Minimalism - A Happier and Greener Way of Living
“To be a minimalist you must live with less than 100 things, you can’t own a car or a home or a television, (…) you can’t have children, and you must be a young white male from a privileged background” (Millburn & Nicodemus, n.d.). This ironic quote by two well-known minimalists shows that many people still have this misconception about minimalism as being extreme and only for the rich although in reality minimalism can be adopted by anyone who wants to live simply. Minimalism should be applied as a new way of living since it is one of the most effective ways to live a more meaningful, environmentally-friendly and happy life.
The basic principle of minimalism is to declutter one’s belongings which can help in creating a meaningful life. Due to having fewer things to worry about, tidying up is faster. The time gained due to having less things to organize, a minimalist can spend on things that matter to them. Therefore, along with creating schedules and prioritizing tasks, a minimalist lifestyle allows for more time on things that carry meaning (Uggla, 2019, p.245). Additionally, by living simply you spend less money on material possessions and can invest more money into continuing education (Kang, 2021, p.810). This will also allow an individual to focus on who they want to become which as well leads to a more meaningful life.
Minimalism can also be a very useful tool to decrease one’s environmental footprint. Almost “$4.6 trillion, 6.2% of global economic output” (Kang, 2021, p.810), is spent every year to tackle environmental issues such as pollution. A minimalist lifestyle requires less resources, as you make more conscious decisions about what to buy. Another possibility for a minimalist life-style to lower one’s carbon footprint is the way of travel. Instead of flying, which emits between 150 and 250 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre (Ritchie, 2020), and only staying at one destination for a short amount of time, it is common for minimalists to truly immerse themselves in the place they travel to. Many minimalists prefer slow-paced transportation such as traveling by train which, for instance in Europe, only emits 6 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre (Ritchie, 2020). This makes slow-paced and immersive travel 30 times more carbon-‘neutral’ than common ways of travel. Furthermore, it is important to note that “buildings account for over a third of global energy use” (Crawford & Stephan, 2020, p.2). Many minimalists choose to live in a tiny-house which emits three times less carbon dioxide than living in a commercial house (Crawford & Stephan, 2020, p3).
Minimalism should be adapted as a new way of living to combine environmentally friendly behavior with greater happiness. There are multiple ways simple living can increase a person’s well-being. For instance, a study by Lloyd & Pennington (2020) suggests that a minimalist life-style can help a person to become more mindful and present which is “a major component of mental wellness” (Maslow, n.d.). Moreover, many participants in the Lloyd & Pennington study “suggested that the mental space resulting from minimalism creates the ideal conditions for reflection” (p.128). They claimed that this space can help to redirect focus on personal relationships (p.128). Maslow’s hierarchy of needs indicates just how important friendships and the feeling of belonging are for a human’s well-being (Cherry, 2019) which means that minimalism can improve a person’s health and happiness. In addition, a minimalist life-style can help a person to shift their focus on what they do have simply because they possess less, which can result in more appreciation, peacefulness, and joy (Lloyd & Pennington, 2020, p.128). The fact that “gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness” (Harvard Medical School, 2021) underlines the effect minimalism can have on a person’s well-being.
Taking everything into account, one should indeed apply minimalism as it can lower one’s environmental footprint by cutting down on carbon emissions during travel or by lowering energy consumption due to living in a tiny house. At the same time, a minimalist lifestyle can help a person to find meaning, human connection, and happiness. “If one’s life is simple, contentment has to come” (The Dalai Lama).
Article by Julia Leandra Autrey
References
Cherry, K. (2019). The 5 Levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. https://rb.gy/m5pjgy
The Dalai Lama (n.d.). https://rb.gy/jyyask
Harvard Medical School. (2021). https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/giving-thanks-can-make-you-happier
Kang, J., Martinez, C. M. J., & Johnson, C. (2021). Minimalism as a sustainable lifestyle: its behavioral representations and contributions to emotional well-being. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 27, 802–813. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2021.02.001
Lloyd, K., & Pennington, W. (2020). Towards a theory of minimalism and wellbeing. International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, 5(3), 121–136. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41042-020-00030-y
Maslow, A. (n.d). https://rb.gy/n0rf8k
Millburn J. F. & Nicodemus R. (n.d.). https://www.theminimalists.com/minimalism/
R, H. C., A, S. (2020). Tiny house, tiny footprint? the potential for tiny houses to reduce residential greenhouse gas emissions, 588(2). https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/588/2/022073
Ritchie H. (2020). https://ourworldindata.org/travel-carbon-footprint
Uggla, Y. (2019). Taking back control. Sociologisk Forskning, 56(3-4), 233–252.