Living Light

There is a movement afoot towards minimalism-- towards simplification.  A backlash against runaway consumerism that purports to make us happier but often ends up weighing us down.  A trend towards smaller houses, fewer belongings, and perhaps the end of self-storage.  Some do it because it's better for the environment (less packaging, transport, waste, energy costs).  Some because it's kind to your pocketbook, and thus your financial future (http://www.mrmoneymustache.com).  Some because a simple life is freer and easier in many ways.  There's less clutter, fewer decisions to make (which of the 20 different coffee capsule flavors do I want to buy?  Which have I tried? which have I liked or disliked?), fewer responsibilities to maintain our belongings, to keep them safe and in good repair.  That means more time to experience new things, fewer worries, freedom.  I like the idea of living lightly, although it is not always easy to do.

Here are some mind-blowing statistics about American consumption from the Becoming Minimalist website:

1. There are 300,000 items in the average American home (LA Times).

2. The average size of the American home has nearly tripled in size over the past 50 years (NPR).

3. And still, 1 out of every 10 Americans rent offsite storage—the fastest growing segment of the commercial real estate industry over the past four decades. (New York Times Magazine).

4. While 25% of people with two-car garages don’t have room to park cars inside them and 32% only have room for one vehicle. (U.S. Department of Energy).

5. The United States has upward of 50,000 storage facilities, more than five times the number of Starbucks. Currently, there is 7.3 square feet of self storage space for every man, woman and child in the nation. Thus, it is physically possible that every American could stand—all at the same time—under the total canopy of self storage roofing (SSA).

6. British research found that the average 10-year-old owns 238 toys but plays with just 12 daily (The Telegraph).

7. 3.1% of the world’s children live in America, but they own 40% of the toys consumed globally (UCLA).

8. The average American woman owns 30 outfits—one for every day of the month. In 1930, that figure was nine (Forbes).

9. The average American family spends $1,700 on clothes annually (Forbes).

10. While the average American throws away 65 pounds of clothing per year (Huffington Post).

11. Nearly half of American households don’t save any money (Business Insider).

12. Our homes have more television sets than people. And those television sets are turned on for more than a third of the day—eight hours, 14 minutes (USA Today).

13. Some reports indicate we consume twice as many material goods today as we did 50 years ago (The Story of Stuff).

14. Currently, the 12 percent of the world’s population that lives in North America and Western Europe account for 60 percent of private consumption spending, while the one-third living in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa accounts for only 3.2 percent (Worldwatch Institute).

15. Americans spend more on shoes, jewelry, and watches ($100 billion) than on higher education (Psychology Today).

16. Shopping malls outnumber high schools. And 93% of teenage girls rank shopping as their favorite pastime (Affluenza).

17. Women will spend more than eight years of their lives shopping (The Daily Mail).

18. Over the course of our lifetime, we will spend a total of 3,680 hours or 153 days searching for misplaced items.The research found we lose up to nine items every day—or 198,743 in a lifetime. Phones, keys, sunglasses, and paperwork top the list (The Daily Mail).

19. Americans spend $1.2 trillion annually on nonessential goods—in other words, items they do not need (The Wall Street Journal).

20. The $8 billion home organization industry has more than doubled in size since the early 2000’s—growing at a staggering rate of 10% each year (Uppercase).

You know how bathrooms in Europe are tiny?  Well that's not all.  A large kitchen here is called an American kitchen.  In fact, people here live in much smaller spaces much closer together, which means less sprawl and more community interaction. Spaniards also have fewer domestic machines, and it's not for lack of technology.  Few people own clothes dryers (we did, but we managed for a few months by decorating all the heaters in the house with wet underwear) and even fewer own dishwashers.  I'm sure that saves a lot of energy and water.  Portion sizes are smaller, and there is no Costco.  That probably reduces food waste and overeating.  There certainly are few obese people here.  I think there is something we Americans can learn from all this.

We are in no ways living a minimalist life, but moving to Spain three years ago provided us with a great impetus and opportunity to pare down.  We decided NOT to store anything.  We managed to sell, donate, or stuff into attic and backyard shed ten years' worth of stuff that a family with two kids accumulates.  We arrived in Spain with 9 suitcases, and it was too much.  We hope to return home the with even less-- just clothes, passports, laptops and memories.

With this end in mind, we have built a very comfortable life here, trying to be mindful not to buy things we didn't need.  This flat is like a long-term hotel.  We borrow things we don't use often (like sleeping bags).  We make do (A fork is not only a fork, it serves just fine as a potato masher and a whisk!)We have 3 knives, one skillet, one large pot, and one small pot.  We've switched to ebooks.  The kids have very few toys, but they are just as happy.  I have to admit I have not pined for anything I left in California except for my friends and good Asian food.  I never would have imagined living 3 years without a car, but we've done it, thanks to amazing public transportation. Life here is simpler, slower.

And as much as I love this apartment and everything in it, I am going to let almost all of it go within a month.  But it is a wonderfully freeing feeling to be unattached in that Buddhist way.  "Thank you, bicycle, for serving me well, but goodbye."  I've been slowly selling everything in the apartment, and as it gets emptier and emptier I realize that I never really needed that nightstand.  We could have done with six fewer light fixtures, four fewer chairs and two fewer desks.  I can look pretty stylish with only 5 pairs of shoes.  I hope when we return to the States to our empty home in the 'burbs we'll be able to keep the garage completely devoid of clutter and continue to strive to reduce our footprints. Living light feels good.