Episode 023: The 5 R's of Permaculture Minimalism

The 5 R's of Permaculture Minimalism

We LOVE minimalism.

Seriously.

I mean, we sold our 2000 sq ft home and moved into a 240 sq ft Airstream trailer to go on adventures... with two kids, so we are all down for thinning the excess in order to live life more fully.

In this week's podcast episode, Josh and I are talking about the 5 R's of Waste Minimalism that David Holmgren brings up in his book, Permaculture Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability. Those five are refuse, reduce, reuse, repair and recycle. In the episode we go a little more into detail of our experiences with these 5, but here in the blog post I'm going to use this space as a jumping off point for you to gain further clarity on where you're at, and what you can do to improve. These questions are great for no matter where you are at in your journey.

So go through these questions and share any epiphanies in the comments :)

1) Refuse

- What products around you are obviously not great for the environment?

- Is there anything coming into my life that I would be better off refusing?

- What things in my life have questionable origins?

- What types of products do I feel passionate about refusing?

2) Reduce

- Where in my life is there an over-abundance?

- What areas of my life need to be "thinned out"?

- How much do I want to reduce?

- What parts of my life are weighing me down?

3) Reuse

- What types of things am I always getting rid of?

- What is something easy I could reuse?

- What containers around me can be re-purposed?

- How can I reuse my food leftovers instead of simply creating more garbage?

4) Repair

- What things in my life need repairs done to maintain them?

- What things in my life could be repaired to last longer?

- What would I need to learn in order to start repairing one thing in my life?

- Is there a way that I can buy better quality items that can last longer through good maintenance?

5) Recycle

- What are the recycling opportunities around me?

- What am I already recycling?

- What could I get better at recycling?

- Of the items I buy that aren't recyclable, can I buy recyclable alternatives?

There you have it. Hopefully by going through these exercises, and possible accompanying research that go along with them, you are able to get a clearer sense of where you're at. and where you can go.

Keep Growing!

Previous Episode: Timely Lessons in Small and Slow Solutions