was in 1979. The trends are more pronounced on a household basis. Many more men are working schedules in excess of 50 hours a week. (Thirty percent of male college graduates and 20 percent of all full-time male workers are on schedules that usually exceed 50 hours.)

Not surprisingly, over the last 20 years, a large number of U.S. employees report being overworked. A 2004 study found that 44 percent of respondents were often or very often overworked, overwhelmed at their jobs, or unable to step back and process what’s going on. A third reported being chronically overworked. These overworked employees had much higher stress levels, worse physical health, higher rates of depression, and a reduced ability to take care of themselves than their less-pressured colleagues.

Doing it yourself, or self-provisioning, is now on the rise, both because of a culture shift and because in hard times, people have more time and less money.

But there are recent signs that a culture shift toward shorter hours has begun. In 1996, when I first surveyed on this issue, 19 percent of the adult population reported having made a voluntary lifestyle change during the previous five years that entailed earning less money. In a 2004 survey by the Center for a New American Dream, 48 percent did.

The stagnant economy, difficult as it is, represents an opportunity for expanding the norm of part-time work. In the first year of the recession, many businesses avoided layoffs by reducing hours through furloughs, unpaid vacations, four-day workweeks, and flex-time. By mid-2009, one study of large firms found that 20 percent had reduced hours to forestall job cuts.

Unfortunately, a lack of institutional support for short hours policies reversed many of those programs, as economist Dean Baker argued in a recent paper. Baker hypothesizes that businesses would provide an additional 1 to 2 million jobs a year if workers could collect unemployment insurance when they are on short schedules.

One thing we do know is that people who voluntarily start working less are generally pleased. In the New Dream survey, 23 percent said they were not only happier, but they didn’t miss the money. Sixty percent reported being happier, but missed the money to varying degrees. Only 10 percent regretted the change. And I’ve also found downshifters who began with a job loss or an involuntary reduction in pay or hours, but came to prefer having a wealth of time.

The Wealth We Make Ourselves

Earn less, spend less, emit and degrade less. That’s the formula. The more time a person has, the better his or her quality of life, and the easier it is to live sustainably. A study by David Rosnick and Mark Weisbrot of the Center for Economic and Policy Research estimated that if the United States were to shift to the working patterns of Western European countries, where workers spend on average 255 fewer hours per year at their jobs, energy consumption would decline about 20 percent. New research I have conducted with Kyle Knight and Gene Rosa of Washington State University, looking at all industrialized countries over the last 50 years, finds that nations with shorter working hours have considerably smaller ecological and carbon footprints.

There’s also a small but growing body of studies that examine these questions at the household scale. A French study found that, after controlling for income, households with longer working hours increased their spending on housing (buying larger homes with more appliances), transport (longer hours reduced the use of public transportation), and hotels and restaurants. A recent Swedish study found that when households reduce their working hours by 1 percent, their greenhouse gas emissions go down by 0.8 percent. One explanation is that when households spend more time earning money, they compensate in part by purchasing more goods and services, and buying them at later stages of processing (e.g., more prepared foods). People who have more time at home and less at work can engage in slower, less resource-intensive activities. They can hang their clothing on the line, rather than use an electric dryer. More important, they can switch to less energy-intensive but more time-consuming modes of transport (mass transit or carpool versus private auto, train versus airplane). They can garden and cook at home. They can meet more of their basic needs by making, fixing, doing, and providing things themselves.

Doing-it-yourself, or self-provisioning, is now on the rise, both because of a culture shift and because in hard times people have more time and less money.

In April 2009, according to a national survey, one in five Americans said they were making plans to plant a garden that year. After the recession hit, service-oriented businesses such as salons, pet groomers, and nannies experienced a decline in business as people began doing these things for themselves. An annual expo called Maker Faire that started in California has been attracting growing numbers of do-it-yourselfers and inventors. It’s spreading to new locations around the country, and attendance has reportedly quadrupled since 2006.

People are returning to lost arts practiced by earlier generations—woodworking, quilting, brewing beer, and canning and preserving. They are also hunting, fishing, and sewing. People engage in these activities because they enjoy them and they yield better-quality products or products that are not easily available. Producing artisanal jams, sauces, and smoked meats, or handmade sweaters, quilts, and clothing makes these pricey items affordable.

Self-provisioning is also getting popular in housing. For example, the movement toward straw-bale homes has taken off in the Southwest. Straw-bale construction has become prevalent enough that some localities have introduced code for it, and there are even banks that lend for these structures. People are also experimenting with the use of compressed earth bricks, poured earth, “papercrete” (which uses recycled paper and a small amount of concrete), and a variety of other materials. New Englanders have revived the colonial-era tradition of community barn-raisings, only now they’re coming together to build yurts.

As failed housing markets around the country stagnate, one can expect more real estate refugees to construct their own debt-free shelter with recycled, low-cost, or no-cost materials.

Self-provisioning is also a spur to entrepreneurial activity. Most people who practice it don’t self-provide everything. They find some productive activities they prefer, are more skilled at, or can do more easily. They trade or sell what they’re best at producing. With this specialization, self-provisioning becomes a pathway to incubating a set of small businesses that will flourish as the sustainable economy takes off.

A large-scale switch to less work and more production and self-provisioning at home will require some collective solutions. We need systems that provide basic security to all individuals and families—from childhood through old age. Access to basic needs such as education and health care must be widely affordable.

But it’s possible for many people to take small steps—right now—toward fewer job hours and more self-sufficiency. There are challenges, to be sure, but for many, the switch from paper-pushing to gardening has been welcome. Self-providers value their newfound skills, love the chance to be creative, and are getting satisfaction and security from constructing a more self-reliant lifestyle. The ability to work for oneself is highly valued. They are nourished by connection with the earth. Perhaps most important, they are rewarded by the opportunity to live without endangering others and the planet.

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Juliet Schor is professor of sociology at Boston College and the author of the national bestseller, The Overspent American. This article is adapted from True Wealth by Juliet Schor, reprinted by arrangement with Penguin Books, a member of Penguin Group (USA), Inc. Copyright (c) Juliet Schor, 2011.

Source: http://www.dailygood.org/view.php?sid=130