Discardia_ More Life, Less Stuff - Dinah Sanders [49]
When we’re thinking about relying less on cars, we are reminded that it’s time to start an even bigger “letting go” in much of the western world. We rich nations have got to say farewell to the strange notion that has gripped us for the last half century: our suburban life style—with its two-car garage, McMansions, lawns in the desert, strip malls, and daily auto errands—is unsustainable. There's never going to be more oil or natural gas readily available than there is now. Suburbia relies on these energy sources for its residents to be able to get to shops or work and to heat or cool their very large homes as well as to build the homes and the accoutrements associated with this lifestyle.
More than that, though, is it really such a great lifestyle? Do people form tighter bonds with their neighbors in a residential development park than they do in a mixed-use city block or the countryside? Do people in places with no shops or workplaces within walking distance feel connected to the communities surrounding their neighborhood? If you have to drive to get to anything, how can you overcome feelings of distance from places through which you move?
Talk to those who’ve moved to the city, away from the disconnected life and void of architectural interest in the ’burbs. For example, Discardians Heather Wright, Chelee Ellis, and Amelia Parker, will tell you about their happiness and the nearby features that show how they’re using all that time out of the car.
Heather: “We live five minutes north of downtown, can walk to an organic market, [coffee shop, award-winning local restaurants, bakery], library, pharmacy, etc. We know our neighbors and a healthy number of people in our neighborhood.”
Chelee: “We live in town within walking distance of my favorite 4: the library, the grocery store, the park, and a bus stop.”
Amelia: “The smaller house (a 1912 bungalow) is three blocks from three grocery stores, one of the local arthouse cinemas, a yoga studio, our vet's office and the biggest urban green space in the city.”
Think about what you really love and your minimum requirements, and open yourself to urban possibilities, or at least work to bring some of the good features of cities and smaller residences to your nonurban home.
Of her new neighborhood, Heather Wright also said, “Our two criteria when we were looking for a house: on Saturdays you could hear saws and hammers as people worked on their houses and you also saw parents walking children in strollers. We figured if parents felt safe enough strolling with their kids, it was safe enough for us.”
When the life of the neighborhood extends to the street, a place feels more alive. It is amazing to find that it is actually cheaper to rent in the city than own in the suburbs—18% cheaper, according to one article cited by Cynthia Friedlob of The Thoughtful Consumer.
Letting go of our back pages
Let us return to a category of things that is very difficult for many people to keep pared down to only what they currently love or use: books. College and earlier textbooks are a common culprit. If it’s been over five years since you have used that book, let it go. Should you ever need that information again, you’ll find a more current and easily searchable version online. Got some books that you don’t know why you have? Donate them. If you’re worried that you might someday need to remember their titles—“What was the name of that book I read?”—take pictures of their covers, save the picture in your digital photo album, and tag it “Books I’ve read.” Then, get rid of the physical, space-taking, dust-gathering objects.
Send books on to a new life elsewhere when they stop having a positive interaction in yours. Slow the flow of incoming books by being more selective when you choose to buy a book rather than borrow it from the library. Note that not all good reasons for buying are also good reasons for keeping. Letting go now doesn’t remove the book from the universe. “Maybe I’ll want to reread it someday” is a weak reason to hold on to this particular copy