Living a Sustainable Lifestyle Now

What is a sustainable lifestyle? One definition of a sustainable

lifestyle is: living life in a way that keeps you, your family, your

community, and the planet healthy because basic needs are being met

in ways that work for everyone. So,what would that look like?

Most of us agree that we cannot continue using fossil fuels to carry

ourselves, manufactured goods and food from one place to another. To

reduce our use of fossil fuels, we can do several things:

We can learn to use permaculture principles to grow our own food.
We can shop locally-closer to home.
We can consume fewer manufactured products.
We can participate in Repair Cafes.
We can think about how many articles of clothing we really need.
We can learn to weave, knit and crochet some of own clothing.
We can use our skills to make gifts for family members and friends.
We can work with Gift Economics and gifting circles.
We can share time, energy and skill through time banks.

Is it realistic to think we can make a difference in the health of the

planet with these efforts? I believe it is. Balance is the key. Changing is

not easy, especially when we are busy with work and kids. So, we need

to adopt new behaviors over time. If we are committed to change,

things can shift more quickly than we imagine.

Ways We Can Live a More Sustainable Lifestyle

Following is an excerpt from an article I co-wrote for the local paper

in December 2021 talking about getting through the holidays with less

stress, and less strain on the planet, by recycling, upcycling and sharing.

This is one area where small changes can make a big difference.

Looking forward to the Holidays? Some things about the holidays

are really fun. It is also easy to feel overwhelmed during this time of

year so, how can we get through the season with joy and cheer?

No one enjoys competing for a parking space during the holiday

seasons or worrying about how to afford gifts for everyone. Most people

do like to give and receive gifts, though, but there is no need to get

caught up in the bustle. Using recycling, upcycling, and sharing, we can

give gifts the easy and affordable way.

Gifts such as drawings, hand-painted note cards, or a book of

coupons for kind deeds are much appreciated by family and friends.

Personal gifts tend to hold meaning over time, and it can be fun to

create something special for someone we care for. Giving personal gifts

teaches children the value of giving of oneself and receiving from others.

Here again, balance is the key. Maybe one toy they saw on TV, but also

handmade gifts.

Here are some other examples of personal gift-giving:

Giving a special cookbook, a scarf, jewelry we no longer use,
We could make jewelry made out of jewelry beads from a yard sale.
We could knit a scarf or weave a shopping bag
We could use decorated boxes to send homemade cookies,
Offering to do a chore for someone. Make a coupon booklet.

Shopping locally and giving recycled and upcycled gifts is a gift to

our planet, too.

We could gift certificates for a meal at a local restaurant,
Offer a donation to someone’s favorite non-profit organization.
We can shop locally for everything we need to make our gifts.

Of course, all of this applies for birthdays and anniversaries, too.

In the rest of this document, I will share more ideas on some of the ways

we can cut down on consumption and live healthy, sustainable lives.

Growing a Backyard Perma-culture style Garden

Figuring out how to eat locally and seasonally is a very good first

step on the road to independence from big grocery stores. The supply

chain problems of the last few years have shone a light on how

dependent we have become on them.

A permaculture-style garden would yield vegetables for many

months of the year. And, they taste so much better fresh. We can easily

grow things like onions, carrots, and garlic. Most herbs are very easy

grow and help to keep animals like deer out of the garden as well.

Growing a lot of my own food gives me a choice of when and where

to shop. I shop less often, reducing my use of fossil fuels.

Making our Own Household Items

Food isn’t the only thing we can shop less for. We can easily make

our own dish washing liquid, hand soap and shampoo. There are many

recipes on the internet for these items.

Fiber Arts

We can also weave, knit, and crochet many useful items to give as

gifts or use for ourselves. This may sound like a lot of work, but it can

be done as a relaxing hobby in the evenings. I think of the many

centuries women and men sat around a nice fire, telling stories, wood

carving, weaving, and knitting.

Weaving is a lost art, but it’s very relaxing and you can create so

many things on a tapestry loom. The cloth you weave can be used to

make handbags, tote bags, sweaters, shawls, wall-hangings, kitchen

dish rags and dish towels, and so much more.

I don’t usually make difficult items with my loom or my knitting

needles. Just warm scarves or pretty purses for my grandnieces. Crochet

is another fiber art that is so useful. I often combine knitting and crochet

in my work, which gives me the opportunity to do some creative things

even if I don’t follow a pattern - such as crocheted jewelry or stuffed

animals or dolls.

I buy most of my yarn at yard sales and community garage sales. It

costs much less and the fact that I have to buy what they have to offer

(color, amount) has led to many creative adventures. (Be sure that the

yarn is dry when you buy it at yard sales).

Recycling and Upcycling

Many of the things we use every day can be recycled: paper sacks,

cardboard boxes, some plastic containers, and aluminum cans. These

items amount to a lot of trash that is going into the landfills. We can

upcycle some of these items as well. There are many great sites on the

internet that show us how to upcycle things, such as egg cartons, toilet

paper rolls, and more.

It is important to shift from our habits of using things once and

then tossing them. Important for the landfills, but also for practice in

consuming less. Baskets can be woven from paper sacks, recycled paper

can be used to create greeting and birthday cards, and even wrapping

paper. Plastic containers and aluminum cans can be used as artistic

plant holders, and plastic bags can be used to make strong grocery bags

and even purses.

Downsizing and Minimizing

In this last decade, I have made a habit of donating things to a local

thrift store every time I am heading in their direction. I live in a small

apartment, but that’s not the only reason I do this. I do it because my

life is less complicated when I own fewer things.

When I decided to move from Southern California (where I lived for

40 years), I downsized six times before settling into the apartment I have

now. And the interesting thing is that I don’t miss anything I gave away.

I still have everything I need.

I was inspired by two young men I heard on a Ted Talk. These young

men had very high-paying jobs and owned a lot of stuff. After the mother

of one of them passed on, he was going through her things and realized

that she, and he, had too much stuff. So, he minimized in a very big way.

He said that he felt a lot of relief, a sense of spaciousness, and even

happiness. He told his friend what he had done, and his friend decided

to minimize, too. He had the same sednse of relief, spaciousness and

happiness. Now they tell their story around the US on online. Look for

Minimizing on line.

Downsizing is a bit different from minimizing. For example, I have

one week of clothing for spring/summer and one week of clothing for

fall/winter. And a couple of dress-up outfits. I gave away most of my

jewelry and kept only the pieces that were sentimental to me. I have one

set of dishes, two skillets, one large and one small, and a few baking

pans. That’s what I would call minimizing.

Recycle Clothing

If we get a little creative, we can make some very unique clothing

from clothes we don’t want anymore. I often use t-shirts that I don’t

want anymore to make liners for the things I weave, like tote bags or

glasses cases. You can turn old denimn jeans into casual

purses and satin or velveteen into fancy purses - there's so much you

can do with the fabric from clothes you don't want anymore.

What is Gift Economics?

In its simplest form, a gift economy is an economic system that

prioritizes the sharing of our energy, talents, and skills rather than

using money as the only, or the predominant exchange, for what we

have to offer. I was introduced to the idea of gift economics by Charles

Eisenstein in his book Sacred Economics: Money, Gift and Community

in an Age of Transition. Eisenstein believes that money can be useful as

a way to bring resources from distant places or coordinate far-flung

efforts, but it does not have to be the only way we make exchanges. He

also suggests that using money as our only exchange system has some

social detriments. Once the money is given, it is usually the end of the

connection with the other person. When we share our energy, talents,

and skills with others, they are often moved to share their energy,

talents, and skills with us, creating a lovely circle of giving.

I have chosen to operate in a gift economy. Therefore, my creations

- my books, art, and music - are given as a gift to anyone who wants

them. If people want to offer me a gift, I am always willing to accept,

with the caveat that I want their gift to be something they are

comfortable giving. I also want people to decide for themselves what

the value of my gift is to them. In other words, I don’t want a mandatory

exchange. I want a gift from the heart – a social exchange, which I

believe will enrich both of us.

I am sometimes asked, “But can you pay your rent operating this

way?” No. In the times we live in, that would require money, but I do

use the gifts I have received for very practical things. For example,

people give me organic vegetables from their gardens. I use yarn that

people give me to make birthday gifts for my family and friends.

Casserole dishes brought from Madrid, and given to me as gift because

I gave my friend a painting I did, are now cooking my favorite casseroles.

I have also received art supplies just because people know I am an artist

and that I share my supplies with others.

I have also received many endearing gifts that deeply touched my

heart, such as, drawings, songs to sing at my gigs, poetry, a sweet bird

feather, and lots of smiles and hugs. People love this idea but often

do not know how to go about it. I didn’t either, at first, but I just gave it

a try and worked out the glitches as I went along.

So many of the gifts we used to give one another, such as mending,

childcare, pet care, clothing, and more, we are now required to pay for.

There are so many things we could give one another if we are coming

from a place of “gift.” (Remember the Holiday gift giving article from the

beginning of this booklet).

These days, decentralized, non-hierarchical modes of exchange

are happening more often:

time banks, where members offer their services for Time Dollars
co-operative food stores
free stores where clothing is distributed at no cost
gift circles-neighbors meet monthly to help one another meet needs
open-source technologies

Gift economics is not a new idea. People of many cultures shared

much of what they had with one another. Some still do. I believe this

focus on gifting will enrich all our lives.

Please check out other pages on this site for more information:

The Art of Weaving, Gift Economics, Backyard Garden Permaculture.