Sustainable Minimalists

Are we treating the symptoms of modern life while simultaneously ignoring our habitat?

The average American now spends 93% of their life indoors. But humans evolved for millennia alongside the natural world, and research suggests that our indoor lifestyle is disrupting our sleep, focus and long-term health.
You don’t need a gym membership or expensive workout gear to get your health back on track. On today’s show, Dr. John La Puma argues that all you need is a 17-minute dose of nature, every single day.

Here’s a preview:

[4:00] Modern medicine tends to prioritize intervention over prevention. But why?

[7:30] We’re taught to fear the outdoors, but indoor living can be directly harmful in ways we’re only beginning to understand

[11:30] Why it’s time to view “screen time” as “ultra-processed time”

[16:00] Exactly how a daily dose of morning sunlight resets insulin sensitivity, hunger timing, and prefrontal cortex function

[30:00] Outside exercise is better for you than inside exercise, so take your movement outdoors!

Resources mentioned:

Indoor Epidemic: 93% Inside Steals Sleep, Focus & Years—The 7% Outdoor Rx Restores Them

The Summer Challenge: Touch Grass (via The NY Times)

7-Day Outdoor Reset (via IndoorEpidemic.com)

Birding to Change the World (by Trish O’Kane)

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What started in 2011 with just one woman and a small local government has exploded into a worldwide movement of over 174 million people. That movement is Plastic Free July.

Yet 15 years after the challenge’s inception, plastic production continues to exponentially grow. It’s all-too easy to dismiss the challenge as little more than an opportunity to post a picture of a bamboo toothbrush on social media.
But we aren’t just facing a litter problem anymore; we’re facing climate and health crises. A July that’s free of plastic is about building permanent habits, changing your relationship with “stuff,” and sending a clear message to corporations that you don’t want all this plastic junk.

On today’s show, challenge leader Emily Emond joins us to share her top tips for cutting through the overwhelm and setting yourself up for success during Plastic Free July.

 

Here's a preview:

[6:15] Is Plastic-Free July beneficial, or purely performative?

[9:00] On why using less plastic is supports your family’s health

[13:30] Set yourself up for success: Five things you can do right now

[23:00] Nothing changes if nothing changes!

Resources mentioned:

Plastic Free July

Emily's challenge

This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting!

Join our (free!) Facebook community here.

Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube @sustainableminimalists

Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

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Every week, we drag our trash bins to the curb, close the lid, and forget about them. But where does "away" actually go? And does the mere existence of waste "management" mean we can continue to consume more and more without major consequence?

On today's show, author and sanitation worker Simon Paré-Poupart discusses what he's learned in his 20 years on the back of a Montreal haul truck. He's here to pull back the curtain on the grueling yet essential work of waste collection. He's also here to offer a  sociological reflection on modern consumerism, systemic waste, and the human cost of hiding our cultural detritus.

Here's a preview:

[5:00] We didn't always have all this trash, and we didn't always have a need for "waste management"

[12:00] A society's trash reveals an awful lot about a society. What does our trash reveal about us?

[19:00] Recycling might give us a boost of moral satisfaction, but that moral satisfaction is ultimately just fuel to buy more stuff

[22:00] On why waste management is integral to maintaining the status quo

[27:30] The mere existence waste management is a symptom of this much larger problem

Resources mentioned:

Trash! A Garbageman's Story

The Books Times Readers Are Most Excited About This Summer (via The New York Times)

Waste and Want: A Social History of Trash (by Suzanne Strasser)

Book Club! We're reading Beyond Decluttering: Forty Days to Simplicity Through Connection for our Wednesday, June 24 meeting at 7 pm EST. Join us! Details here.

This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting!

Join our (free!) Facebook community here.

Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube @sustainableminimalists

Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

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New things are everywhere—and they’re causing us to disconnect from what we value most.

In a world that constantly tells us that new is better, our relentless pursuit of material wealth is costing us money, time and happiness. Worse, when we define ourselves by what we own rather than who we are, we reduce our lives to a single, superficial dimension.

On today’s show, New York Times journalist Eric Athas offers advice for stepping away from the cycle of constant buying, saying no to shallowness, and discovering the right kind of “new” in our lives.

Here's a preview:

[8:00] We're wired to become bored the familiar, and other truths to newness

[16:00] Consumption has costs! (In fact, it robs us of our finite attention, dilutes our capacity for genuine enjoyment, and misaligns our pursuit of happiness.)

[26:00] Musings on the ways in which overconsumption leads to superficiality

[37:00] Put down the trinket! Redefining what it means to experience novelty, growth, and freshness without relying on a transaction

Resources mentioned:

Saying No to New: Why New Things Are Stealing Your Time, Money, and Happiness―And How to Take Back Your Life

This episode is sponsored by Fearless Finance. Use code SUSTAINABLE to get $50 off your first meeting.

Book Club! We're reading Beyond Decluttering: Forty Days to Simplicity Through Connection for our Wednesday, June 24 meeting at 7 pm EST. Join us!

This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting!

Join our (free!) Facebook community here.

Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube @sustainableminimalists

Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The plastic-drenched, disposable world we live in didn’t happen by accident. It was slowly, methodically built by Big Oil.

They’re doing everything in their power to get people to use as much plastic as possible, all so they can make money from every single molecule they extract from the ground. And right now, they’re pouring billions of dollars into plans to double, or even triple, plastic production by 2050.
This week, award-winning environmental journalist Beth Gardiner joins us to pull back the curtain on who’s behind all this plastic and why. We explore why production is skyrocketing despite consumer pushback, how the myth of recycling keeps us distracted, and why naming the real culprits is the first step toward true systemic change.

Resources mentioned:

Plastic Inc: The Secret History and Shocking Future of Big Oil’s Biggest Bet

Beyond Plastics

This episode is sponsored by Fearless Finance. Use code SUSTAINABLE to get $50 off your first meeting.

 

This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting!

Join our (free!) Facebook community here.

Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube @sustainableminimalists

Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.