Moving across the country twice has made me a minimalist. There’s nothing like being in the 4th hour of packing that makes you think “I have way too much stuff”. Picking up each item you start wondering if it is worth lugging to the other side of the country and bit by bit you rethink everything you own.

The second time we moved across the country, I had discovered The Minimalist and the Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. Minimalism is about eliminating excess to make space for the most important things in your life and tidying up helps you organize the things that “spark joy” in your life. If you’re too bogged down by all the stuff you own, spending time maintaining and cleaning them, you’ll have less time to spend with those you love or doing the things you love.

One of the guidelines of minimalism is once you determine that something is worth owning, to limit the duplication of those items. So, naturally, if you’re only going to own one of something it should be a high-quality item that’s built to last. When looking for a fleece jacket for work (it’s always freezing in my office), I opted for a Patagonia jacket instead of a cheap one from Target. I know Patagonia’s jackets are made well, and while it is more expensive I will most likely only have to buy one fleece jacket in ten years. This aligns with going plastic-free and zero waste because you’re reducing the churn of cheap products. You’re not continually buying a new fleece jacket each winter because last year’s jacket has fallen apart.

Minimalism sometimes gets a bad rap because the most newsworthy part of minimalism is that there are people who only own a small number of items. (This is similar to how zero waste gets a bad rap because the most newsworthy people can fit all their trash for the year, or four, in a mason jar.) Or people focus on how certain minimalists only have 10 items of clothing and can fit everything they own in a carry-on suitcase. Minimalism isn’t about counting your possessions and getting to a magic number. It’s about knowing what’s enough for you.

So, what exactly does minimalism have to do with plastic-free or zero waste living? Well, let’s start with what these two terms mean. While their names describe themselves, there’s a small difference. Plastic-free is avoiding disposable plastics and zero waste is essentially is getting rid of trash, recycling, and compost pick up. So, you don’t need the city to landfill, recycle, or compost anything for you. There’s a lighter version of zero waste where you can still recycle but the ultimate goal of zero waste is for nothing to leave your house in a collection truck.

If you think about what goes in your trash can, the majority is plastic packaging. Packaging for convenience food or some gadget. While the food might have been convenient and delicious, did it make you feel the best? Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Taco Bell but I know it does not love me. And the shiny new gadget has to be stored, cleaned, dusted around but when it eventually loses it’s shininess it gets relegated to the junk drawer until it’s time for Spring cleaning.

What plastic-free, zero waste, and minimalism have in common are they allow you to focus on what’s important by eliminating the waste and distractions in your life. These three lifestyles make your life simpler, so you can get back to enjoying it.

Unintended Benefits

In avoiding waste and plastic you start thinking about the things you really need. Do I really need chocolate chip cookies? For me, most of the time, the answer is no, but if the answer is yes, can I make them at home? By avoiding waste, I’ve learned how to make things myself which allows me to know (and be able to pronounce) all the ingredients going into my food. Oftentimes, whatever I made will taste better than a store-bought version. I’m sure part of that is pride and the other part is that it’s made from real ingredients instead of chemical compounds. By going plastic-free I regain control of the ingredients I’m eating which has made me healthier.

As I mentioned in my post about plastic-free showering, one of the many unintended benefits of going plastic-free is being free from ads in your own house. Minimalism does the same thing. In a beautiful way, it gives your eyes and mind space.

By not cramming your house and schedule, you allow for a simpler life, which gives your mind space to breathe and relax. My high school gymnastics coach used to tell us not to “go through the motions” during practice. That every time we did a routine we should do it like it’s the real thing. We pack our schedules and become so busy that we spend our time on auto-pilot–just going through the motions of life. We spend half the time go-go-going and the other half binging on Netflix to “relax”. In doing this we’re never really present in the moment, especially with social media to entertain us the second we are bored. And we miss out on actually living our lives. By simplifying, eliminating waste, getting back to the basics, and figuring out what is worthy of our time and space, we can be more present, take better care of ourselves and in turn enjoy and care for those who are most important to us.

Are you interested in trying minimalism? What can you do today to make your life a little simpler?