The-Atlantic-thefemalesurvivalist

Even as obesity rates are going up, Americans are downsizing.  The problem with growing waistlines is not always appetite control. Look at the price of food. A pound of apples, which is basically two servings, costs more than a bag of generic potato chips. A pound of cheap hot dogs to go with those chips cost more than a decent grade of chicken breasts, and it probably should cost more. The food industry has learned to wet our appetites for high fat and sugar foods, addictive substances that are killers. And they can produce non food cheaper and store it longer (shelf life of cheetos? maybe 15 years?) than fresh wholesome food.

Solutions include:  have a garden, limit meat consumption, hunt and fish, kick the trash foods to the curb and eat basic things like oatmeal, rice, and grains. Not surprisingly, the food industry has made prepackaged foods so easy and affordable, many have forgotten or never learned to work with basic foods.

But what caught my eye this morning is an article on voluntary minimization of the general American public.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/The-Beginning-End-Suburban-atlantic-1156625650.html?x=0

According to this article, electric (power) consumption has reached a peak per capita and is on its way down. Much of that trend is due to the down sizing of homes. Not even counting all the people who now share tight living quarters with family members, live in tents, or are homeless, the author of this article states that new homes in 2010 are 130 sq feet smaller than new homes built in 2007.  130 isn't much smaller, but its a start. Its like one 12 x 11 room not added on.

People are driving fewer miles. This will eventually translate into fewer cars bought, and fewer tires.
It all adds up. Fewer oil changes.
As the population slows in growth, (presuming can we halt the massive influx of illegal immigration) and the trend to downsizing continues, we can not expect our economy to grow. The current unrecognized continuation of the recession that began in 2007 has helped in a small way with the illegal immigration problem. Some folks are returning to their homes south of the border cause there's no work here. Some, a few.

One guy noted on a comments thread to a similar story: they can't expect us to buy the junk we used to make when we no longer have the jobs to make it.

In other words, outsourced, out thought, and outlasted.

The new trend in America seems to be streamlining and downsizing. Redbook Magazine did a good article in April 2010 about this, listing six easy step to bring your life under control.

Here is the gist of their article:
1-Take the first step by tackling the stuff that really drives you crazy. That's supposed to build confidence to move on to the less crazy inducing categories.

2-Involve your family. Tell them what you plan on doing and why and the article claims they are more likely to follow the plan.

3-Streamline a space. They actually, with a straight face, tell you to designate a few primary uses for each room and stick to the list. Does the writer not have kids?

4-Give you stuff-the keep or toss test. They tell you to consider what if everything disappeared in the room you are about to clean. Would you miss any of it?  At this precise point I asked myself How does Prepping for the SHTF work with decluttering your life? I know if things got bad, I would want a good tool box, lots of assorted glue, paint, nails, wire, tape, rope, fabric, thread, food, containers, just to name a few things. I guess the bottom line is to be sure its all stored neatly and findable.

5-Quit multi tasking. Used to be that was considered a given and looked upon as a skill. Now they tell us it has been proven to impair brain function. No more walking and chewing gum, you guys. Right now I have the evening news on while I type this blog. Bad girl.

6-Prioritize which to them is Physical activity, Escapes, and People. The simple joys in life. They claim by getting control of your stuff and your schedule you have time for the things that matter most.

I love reading Psychology Today, a magazine and website http://psychologytoday.com
which contain articles ranging from happiness, relationships, the work bully, why women choose bad boys, mental rehearsal of pending tasks, and more.

It doesn't matter that the recent issue I picked up is dated January/February 2009. The issues with human physical and mental health remain the same.

Our nation has been in a stream of downsizing for a couple years now, probably a direct result of the current recession we're in. They tell us it began late 2007. Sounds about right. Most of the working class and less fortunate feel it has not ended, regardless of the manipulation of economic numbers.

Anyways, keeping up with the Joneses has been termed Status Anxiety. One solution to giving our collective selves a break is choosing who your peer group is. Makes sense. They say owning the smallest mansion in a gated community makes you feel worse than buying the biggest bungalow in a more moderate neighborhood.

Minimalism is the New Black. All sorts of magazines and websites are telling us how to declutter, clean up our stuff and value the human relationships in our lives.

http://zenhabits.net is a blog which Leo Babauta has been writing for several years. He says "most people have too much going on and not enough time for things that are truly important." He has over 70,000 followers, and the writing and information is fantastic.

I find that some human relationships can be part of that" too much going on" if I feel stressed after interacting with certain persons or spending too much time on social networks. "Too much going on" also referrs to  mountains of material stuff. Decluttering my life  involves setting boundaries which enhance my well being.

All the reading and goal setting will not help, however. Action is the life changing force.

Cube construction from Mike Page on Vimeo.

This video from http://treehugger.com raises some interesting questions. I know when I do seasonal work, we use less than 100 square feet per person in our dorm. But then, we are fed in the employee dinning room, do laundry in the laundry room, have a central lounge, and share a bathroom. Just goes to show there are many acceptable ways to downsize our living space. As mentioned in the page dedicated to this experiement, the psychology is being studied. Claustrophobia is a real issue. Personal areas combined with communal areas are possibilities. Independent facilities, downsized and multi purposed are others.

I wrote about reusing containers on the 12 of April. This is not to encourage saving of all kinds of plastic and glass ware. If we can reuse something instead of buying something new, we reduce the impact on earth resources, especially oil needed for manufacturing and shipping all this stuff around the globe.

But that's almost too big to get our heads around.

If we reduce our square footage of living space, and reduce the quantity of goods we fill it up with, then we'll make faster progress as a nation.
The more compact the housing, the less it takes to heat and cool it.

What if there's so much stuff in that square footage you start to feel claustrophobic? I know I do. I took an inventory on the amount of hair care products I have right now, on my shelves, in my home.Eight different things, not including combs or brushes. Just liquids. There are two kinds of shampoo, two kinds of conditioner, some various styling products, and some coloring agents.

Now, basically what happened is none of it seemed to be working for me. Finally I realized I expected product to solve mechanical issues: bad haircuts, brushing while wet, sun damage, etc. Instead of throwing it out, I'm going to use up what I have and not replace it, thereby getting this inventory cut in half.

I can take that approach to my closet as well. Why do I have twenty pairs of pants? Which ones haven't I worn in over a year? There's a reason I never use this jacket. In those cases, the sooner I get rid of it, the better.

I read about the 100 Items Challenge. This project can be interpreted in two ways: either each item ( one pair of shoes, one pair of pants) is counted, or each category is counted ( the jewelry is one, the shoes is another). You can see that with 100 categories a person could still end up with a ton of stuff. Yet, 100 individual items would be difficult to achieve. I probably have that in wardrobe alone.

A recent post at http://thesurvivalistblog.net/ suggests that its important to be in the right location, and be mobile when necessary. Being able to move out, and leave it all behind is a mindset. I'm constantly watching out for Stuff Overload. It can creep up on you, one item at a time.