Enough is enough

What consuming less looks like in day-to-day life

‘Consume less to save the planet’.

It really is that simple.

We’re consuming too much - and it’s the root cause of climate change, biodiversity loss and plastic pollution.

The good news? It’s such a simple problem to solve that we don’t need to wait for governments and business to save us. We don’t even have to wait for them to catch up.

Each and everyone of us can literally change the world, all by doing - well, not very much.

Consuming less is little more than a shift in the way we think.

Retraining our brains away from the dopamine surge we get from buying ‘stuff’ - but which leaves us craving more, as soon as the hit subsides; and which leaves us discontent, because it’s not creating the true happiness we gain from time with friends, from hobbies, or in nature.

Questioning what we’ve learnt to take for granted - that as long as we can financially afford something, we can have it. We can’t.

Just like our bank accounts don’t have infinite resources, neither does our planet. And, right now, we’re horribly overdrawn.

Consuming less is about the way we think; it’s not about tick boxes of what you should and shouldn’t do. And it’s a journey - it’s not about perfection.

‘Consuming less’ looks like having what we need. It means living comfortably and well - without excess.

Consuming less in practice

Consuming less means we don’t buy for the sake of it.

It means that when we make a purchase, our first question isn’t “Can I afford it?”. Rather, we ask - from an environmental perspective - “Is it worth it?”

Consuming less means that when we go to Ikea for a toilet brush, we hold back from the ‘bits’ that mean our loo brush cost us £50.

It means we replace our phones when they break (and cannot be repaired); not when our contracts expire.

It means buying a few pieces of long lasting, beautifully fitting clothing that we need - and that quality becomes affordable, because we’re no longer opting for quantity.

It means that you buy the 20 reusable nappies your baby needs - not the 100-odd that fulfil your addiction to new prints.

It’s means washing up after a party, instead of chucking away a mass of paper plates.

It means that, instead of rooms showering our children with entire rooms’ worth of toys, we give our children less - encouraging their creativity, imagination and concentration, and allowing them to play more deeply and collaboratively, with fewer arguments and tantrums.

It means the pleasure of second hand book shops and libraries, instead of next day delivery from Amazon Prime.

It means that, instead of the average Brit consuming 3,600 calories a day, we eat what we need - more like two thirds of that.

It means asking ourselves whether we really need that new extension, sitting room colour scheme, or driveway update; it means asking ourselves whether we’re doing it from necessity, boredom or convenience.

It means that, before we pick up the gadgets and gizmos - the avocado slicers or onion goggles - we ask if the convenience is worth the cost.

It means that next time we buy a car, it’s because we need a new one - not because we fancy an update. And it means that the car we buy is a smaller car, that we keep for longer and use infrequently.

And the further we go on our consumption journey, our mindset changes even more, to the extent that we make choices - about where we work and live, about where our children go to school - that mean we can go down to one car instead of two; or perhaps even not have a car at all; instead renting one when we really need it.

It means acknowledging quite how much ‘stuff’ surrounds us - and that we need to challenge the expectation that every interaction will involve more of it.

That acknowledgement looks like the networking event where each delegate is given a notebook and pen that they do not need. The t-shirts that the 600 charity race entrants receive - the majority of which will never be worn. The new starters’ day at school, when every child is sent home with a new water bottle - despite the fact that every child arrived with a water bottle in their hand.

It’s about politely rejecting such every day excess - that we don’t need, but which demands energy and resources to extract raw materials, manufacture and transport - often to be dumped in landfill the minute we get home.

And after that?

As we travel down the route of consuming less, we start to have more money in our pockets; more financial security and more to spend on the things that really matter. We have more time for hobbies, and for family and friends - with less stuff, we no longer have to spend our time tidying, sorting, cleaning, maintaining, chucking and replacing so much.

We are more content, with our focus on quality rather than quantity; and we can spend time in our calm, tidy homes, surrounded by things that matter; not things that clutter.

Oh, and we’re saving our planet, too.