Sustainable Minimalists

When it comes to health-first resolutions (eat healthier! feel better in jeans!), it's unfortunate but true: such resolutions often fail shortly after January 1.  On today's show  Leeann Rybakov  outlines what it *really* takes to make your health-centered New Year's Resolution stick. Here's a preview: [3:00] Exactly why our get healthy/lose weight/eat right/move more resolutions fail, according t...

It's the most wonderful time of the year, or is it? December can be stressful, expensive, and emotionally taxing; it's no wonder, then, that 3 in 5 Americans believe the holiday season negatively impacts their mental health.  Enter interpersonal boundaries which, when done right, protect your time, well-being, and budget. Even better? Drawing explicit lines in the proverbial sand increases the cha...

How do we kindly ask our parents and in-laws to stop buying into plastic junk culture for our children? Why would we even want to embark on such an uphill battle? Overwhelming amounts of gifts may be commonplace around the holidays but the reality is this: The Number One most important gift we can give our kids is an inhabitable planet on which they can survive and thrive. With both the planet and...

When it comes to giving presents, sustainable minimalists understand that less is more and thoughtful is better. Indeed, minimalist holiday gift ideas don’t manifest themselves when walking the mall; you can’t find them by panic buying in the days leading up to Christmas, either. Need some inspiration? Today I’m thrilled to turn the mic over to you the listeners as you offer up nearly 2 dozen non-...

Are you getting all you can from your library? Libraries are quiet pillars of our communities that often get overlooked. That's unfortunate because libraries are one of the few places where you can truly get something for nothing. On today's show I'm outlining 7 goods and services you likely never knew you could get for free from your library.   Here's a preview: [9:00] Exactly how much you're pay...

Success is often accomplished with grit, resilience, and action. Still, many of us women are bogged down by countless pressures each and every day. Who has time to work toward goals when the obstacles in the way somehow feel both mundane yet unconquerable? You can face steep odds and still find happiness, and that's because every woman has wells of resilience within to help get us through. Today I...

Ah, the holidays. The 5-ish weeks between Black Friday and New Year's Day tend to be an extended party of sorts in which many of us overspend, overeat/drink, overdecorate, and excessively waste. The excesses associated with the holidays come with a hefty environmental cost: on average, US households produce 25% more trash than normal between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day; worse, wonton wastefuln...

Joy Of Missing Out (JOMO) is about actively turning from the external stimuli that neither serves nor ignites. And whereas Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) is rooted in external validation, obtaining JOMO is a giant leap toward serving your internal self. During the holidays and always, it pays to get intentional about All. The. Things: Our priorities, our precious free moments and, of course, our long-...

Parenting the eco-minimalist way is, well, difficult. It's also an 18-ish year commitment that goes directly against societal norms. I'm no expert, but I do believe that impactful parenting starts by capitalizing on teachable moments. On today's show I speak with  Elizabeth Ireland  about *exactly how* she passes 3 central eco-minimalist lessons onto her children.   Here's a preview of the 3 life...

The attitude-behavior gap is a fancy schmancy research term that describes the discrepancy between what we say and what we do. When it comes to eco-minimalist living, many of us quietly experience an oversized gap between our values (save the planet! live minimally!) and our actions (buy single use plastic! purchase on impulse!).  On today's show we are diving into the recesses of this, well, gap....

Many minimalists boast that living simply has improved their well-being in a myriad of ways. The problem, however, is that such statements are anecdotal. Does research back up these personal stories? What - if anything - does science say about minimalism's benefits? On today's show  Shannon and Gerry Arner  and I marry research findings re: simple living with day-to-day experience.    Here's a pre...

There's lots to consider when searching for an eco-friendly and non-toxic laundry detergent. Are those strips and pods actually environmentally conscious if they're wrapped in PVA? Why don't detergents offer a full list of ingredients on their packaging? As it turns out, laundry detergents have lots of misleading claims (ahem ... marketing gimmicks) designed to confuse consumers. On today's episod...

Let's face it: Impulse buys are fun in the moment. But what feels good in the short-term doesn't always jive with our long-term goals and quick decisions may not align with our core values. If you regularly buy on impulse, you're not alone. According to  Shopify , over 87% of US shoppers make impulse buys and more than 50% of all grocery items are sold because of impulsiveness. Enter Jen Smith and...

There's such a thing as too much of a good thing. The key to a balanced life lies in moderation, as any of us who's ever overdone it knows that excess quickly becomes miserable. On today's show we first discuss the Swedish concept of lagom, a.k.a. 'good enough' living. Next, we apply age-old, temperate wisdom to spending habits, interpersonal communication, tidying, and emotions.   Here's a previe...

The World Wildlife Fund's Living Planet Report is a checkup on the health of Earth, and this year’s report is the most comprehensive yet. Spoiler alert: its findings aren't good. But all's not doom and gloom: Enter the Rescue Effect, a perspective that believes there’s a lot to be optimistic about.  On this episode I’m excited to bring you two contrasting viewpoints to the biodiversity problem. Fi...

'Rise and Grind' reveres working for work's sake, and it's immensely popular. But grind culture is capitalism's fuel; worse, it diminishes you and me to cogs in the capitalist wheel. Today we're discussing hustle culture: What it is, who benefits from the collective all-in, and how we can slowly unsubscribe from a life of overwork.   Here's a preview: [5:00] Why do the (Western) masses follow grin...

Your favorite smartphone apps, your preferred weather forecaster, your go-to photo sharing app, and other seemingly benign technologies likely reveal details about your life to companies looking to collect consumer data. They're eager to gather thousands of data points on each and every one of us every single day because more data means better accuracy for algorithms seeking to predict human behav...

"I just listened to your podcast about waste and was surprised to hear that our energy consumption is so high in America! The problem is, I don't know where the energy is going, nor do I understand which things I might be doing to use so much. What are some tips for saving energy? Why do Americans require so much more than other countries?"   Waste comes in many forms. Sadly, energy waste is all t...

Fashion rules abound and, historically, it's the patriarchy that has embedded them into our collective psyche. That's right: women's clothing is heavily influenced by the opinions of men, and just a few of the most common man-inspired fashion "rules" include: Women would do well to wear "flattering" clothes (a.k.a. ones that bring them closer to the coveted hourglass silhouette). External appearan...

We're at it again! Today I'm answering 5 listener questions in a rapid-fire format. Here's a preview of the questions I'm answering today: [1:30] Are laundry detergent strips *actually* eco-friendly? What about TruEarth strips specifically? [7:00] Is eco-friendly pet parenting possible and, if so, how? [17:45] Is the Yuka app worth the hype? [22:30] Tofu containers, oat milk cartons, and more: How...

We often think the solution to our household woes lies in better organization, but marketing pros have commercialized tidiness. "Getting organized" often entails purchasing plastic totes and baskets: Before we know it, we've spent boatloads of money to put order to the stuff we're storing. Desk organizers, drawer dividers, specialized hangers, oh my: When we talk about living our best lives with l...

"How can I make eco-minimalist choices when I truly don’t have the time? I’m divorced, have two children, and work full time. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to care for the kids, earn an income, and run the household, let alone add in sustainable living. Help!"    Together, let's re-prioritize our priorities. On today's show I'm answering a listener's question about sustainability fat...

Triggered much? It usually goes something like this. Someone in your life does SOMEthing: Maybe your boss criticizes your work. Perhaps your partner says something that hits you the wrong way. You child stalls as you're trying to get out the door. There’s an antecedent, and then there’s your go-to reaction. There’s no space between the antecedent and your reaction; there's no intention behind your...

"One of the hardest things we haven’t been able to tackle is our kids' snacks: we still end up using a good amount of single use plastic wraps. Do you have any ideas?"   Citing convenience, ultraprocessed foods are often sold in single-serve packs. But such snack and lunch items are overpriced (you're literally paying for that extra plastic!); they're also often unhealthy for both people and the p...

Is the future refillable? When we look at the history of plastics, it's disheartening to realize that only 9% of all plastics ever created have been recycled. Another 12% has been incinerated; a whopping 79%, then, has accumulated in landfills and nature. That's right: your Bonnie Bell Lip Smacker tube circa 1995 is quite likely still somewhere on this planet.  Refillable products (like ice cream...