Just Read: The Happiness Project

Back in 2009, when this book came out, I was still the owner of an independent bookstore.  Most of my customers were fairly discriminating readers, and I, myself, could be a little snobby about books.  So, when Gretchen Rubin wrote The Happiness Project, I dismissed it as another self-help book full of fluff.  However, a customer with good taste in reading came in one day raving about this book.  Trusting her instincts, I ordered some copies for the store and read one for myself.  Now, just about every book club on the island has read and discussed this book, and everyone I've talked to has gleaned something from it.

What makes this book stand apart from others like it is Rubin's background.  She has a law degree (from Yale, no less) and has researched and written biographies on political figures like Winston Churchill and John F. Kennedy.  Where other books in this category might be light and feel like just a lot of common sense, Rubin has done her homework and provides loads of scientific research for her project.  She also tackles her goals systematically, dividing them up into categories and setting deadlines.  This type of organization and approach appeals to me, as I love to make a list and cross things off.

So, what does this book have to do with this blog?  The focus of the first chapter/month is Boosting Energy.  Rubin concludes from her research that physical clutter was weighing her down and dealing with it daily was sapping her energy.  I like the way she addresses different categories of clutter:  Sentimental, Bargain, Freebie, etc.  She acknowledges the way we tend to value stuff and justify its existence in our lives.  Also, after dealing with her clutter, she is much more conscientious about what she is going to bring into her home.  This is the part that rang true for me.  After making a decision to consume more conscientiously, our family evaluates everything coming into our home (clothing, appliances, gadgets, etc.) whether we will be purchasing it new, second-hand, or getting it for free!  Even our kids will stop and question if they really need something before deciding to purchase it or accept a hand-me-down from a friend.

Rubin also discusses the value she began to place on experiencing things rather than consuming things throughout her experiment.  This is a value we have also tried to instill in our family, often giving experiences (trips to museums, dance performances, skateboard competitions) as gifts, rather than things.  When our kids were younger, we often requested Family Memberships to the local zoo and children's museum as Christmas presents, rather than making lists of items the kids could receive from grandparents.

As it is the New Year (sort of still, right?), this is a great read to get you motivated to make some changes that have probably been nagging you for awhile anyway.  And though you may feel you are getting a late start (the chapters are divided by months), you'll find some chapters are inappropriate or unnecessary to your life anyway.  For example, Rubin devotes a month to her career and many of us are not in a spot where we are thinking about that.  She also spends another month exploring her spirituality, another topic many people already feel they have a pretty solid footing in.  So, in the end, anyone could pick and choose their own areas and set their goals accordingly.  Good Luck!

Just Read: Making It

During my last year as an independent bookstore owner I was fortunate enough to meet Erik Knutzen and Kelly Coyne, authors of Making It:  Radical Home Ec for a Post-Consumer World.  Based in the middle of Los Angeles, they have created a lifestyle that evokes Ma and Pa Ingalls of the Little House books.  They grow their own food, raise their own meat, bake bread almost everyday, and create much of what they need from scratch instead of buying ready-made products.  Ironically, when I picked them up at the ferry terminal to take them to their author event, upon seeing my sewing machine in the back of my car (I must've been giving a lesson that day) they commented they still weren't sewing their own clothes, but it was definitely a goal on their list.

They are part of the Radical Homemaking movement where people take a hard look at their lifestyles and try to rearrange things in order to become producers, rather than consumers.  Shannon Hayes has been chronicling this movement for several years in essays, books, and her blog.  She, like Erik and Kelly and many others, came to the conclusion that they worked forty hours a week just to consume.  They then took the leap and scaled back on their traditional jobs to allow more time to produce and found, in many ways, they were better off, financially, spiritually, etc.  This lifestyle holds a lot of allure for me, and fortunately, our location and situation in life will allow us to pull it off.

That's where Making It becomes such a great resource.  Erik and Kelly worked with the publishers to make the book very accessible and not overwhelming.  Tasks are divided into sections:  Day to Day, Week to Week, Month to Month, and Season to Season.  The reader can tackle one thing at a time, incorporate it into their lives until it becomes part of a routine and then add another.  Topics range from creating hygiene and cleaning products, to gardening, to food preservation and more.  I am still checking off most of the Month to Month tasks, but really like their "recipes" for household products.

Although our family is most likely several years from being able to completely embrace this lifestyle, I do enjoy the sense of satisfaction we get now from the food we do manage to grow and eat, the eggs we collect, and the other items we choose to make ourselves rather than purchase at the store.  And, hopefully, as our children grow up and start their own households, producing will be so normal for them they will not get caught in the trap of consumerism.

Just Read: Plastic Free

A few years ago I decided to stop buying ziplock bags to use in my kids' lunches.  We invested in some sturdy re-useable containers and also started rinsing out and saving bags when purchased items happened to come packaged in them in case we needed them.  In comparison to Beth Terry's declaration in 2007 to not allow any new plastic to come into her household, our decision seems rather small.  But as I read her book Plastic Free:  How I Kicked the Plastic Habit and How You Can Too I learned a plastic free life is only attainable through small steps like ours.

Even though the goal of this book seems daunting, Terry's story is very encouraging.  Prior to 2007 she led a very disposable and plastic lifestyle: eating take-out daily, drinking multiple cups of coffee a day - all from styrofoam cups with plastic lids, and accumulating CDs, DVDs, craft supplies, and sporting goods manufactured  from plastic.  If she got to plastic-free from that, surely our somewhat conscientious family can make this journey, too! 

By tackling the various areas of our lives most infused with plastic (food packaging, personal hygiene products, cleaning products) in different chapters of the book and providing feasible solutions and resources for each, Terry does make this goal seem attainable.  Packed with references to other books and websites, as well as, profiles of Plastic Free Heroes the reader will find the answer to any situation that involves plastic.

Since reading this book, I have of course, become more aware of the pervasiveness of plastic in our lives.  And although we have been using stainless water bottles for years and buying most of our items secondhand and even baking bagels from scratch for packed lunches (which means we don't bring in a new plastic bag every week from the grocery store) our family still has a long way to go to eliminate bringing new plastic items into our household.

My goal is to focus on one area each month and eliminate that source of plastic.  After doing it consistently it should become a habit and allow me to move onto a new area.  An easy goal for October will be a consistent commitment to re-using plastic bags for produce rather than using the ones that are provided in the grocery store.  We already use cloth bags for our grocery shopping, and I just need to devise a system that makes it easier to store and take bags for produce to the store.  It is something I have been saying I will do for months, and it will feel good to finally do it.  Trickier goals will definitely be making other perishable items from scratch weekly that contribute to our ever growing collection of plastic food containers stored in the cabinet to the left of our dishwasher:  yogurt, cream cheese, salsa, hummus, etc.  You can bet I will look at recipes and choose the easiest first! 

I know this will be a process for our family, and even Terry admits she gets in tough situations where it seems like plastic is unavoidable.  Right now, I am sure there are areas we can easily improve and whatever habits we incorporate will be better than how we are doing things currently.  Throughout her book Terry frequently reminds the reader she is not perfect and that this is a journey, I am just thankful she blazed the trail and we can use her experience as our own road map.  What are some ways you avoid/reduce plastic in your life?

Just Read: Get Real

When I discovered this book I was both an independent bookseller and a fledgling passionate ethical consumer..  And yet, I found it hiding under some picture books at a Scholastic book fair at my kids' elementary school.  How had I missed this book?!  I bought it immediately and began stocking it for our bookstore.

Mara Rockliff has written a variety of books for young people, and I really appreciate her clear and concise way of addressing the huge topic of ethical consumerism.  The first quarter of the book introduces the reader to the concepts of True Cost, Western consumption habits, and advertising schemes.  The bulk of the book breaks down the issues around production, transportation, consumption, and disposal of individual industries like textiles, fast food, electronics, plastics, and chocolate.  The last quarter of the book is devoted to strategies and examples of points of action the reader can take, whether it is pledging to buy fair trade coffee or joining an international movement.

The layout of this book keeps all of the information in very digestible chunks and is very stimulating.  It also serves to break up some of the more somber statistics with bright graphics.  I used this book as one of my resources when teaching a class on consumerism and upcycling to middle schoolers and granted them permission to make the "Debbie Downer" sound effect (mwah - mwah) when the information got too depressing or overwhelming.  Despite exposing these heavy issues, Rockliff still manages to keep the tone of the book positive, assuring the reader he or she can make a difference.  The blurb on the back of the book says it best:

     Can you really change the world with your wallet?  You already do.  Buy a pair of sneakers, and where does your money really go? Order a cheeseburger at a drive-up window, and what are you really buying?  Spend your birthday money on a cell phone or a video game, and what are you really getting?  Ask yourself this:  Who made it?  What's in it?  What's it doing to the earth, other people, and me?  Start seeing the world for real - and discover how you can make a difference.  You've got buying power - now let's see you change the world for good!

Although Get Real: What Kind of World Are You Buying? is geared towards kids, there is enough content to make it interesting and inspiring for adults, too.  It would be a great book for a family to read together and then set mini-goals to begin changing buying habits.  How does your family try to make a difference with your dollar?

Just Read: Overdressed

Unlike Elizabeth Cline, I have never liked to shop for clothes.  My best illustration of this is the "search" for a prom dress in high school.  After walking into the first store on our list at the mall, I spotted an adequate dress.  Off-the-shoulder, fitted bodice, full skirt, in a nice shade of green, it was very Grace Kelly.  It was even under a hundred dollars!  But my step-mom felt we should keep looking.  I might find something better.  However, this was, and still is, torture for me.  I only shop with a specific purpose in mind.  And once I find what I am looking for, I am done.  This goes for groceries, birthday presents, craft supplies, and clothes.  The only exception is bookstores, and even then, I usually have one or two titles in mind.  All of this is to say, when our family made a decision to change our consumer habits, it really wasn't that hard for me.

Overdressed:  The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion chronicles Elizabeth's journey from cheap clothes connoisseur to conscientious consumer.  At the beginning of the book she details the "steals" she would find while shopping (for fun!) on her lunch break.  If a top was under twenty dollars and she liked it, she would buy it.  Her bottom line on dresses was thirty.  When she finally finds herself lugging home seven pairs of identical shoes ($7 each) she realizes she might have a problem.  Her closet was bursting, and she hadn't even worn half the clothes in it.  Because she is a journalist she began addressing her problem through research.  I appreciated how thorough she was in addressing the entire stream of effects connected to cheap fashion: where and how cotton is grown, the depletion of the American textile industry, the reality of garment workers overseas, and the tremendous amount of waste generated by Western consumerism.  By the end of the book she has pared down her wardrobe to well-made, well-tailored items that look great on her and that she loves wearing.  Sometimes she has to splurge on a sustainably made jacket, but sometimes she finds a quality skirt at a thrift store.  Considering she was impulse buying at least one item a week, at an average of $25 a pop, I am sure she still comes out ahead.  

After reading this book, I was very excited to tell others about it, even claiming it could do for "slow clothing" what Omnivore's Dilemma did for slow food.  How pleased I was to see a reviewer label Elizabeth as "the Michael Pollan of fashion."  It was not just me and my Pollyanna hopes, others think this as well!  If consumers will just take the time to learn the facts, eventually they will choose to change.