The plan: to reduce packaging by half over the next two months.

This blog was essentially inspired by the thought to reduce in order to gain. At the beginning was a coffee table book about simple living, which was interesting, inspiring, an easy read and nice to look at. The idea of categorising all my belongings in order to reduce the items to only the best appealed to me, one because of the beautifully simple method and two because I knew that six month down the line I would be moving into a smaller apartment. So I started and I got hooked.

I got rid of nearly all the obviously superfluous. Put the less obviously superfluous in labelled boxes in the cellar. Replaced all plastic food containers with some made of glas. Similarly I exchanged cosmetics that come in plastic containers, with others that come in glas containers or do not need packaging. I drove to the charity shop at least once a week with a boot full of stuff that I used to absolutely need.

And now that I am reduced and I can use the dining table for dining and the desk for writing, I feel I want to go further. Clearing and cleaning is not just about tidying, it’s an attitude. This blog is about the journey away from a dictum of what “one should and one needs”, away from compulsory consumerism towards a practice that is more reasonable, responsible and true. Towards a life I feel more at ease with.