Does Sustainable Living and Minimalism go Together? Useful Guide

I’ve always found the idea of minimalism and living simply as really appealing, perhaps you have as well? Recently I’ve been wondering does sustainable living and minimalism go together? Just like with sustainable living and veganism, there is definitely some overlap so I will go through this further in my post below.

What Is Sustainable Living?

I recently discussed what is sustainable living in my beginner’s guide to sustainable living so I won’t go into too much detail here.

“Sustainable living describes a lifestyle that attempts to reduce an individual’s or society’s use of the Earth’s natural resources, and one’s personal resources. It is often called as “earth harmony living” or “net zero living”.

Wikipedia

Sustainable living is a term that I actually prefer to low waste or low impact. Although they are all usually grouped together and have similar meanings. Sustainable living is usually explained as constantly looking at ways to reduce your household’s carbon footprint to have the least amount of affect on our environment as possible.

If you’re wondering the difference between sustainable living and zero waste, I talk about the main differences in this guide sustainable living vs zero waste.

What Is Minimalism?

The term minimalism used to just be defined as an art and music movement beginning around the 1950’s and continuing through the 1960’s and 1970’s, minimalism was a way of describing sculptures and paintings which featured simple designs and neutral colours.

A minimalist lifestyle took off more recently as a way of living with less and making sure that the few possessions you do have, hold great value to you. It’s about living intentionally and simply.

“Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things that bring you joy and the removal of those that do not.”

Joshua Becker – Becoming Minimalist

There are a lot of common misconceptions about minimalism though, some people believe that in order to be a minimalist you must live in a home with white walls and own a few plants but not much else. This of course is the sort of beautiful pictures that you’ll see in magazines and on Pinterest but it doesn’t define minimalism.

A minimalist lifestyle completely changes everything, when you have less possessions you free up so much more time. If you think about it, the less you have, the less amount of time it will take cleaning and tidying your home.

A lot of people who have embarked on the minimalist lifestyle have also reported that getting rid of the clutter and living more simply, has made them happier and less stressed.

I’ve heard it said that “A cluttered house is a cluttered mind” and I’ve also thought this to be true. Whenever I’ve had a declutter of a certain area of my house I feel instantly lighter and it does really improve my mood.

I don’t think personally that there are set rules for minimalism, I think it will look quite different for everyone. That-being-said The Minimalists who created the documentary Minimalism have also created an e-book called 16 Rules For Living With Less which is worth downloading if you’re interested in the subject.

Getting rid of what you no longer need, means that you have more space in your home as well. For some people they like to declutter and also downsize either to a smaller house or to a tiny home. I have to confess that I have a little bit of a fascination with those tiny homes, I’d personally like to downsize in the future so I just find the idea of a tiny home really interesting.

Another misconception with minimalism is that somehow you’re depriving yourself of things that you enjoy having. It’s about keeping things that you love, that do improve your lifestyle – but then getting rid of all the things that don’t improve your life in any way and are essentially just clutter. This is really how it will look different for everyone, depending on what’s important to you.

Kon Mari Method

If you haven’t heard of this method it was created by Marie Kondo as a way of decluttering by different categories so it’s less daunting. I watched the Series Tidying Up With Marie Kondo a few years ago and I found it really interesting. In the Series she helps people in the USA declutter by making piles with the possessions. Then you go through and as you hold each item, you decide if it sparks joy and if it doesn’t you declutter it.

I really like this method and I’ve used it myself when decluttering, Marie Kondo even teaches a way of folding your clothes and other possessions so you can see what is there straight away – which does save a lot of time when you’re looking for something specific in a drawer.

Minimalism in Fashion

Minimalism in fashion is usually referred to as a capsule wardrobe, a capsule wardrobe consists of very few items. All simple neutral colours and classic in design that can easily be paired together to make multiple outfits. It’s about quality rather than quantity.

Some minimalists will have a maximum of 27 clothing items and all of the items will be complementary to each other. My friend Sue has information on how to create a capsule wardrobe if you wanted to learn more and create your own.

I actually love the idea of a capsule wardrobe but I’m a hippy so I can’t get on board with too many neutral colours.. The idea of having timeless pieces that work really well together, does really appeal to me though.

What Is The Difference Between Minimalism And Sustainability

The main differences between minimalism and sustainability is based around the purpose of both lifestyles. So minimalism is about having less material possessions and living simply in general, whereas sustainability and sustainable living is about living net zero and reducing your impact on earths resources as much as possible.

This is the main difference between minimalism and sustainability but it’s also worth noting that within sustainable living there’s the idea about having less because of the carbon footprint from purchases and to help our earth, whereas minimalism is more about having less possessions and ensuring what you do own holds value to you personally.

Does Sustainable Living And Minimalism Go Together?

You might be wondering at this point does sustainable living and minimalism go together? The simple answer is yes, the principles of sustainable living and minimalism mean that they do go together. The whole idea of minimalism, as in living with less possessions and buying less is a huge part of sustainable living as well. Buying less and making what you do own last, really is important to sustainability and our environment.

I’ve heard some environmentalists state that overpopulation is the issue with our planet and ultimately putting a strain on our environment but this is simply not true! Over consumption is the issue with our planet – in the western world we have fast food, prepacked foods in stores and fast fashion which is all terrible environmentally and usually ethically as well.

Some cultures in the world already live in the most sustainable way because they have to and they don’t have the wasteful systems in place that we do.

How Can I Be Eco Friendly And A Minimalist

There are some other terms that I’ve heard people mention in terms of sustainable living and minimalism. I’ve seen people refer to themselves as a sustainable minimalist or even an eco minimalist.

Put very simply these terms are combining sustainable living or eco friendly living with a minimalist lifestyle. It’s using the principles of both of these lifestyles to reduce your carbon footprint further. Having less belongings and making sure that all of your purchases are from a sustainable source would be the way to combine being eco friendly and a minimalist.

The term eco-minimalism has been used a lot by Deanna Pratt the founder of the blog Eco Ally and by Shelbi who has a YouTube channel under Shelbizleee both of these eco influencers are very inspiring and I love that they promote eco-minimalism in a world that really needs it!

How To Declutter Responsibly

One thing that I do think is with mentioning is that, if you declutter as part of your journey to sustainable living and minimalism – ensure that you sell or give away anything that you declutter. It’s something that bothered me when I watched the Marie Kondo Series on Netflix, you never actually see what happens to everything that gets decluttered.

Decluttering responsibly doesn’t mean to donate everything. In case you aren’t aware thrift shops usually get inundated with clothes and other household items and sometimes they just have so much that some of it even ends up in landfill. Which is of course disappointing if you’re trying to declutter responsibly.

Some ways that you can declutter responsibly are as follows:

• Sell on Ebay
• Sell or Giveaway on Facebook Marketplace
• Giveaway to friends or family
• Sell clothes on Vinted or Depop
• Giveaway on the Olio app if you have active users in your area
• Donate clothes to a local homeless shelter (be sure to check if they need them first)
• Advertise in a Buy Nothing Group on Facebook
• Donate books to a local library, Better World Books have donation points across the US and the UK or scan the book on We Buy Books to see if they give you a valuation for it.
• Repurpose or upcycle old clothes that aren’t mendable, as rags for cleaning etc.

I hope I answered the question does sustainable living and minimalism go together. You might be interested in my ultimate guide to doing a no buy year successfully.

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