It seems the world has discovered the life-changing magic of, well, many a thing – actually
First, there was Marie Kondo’s book: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, released in 2012. Then there was The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k (2015) by Sarah Knight targeting the overachieving yet completely dissatisfied folk among us (sound familiar?) by applying Kondo’s method to mental clutter. Then, less than a year later, Mark Manson followed up with The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life (2016), cementing the notion that happiness is just an art or magic that can be learned.
Perhaps you’ve read all of them, perhaps none. But you’d have had to be living under a rock not to notice the sudden onset of Marie Kondo-ing going on. Thanks to the Netflix series which follows the Japanese organisation guru [Kondo] as she applies her KonMari method to several American homes, the life-changing magic of tidying up has become widespread knowledge.
Couple this knowledge with the peoples’ desire to start the new year off in good stead and you’re looking at the latest phenomenon to flood the internet. A challenge, if you will.
As more people seek to experience this ‘magic’, spare time has been dedicated to removing clutter to the extent that op shops are so inundated with “stuff” they can no longer accept any more unwanted possessions.
It’s all very well to a) rid ourselves of clutter, impulsive purchases and masses of things, and b) assume a minimalist lifestyle, rejecting modern consumerism – but what can we do to live a less wasteful life and thus end the cycle – or at least slow the pace – of acquiring excess?
Whether or not you keep your possessions streamlined and minimal or are still holding onto that scrapbook you started, but never finished, when you were 16-years-old from that Australian exchange you did, we can all appreciate the value in limiting the amount of waste we produce to begin with.
Scroll below for the game-changing books on how to live a less wasteful life
Zero Waste Home: The Ultimate Guide To Simplifying Your Life by Bea Johnson, $30 from Penguin Bea Johnson’s niche in waste-free living is so well-defined that her name has become a symbol of her singular ideology. Bea Johnson transformed her family’s health, finances, and relationships for the better by reducing their waste to an astonishing half litre per year. Packed with easy tips for all of us, Zero Waste Home shows how the key principles of Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot can be applied to every area of your house.
Lagom: The Swedish Art of Balanced Living by Linnea Dunne, $22 from Book Depository Step aside Hygge. Lagom is the new Scandi lifestyle trend taking the world by storm. This delightfully illustrated book gives you the lowdown on this transformative approach to life and examines how the lagom (pronounced ‘lah-gom’) ethos has helped boost Sweden to the No.10 ranking in 2017’s World Happiness Report.
Zero Waste Life: In Thirty Days by Anita Vandyke, $24 from Whitcoulls If you’re eager to lose the waste without compromising on your lifestyle, Anita Vandyke’s thirty-day challenge complete with rules, tips and tricks will guide you on how to make sustainable, ethical choices when it comes to shopping, eating, travel, beauty and so much more. You’ll go from excess to eco-luxe in, well, 30 days’ time.
Cradle to Cradle (Patterns of Life) by Michael Braungart, William McDonough, $30 from Penguin This book proposes a new vision for modern industry. In designing and producing products we need to stop worrying about being ‘less bad’ and start finding ways of actually being good. Find here a radical manifesto and a plan for our planet in which all waste can be put to good use.
Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too by Beth Terry, $45 from Fishpond Like many people, Beth Terry didn’t think an individual could have much impact on the environment. But while laid up after surgery, she read an article about the staggering amount of plastic polluting the oceans and decided then and there to kick her plastic habit. Now she wants to teach you how you can too.
Words by: Terri Dunn.
This article was originally posted on Fq.co.nz
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