Going Green - and Going Minimal

Plant-based, eco-friendly, organic…call it like you want, going green is a good idea. But, do I dare say that the solution is equally, if not more, about going minimal?

I am ALL for choosing products and foods, that aren't toxic to the environment, or our bodies; that are made with natural, organic goodness.

But going green is only part of the solution (the problem being - we’re destroying our planet). 

Because if we keep consuming at the rate that we do, and continue to buy things only to throw them away, all the natural products in the world can't save us. We'd just start depleting our resources and insisting that Mother Nature give us more.

It's not that Mother Nature isn't abundant and can't satisfy all our needs - it's that far too often, we confuse what we need with what we want. And we go way overboard.

We, which very much includes I, need to be responsible on an individual level, not only to make greener choices, but to reconsider the way we consume and to consider, living a little lighter.

This is what The World Wide Fund for Nature, (WWF) has to say, ‘The message of these two indices is clear and urgent: we have been exceeding the Earth’s ability to support our lifestyles for the past 20 years, and we need to stop. We must balance our consumption with the natural world’s capacity to regenerate and absorb our wastes. If we do not, we risk irreversible damage. Those who strive to live sustainably tend to look to nature for inspiration. They see the equilibrium present and strive to disrupt it as little as possible.

”Nature has the ability to give us everything we need, all we gotta do is slow down and make more conscious choices - not only to choose better products, but to choose less.

We gotta take a real look at ourselves, our choices and our ideas of what constitutes a “need”. We need to challenge ourselves to address our individual and collective issues, that keep us constantly wanting more. We need to understand the real value of moments, and not just things. And we need to be more aware of how our individual lives contribute to the mess we're creating.

Buy and waste less...like really, how many outfits does one person really need to have?

You don't have to be vegan or throw out only one mason jar of garbage a year. But, rethinking how much cheap fashion you own, how much paper towel you use or and how often you leave the tap running - that's where the heart of it is - and that's what you can more easily control.

All that money you save from buying countless clothes, accessories...clutter, can be spent on fewer quality things.

And all that time you save shopping and tidying up the never ending pile of things someone else made you believe you need, can be spent creating memories and actually living.

Your belongings will be better quality, your life will be simplified and your soul (and wallet), will be much fuller.Keep your homes, your closets and your cupboards clean and lean, because accumulating things is only weighing you down from accumulating experiences.

Be part of the solution. Keep it simple and keep it minimal.

Peace, love and going green and minimal,

Diana