No Planet B

     Before adapting #livinglesswaste and #lowimpactmovement as my daily basis, I enjoyed shopping a lot as my stress reliever. Every time I saw clothes/trousers/skirt/bag, I would think “Oh! This color may be good if I match it with the one I had in home!”. When I saw discounted price, I would think “With that price?! Such a good deal! I may(?) need it someday!”. Or when I went somewhere far/for vacation, I thought something like “I have come this far, so I need to buy something memorable!”.

     However, that way of thinking has ended me living with too many stuffs. I understand that shopping can give us such a pleasure, like an achievement I’d say. But, without mindfully thinking whether I will truly use it or without caring whether the things I buy will long last or not, I was all wrong. In fact, I bought many things without any intention and followed the concept of "Just in case I will need it someday (?)". Then all of the things I don’t (truly) use just left untouched, unused, and get dusted.

Since then, I always rethink again my old habits,

“How many body do I actually have? DO I really NEED hundreds of clothes in my closet?”

“Should I ever need to have a lot of DIFFERENT things WITH TOTALLY SAME function?”

“Wouldn’t it better to EXPERIENCE trips TO THE FULLEST rather than stuffing our home with souvenirs?”
“Why I feel so GUILTY every time I dumped my disposable waste into a bin?”

     Actually, I am a person who feels connected to my stuffs. They hold story for me. My first time of decluttering experience was last year when I decided to move to a new apartment, which doesn’t have any big storage room* (*most Japanese apartment has big storage room to put things they don’t frequently use). I started decluttering from my clothes, my bags, my shoes, household appliances, and lastly some trivial things. Mostly, I sold them to second-hand store, gave to some friends or recycled them (very last option). After decluttering my room (read more at Konmari method), I thought I would be lonely without having them around. But, I felt the opposite thing. I felt deliberated knowing the facts that I have less stuffs and more space in my room.

     Now, my room is filled with all the things that I TRULY love/use. Rather than focusing to the quantity, I am more likely opt for reusables with better quality for long-term use. The fewer I have stuffs, the more I take care of them. The fewer I have stuffs, the less they get dusted since I use them frequently. Cleaning and maintaining my room never been easier! I am also happy that my stuffs may be more useful for someone else out there. Not getting dusted, unused and untouched anymore. Nothing happier than that!

Living less stuffs taught me a simple happiness that owning stuffs is not everything.

Happiness is about being content and grateful of what you have now.

     Urge of having new things so frequently has gradually faded. Now, for me, there is nothing more satisfying than having no trash at the end of the day! 😊 The “throwaway culture” has reached its limit and society needs to concern more about it. It can’t be denied that buying new things sometime is easier than repairing the old ones or maintaining reusable ones, but we must rethink our old habits and be conscious of what we consume/buy, be responsible of the waste/trash we made, be thoughtful that everything we do can affect the environment. Yes, it is just because we don’t have planet B to live.