Category Archives: Minimalism

Don’t Focus on the Gear

I became a minimalist partly because I hated moving. Everything about the process irritated me: from the decluttering of old belongings, to the packing of cardboard boxes, to the renting of U-Haul trucks. As a Greenimalist, I hoped to minimize the hassles of moving. If only my possessions could fit into a few suitcases, I could move in under an hour. I would simply pack my bags, load them in the car trunk, and drive away.

But like most minimalists, my existing belongings weren’t optimized for space. So when I tried to cram my belongings into a backpack, the bag bulged at the seams. I decided to turn to other minimalist websites to see how the experts packed.

As it turns out, many backpackers follow a similar strategy:

Purchase the highest-quality equipment that money can buy.
Optimize the usefulness-to-volume ratio of your belongings.
Choose versatile, multiple-use equipment over specialized items. For example, sharp knives are preferable to fruit peelers.
Buy equipment that’s custom-tailored to your needs.

These minimalist backpackers were extremely selective about the items they carried. In fact, they’ve turned light packing into an art form. I was especially impressed with one traveler, who explored the world for 6 weeks without a single piece of luggage (1).

But at times, these backpackers became obsessive about finding the perfect gear. They’d periodically update all their gear to reflect their latest research. For example, some digital nomads shun cotton fabric in favor of wool. Wool offers better insulation, wick-drying, and odor protection, making it a superior fabric compared to cotton. These digital nomads gave away their entire wardrobe and replaced it with Icebreaker woolens. Gear updates weren’t limited to merely clothing, of course. Every few months, entire sets of cameras, laptops, smartphones, toiletries, backpacks, and shoes would be obsoleted and replaced. Even underwear was intensely optimized.

As helpful as the gear posts were, I noticed something fundamentally disturbing. They were always encouraging me to buy new stuff. That meant more shopping — and more waste. The problem with shopping is that producing new stuff wastes natural resources. Raw materials must first be extracted from the environment, then manufactured into stuff in factories. This process wastes energy and produces pollution. And after a few short months, all this stuff would transform into junk, which is then tossed into a landfill.

The problem with specialized gear is that it’s so rare. For example, conventional people own tennis shoes, not Vibram Five Fingers. As a result, these shoes are difficult to find used. Even purchasing them from a local store would be a challenge; buying them might involve cross-continental shipping, which wastes more fuel. What’s more, limited supply makes these items outrageously expensive. Specialized backpacks, electronics, and clothing can easily cost thousands of dollars.

Greenimalist living is not about assembling the perfect gear. Instead, it’s all about conserving natural resources through minimalism. It would be ironic if, while protesting consumer culture, I spent half my waking hours researching what pair of shoes I should buy. So as much as I loved the cool gear, I had to pass.

Instead of constantly buying expensive equipment, I decided to use what I had lying around. Most of my gear was cobbled together from what I had already owned or what was donated to me for free. I wore old sneakers, put on old sweaters, and used an old laptop. It was less glamorous — my backpack still bulges — but I didn’t produce any trash or waste any money.

For this site, I try not to focus on gear. We already own too much stuff as it is; you don’t need me to tempt you to go shopping. Instead, I encourage you to focus on developing green living skills. Learn to use what you already have. Learn to cook from scratch, to bicycle commute, to fix your old computers, to grow your own garden, and to mend your own clothes. Convert your garbage into something useful. You’ll save time and money while learning self-sufficiency along the way.

You already have all you need — yourself. You just need to get started. The Greenimalist lifestyle is not about what you own; it’s about gaining a new perspective. The only trouble with perspective is that it doesn’t sell on store shelves — but hopefully we’ll realize that’s a good thing.

Note: Flying is extremely bad for the environment. So please don’t fly like Rolf Potts does. However, his no-baggage challenge is pretty amazing.
Photo by Fredo in (((Stereo))), CC BY.

Stay Focused

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Productivity isn’t just about finishing long to-do lists; it’s also about finding clever ways to shorten them. Productive people focus their attention on just a handful of important tasks. The other, less important tasks are either eliminated or delegated away.

So as you approach your own to-do list, think of any unproductive chores you can cut out. Pay special attention to the time you spend maintaining your possessions. Most of our belongings contribute very little towards our wealth and happiness, yet they consume a disproportionate amount of our valuable time and energy.

Consider how much time you spend each year:

Maintaining your living space (vacuuming, cleaning, dusting)
Maintaining your house (mowing the lawn, repainting the walls, fixing the plumbing, installing new countertops)
Organizing your wardrobe, books, tools, movie and music collections
Owning a car (tuning the engine, replacing tires and motor oil, maintaining the garage)
Setting up an office (fixing your printers, stocking up on stationery, assembling office furniture)
Shopping (bargain hunting and coupon clipping)

Each of these burdensome chores are a direct result of the possessions we own. The more stuff we own, the more overhead we are forced to deal with. Accomplishing these pointless tasks isn’t being productive; it’s a glorified way of wasting time. Time spent mowing the lawn could have been time spent earning money or time relaxing. So by owning fewer possessions—a smaller house, fewer cars, less clutter—you can minimize your chores and reclaim your valuable time.

Look around your room and identify any possessions that are totally unnecessary. Almost all of our clutter falls in this category. In fact, even tools often waste more time than they’re worth. For example, if you’re setting up a home office, new desks and chairs are more likely to be a distraction than a real need. Instead of wasting several hours assembling new furniture, you should just use an existing table instead.

For tools that are genuinely necessary, shift the burden of ownership onto someone else. Every possession increases the need for storage space, maintenance, and repairs. To shorten your to-do list, have someone else own your possessions for you. Just rent something when you need it.

Living small looks attractive from this vantage point. If you rent an apartment, the burden of home ownership rests entirely on the shoulders of your landlord. Instead of spending your weekends fixing the sprinkler system, you could spend your time relaxing. When you feel like moving, simply return the house keys and travel as you please.

In fact, you can avoid the hassles of ownership for just about anything. Instead of owning a car, you can rent one or take the bus. There’s no need for insurance, a garage, or visits to the auto shop. Let a gym handle workout gear for you; you don’t need to store and service fitness equipment yourself. Visit the copy shop to print documents: after all, do you really want to be fiddling around with toner cartridges? You have better things to do with your time.

Your main to-do list should center around what’s important. Everything else is just a distraction. Rid your life of excess clutter. Focus.

Life Without a Cell Phone

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This year, I’m making the effort to live without a cell phone. It’s part of my overall effort to save money while simplifying my life. As a backpacker, all my possessions must cram into a normal 30L bag, so I’m very picky about what I keep. My possessions are evaluated by two main criteria: it must be extremely cheap, and it must be undeniably useful . Cell phones didn’t make the cut.

Mobile plans are far more expensive than most people realize. In the past, I was spending $30 per month on a basic voice plan, which translates into $360 per year. The typical smartphone user pays even more. An average 3G data plan can cost around $85 per month, or $2000 over the lifetime of a 2-year contract. To put these figures in perspective, I’m currently only spending $150 per month on groceries. An extra $2000 could pay for a year’s worth of food. Cell phones are not how I want to use my money.

So I don’t own a cell phone or landline telephone anymore. Instead, I’m relying entirely on my laptop to receive phone calls. I signed up with a VOIP provider to get an incoming number (1). This allows others to call my laptop using a regular phone number (no computer required). With my plan, I get unlimited calls to the USA and extremely cheap international calls. In total, I only spend around $70 per year for the entire plan, for a savings of $650 each year compared to my original plan. The set-up was simple and didn’t require any new electronics; all I needed was my existing laptop and WiFi access.

The trade-off is that I lose perpetual, 24/7 mobile connectivity. When my laptop is turned off, I don’t receive calls; they go straight to my voicemail. But in a way, I find beauty in the solitude of living cell-free. Each night, I enjoy the luxury of escaping the world of ringtones, text messages, and telemarketers. No one can bother me now; I return calls only when I feel like it.

Living without a cell phone might seem inconvenient, but in many ways, it’s a more peaceful way to live. Having a mobile device with instant access to unlimited media–phone calls, text messages, music, movies, apps–would be a total drain on my life. I’m already suffering from digital sensory overload; I don’t need a smartphone to bombard me with more useless trivia.

So I’m finished with my cell phone for this year. My wife decided to keep hers, so I borrow her phone on occasion when traveling alone to foreign places. As for the other 95% of the time, I’ve done quite well without a cell. In fact, I’ve only had one minor incident in the last two months. While I was taking the train to visit my in-laws, I accidentally overshot my destination by 20 miles. It took me an hour and two train transfers before I got back to Taichung.

Why didn’t you call me, Hsinya asked, to let me know you’d be late?

I shrugged. No cell.

1 Skype is probably the simplest to set-up. Buy a subscription for unlimited phone calls, then get an online number. Skype currently offers 50% off the purchase of an online number with a subscription. Once it’s set-up, you can cancel your phone subscriptions and easily save $1000/yr.

2 I once worried about not being able to make emergency calls. Later, I realized that any unused cell phone without a data plan can still make free emergency (SOS) calls, even if you lack a SIM-card. So you can keep your old cell around for emergencies without paying the phone company.

3 There are definitely cheaper VOIP providers that will support open-source, but you’ll need more technical knowledge to set it up. Since Google Voice doesn’t allow you to receive incoming calls, it can’t completely replace all phones like Skype can.