My wife and I have been slowly working our way toward eating locally grown foods but we have run into a rather large snag; our love of coffee! We live in the center of the country and while we have several coffee places that roast their own coffee, the coffee bean is being brought in from around the world. To try and get an alternative to coffee, I looked into tea. You can get some teas that are grown in the US but they aren’t local either.

So we are looking for an alternative to coffee for our morning drink. We have seen hot cranberry juice but that’s not a local product where we live either. I’m not sure about the rest of the country, Southern CA, Southern Florida and South Texas excluded, but eating locally is a lot harder than it appears on the surface! I know it can be done since our ancestors did it. We have so much at our grocery stores to choose from that is not locally grown it really wakes you up to what is trucked in to an area. And for one, I don’t even like the thought of giving up my morning coffee!

One of the things we don’t talk about much in our society is storing too much because we live in a very consumer driven economy. We tend to do a lot of thing in excess without ever really thinking about the consequences of our actions and thinking down the road. The fact that so many of us have been eating ourselves into a coma for many years without really considering what that is doing to our bodies follows the same principles of spending and borrowing money to purchase everything we think we need without considering what is going to happen down the line.

We store fat around our middles and wear it like a trophy, clothes are stored in air-conditioned warehouses for off season when we know that the next season these same clothes will be “out” and you will be enticed to purchase the latest and greatest fashions and we store away items that never see the light of day in our store rooms and sheds so either someone else will go through once we die or we finally decide that we can part with it as “it really wasn’t that important”. Most of us horde in some form or fashion and the goal is to stop. The only way I have found to make this happen is to think about others over ourselves. When we are able to do this, things tend to fall in line as they should.

I have noticed that many young people are living in a new an interesting way; minimally. They are restoring older and used furniture, lamps, interesting recyclables and rubber tires. They are restoring the furniture or turning it into new wonderful pieces of art as well as accessories of clothing and handbags. I have also noted how many of them live in homes that have very little furniture in them yet they seem to get by very well.

You might think they are the so called “hippy” generation of today but they live in some of the most expensive high rise condos in the downtown districts as well as areas where housing has been restored and renovated as opposed to being torn down and rebuilt. Some have gardens and garden terraces as well as use clothes lines again for drying laundry and many use energy star, solar or thermal in some place in and around their homes. Those of us that have been brought up in the “things” generation might do good to take a look at how the younger generation is living and mimic some of their minimal ways. If we do, together, we might just change the world.

I hate to admit it but I find that no matter how much I try to keep all the stuff I store up to date, I fail every year. Sometimes I fail because I cannot stand the thought of giving away something that was given to me by someone I no longer have ties with but don’t want to loose even though I have it placed in a box stowed away in a closet! I fail because I don’t want to throw away that old blue shirt even though I know it doesn’t have any buttons; I’ve just had it sine the sixth grade.

The rule of thumb is to give away or toss anything that you have not touched within the past year and while I do pretty well, there are certain things that are hard to part with. So I understand to some extent how people become hoarders in their homes and businesses either attached to or afraid to part with items they deem valuable, whether anyone else does or not. These are emotional ties that bind you to the past or to a feeling that is either familiar or comforting. But the truth is; it is important to move on and live in the present with what I have everyday. So good -bye blue shirt and good-bye sand from a trip from long since past; I am moving on.

I have been reading lately about all the closings of retail stores from places like the upscale Home Depot Expo Stores to the Goody Family Clothing Store as well as so many others that are closing under producing stores or pulling out of shopping malls.  In fact I have even heard that malls may be the next big victim of this recession.  So what will become of the malls and the retail stores that have been a staple of life for the last 30 to 40 years?

I know in my city one of the malls that had turned into tombstone has been bought by a medical center and redone to house doctor’s offices, dentists and other medical related businesses.  I laughed but I had heard they did it for the parking!  Now they have bought the Home Depot Expo building and are transferring it as well.  This is far better than the lonely, vacant buildings I have seen scattered around in other areas.  So what’s happening in your town or city?  Let us know.

We just talked to two other families in our church who have offered surplus space to those who just lost their jobs when the fabrication plant shut down. Seems that good will has a way of catching on!

It also inspired us to go out and reorganize our shed, so that we could store things more efficiently, and get to them without disturbing other belongings.

Who knew this would turn in to a thing?

The economic downturn (I still don’t like calling it a true recession) has many of us looking for ways to be smart with our money. We actually gave some unused storage space in our backyard storage shed to our friends from church, who, because of a recent layoff situation, needed to downsize their living arrangements and needed a temprary storage fix. It helps out a family in need, and lets them keep most of their items that just don’t make sense in their new apartment.

What solutions can you think of to help others out right now?

Every once in a while there is an idea that is so crazy you have to pay attention.  Driving golf carts to run errands that are close to home is such an idea.  Before you decide this is out of the question, think about how many times you travel within a couple of miles of your home to run those short trips to the grocery store, to eat a quick meal or visit that friend around the corner.  Every time you drive your vehicle you could be driving a golf cart and saving gas.

There are a couple of things you will need to check on before you start.  Do you live in one of twenty-six states that allow low speed electric and gas powered vehicles on local roads?  If so, you need to also check on what your cart will need in terms of lights, turn signals and horns as these will be a necessary addition to most of the vehicles.  Using a warning flag is always a great idea as well whether it is required or not because, believe it or not, there has been a rise in golf cart accidents over the last few years.

Several years ago my wife and I decided we lived in a house that was just too big for two people.  It was a 2400 square ft home with a half basement where I stored all my tools and lawn equipment.  We decided to sell the home and rent a house and see if we could live smaller.

So we found a house that was 1800 square ft and rented it for 1 year.  What we found out was it too was just to large for us.  We never went into one of the bedrooms, the dining room or another small living area.  However, this house did have 1 car garage where I stored my lawn equipment and tools.

At the end of that year we decided to go ahead and look for a smaller home and buy again, which we did.  What we realized after we bought our present house is it is a great size for us.  We utilize all the space but we had one major problem.  Since there was neither a garage nor a basement, there was no place to store the lawn equipment or tools.  The answer was a storage unit and we have never looked back.

Down at the local pub last week I ran into a buddy of mine and we got to talking about space.  My friend is adamant about he and his family living a small sustainable life and he was telling me that back in the late fifties the average American lived in 300 sq ft.  I thought back on the house I grew up in and it was about 1500 sq ft with a 2 car garage.  For four people that was 375 sq ft throughout the sixties and into the seventies.

What surprised me was, with the population being so much higher today that each American now lives in 800 sq ft!  Now I had to stop and think about it and today, my family lives in about 550 sq ft. each and we use every part of our home plus a large 10 x 14 storage shed that is pretty full.

In fact, if we didn’t have the storage unit, we would have to have either more space or less stuff.  It’s our ability to store things outside of the house that has enabled us to live a little bit smaller than we used to (900 sq ft).  One of the best bonuses for us of living smaller has been the reduction in utility bills.