

Sustainable Minimalists
Stephanie Seferian
Creating eco-minimalist, non-toxic homes (without the extra work). Although minimalism has experienced a rebirth in recent years, the "less is more" movement has been around for centuries. Yet today's minimalist influencers have resurrected minimalism with a decidedly consumerist spin, as modern minimalism is nearly synonymous with decluttering. While there's a lot of chatter about tidying, it's radio silence and crickets when it comes to sustainability. The result? Aspiring minimalists find themselves on an endless hamster wheel of buying, decluttering, buying more, and purging again. Overemphasizing decluttering and underemphasizing the reasons why we overbuy in the first place is thoroughly inconsistent with slow living as a movement; consumption without intention is terrible for the planet, too. Your host, Stephanie Seferian, is a stay-at-home/podcast-from-home mom and author who believes that minimalism, eco-friendliness, and non-toxic living are intrinsically intertwined. She's here to explore the topics of conscious consumerism, sustainability, and environmentally-friendly parenting practices with like-minded women; she's here, too, to show you how to curate eco-friendly, decluttered homes (without the extra work).
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 24, 2019 • 19min
How to Declutter Sentimental Items the Strategic Way
Declutter tips for tackling sentimental items You listeners often ask for declutter tips when tackling sentimental items. What should you do with a talented family member’s paintings? What about that box of childhood mementos? How about the yellowed wedding dress hanging in the far recesses of the closet? Although the “stuff” in question differs from query to query, the underlying obstacle is always the same: What’s the best way to let go of clutter that’s laced with emotion? First...
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Sep 10, 2019 • 26min
How to Redecorate on the Cheap (Without Wayfair/Ikea)
Eco Friendly Home Decor Ideas Are you tired of your decor? Maybe your furniture isn’t contemporary enough for your taste. Or perhaps your once-trendy, heavily-patterned curtains feel stale. But you lean toward the sustainable side of things—you’re a stand-up human, too—so you won’t chuck your old decor for new stuff without a bit of eco-guilt. You’d like to find eco friendly home decor ideas, even, but you don’t know where to look. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, 9 million...
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Sep 3, 2019 • 33min
25 Ways to Be Eco-Friendly Without Spending a Cent
25 Ways to Create an Eco Friendly House Green living sometimes gets a bad rap as being reserved only for the privileged. And curating an eco friendly house? Many people assume that doing so requires a hefty upfront cost. Here’s why: – While organic food + hybrid cars are certainly green, they have oversized price tags and therefore aren’t accessible to everyone. – Some eco-friendly products will save money in the long run, but their significant up-front costs deter...
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Aug 27, 2019 • 26min
How to Cope With Eco Guilt
Coping with eco guilt in 4 steps Does the future of our planet usher in hopelessness? Do you stay up at night worrying whether Earth will remain habitable for our children? If so, you may suffer from eco guilt. Eco anxiety is fear for the future of our planet and manifests itself in feelings of anger, powerlessness or exhaustion. A 2017 report by the American Psychological Association found that – because its chronic by nature – the condition can have...
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Aug 19, 2019 • 20min
Why Your Home Is Cluttered After Tidying
10 Reasons Why Your Home Is Cluttered After Tidying It happens to the best of us: You have already tidied, yet your home remains cluttered. It’s incredibly, frustrating, sure. It is also quite common. Tidy homes can often feel messy, even after the work is done. Why is that? The answer is threefold: First, there’s a perceived inverse relationship between clutter + cleanliness. Second, you overlooked some important places (10 important places, to be exact!) when decluttering. Finally, you neglected...
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Aug 13, 2019 • 32min
Your Intentional Life Starts with ‘Why’
Does the slow living movement intrigue you? If you recently went on a summer vacation you know it’s true: A slow, intentional life feels right. Yet, despite our best intentions, most of us retreat to our busy habits + our cluttered ways hours after returning home. The first step to living a more intentional life isn’t Googling a quick fix. Seasoned minimalists know that in order to slow down (for good!) you must first identify why you’re so busy in the...
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Aug 6, 2019 • 25min
Why (Organic) Cotton is King
What’s your underwear made of? Are your tighty-whities: A. Synthetic? Polyester, rayon, acrylic + nylon are comprised partly of plastic, are hard to dispose of + contribute to landfill waste. Even worse, synthetic waste byproducts pollute waterways. B. Or is your underwear made of cotton? Because it’s grown, conventional cotton is bathed in pesticides, derived from genetically-modified seeds + originates in factories that pay unlivable working wages. When it comes to our underwear, today’s guest offers a better way: Organic cotton. My...
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Jul 27, 2019 • 21min
Why We Overbuy (+ How to Stop)
These days, many Americans boast supersized homes, an outfit for every day of the month + 300,000 possessions, on average. We also report high levels of depression + anxiety; we have debt, too. Have you ever wondered why we continue to buy more + more, despite the fact that our purchases don’t make us happy, send us into debt + destroy our planet’s precious resources? I do. On this week’s show I divulge 4 reasons why we buy things we...
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Jul 23, 2019 • 25min
3 Hard Truths about Clutter
Have a major decluttering project on your To-Do List? If so, you’ll benefit from having both a plan + insight before you declutter your home. My guest this week is Katie McGowen. Katie is a mom of 5 who knew she had to declutter in a big way. But she didn’t tidy willy-nilly wherever the wind blew her + whenever she found the time; instead, she sought to declutter her entire home systematically. Katie created a plan before she minimized...
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Jul 16, 2019 • 33min
How to Make Great Compost (With Very Little Effort)
You’ve heard the buzz around composting, but you want to be certain composting is right for you *before* you embark on another potentially time-sucking hobby. Of course you’d love to know how to make great compost, but you’re a newbie + you need guidance. If your garbage can is like the average American’s, at least 20% of it is filled with food. Worse, that 20% is entirely preventable. My guest this week is Heather Kauffman. Heather is passionate about composting...
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The post How to Make Great Compost (With Very Little Effort) appeared first on Sustainable Minimalists.Our Sponsors:* Thank you to LifeStraw! https://lifestraw.com/Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/sustainable-minimalists/exclusive-content