I'll admit that a lot of these suggestions are of the stop-and-smell-the-roses variety, but others might not be quite so obvious...
The idea for 100 Simple Suggestions came to me one day as I was preparing a presentation for a 2011 Social Justice institute where I was invited to speak about Voluntary Simplicity. Wanting to give the participants a helpful handout, I ended up creating a little poster titled 100 Suggestions for Living More Simply. I figured people could take it home and put it on their fridges as a reminder (if anyone wants a copy of the poster, you can request it by sending an email to mjbpkrus@gmail. com and I'll send you a PDF file that you can print).
Then I thought, why not share it around further through my moodlings? And many moodlings were born... and many more after those 100...
If you like what you read, or want to borrow any of these ideas, you're welcome to them at no cost, but I'd ask simply that you leave me a comment about the suggestion you've chosen and how you plan to use it. It makes my day to know that ideas about living simply are making the rounds, and that people are trying to "live simply so that others can simply live."
The thing about living simply is that it's a little more complicated than buying the solutions consumer culture is constantly thrusting at us... but spending the extra time it takes to do things for ourselves is so much more satisfying than going to a mall, taking in pre-made entertainment, or using up the planet's resources when we already have enough.
I know that it's difficult to go back through Moodlings Past to find all the Simple Suggestions... so here they are, in order:
#1 Get to know your neighbours
#2 Appreciate beauty where you find it
#3 Garden like God does
#4 Learn to bake bread
#5 Walk instead of driving
#6 Drink fair trade coffee or tea
#7 Learn to play an instrument
#8 Dry your clothes on a clothesline
#9 Learn about and participate in recycling programs
#10 Join a community garden
#11 Use a library card
#12 Find hope in the rhythms of nature
#13 Install a water saving showerhead or a soap-up valve
#14 Support small businesses
#15 Avoid using pesticides and herbicides
#16 Get enough sleep
#17 Take a stay-cation
#18 Join a car pool
#19 Swap clothes with friends
#20 Compost
#21 Ride a bike
#22 Shop at garage sales and thrift stores
#23 Observe silence
#24 Use a rain barrel
#25 Rediscover your public park
#26 Share your possessions
#27 Repair things
#28 Turn off the television (or computer)
#29 Listen for songbirds
#30 Avoid shopping malls
#31 Give extra possessions to people who need them
#32 Fly a kite
#33 Pay cash for everything
#34 Reduce your intake of animal products
#35 Say thank you often
#36 Grow your own vegetables
#37 Reduce knick-knacks and unneccesary clutter
#38 Take public transit
#39 Terminate subscriptions and memberships for which you don't have time
#40 Use reusable shopping bags
#41 Track your water usage
#42 Use recycled paper products
#43 Practice mindfulness
#44 Reduce or eliminate cosmetics
#45 Write to politicians about issues important to you and your community
#46 Store memories, not souvenirs
#47 Avoid air travel
#48 Learn to sing your favourite songs
#49 Volunteer
#50 Observe and appreciate nature
#51 Memorize wisdom sayings
#52 Donate, trade or recyle at least one thing for every new thing acquired
#53 Tell stories
#54 Make soup from scratch
#55 Learn massage
#56 Buy electricity from a wind power provider
#57 Hang a bird feeder
#58 Donate all clothing you haven't worn in the past year
#59 Shop at a farmer's market
#60 Live a day without any plans
#61 Grow your own herbs
#62 Speak gently and thoughtfully
#63 Laugh often
#64 Drink more tap water
#65 Join a co-operative
#66 Donate blood
#67 Attend a local High School play
#68 Lie on the grass and watch the clouds
#69 Make something new from something old
#70 Have a picnic
#71 Give up TV for a week
#72 Recognize your true riches
#73 Be grateful
#74 Avoid collecting things
#75 Listen to your heartbeat
#76 Simplify your furnishings
#77 Donate all books you will never read again
#78 Invest in "Micro-Loan" organizations
#79 Give away kitchen utensils that haven't been used in a year
#80 Pack trashless lunches
#81 Jump into a pile of leaves
#82 Buy local where possible
#83 Carry an organ donor card
#84 Engage in justice issues
#85 Help someone who is learning English
#86 Bake two pies; give one away
#87 Invite an elderly neighbour to dinner
#88 Buy warm socks for the homeless
#89 Reduce the size of your ecological footprint
#90 Plan one vegetarian day a week
#91 Vote
#92 Join your community league
#93 Decorate with growing things
#94 Give the gift of time
#95 Write letters to loved ones
#96 Take a nap
#97 Rethink your support for professional sports
#98 Give experiential or edible gifts
#99 Teach a child a game from your childhood
#100 Count your blessings
#101 Reduce your junk mail
#102 Remember to "Buy Nothing"
#103 Avoid disposables
#104 Give the kids chores
#105 Think about safety
#106 Rethink the plastic in your life
#107 Visit a cemetery
#108 Naturalize your wardrobe
#109 Speak your mind
#110 Avoid low-fat, dietetic or calorie-wise foods
#111 Become a Master Composter/Recycler
#112 Try winter composting
#113 Eat mindfully
#114 Sing a song
#115 Unplug
#116 Set an example
#117 Think long-term
#118 Ditch your antiperspirant
#119 Make your own cleaners
#120 Grasscycle
#121 Put up a wasp scarer
#122 Learn to like dandelions
#123 Use rags
#124 Listen to some long-haired music
#125 Read together
#126 Listen for bees
#127 Fertilize your lawn with compost
#128 Declare your interdependence
#129 Start your own Amazing Club
#130 Use half as much
#131 Read some classic literature
#132 Take a hike
#133 Write something
#134 Consider alternative therapies
#135 Try canning
#136 Start small
#137 Learn more about Voluntary Simplicity
#138 Look out for ladybugs
#139 Count your squares
#140 Look to the skies
#141 Join a Simplicity Study Circle
#142 Gather ye carbons while ye may
#143 Give a thought to your garbage guys and gals
#144 Clear out your seasonal clothes closet
#145 Celebrate Buy Nothing Day all year round
#146 Attend a simple Christmas Pageant
#147 Opt out
#148 Go natural
#149 Grow your own sandwich sprouts
#150 Turn down the heat by two degrees
#151 Give a little love
#152 Use honey, Honey!
#153 Be something of a 'best before' date skeptic
#154 Go fragrance-free
#155 Support human dignity
#156 Eat mindfully, part II
#157 Drink wasteless coffee
#158 Remember your seven Rs
#159 Get to know the Queens of Green
#160 Embrace imperfection
#161 Boycott bad business and support the common good
#162 Reuse and reuse and reuse your plastic
#163 Spread a little compost
#164 Save your eggshells (and other things)
#165 Have a simple birthday
#166 Stand with the vulnerable
#167 Visit/tour your local waste/recycling facility
#168 Be e-free
#169 Grow your own herbal tea
#170 Plant a tree
#171 Live by the Hippocratic Oath
#172 Do some kitchen gardening
#173 Share some beauty and goodness
#175 Make a simple gift
#176 Just be
#177 Trade
#178 Hold hands
#179 Make time for someone special
#180 Press some autumn leaves
#181 Develop your own gratitude practice
#182 Keep a list of your wallet/purse contents
#183 Bell your cat
#184 Celebrate your saints
#185 Make the most of your jack-o'-lantern
#186 Meet a Voluntary Simplicity expert
#187 Take your travel mug
#188 Live within your needs
#189 Give a gift that makes a difference
#190 Turn over a new leaf (and/or some old ones)
#191 Lose a vehicle (more than 10 good reasons to...)
#192 Try natural hair care
#193 Say a simple hello
#194 Ask for smaller portions
#195 Enjoy the day's diamonds
#196 Support a local artisan
#197 Use every last bit
#198 Love a houseplant (or six)
#199 Celebrate World Down Syndrome Day
#200 Try some Earth Hour activism
#201 Consider your food's sources
#202 Plan a garden (start small)
#203 Share your knowledge
#204 Be nice to bees
#205 Wear sunglasses
#206 Enjoy a playground
#207 Celebrate Environment Week
#208 Read aloud
#209 Spend love miles, not air miles
#210 Take life more slowly
#211 Talk to strangers
#212 Meet a farmer or two
#213 Appreciate your present season
#214 Be childlike
#215 Use those bread crusts
#216 Try a broader perspective
#217 Support farmers' rights to save their seeds
#218 Take a break from technology
#219 Let sleeping plants lie
#220 Celebrate multiculturalism
#221 Befriend someone with a disability
#222 Share a Christmas story
#223 Sand, don't salt
#224 Listen
#225 Avoid "stuffocation"
#226 Craft wisely
#227 Don't be a "mess-it" -- bag it
#228 Bake some Easter bread
#229 Count your steps
#230 Organize a neighbourhood clean-up
#231 Develop an "outdoors habit"
#232 Make your own yogurt
#233 ALWAYS shop with reusable bags
#234 Live in wonder
#235 Be a positive example
#236 Climb a little
#237 Water less, mulch more
#238 Save some local fruit
#239 Get to know an immigrant or refugee
#240 Smile!
#241 Reduce and reuse those single-use items
#242 Reread an old journal
#243 Give gifts of the heart
#244 Simplify your Christmas season
#245 Retreat now and then
#246 Let little things be little things
#247 Buy clothes that you'll wear forever (shop smarter!)
#248 Appreciate the gift of water
#249 Attend an education session
#250 Wake up your compost
#251 Start a bee bistro
#252 Take a nature break
#253 Go back in time
#254 Have waste-less dinner parties
#255 Install a clothesline
#256 Give back to the earth
Simple Moodlings \'sim-pѳl 'mϋd-ѳl-ings\ n: 1. modest meanderings of the mind about living simply and with less ecological impact; 2. "long, inefficient, happy idling, dawdling and puttering" (Brenda Ueland) of the written kind; 3. spiritual odds and ends inspired by life, scripture, and the thoughts of others
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