How to start a minimalist, zero-waste, sustainable lifestyle

When you're afraid you can't commit to lifestyle redesign, challenge yourself to just try, tiny step-by-tiny step. You're so tired after another stressful day you just want to dive into bed, but, I tell you, you have the strength to turn off all of the lights, and unplug your tv and other devices and take a few deep breaths. You do have the strength to wash your dishes--your morning will thank you!

We can challenge ourselves to regularly... 
* wait one more day/week/month before we make that so-called life-changing purchase
* clean for four minutes (using a timer). Especially when feeling "don't feel like it." Do it now.
* exercise for 2 to 5 minutes climbing the stairs or walking in place
* go another hour/day/week without screen distraction (tv, laptop, ipad, phone, etc.)
* do something we thought we wouldn't be able to do. Not for outcome per se, but just as a show of idealism and optimism
* think in terms of "we" instead of "I" -consciousness

Starting a minimalist, zero-waste and sustainable lifestyle
I challenge you (and myself) to draw from y/our reserves of psychological strength, spiritual optimism and fighting spirit. For earth, and the future of humanity, stop hoarding shit!

1. use public transportation once a week (I live in L.A. I own a car. I got kids.)
2. go out less. Stay home more.
3. eat vegan more (going vegan can reduce a person's carbon footprint by 25%). Menu planning will save you money and help you reduce food waste.
4. eat local food. Ride the bus/subway/bike to your local farmer's market with some reusable bags. 
5. unplug your television (This has been truly life changing for me, a huge tv addict). 
6. reduce your physical possessions and psychic attachment to crapitalist materialism. Be vigilant. Don't judge others. Look at your own crap first. If you have the patience, sell. If not, donate.
7. wash your dishes as you go. 

In terms of minimizing your WTF-was I thinking crap, Declutter the Kitchen First! This is the heart of the home. Get rid of excess furniture (Martha Stewart, i deplore u and your consumerist inflaming rag. I bought a kitchen island, buffet table and other crap from ikea which I ended up donating after less than a year cause I live in an apartment, hello!). Keep it easy to clean. The number one priority is to keep the peace, not impress imaginary guests with your taste in mass produced, made in china and destined for landfill tchokes.

Get rid of, say hell no to 

• the microwave, it's bad for you and really bad for kids. Look it up.
• duplicate cups, wine glasses and other knick-knacky bourgeois crap. 
• all plastic containers. Replace it with a few simple glass and stainless steel basics. 
• all paper-based products. Poor trees. Poor forests. Replace paper towels with microfiber ones, and use reusable cloth napkins. 
• all but two vases. 
• anything with a corporate logo. 
• anything wannabe. anything 'celebrity' is déclassé. 
• toys.
• cookbooks designed around sugar, wheat, beef. Non-foods that you know are no good.
• recyclables for one day cooking and sharing. Jars, bye bye.
• the trashcan itself. Start composting, stop shopping, and get your time and money back!

2013: New Year Stunts, Challenges and Resolutions

Want a challenge? Break up, little-by-little, with consumerism. In December, the ritual of creating "new year's resolutions" can propel us to redesign what's not working in our lives.

Myself--Well, I love something ascetic and kooky. I love reading other peoples's meditations. I'm sick of self-help guides by materialists pretending to be spiritual gurus, if you know what I mean.

Here's a list of one year-long experiments in book form:

• Not Buying It by Judith Levine
• No Impact Man: The Adventures of a Guilty Liberal Who Attempts to Save the Planet, and the Discoveries He Makes About Himself and Our Way of Life in the Process by Colin Beavan
• Living Oprah: My One-Year Experiment to Walk the Walk of the Queen of Talk by Robyn Okrant
• The Year I Saved My (downsized) Soul by Carol Orsborn
• A Year Without "Made in China": One Family's True Life Adventure in the Global Economy by Sara Bongiorni
• The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin
• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver

Bonus "Year-of" Book:
The Year of Dreaming Dangerously by Slavoj Zizek

Web Groups:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thecompact/

Method on Sugar reduction and Self love

After my history of sugar addiction, it feels delightful to be free of sugar. At first, after my last post when I threw out the sugary crap in my house, sugar was hyperalert on the brain and I was on the hunt. The opposite of my intention took over, and I was obsessed. For three days, around 4pm, I would rummage through closets,  pockets and bags for chocolate! I would eat handfulls!!! After the third day, there was no more candy to be found. The jar of choco-dream was finished.

I started to buy twice as much fruit as compared to before. I ate pears, apples, tangerines, strawberries, melons and bananas. I longed for sugar, but it got easier with each day. I felt freer--I forgave myself for my chocolate binge and accepted it as something I needed to do to let go of this loss--after all, sugar had been my companion for a long time.

What really helped curb my sugar cravings was twofold: starting the day with protein and taking omega 3 supplements. I had a bottle of Carlson's fish oil and I started to take two tablespoons. The bottle itself had been in the fridge for months untouched. It worked great. I also took a little bit (1 teaspoon) of sea buckthorn oil.

Since starting my protein and oil habit, I've been eating a lot less fruit. And miraculously, I can say no to my husband's pancakes, instead of getting mad at him for making them and blaming him for my sugar addiction. My sugar addiction is my pattern--not someone else's.

Some positive outcomes of removing sugar and adding fish oil: 1) my sleepless leg syndrome has diminished!!! 2) my face looks less puffy!!! 3) I feel less cranky and angry!

Give this little method a try!

1. Ruthlessly remove all the sugary crap in your home. 
2. Expect and accept that you will be in withdrawal for a few days. Forgive yourself and be kind if you start craving sugar. If you find sugary crap, it's okay to eat it. Allow yourself to feel a sense of loss of your old pattern.
3. Bring twice as much fruit as usual into your home. Dont' buy anything sugary. Eat the fruit without worrying about the glycemic index of bananas or whatever. Fruit from the farmer's market tastes a lot better!
4. Start the day with protein and omega three supplements. 

Remember that sugar is as addictive as heroin. The problem of sugar addiction hides and distracts from other covert discomfort. Sugar addiction is physical and psychological. It's a historical addiction going back to childhood. Modern life is flooded with sugar. Unfortunately, you have to be on guard because crapitalism is pushing you to become addicted to its chemical, nonfood crap. Protect yourself from commercial culture--love yourself! Sugar feeds inflammation, cancer, bad health. Love yourself--it's hard at first. It will pass, and get easier.

Have you seen the youtube lecture "Sugar, the Bitter Truth?" with Robert Lustig?
Or the TV show 60 Minutes' coverage on toxic sugar?

Here's the sugary poisons I got rid of... (with a heavy addict's heart)

1. Almost full jars of: Strawberry jam, Cherry jam, 2 kinds of Lemon curd & TJ's speculoos cookie butter 
2. Holiday candy from Easter, Valentine's & Halloween. Threw out a chocolate bunny. These were all 'gifts.'!
3. New Bags of Chips for baking: white and dark chocolate and "sugar melts"
4. Dates
5. Tea mixes with sugar (the Korean teas I like are filled with sugar, and have wasteful packaging)

What I need to get rid of...

1. Actual sugars!: white, brown, cane
2. white flour 
3. go through all processed foods (bread loaf, jars, cans, boxes)

We never buy juice, thank goodness! That $hit is basically $oda.  And even though I always, always want to buy ramen type packages, I don't. That's poison.

I can believe that like the average American, I eat half a pound of sugar a day. That's 150 pounds of sugar a year!!! F_#@K! 

I need to be honest with myself. Stop eating sugar. That's deadly poison -- not feeding my kids or my self love, but hate--death--pain--suffering by feeding self/family sugary crap!

What the hell is my problem? Born into sugar-capitalist system. Most mystifying food in the world.

Recap of how I got more space in a few days

I'm hauling out. With every post-shopping haul out, I feel freer, less attached to crap. I can walk around without cringing while passing the hall closet. I feel proud.

I made space by letting go of...

4 Kids DVDs, 1 cd, 2 box sets of tv shows DVDs
a black metal magazine holder and matching card holder from anthropologie
An old umbrella that has no hole for hanging and is too enormous
​organizers from ikea, target and the container store
​big blue swiss ball, dh was relieved
​comfort u pillow, blankets
​clothes from j crew, Jeremy's, and anthropologie. Pricier things I'd been hoarding that I finally let go.
3 porcelain vases
1 branch
Kitchen crap: Ikea spice organizer, cake pans for 'tier' cakes
1 crate and barrel two tiered fruit basket that was way too big
cook books to pastry chef friend: lauduree, momofuku milk bar (I'm not a pastry chef)
40 books to the Los Angeles Public Library, including Martha Stewart's craft encyclopedia
Kids stuff: 1 walker toy, 1 kids carseat organizer, 1 rocking horse
1 radio Sony
1 clock white crate and barrel
stash of foam for felt crafting
2 dolls ayumi uyama styled vintage made in Japan, kids didn't want it either

I didn't sell these things. I just let them go to be resold elsewhere. The money earned is not worth my time.  I'm making value by saving time and future effort from handling these things.

Update on the compact:
I haven't bought anything for myself. Haven't felt the need to. But I will re-sign up for "pop physique" monthly unlimited classes as soon as my jury duty next week is over. And there are a few digital books on minimalism I want to get. I really enjoy reading other people's perspectives on losing their crap.

For my daughter's birthday, I bought dresses from second-hand consignment stores in Los Angeles: Blue Bird, The Green Bean and Grow Kid Grow. I found high end designer clothes made not in china but the u.s., france and denmark for the same price I'd pay for new clothes from Target made in who knows where sweatshop. I didn't buy her a toy, but my husband got her a small mirror that she wanted.