Getting off the consumer bandwagon is hard! I’ve been working at it for about a half dozen years now and while I truly love a “less is more” approach to life it’s challenging at times to not go along with popular assumptions about “wanting more.” I recently picked up a copy of Juliet Schor’s latest book, Plentitude – The new economics of true wealth, to explore how I might deepen my commitment to a less material oriented lifestyle.

Try out one “seven-day” practice each month, stay current with eco-news, and find support with others who are endeavoring to live more lightly and lovingly on the Earth. This autumn we’ll pick three practices, explore them individually on our own timetable, and check in with each other during a conference call each month to share and appreciate one another’s insights and good works!

Have you heard about the Ecological Footprint? It’s a measuring tool that has been developed to estimate the area of land and ocean required to support our consumption of food, goods, services, housing, and energy and assimilate our waste. It’s currently projected that humanity is overshooting the Earth’s capacity by 50%. In other words, to sustain present levels of consumption, we would need: 1.50 earths.

Oh my goodness – way to go Beth Terry!

The average American generates about 100 pounds of plastic waste a year. So did Beth Terry, until she read an article about plastic pollution in the oceans and saw a photograph of a dead albatross chick carcass filled with plastic products. Making the connection that her actions were harming a creature she never knew existed, she resolved to live a plastic free life.