"Pura Vida" is the pure life for ticos and ticas in Costa Rica. Less but better is the goal. These are my reflections from the pure life in Central America, at the Len Foote Hike Inn, and most recently, through a course in Sustainable Communities at Indiana University.
I missed a post last weekend, since I was busy having fun in Chicago with my good friend, Johannes! I'll catch up now and share some random remaining things I "cleaned" out of my house this semester. The craziest pile of stuff that I plan on getting rid of is this collection of cleaning supplies that has accumulated in my college-kid-rental-house since who knows when. DISCLAIMER: Most of this never actually belonged to me!
The market for cleaning supplies is similar to that of beauty products...Many advertisements emphasize that you NEED this or that because (insert vague or made up scientific claim here)! But as I've discussed many times this semester in my blog, if past generations survived for centuries and millenia without products like Oxi-Clean, we'll probably be alright without them too. What I've kept in the house are a few simple cleaners either homemade or labeled "green" for whatever it's worth. I've now got an all purpose cleaner, a glass cleaner, a scrubby thing, a liquid carpet thing, some bleach, and baking soda. Nice and simple, and now our under sink cabinet is mostly empty! Feels good...
As I've learned from my group project in V515, these cleaning items should be taken to the solid waste district. I have some other hazardous waste items that can go there too, like paint, medications, and batteries. My next post will be a wrap-up that I'll write from home in Knoxville. There, I've got a scale to help me weigh all this stuff, and I've got some of my favorite resale stores to see how much $$$ I can get for my unwanted things. McKay's, here I come! :)
While reading about community economic development (CED) this week in Roseland's book, I enjoyed rethinking the conventional model of economic development that seeks to attract big businesses. It seems clear now that human interests can be served much more effectively by focusing on strengthening local economies rather than pursuing further globalization and growth at the cost of fair wages, safe working conditions, community capital, etc. To learn more, I followed up on the work being done by a Minneapolis-based non-profit called the Institute for Local Self-Reliance (mentioned p. 218):
For 40 years, ILSR has been advocating for human-scaled institutions that foster environmentally sound and socially equitable communities. Largely, they focus on research and policy as key drivers of progress in these areas. ILSR leader, Stacy Mitchell, delivers a thought-provoking (you guessed it...) TED talk, encouraging environmental and community visionaries to think beyond the actions of individuals. She explains that we need to focus more on changing the policies that influence economic development in our communities. She speaks to the common tendency to focus on isolated, individual action only:
"I put a lot of my making-the-world-a-better-place energy into thinking about how I can be a better consumer. You know, fair trade coffee, recycled toilet paper...the primary and often exclusive way we think about our agency in the world now is as consumers. But as consumers, we are very weak. We are operating as lone individuals making a series of choices and the most we can do is pick between the options that are presented to us."
She goes on to compellingly illustrate that we (individual activists) are, "swimming upstream against a powerful down-current of public policies that are taking our economy in exactly the opposite direction."
She concludes, "...how do we begin to see our trips to the farmers market and to the local bookstore, not as the answer, but as a first step? How do we transform this remarkable consumer trend into something more? How do we make it a political movement?"
These are questions I need to think more carefully about. As much as I detest politics, I know Stacy is 100% correct in her assertions. More active political involvement should be my next focus if I want to affect real change. With some polite prodding reminders to register back in September, I did manage to turn out to the polls last week...a good start, right? But far from the end of the line.
Stop subsidizing the corporate economy (AKA amazon needs to pay taxes too)
Restructure the financial system to operate at a community scale (AKA four giant banks should not hold more than 40% of assets -- as they do currently)
Adopt planning policies that create great habitat for local businesses (AKA walkable cities!)
Enforce strong competition policies (AKA one dairy company shouldn't process 40% of the nations milk supply -- as it does currently)
Shift spending by public institutions (AKA public purchases should reflect our community values)
Make targeted local economy investments (AKA help communities fill resource gaps when/where possible)
Still, the path forward remains somewhat unclear. Am I the only one who feels intimidated by political involvement? There is so much to learn! Friends, where do you turn to educate yourself and how have you joined a political movement for a cause you are passionate about? Are you in any type of advocacy group focusing on changing policies? Do you write letters to your representatives? How often do you think Barack checks his Twitter? Just kidding on that last one, but I really do need to make a plan for engaging in the political sphere...so help a girl out!
Ever wanted to just sell all your stuff and go backpack around Australia?
...this guy too:
Adam Baker's talk at TEDxAsheville is about freedom. Adam was living a life that followed the standard narrative, but he didn't feel free. He too felt overwhelmed by stuff. And debt. And stress. The fact is that all people have limited time, and most people have limited funds. So, if you had to choose (and to a great extent you do) would you rather have movie tickets or plane tickets? CDs or live performances? Would you rather stand in line for Black Friday shopping or stand in line to ride that big awesome roller coaster? Fancy new vehicle or gas for road trip in your old, beat-up car? Whether we realize it or not, we face very real monetary and time trade-offs everyday when we choose to buy, use, organize, and otherwise maintain our stuff. For me, this project is partly about learning to follow Adam's advice and "collect experiences, not stuff." A good overall rule for my "Less But Better" life :)
This week, I'm rethinking the purchases I've made for entertainment. Mostly, these purchases are DVDs, craft supplies, books, and CDs. (That's right, CDs. I still love them mostly for the memory of my father's huge, beautiful collection that they evoke, but maybe my collection doesn't need to be as huge.) Do I really need/want all these things? Decidedly not. Here's what's got to go:
Rent, Borrow, or Sample First
Oh, that bin in Walmart -- you know the one. It's got a bunch DVDs containing movies you've never seen but that your one friend told you were "pretty good" that one time. The bin has an undeniable draw when your evening is free and each disc only costs $5. However, the honest truth is that Netflix has plenty of "pretty good" movies, and these have no associated material burden. Furthermore, I have plenty of friends with movies I'm sure they'd be happy to let me borrow. This rule also very directly applies to books and CDs as well.
My biggest challenge in following the rule above will be every time I visit one of my favorite places in the world. "McKay Used Books, CDs, Movies, and More" is heaven on Earth. Seriously, check this place out next time you are in Tennessee (there are three locations in the state)...it's amazing:
Imagine any book you an dream of for an average $6.00, DVDs starting at $1.25, and CDs starting at $0.78. Plus, they actually give you a fair amount of money when you bring stuff in for trade! In fact, this is where I'll be bringing most of this stuff back to at the end of the semester. Though re-using/re-selling/re-distributing used entertainment items is inherently pretty sustainable, I need to cut back if I want to live "less but better." What I can do is go into McKay's with a list of items I know I like and would like to own (ie. I think I'll read/watch/listen to them over and over), and buy nothing else. No impulse buys just because something is cheap. This also ties into my past rule from week one, even if it's used ALL rules still apply.
One more rule on entertainment: No more than 5 projects at a time
Basically, I have a crafting problem. I tend to save total garbage that I think I could Martha-Stewart (v.) into something beautifully handmade! Unfortunately, though, I'm not Martha Stewart. I can knit, make jewelry, and sew, but I need to get rid of things that fall outside my domain of abilities. Furthermore, if I limit the number of projects I see myself doing in the future to five, hopefully the materials won't pile up too much. I don't have a ton of time for making things, anyway, so five projects could actually last me a while.
Lastly, there's a HUGE pile of magazine clippings I'll be recycling. Until this week, I had three binders full of random ideas from magazines (think of three archaic Pinterest boards). Thank you, Pinterest, for being so fun and for negating the need for these binders.
Has anyone else done some recent entertainment simplifying? There are all kinds of internet-things to keep us entertained these days, but do you find this to be equally satisfying? What else should I try? Cheers for now, everyone!
