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Is minimalism a strategy for a sustainable lifestyle?
Jenny Hollywood · May 2024
The Parliament Hill Sustainability Group explored the concept of Minimalism, by watching ‘The Minimalists, Less is Now’
In one of our recent weekly Sustainability Group meetings, we had a discussion on what other concepts can impact a more sustainable lifestyle. As I had recently watched the Netflix documentary
‘The Minimalists, Less is Now’
– I suggested minimalism as a topic.
“The Minimalists, Less is Now”
centres around the life experiences of two childhood friends
Joshua Fields Millburn
and
Ryan Nicodemus
. As they both make their own separate journeys into the world of work and adulthood, they initially focus on chasing every ‘must have’ item, but still crucially never feel fulfilled by these possessions. Joshua then goes through a significant life-event that makes him question his levels of consumption, which leads him to the discovery of minimalism.
A lot of the principles of minimalism feed into sustainability;
Mindful consumption
- You don’t need to buy 2 or 3 versions of the same thing.
Mindful influence
– In this social media generation we are constantly being influenced to buy the next ‘must have item’. Ask yourself, how am I going to use this and will it really add value to my life?
Minimalism doesn’t always mean having an empty house,
make sure every item in your home is useful and/or valued. Joshua and Ryan end their documentary with a 30-day challenge to the viewers to sell or donate 1 item a day on the first day, 2 items on day 2, and so on for the 30 days. At the end of the 30-days you will feel de-cluttered, with a better understanding about what in your home brings the most value.
Following the documentary, we asked the Sustainability Group to reflect and answer 6 questions. This is what they had to say…
1) Before the minimalists made their changes, did you notice any similarities between their lifestyles and yours?
2) What do you think about the two different ways the guys approached to reducing the items in their house?
3) What are the benefits of minimalism?
4) Do you think minimalism is realistic for everyone? Why not?
5) How is minimalism good for sustainability?
6) Would you want to do the challenge at the end of the documentary and why?
You can find out more about The Minimalists on their website; The Minimalists. And watch their directory
‘The Minimalists, Less is Now’
on Netflix
here.