hyrcan

I'm mostly interested in one aspect of it: avoiding STUFF. I hate stuff, I hate clutter. I hate the feeling of being owned by what I own b/c it needs constant maintenance. My home is airy, clean and clutter-free. We reuse, recycle, and think long and hard before buying something.

We eat organic, and buy from local organic farmers when possible.

As for toxic materials, we have granite counter tops which are supposedly cancerous (although radon levels in our house are normal), so I guess we're not living in a toxin-free environment.

Vered's last blog post..Cooking? That's What Wives Are For! (Wordless Wednesday)

Have you found No Impact Man? http://noimpactman.typepad.com/blog/

@Vered: I hate stuff as well... I'll be touching more on that in the future. A great exploration into "stuff" is the Story of Stuff. Toxic materials are really hard to avoid, in fact, bloggers can't avoid them at all... thank you computers. :-/

@Jocelyn: No Impact Man is great. While researching and thinking about this project I discovered a lot of great projects, like Living Plastic Free and the BBC's Ethical Man. I was tempted to go as for as Vanessa did at Green as a Thistle for the move, unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity.

Hi Hyrcan,

I love to try and live clutter free. I don't buy something unless it makes my heart sing or it's something I truly need.

My biggest clutter area is the home office. It seems to be the catch all spot for paper. As much as I try to keep up on it, more of it sneaks onto my desk.

I could spend more time staying organized, but I would rather be blogging. :)

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@Barbara: My desk/office area ends up collecting loads of little things, cables, card readers, USB wifi dongles. It's definitely my trouble spot. Right now it's all spread out on my floor because I'm going through it to get rid of things.

Luckily the project I have in mind doesn't require me to be organized... just sustainable. ;) Otherwise I'd fail for sure.

Hi Hycran. Thanks for stopping by my blog today. I have to admit, I visited yours this morning to watch one of the Friday videos, but ran out of time and didn't leave a comment. So, now I'm back.

I don't own a lot of stuff and like it that way. Just as Vered said, if you have too much "stuff" you have more to take care of. It actually owns you, you don't own it.

My footprint is getting smaller. I've changed all the lightbulbs and don't run the tap when I brush my teeth :-) I use a reusable shopping bag and shop at consignment stores. I wish I could have a compost, but that is not an option at my apartment building.

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@Davina: I'm happy to say that even though I had more things to move than I anticipated, none of it owns me. A friend of mine was shocked to hear this when I was contemplating what to do about my job situation A poor hiring choice at the .ORG I work for may cause me to quit. Going over the options with this friend I casually suggested taking this as an opportunity to just leave the country, getting rid of the shiny new apartment and everything in it. With the exception of three books, and some photos, all of which could be easily stored away somewhere, none of the things I have matter.

I live in a apartment building too, so the new project I'm working on may interest you, so I'll definitely be exploring things that people in apartments can do. If there's any thing specific you're curious about drop me a note and I'll be sure to include it.

18 months ago I moved from a 2200 square foot house to an 800 square foot apartment. I was brutal in deciding what I wanted to take and got it down to a) absolutely love it and/or b) absolutely need it. It's amazing what I let go of. Soon, I will be in the process of moving from the apartment to the Urbane Lion's house. I have been living without most of my stuff for over 4 months now, because my daughter is living in my apartment and I have been living full time at the Lion's. There are some things I miss. Mainly kitchen stuff. You would think as a former chef he would have a better equipped kitchen. And there are some sentimental things I miss. But I am sure I am going to be able to get rid of even more stuff. I have found that may attachment to material items has dwindled to just about non-existent.

As for sustainable living, I try to use my resources responsibly (hydro, water, gas), but haven't taken it to buying products based on this philosophy. And as you are discovering, it can be very expensive to 'go organic', and while it sounds good in theory, it can actually be a luxury to be able to go green.

Urban Panther's last blog post..A night at Navarra

Hi - I found you over at Urbane Lion and wanted to check out your blog because you had such a healthy (and unusual) attitude toward vasectomies. Anyway, I'm enjoying Hyrcan so far and will endevour to browse back and see what you've been up to.

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@Urban Panther: Ouch, going from big to small if you've been there for any time can be hard. I find that we let ourselves slide when we aren't strapped for room... or cash. And end up getting more stuff than we need. Though you can have stuff, and still live sustainably. It's where the stuff came from, what we do with it, and where it goes after that is problematic.

As for it being more expensive to 'go organic' I think the reason for these prices falls in to categories artificial or forced. Some things are expensive (such as the psudo "organic" store brand foods) because they know people will feel it's OK to pay a little bit extra (or a lot extra) because of the perceived benefit. It's a bigger profit margin for them.

While other items are forced to be expensive because (at least in America) we've basically paved over all of our prim farming land, and centralized food production into factory farms. As there are very few alternatives to the chemical cocktail that is modern "food" we've no choice. Either the "organic" has to travel farther, and thus cost more due to the fact traditional food doesn't handle distance shipping well, or the local alternatives are too small, too unorganized to efficiently distribute the foods, relying on a once a week farmers market.

Even though the costs of the "perfect choice" are currently high, people can take the first step towards sustainable living with out spending a dime. And that step is to educate yourself about what it is you're taking in, and sending out. What impact do the things you currently buy have on the world? This leads to simple low cost actions like buying things with less packaging, or doing what you do, use the resources more responsibly.

This is why I'm changing my project. I want people to know no matter what your circumstances are you can take steps towards sustainability. You don't have to wait for some major change, discovery, or invention... no price drop, or magic beans... Just taking the step of awareness is a big step.

@XUP: Howdy :) I hope you enjoy what you find, though I'll warn you I'm a bit sporadic... but I'm working on that... ;)

I'm enjoying it so far -- I also wanted to say that one of the best things about moving for me has always been getting rid of a big pile of stuff. I feel so free and euphoric when I de-clutter. It's almost addictive.

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