Because I grew up in the era of concern for the environment, I have always

      done things like plant a small garden, recycle plastic, buy food from bulk bins,

      and drive a small car. But after I lost my home to a wildfire in the Southern

      California mountains due to a long drought period in the area, I got really

      serious about living my life in ways that can sustain and rejuvenate the planet,

      and therefore, me and my family.

      

       What is a sustainable lifestyle? One definition of a sustainable lifestyle is:

living life in a way that keeps you, your family, your community, and the planet

healthy because basic needs are being met in ways that work for everyone. So,

what would that look like?

       

       Most of us agree that we cannot continue using fossil fuels to carry

ourselves, manufactured goods and food from one place to another. To reduce

our use of fossil fuels, we can do several things:

 

• We can learn & use permaculture principles to grow more food at home.​ 

• We can shop locally-closer to home.  

• We can consume fewer manufactured products.

• We can participate in Repair Cafes (https://www.repaircafe.org/en/about/)

• We can think more about how many articles of clothing we really need.

• We can learn skills such as weaving and knitting so we consume less.

• We can use our artistic skills to make gifts for family members and friends.

• We can work with the economic strategy called Gift Economics and share time, energy and skills through time banks and gifting circles.

      

       Is it realistic to think we can make a difference in the health of the planet

with these efforts? I believe it is. Balance is the key. Changing is not easy,

especially when we are busy with work and kids. So, we need to adopt new behaviors over time. If we are committed to changing, things can shift more quickly than we imagine.

​

Ways We Can Live a More Sustainable Lifestyle

     

       Following is an excerpt from an article I co-wrote for the local paper in December 2021 talking about getting through the holidays with less stress, and less strain on the planet, by recycling, upcycling and sharing. This is one area where small changes can make a big difference.

      

       Looking forward to the Holidays? Some things about the holidays are really fun. It is also easy to feel overwhelmed during this time of year so, how can we get through the season with joy and cheer?

 

       No one enjoys competing for a parking space during the holiday seasons or worrying about how to afford gifts for everyone. Most people do like to give and receive gifts, though, but there is no need to get caught up in the bustle. Using recycling, upcycling, and sharing, we can give gifts the easy and affordable way.

 

       Gifts such as drawings, hand-painted note cards, or a book of coupons for kind deeds are much appreciated by family and friends. Personal gifts tend to hold meaning over time, and it can be fun to create something special for someone we care for. Giving personal gifts teaches children the value of giving of oneself and receiving from others. Here again, balance is the key. Maybe one toy they saw on TV, but also handmade gifts.

 

 Here are some other examples of personal gift-giving:

• We could give something we own that we think a friend might like such as a special book, a cookbook, a scarf, or a piece of jewelry we no longer want,

• We could give a piece of jewelry made from recycled jewelry that we own or buy at a local thrift store or yard sale,

• We could knit a scarf or weave a shopping bag from yarn that has been stuck in a drawer just waiting to be turned into something useful,

• We could use decorated wooden or paper boxes to hold gifts or homemade cookies,

• how about offering to do a chore for someone, fix something, or help organize something (like their garage next Spring)?

 

Shopping locally and giving recycled and upcycled gifts is a gift to our planet, too. Cutting back on the production/consumption wheel is healthier for our planet and for us.

• gift certificates for a meal at a local restaurant would probably be much appreciated,

• offering a gift to someone’s favorite non-profit organization would be very welcome.

• we can also shop locally for everything we need to make our gifts - silver clasps for the jewelry, buttons for the knitted scarves, colored pencils, or watercolors to make the note cards.

 

Of course, all of this applies for birthdays and anniversaries, too.

 

In the rest of this document, I will share more ideas on some of the ways we can cut down on consumption and live healthy, sustainable lives.

 

Growing a Backyard Permaculture-Style Garden

       Figuring out how to eat locally and seasonally is a very good first step on the road to independence from big grocery stores. The supply chain problems of the last two years have shone a light on how dependent we have become on them.

​

       A permaculture-style garden would yield vegetables for many months of the year. And, they taste so much better fresh. We can easily grow things like onions, carrots, and garlic. Most herbs are very easy to grow and help to keep animals like deer out of the garden as well.

​

        Growing a lot of my own food gives me a choice of when and where to shop. I shop less often, reducing my use of fossil fuels.

​

Making our Own Household Items

​

       Food isn’t the only thing we can shop less for. We can easily make our own dish

washing liquid, hand soap and shampoo. There are many recipes on the internet for these items.

 

Fiber Arts

      We can also weave, knit, and crochet many useful items to give as gifts or use for ourselves. This may sound like a lot of work, but it can be done as a relaxing hobby in the evenings. I think of the many centuries women and men sat around a nice fire, telling stories, wood carving, weaving, and knitting.

​

       Weaving is a lost art, but it’s very relaxing and you can create so many things on a tapestry loom. The cloth you weave can be used to make handbags, tote bags, sweaters, shawls, wall-hangings, kitchen dish rags and dish towels, and so much more.

​

        I don’t usually make difficult items with my loom or my knitting needles. Just

warm scarves or pretty purses for my grandnieces. Crochet is another fiber art that is

so useful. I often combine knitting and crochet in my work, which gives me the opportunity to do some creative things even if I don’t follow a pattern - such as crocheted jewelry or stuffed animals or dolls.

​

       I buy most of my yarn at yard sales and community garage sales. It costs much less and the fact that I have to buy what they have to offer (color, amount) has led to many creative adventures. (Be sure that the yarn is dry when you buy it at yard sales).

 

Recycling and Upcycling

       Many of the things we use every day can be recycled: paper sacks, cardboard boxes, some plastic containers, and aluminum cans. These items amount to a lot of trash that is going into the landfills. We can upcycle some of these items as well. There are many great sites on the internet that show us how to upcycle things, such as egg cartons, toilet paper rolls, and more.

​

        It is important to shift from our habits of using things once and then tossing them. Important for the landfills, but also for practice in consuming less. Baskets can be woven from paper sacks, recycled paper can be used to create greeting and birthday cards, and even wrapping paper. Plastic containers and aluminum cans can be used as artistic plant holders, and plastic bags can be used to make strong grocery bags and even purses.

 

Downsizing and Minimizing

       In this last decade, I have made a habit of donating things to a local thrift store every time I am heading in their direction. I live in a small apartment, but that’s not the only reason I do this. I do it because my life is less complicated when I own fewer things.

      

       When I decided to move from Southern California (where I lived for almost 40 years and, for a while, owned two homes), I downsized six times before settling into the apartment I have now. And the interesting thing is that I don’t miss anything I gave away. I still have everything I  need.

      

       I was inspired by two young men I heard on a Ted Talk. These young men had very high-paying jobs and owned a lot of stuff. After the mother of one of them passed on, he was going through her things and realized that she, and he, had too much stuff. So, he minimized in a very big way. He said that he felt a lot of relief, a sense of spaciousness, and even happiness. He told his friend what he had done, and his friend decided to minimize, too. He had the same sense of relief, spaciousness and happiness. Now they tell their story around the US. 

      

       Downsizing is a bit different from minimizing. For example, I have one week of clothing for spring/summer and one week of clothing for fall/winter. And a couple of dress-up outfits. I gave away most of my jewelry and kept only the pieces that were sentimental to me. I have one set of dishes, two skillets, one large and one small, and a few baking pans. That’s what I would call minimizing.

     

 Recycle Clothing

     If we get a little creative, we can make some very unique clothing from clothes we don’t want anymore. I often use t-shirts that I don’t want anymore to make liners for the things I weave, like tote bags or glasses cases. You can turn old denimn jeans into casual

purses and satin or velveteen into fancy puses - there's so much you can do with the fabric from clothes you don't want anymore.

   

What is Gift Economics?

 

       In its simplest form, a gift economy is an economic system that prioritizes the sharing of our energy, talents, and skills rather than using money as the only, or the predominant exchange, for what we have to offer. I was introduced to the idea of gift economics by Charles Eisenstein in his book Sacred Economics: Money, Gift and Community in an Age of Transition. Eisenstein believes that money can be useful as a way to bring resources from distant places or coordinate far-flung efforts, but it does not have to be the only way we make exchanges. He also suggests that using money as our only exchange system has some social detriments. Once the money is given, it is usually the end of the connection with the other person. When we share our energy, talents, and skills with others, they are often moved to share their energy, talents, and skills with us, creating a lovely circle of giving.

 

       I have chosen to operate in a gift economy. Therefore, my creations - my books, art, and music - are given as a gift to anyone who wants them. If people want to offer me a gift, I am always willing to accept, with the caveat that I want their gift to be something they are comfortable giving. I also want people to decide for themselves what the value of my gift is to them. In other words, I don’t want a mandatory exchange. I want a gift from the heart – a social exchange, which I believe will enrich both of us.

 

       I am sometimes asked, “But can you pay your rent operating this way?” No. In the times we live in, that would require money, but I do use the gifts I have received for very practical things. For example, people give me organic vegetables from their gardens. I use yarn that people give me to make birthday gifts for my family and friends. Casserole dishes brought from Madrid, and given to me as gift because I gave my friend a painting I did, are now cooking my favorite casseroles. I have also received art supplies just because people know I am an artist and that I share my supplies with others.

 

       I have also received many endearing gifts that deeply touched my heart, such as, drawings, songs to sing at my gigs, poetry, a sweet bird feather, and lots of smiles and hugs. People love this idea but often do not know how to go about it. I didn’t either, at first, but I just gave it a try and worked out the glitches as I went along.

 

       So many of the gifts we used to give one another, such as mending, childcare, pet care, clothing, and more, we are now required to pay for. There are so many things we could give one another if we are coming from a place of “gift.” (Remember the Holiday gift giving article from the beginning of this booklet).

 

            These days, decentralized, non-hierarchical modes of exchange are happening more often:

 

• time banks, where members offer their services for Time Dollars

• co-operative food stores,

• free stores where clothing is distributed at no cost

• gift circles where neighbors meet monthly to help one another meet needs,

• open-source technologies that allow people to contribute their time and knowledge to develop and advance software.

 

         Gift economics is not a new idea. People of many cultures shared much of what they had with one another. Some still do. I believe this focus on gifting will enrich all our lives.     

        Pleast check out other pages on this site for more information: The Art of Weaving, Gift Economics, Backyard Garden Permaculture.