Out of Chaos an organizing newsletter
Eco-Organizing
In January I gave a lecture on eco-organizing, a term I coined when the ranger at my local nature center told me I could give a lecture if it had to do with the environment. Luckily the environment is becoming more important to me all the time so it was a pleasure to think about how controlling chaos and the helping the environment might be mutually beneficial.
Eco-organizing is the convergence of two trends, the green movement and the simplicity movement. Sometimes there is a perceived tension between the environmentalists and the organizers, the former urging us to reuse and recycle, while the latter is telling us to throw stuff out. However, I believe that there is a more natural affinity between the two: that at the heart of both being green and being organized is the urge to become a more careful and conscious consumer. When you are thinking of buying something ask yourself: Do I need it? Can I borrow or rent it? And if you decide you do indeed have to buy it, then you ask yourself: Can I buy it second hand? Locally made? Organically made? Just as when the nutritionist tells us to sit down and savor each meal, if we slow down our consumption we will have less cluttered homes and a smaller carbon footprint.
Along these same lines I have recently been reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. Among the many interesting things in the book she says that Americans spend a smaller percentage of their income on food than any other developed nation. I recall hearing that our tax burden is lower, and (incredibly enough) our housing is as well.
So where are we spending our money? I’m no expert, but I have a pretty good idea: I think we are spending our money on STUFF. The same ‘stuff’ that The Container Store is eager to sell you containers to hold and REAL SIMPLE wants to tell you how to sort. So here is my radical idea, spend MORE money on groceries, and less on things. This ties in so nicely with what I am always preaching to so many of you about clothes: “fewer-better”. And the best part about spending your money on food rather than stuff: it disappears.
And speaking of my favorite things:
Here A Few of My Favorite Things
- Having an empty larder on grocery day
- Having a grocery day, a laundry day, a cleaning day: a rhythm
- Fixing things
- Mismatched glassware
I like having an empty larder on grocery day because it makes me feel like I am not overbuying. I like having a rhythm because it is simpler, I don’t have to think about when I am going to do the laundry, it is already scheduled. I like fixing things, because it gives me a little rush, I feel like I’m ‘stickin’ it to the man’, resisting planned obsolescence, saving money and the earth in one fell swoop. And finally I like mismatched glassware because I don’t have to worry if I break one glass, and no one loses his or her beverage at my parties, because everyone’s glass is different.
Newsletter Changes
In the attempt to become greener I am hoping to go completely paperless with future editions of Out Of Chaos. If I don’t already have your email, or if you are interested in receiving email news from me please take a moment email me and I will add you to my mailing list. amanda@theperfectdaughter.com