Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details. (Note: the schedule is now full until May — but if you don’t mind waiting, feel free to send me your submission!)
This week, we have an inspirational story from Aaron and Hsinya Lin. They’ve drastically reduced their consumption out of concern for the environment, and blog about their green and minimal ways at Greenimalist.
Aaron writes:
Hsinya and I are traveling three months with only carry-on luggage
For some, minimalism runs in their blood. Not for me–my family has packrat genes.
I am the third generation offspring of a family of devoted consumers. Shopping is part of our heritage. Like my forefathers before me, I followed a tradition of mindless consumption, wasting countless extra dollars on unneeded stuff. I bought everything in excess, from furniture to electronics to clothing and food. We were the kind of folks that stockpiled thirty pounds of dried oatmeal in the pantry, just in case. Like Dad, I shopped at warehouse stores, where I got the best value by purchasing far more than I would ever use.
My wife, Hsinya, struggled for two years to cope with my packrat lifestyle. For her, neatness, cleanliness, and order were paramount virtues. Minimalism–promising less clutter–had a natural pull. When we got married, our buying habits clashed. I was an uncooperative spouse; each trip to the store was another perfect opportunity to snag something extra. Protest as she might, I refused to reform my purchasing habits. In time, she gave up, and within two years, our apartment overflowed with useless junk.
Last summer, however, my modern, shop-a-holic lifestyle came crashing down. After watching a sobering documentary on environmental destruction, I began to consider the environmental costs of buying stuff. I remembered the new desktop computer I just bought. It had toxic heavy metals I couldn’t recycle, so the computer would end up in a landfill, where those metals could leach into our drinking water. The PC came wrapped in plastic and styrofoam, which come from non-renewable oil, which in turn was extracted from the earth by polluting oceans and forests. That’s a lot of damage for an extra computer I didn’t really need anyway, since I already had a perfectly functional laptop. Suddenly, I felt like an environmental criminal.
Four months ago, I finally became a minimalist. I wanted to be a better steward of the environment, and there was no better way than to stop shopping. Aside from food, I shunned all forms of shopping: no new car, no new furniture, no new electronics, no new clothes. It took time, but I slowly weaned off my addiction to Amazon.com. If I truly needed something, I’d borrow or buy used. It was a complete about-face, but once I stopped shopping, I realized most of my possessions didn’t benefit my life at all. Soon after, I sold and donated the rest of my possessions to clear space. Once I stopped obsessing about owning things, minimalism naturally followed.
I followed these simple rules to kick the shopping habit:
* Be resourceful with what you have.
* Make what you need instead of buying it.
* Stay away from stores; buy used instead of new whenever possible.
* Don’t buy more than you need.Hsinya and I started a blog to share our unique twist on green + minimalist living (Greenimalist) at www.greenimalist.com. Our goal has been to help people simplify their life, save money, and help the environment by living minimally and green. We cover diverse topics, from surviving without a car, to living in tiny houses as small as a walk-in closet. We haven’t achieved no-shopping perfection just yet, but we’re going to chronicle the attempt on our blog.
Today, Hsinya and I are paring down our possessions so everything we own can fit within the trunk of a compact car. Hsinya is exhilarated because she can finally live out her dream of packing light. Now that we live minimally, I can’t imagine living any other way. As a former packrat, I now see a ray of hope. My genes may be impossible to change, but bad shopping habits is a family tradition we will choose to live without.
{If you’d like to learn more about minimalist living, please consider reading my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}
Hi Francine,
Thank you for posting our story! :-)
It was my pleasure — thanks for sharing!
I love this story, particularly the environmentalist slant, which is one of the reasons I chose to start giving away and doing without “stuff.” Also, great blog – you guys are really serious!
I know it’s been said many times before, but it’s so nice to know there are others who think this way. Thank you for sharing the story of how you “saw the minimalist light.” :)
Glad to meet another “reformed packrat” on the minimalist path… :)
I totally know what Aaron means when he talks about having an addiction to Amazon.com. Sometimes I think that Amazon is calling to me: just buy one little book! It’ll be so easy! Just click! These books, they are wafer thin!
Hi Magnificent Minimalist,
Last year, I spent almost $5000 on Amazon.com stuff. Ultimately, when I sold everything, I recovered around $1000. Shopping is bad for the environment and extremely bad for my wallet.
It’s nice to see that someone can make a turnaround so quickly! I am on the journey towards minimalism, and I don’t see us reaching it anytime soon! All I can say is that each day I don’t buy something new, or that I recycle something instead of trashing it, or donate items instead of throwing in the trash, it is one step closer.
Thanks for sharing your story!
Bernice
Get enough sleep
What an uplifting story – thanks for sharing it with us! And so well-written. I look forward to exploring your blog.
As always, I LOVE reading these personal stories…
There are so many benefits to paring down possessions and it seems like once minimalism takes hold there is no turning back. It’s funny how we can go from being active consumers to minimalists.
Beautiful story. Thank you!
Good JOB, you two! I love that you had an environmental epiphany.
I’m glad you all enjoyed the post!
What surprised me the most about Greenimalist living was that it saved me so much money. I used to think that green living was for the wealthy, but I saved so much money by not shopping, and even more money on rent since I didn’t need to store anything.
Now that my expenses are so low, I can find work that I’m passionate about doing, instead of merely doing work to pay off my debt.
Thanks for sharing that Aaron! I had a similar situation except I was the packrat and my honey Patrick was the minimalist. It took many years of making him suffer with my junk everywhere before I saw that his way was a lot better than my way.
I love that you’re taking an environmental/sustainability angle on your blog. I’m off to check it out. Francine, thanks for doing these weekly stories. I always love coming and seeing how people went minimal in their lives.
Cheers,
Tanja
Wow, your story is really inspirational. Good for you – you really overcame your family’s consumption patterns and you’re living a life consistent with your planet-friendly ideals. I think even established minimalists can learn from your story! Thanks for sharing.
Hey Tanja and Sheri,
I used to think that protecting the environment meant electric cars and buying energy-efficient devices. In other words, I thought I had to be rich to live green.
Then I discovered minimalism, and I realized how the simple act of shopping less would mean less plastic and metal landfill, fewer toxic chemicals, and reduced energy waste.
Glad you liked the story!
Buying used and buying less makes a big difference. I buy toys or books for my grandkids for 25 cents each at rummage sales or the public library and they are fine with that. That’s what I used to do when my own kids were young. We use the back of junk mail for word games. Then recycle it.
I got some jigsaw puzzles for my mom, in the nursing home, at Goodwill. When she gets tired of the puzzles, she will pass them on to someone else. They are less than $1. I also found someone who was giving away some hardbound books and took a few of them to the nursing home for the people to read. They will get passed around there. Books that are in really terrible shape can be used for crafts as the paper is good for collages and holiday décor.
I showed someone the other day how to make holiday decor from snack wrappers. Just wash the shiny stuff and when it dries, treat it like craft material. cereal or other food boxes cut into flat sheets make good backings for art projects. Really ratty T shirts make good yarn or ties. I have some old stained sweaters of my daughter’s I am going to dye navy blue so she can get more use out of them.
I found some craft patterns I saved for my friend who wants to make things with mismatched socks. I try to throw away very little. Mylar packaging becomes glitter or tinsel or other decorations. Old clothes become quilts, toys, or other small projects.
I bought some craft books at a library sale. I spent $3.50. The books were priced around $20 each new. I have plenty of mismatched pieces of yarn and my friend wants to do a community art project. Whatever I can’t use will be passed on to another group.