Minimalism

There are 2 posts filed in Minimalism (this is page 1 of 1).

The Compact: 4 weeks of experience

ATTENTION: The Compact has NOTHING to do with the magazine Compact! 4 weeks ago I had decided to renounce consumption for 6 months and not to buy anything new. First of all: It’s easier than you think, and it’s relieving. You no longer have to buy anything at the last minute just because you want to buy something. However, I also have to report failures:
  • 1 pair of jeans (one broke, and I didn’t have the time to go buy a used one between two business trips)
  • 1 memory card for the digital camera (during the vacation I had to choose whether we either take fewer photos or buy the memory; eBay was out of the question at short notice)
  • 1 software update (absolutely pointless, the software had done well before)
  • 1 book for the daughter’s heart
All in all, not the big editions, but annoying except for the book (I think I will generally allow exceptions for books, as long as the books are really read immediately; I can’t always wait until a book is available used for professional reasons). Since food is allowed, I brought chocolate from the business trips or we used gifts that we had “in stock”. My girlfriend benefited from the whole story in that some purchases were due for her; also expenses for concerts etc. are allowed, and thus the wallet has not really been spared. The participants in the Compact group at Yahoo! go much further, some are thinking about how to save on gas, water and electricity, which leads to suggestions such as using water several times (taking washing water for the toilet). Saving energy is a good idea, and I have decided not to leave my computer in sleep mode anymore, but to really shut it down when I don’t need it. Even more radical is a couple on the East Coast who call their experiment No Impact and about whom even the New York Times has written: They live only on organic food grown within a 400-kilometer radius of Manhattan, produce no waste except compost, use no paper and do not use carbon-fueled transportation. No toilet paper. The project is not entirely altruistic, because the husband is a writer and uses what he has experienced for a new book. Even though I’m not quite as radical, the first 4 weeks went quite well. This is now my plan for the next month:
  • Get rid of everything on ebay that I don’t really need
  • No more buying drinks in plastic bottles or paper cups (if it can be avoided, this is a bit difficult when traveling by air, after all, you can no longer bring your own drinks)
  • Always shut down the computers in the evening, as well as do not leave the TV/DVD player on standby
  • Finally read the books that are still unread on the shelf

Jimi: The wallet for people who don’t want wallets

Wallets, wallets or purses, no matter what you call it, I have had a deep aversion to them for years. I can’t carry it cool in my back pocket, so I can’t sit, which may also be due to my lack of sitting flesh. And if you want to go out in the evening, I never know where to put it: If I have it in the back, it’s stolen from me, it looks stupid in the front, and apart from that it bothers me. Exactly for people like me, there is now the solution, and she calls herself Jimi.

The Jimi Wallet is not a normal wallet, but a nice little plastic box that has a compartment for banknotes and one for one or two cards, for example EC card and driver’s license. If you press on one side of the box, it opens, and you can also simply fold it up again. Supposedly, the shutter lasts 1 million times open and close. That would be more than 100 years (with opening and closing 20 times a day). Small change: No. Identity card: No. Customer cards: No. Fits well in one of the front pockets, where it’s hard to steal anything, and besides, the small box doesn’t get in the way. Ideal for going out in the evening, because that’s all you need. Also go into town for the afternoon. Or… Actually, you can almost always limit yourself, because do you always have to have 10 different loyalty and bonus cards, credit cards, receipts of your last purchases, etc. with you?

Nice idea. I would have liked to have had it earlier.