Less is tackling climate change

Minimalism is a lifestyle that can help us to live more earth friendly lives. With minimalism increasing in popularity, especially as a model for stress-free living, it means different things to different people. Even though everyone embraces minimalism differently, each path leads to the same place.

The concepts of circular economy and minimalism share lots of things like re-using, upcycling, recycling, and conscious consumerism which encourage those who practise it to reduce their ecological footprint massively. Buying only what people truly need, leads naturally to consuming less. The less gas, plastic and non-recyclable materials are used, the fewer non-renewable resources are required in their production. 

Household consumption is said to be contributing 60% to greenhouse gases globally. (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jiec.12371). A recent National Geographic article stated that, “By the time a baby born this year graduates from high school, he or she will see a hundred pounds of plastic trash for every yard of coastline, on average around the globe”. 

Those who embark on minimalist lifestyles learn to lead a clutter-free life and say no to impulse purchases. Sustainable fashion is one key characteristic of a minimalist lifestyle, keeping clothes out of landfill. 

Our grandparents grew up in different times and had to go through world wars, rationing and austerity measures. Thus, they had a different mindset about consumption. Food was never wasted; everything was conserved, and people had a do-it-yourself attitude by default. Self-reliant living and minimalism were part of their lifestyle. They knew how to grow food, to sew and to brew. They basically understood the pull of nature. Even now, across the world many rural and indigenous communities manage and protect natural eco-systems while utilising them sustainably; the principles of minimalism are part of their lifestyle. It is time we learnt from them instead of dashing to the supermarket for just about everything we want. 

Today’s popular guidelines on green living essentially bring out what needs to be done instead of how to do it. Minimalism tells us how to remove all aspects of our life that do not serve us, so that eventually we can become environmentally positive in the long term. It is not a set of guidelines, but a way of life driven by a set of values whereby you consume meaningfully, whatever that means to you. 

Across the world the impacts of climate change are now felt strongly and becoming increasingly visible and alarming. We are primarily concerned with fighting for policy changes which we believe will bring positive results. But we should not wait for policies to come into effect to change our own behaviour. We need all solutions, both large-scale and small-scale, like taking a bike to work or using your own cup when buying a drink of coffee. The time is past for small steps, so like seeking radical policy changes; our lifestyles need changing radically too – it is no longer a question of choice.

COP27 is only about 3 months away. I hope it will not be another event which proves what Leo Tolstoy said, 

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no-one thinks of changing himself”.

Less is more and small is still beautiful…