Sustainable Minimalists

Enough with excessive educational toys, extracurriculars, and enrichment activities. It’s time to take a step back, put our wallets away, and realize what our children *actually* need.On today's show: re-centering our parenting efforts around 3 of the most important childhood needs.Here's a preview:[10:00] Kids need your undivided attention! Make sure you're giving twice as much positive attention as negative attention[13:00] What recent research says about the benefits of delighting in our children[16:30] 3 benefits to signing up for one less extracurricular[28:00] Not all foods are created equal! Kids really do need these 8 micronutrients  Resources mentioned: Episode #403: The Processed Food Problem Episode #173: How To Simplify Picky Eating   This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting! Join our (free!) Facebook community here. Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube @sustainableminimalists Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

Reducing food waste doesn't always jive with societal norms.That's because keeping perfectly edible food out of landfills might mean being the weirdo who boxes their wedding entree. Or asking (gasp!) to take home extra pizza from a child's birthday party. On today's show: A conversation with journalist Rachael Jackson about how to value food more than we value fitting in.  Here's a preview:[7:45] Is composting the solution to food waste? (Answer: No.)[10:00] 5 ways to shamelessly break social norms around food and waste[23:00] Brown avocados, wet spinach, and more: Can we eat or should we toss? Resources mentioned: EPA Wasted Food Scale  Project Drawdown ReFED  Avocado library I Bought It, Now What Ebooks for reducing food waste This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting! Join our (free!) Facebook community here. Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube @sustainableminimalists Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

First facts, then the inevitable spin! The enviro-news we are spinning for Friday, January 26 2024:[1:00] 3 cheers for a White House pause in the natural gas export terminal CP2[5:00] No one likes air pollution. Enter new rules for fine particulates [10:00] Understanding the global average temperature, with predictions for 2024[12:30] Where to put Lahaina's toxic debris? Next to an important coral reef, of course  This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting! Join our (free!) Facebook community here. Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube @sustainableminimalists Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

When faced with information that challenges our long-held beliefs, we humans do one of two things. Either we think hard about our values and adapt our lifestyles to reflect this new data, or we cling to willful blindness so that we may continue to think and act in the ways we've always thought and acted.In honor of Veganuary I bring you a conversation with Colleen Patrick-Goudreau about changing our beliefs — and perhaps our diets — in the face of new information. Here's a preview: [7:30] Unpacking willful blindness: How and why we tell ourselves untruths to maintain long-held beliefs[11:00] Cognitive dissonance is uncomfortable. Why, then, do some people learn and change while others cling to defunct beliefs?[19:00] It's not giving up, it's letting go! Uncovering the story that's underneath your eating habits that you're unwilling to let go of[23:00] Debunking 3 commonly-held plant-based myths to reflect updated science [37:00] Attitude is everything, so flip the script! Resources mentioned:  Diet For A New America  Slaughterhouse: The Shocking Story of Greed, Neglect, and Inhumane Treatment Inside the U.S. Meat Industry Food For Thought podcast Colleen on Instagram The 30-Day Vegan Challenge  Previous Veganuary episodes:  Episode #334: Plant-Based Families Episode #238: The Future Of Food changing our beliefs — and perhaps our diets — in the face of new information.

Wisdom is the cumulation of valuable lessons we pick up along our journeys through this messy thing called life, and pearls of wisdom are guideposts to help us navigate the complexities of living in an uncertain world in an uncertain time.On today's show: A conversation with author Dr. Elizabeth Kagan Arleo about trusting the wisdom of the experts — both modern and ancient — so as to better overcome life's challenges and improve overall well-being. Here's a preview of the wisdom we discuss today:[1:30] First, eat your frog![4:00] Schedule your time in 168-hour chunks[11:30] Set criteria, meet criteria, and be satisfied (no perfection required)[18:00] Stop over-apologizing (seriously, stop it!)[22:00] If you don't ask, the answer is always no[27:00] Imposter Syndrome: Name it to tame it Resources mentioned: First, Eat Your Frog: And Other Pearls for Professional Working Mothers Episode #434: Is It Time To Quit Amazon Prime?   This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting! Join our (free!) Facebook community here. Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube @sustainableminimalists Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

The enviro-news you need to know for Friday, January 19 2024:[00:30] Updates from the Greenland ice sheet[5:00] Staggering losses to North American bird populations, plus: outlining their (human-made) threats[10:00] Gross! Our favorite foods have an awful lot of microplastics within[14:00] "Plastic-free" laundry sheets aren't actually plastic-free  This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting! Join our (free!) Facebook community here. Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube @sustainableminimalists Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

Over 200 million Americans subscribe to Prime, and estimates suggest that Amazon delivers 3.4 million packages per day in the US alone.Quitters, unite! I'm quitting Amazon Prime, and perhaps it's time for you to consider quitting too. Here's a preview: [7:30] How on earth is Amazon able to selling items at such low prices? It ain't pretty ...[12:00] Amazon is only the cheapest option if you're willing to buy almost everything on Amazon, and I'm going to prove it [20:00] What does Amazon's Climate Friendly Pledge *really* mean?[23:00] A laundry list of things we lose when we choose convenience   This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting! Join our (free!) Facebook community here. Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube @sustainableminimalists Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

Did you know? Ikea beds, Wayfair desks, and other fast furniture items are designed to last about five years.Fast furniture is mass-produced and relatively inexpensive; it's easy, then, to obtain and abandon. And fast decor? Low price points essentially render disposable those trendy but cheap pillows, artwork, and trinkets.There's a better way, and it always starts with slowing down. Slow Style is Zandra Zuraw's framework for creating homes that nurture without breaking the bank, and today she shows us how to create havens that inspire and welcome without anything fast or cheap.Here’s a preview:[4:30] Why bother surrounding ourselves with beauty (and other big-picture musings)[7:00] Mass production, economies of sale, and the environmental implications of fast decor[17:00] Developing your eye for design means paying attention! [25:00] How to find the fine line between keeping stuff you hate versus hopping on the hamster wheel of buying[30:00] Ethical furnishings companies DO exist! Here's where to find them once and for all Resources mentioned: The Slow Style Home podcast The Sustainable Furnishings Council Roger + Chris furniture  Ridwell   This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting! Join our (free!) Facebook community here. Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube @sustainableminimalists Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

The enviro-news you need to know for Friday, January 12 2024:[00:45] Want to eat and drink less plastic? Don't drink bottled water ... [5:00] Vroom vroom! Clean yellow school buses are a-comin' nationwide[10:00] Say it ain't so: Right now the US is producing more oil than any other country ... ever[14:00] Help halt the fossil fuel industry's Liquified Natural Gas export expansion! Here's how Resources mentioned: Petition to Stop New LNG Exports (via actionnetwork.org) #StopLNG Sit-in at Department of Energy in Washington, DC (via thirdact.org)   This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting! Join our (free!) Facebook community here. Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube @sustainableminimalists Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

You've likely been there. That moment when you look at your credit card statement and your heart sinks. Sometimes logic gives way to desire, and nothing's worse than realizing you overshopped on impulses. A lot.It’s time to take a look at what happens in the moments *before* we impulse buy. On today's show: honing in our 5 shopping triggers so we can insert that crucial pause before buying.Here's a preview:[3:45] Advertisers shape our desires, and the credit industry makes these desires seem affordable. Yikes![9:30] Buyer, beware: when your mind becomes your own worst enemy. [15:00] The shopping trigger that's the most common and the most difficult to overcome[23:00] Got parental guilt? Why you should stop buying stuff for your kids to compensate [29:00] Hankering to buy food when your kitchen is full? How to determine whether a physical trigger is colliding with an emotional one Resources mentioned: To Buy or Not to Buy: Why We Overshop and How to Stop (by Dr. April Benson) Insert that pause with this free printout for your wallet The Poverty of Affluence: A Psychological Portrait of the American Way of Life (by Dr. Paul Wachel)   This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting! Join our (free!) Facebook community here. Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, Instagram + Youtube @sustainableminimalists Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.