Sunday links

video via Unconsumption

For the past six months, I have been collecting links to share on this blog. It is a very long list. Here are some of the more recent reads:

• "Admire success. But do not praise excess." 7 Reasons Why We Should Stop Praising Excess by Joshua Becker. (Becoming Minimalist)
• I would like to master The Elegant Art of Not Giving A Shit. Imagine how much worthwhile stuff I could get done. (Raptitude)
• Lifestyle blogger Sarah Wilson has written a Slow Food and Outdoors Guide to Perth and Fremantle. While I am certainly not planning to quit sugar (she authored the best-selling I Quit Sugar program), I do enjoy Sarah's blog and will be trying out some of her recommendations of places to visit in my home town. It's worth checking out the comments for further suggestions. I'm excited to try some new places that popped up while I was out of town for six months.
• Australian blogger The Rogue Ginger recommends some sites for collaborative consumption.
• 'The Great Fish Swap': How America Is Downgrading Its Seafood Supply - NPR interview with Paul Green, author of American Catch: The Fight for Our Local Seafood, about how the US exports a lot of its best quality fish (eg wild Alaska salmon) and imports poorer quality seafood.
• Two Economic Concepts That Might Just Save Us ( or at least help us make better decisions) by Aussie doctor Alessandro R Demaio. (The Conversation)
• A supermarket in the UK is planning to power one of its stores completely off food waste. I hope it works and becomes standard practice. I wonder if other businesses could be powered off their waste? (Unconsumption)
• While we're on food wasted, closer to home, a "campaign for ugly fruits aims to end food waste". Personally, I prefer ugly fruit and vegetables. They usually taste better and I like ugly things in general. Wabi sabi. (ABC) The video at the top of the post addresses the same subject.

Life in a Mini

Bunker Bay, WA

The last time I blogged here was six months ago, which coincides with me moving from Perth to Bunbury (175km south) for six months. I can't explain the lack of blogging during that time - it might have been distraction by work, hanging out with new friends (including housemates!), making the most of my time "down South" by travelling, or general despondency about political events during that period. While I was away, I was staying in furnished accommodation provided by my employer, while a friend house-sat for me in Perth.

What struck me on arriving home yesterday, with six months worth of life (clothes, toiletries, bedding, towels, exercise equipment, books, cleaning equipment, kitchen essentials, computer, lamp, radio, wooden coathangers) easily stacked in the back of my small car (a baby blue, 2-door Mini Cooper) is that I was returning home to an apartment empty of people but overflowing with my stuff.

My wardrobe was overflowing, even though all of the clothes I'd worn for the previous six months (in my own version of Project 333) were still sitting in bags on the living room floor. The bathroom counter was similarly overflowing with half-used make-up bottles, brushes and toiletries (but not hair elastics - I can never find them when I want them) despite the fact that I had a full complement in my suitcase waiting to be unpacked. Most of the items waiting to be unpacked had travelled from Perth to Bunbury and back again. In fact, only a few of the items I brought back from Bunbury were new - bathers (Aussie made), some pottery I made in a beginners' class (ah -that's what I was doing instead of blogging), a pair of warm boots, a warm blanket, some warm slippers (do you see a theme?), pillows (Aussie made of course), some gifts from workmates, two new artworks, and some food and wine I picked up on my travels.

The upside is that most of the clothing, shoes, accessories, toiletries, bedding, etc that I abandoned for the last six months will be leaving the house to allow for a much more minimal wardrobe. I have no desire to shop for anything new (besides books...although I am getting better at giving away ones that I've read) and am already dreaming about the extra space in my apartment...remaining empty.