Sunday Links

I have been thinking about what I would do with all my stuff if I moved away for a year or two. I could rent my apartment fully-furnished but what would I do with all my clothes? Books? Magazines? Liquor? Art? Fancy pieces of frippery? I would take very little away with me, which would leave the options of storing it, giving it away, loaning it out or trying to sell it. Giving it away is the most appealing option in terms of cost, time and effort. It definitely discourages me from accumulating any new "stuff". I've written a few posts on this subject before and I always go back to The Story of Stuff for inspiration (I highly recommend watching the original video if you haven't seen it before).

I come across many minimalism blogs (mostly American). People are trying to embrace a minimalist lifestyle for various reasons (financial, environmental and mental health, to name a few) across many aspects of life. Here's some recent finds on this theme:

• Remember The New Joneses? They set up house in Melbourne's Fed Square during Buy Nothing New Month last year. For one week they had to find second-hand sources for life's necessities (and luxuries). The video explains it much better than I do.
• Ignoring the terrible grammar, I agree with most of the points in this article from Apartment Therapy.
• Erin from Design for Mankind questions her excessive (yet pretty normal for most women I know) wardrobe, illustrated by the beautiful sculptural fashion of Nadine Goepfert
• Wardrobe de-cluttering guides are pretty ubiquitous but I like this practical one from econest. (And if you do decide to buy some "new" threads, she follows up with this great guide to op-shopping from former Vogue Japan editor, Peppermint Magazine contributor and "Queen of Vintage" Leeyong Soo.)

 Here's some other reads for the week. Mainly clothing-related, for some reason.

• The uggly world of "Australian made" ugg boots - an interview with the only Australian-made ugg factory that tans its own sheep leather - ABC Rural, via my big sis
• Booming cashmere trade threatens snow leopards, wild yaks - of course, this article is plastered in pop-up ads for J. Crew, famous for their mass-produced cashmere - ecouterre
• Bangladesh Pollution, Told in Colors and Smells - New York Times
• Australians Are Getting Fatter - the New York Times perspective on our growing obesity.

Plastic Free July

 I just discovered Plastic Free July via the Peppermint Magazine blog. And, as a joiner, I joined the challenge. It's an initiative that was started by the Western Metropolitan Regional Council (incidentally, comprised of the most elite Western suburbs councils) in Perth.

I'm sure you all know that plastic is bad news. It takes thousands of years to break down and creates havoc with the environment. I won't go into the science here but I obviously think it's worth reducing my personal plastic consumption.

Cut and pasted from the Plastic Free July website, here are "The rules":

1. Attempt to consume no single-use plastic during July.
2. Remember it's not going to be easy! It is a challenge, not a competition so don't worry about being perfect.
3. Collect any unavoidable single-use plastic you buy. Keep in a dilemma bag and share it with us at the end of the challenge.
4. It's up to you regarding how long you participate. You might decide to go plastic-free for a day, a week, a month or longer! However long you choose will still make a contribution.

I figure that it will be easy to avoid the "top four" single-use plastic items  - plastic bags, coffee lids, plastic bottles and straws. It will reinforce other habits like using tote bags for shopping, not drinking non-fair trade takeaway coffee, not buying drinks from fast food outlets, avoiding soft drinks, etc.

Avoiding other single-use plastic is much more challenging. My prescription medication comes in plastic packaging, for one thing. Many toiletries and cosmetics involve disposable plastic - I won't buy any replacements this month but I will need to think hard about non-plastic alternatives.

Looking at Step 3 of "The rules" above - I really hope that no one puts used nappies, continence pads, sanitary pads or stoma bags in a "dilemma bag". (Those who read my other blog will know that I have a healthy obsession with body fluids.)

I'll post an update later in the month.