Some Items You Can Probably Go Without (Part 12)
While it's productive to share stories about designs and practices that help us live comfortably and less wastefully in small spaces, I think it’s just as important to discuss the things that we can happily live WITHOUT— particularly in this era of climate crisis. After all, making a home in a small space isn’t about figuring out how to puzzle a life’s worth of belongings into your compact quarters. It’s about experiencing more by owning less.
The following is just a small sampling of items you may want to reconsider before you buy. (View all the entries in this series here.)
Plastic shower curtains and liners:
Depending on the style of your shower, you might be able to skip the standard plastic liners and synthetic blend curtains. Here we use a simple linen tablecloth / throw blanket (handmade locally for Gjusta Goods), which we suspend from the curtain rod via metal clothespin hooks. We simply throw the fabric into the machine with similar washing about once every-other week for a good soapy bath of its own. If the bottom of the sheet gets overly wet during a shower and stretches out the linen, we just make a fold up top and clip it an inch or so higher. Hemp fabric and/or upcycled, patchwork pieces could work well for this purpose, too, and add a unique touch to your bathroom. (As always, please keep safety — such as slip risks — in mind.)
New outfits for every special event:
Between photo shoots, work events, speaking engagements and social gatherings, I frequently found myself feeling like I constantly needed a new outfit. I tried a rental service for a while. I think they’re good solutions to reducing fashion waste for many people, but I still found their carbon footprint to be too high for my comfort. I realized that the clothing itself wasn’t the issue— it was my mindset that needed to change. I’ve since found comfort and satisfaction in deliberately wearing the same garments repeatedly on camera and at events. We all know that fast fashion and over consumption of new styles is a major source of pollution — from dyes in water supplies, to transport and packaging, to discarded garments themselves. Plus most people in small homes struggle with wardrobe space, and the best solution is to simply own less clothing. It feels good to strike a truce with yourself and rock the same clothes you wore last week… and last month… and last year… and the year before that.
Toys that replicate safe, every day goods:
A good friend of mine sent me a photo of a toy lace-up shoe that her daughter received as a gift. The image was captioned: “WHY?!” (Why indeed!) Can we not teach our kids to lace on *actual* shoes? Do we need to mass manufacture fake shoes for this purpose? While we can all surely agree that items like child-safe scissors (which are available as hand-me-downs and second-hand purchases) are obviously well worth it, we probably don’t need items like fake (often plastic!) baby bottles for play when the real things are already sitting here in our homes taking up space— we might as well use them!
Novelty games / activities:
Okay. I liked Tetris and Super Mario as much as any child of the 80s. But to now purchase newly manufactured handheld (plastic!) gaming devices or mini arcade games as novelties when countless games are available on our phones is absurd. And Adam recently told me he saw a (plastic!) mini-golf game intended for use while you’re sitting on the toilet, and a quick web search confirmed that this is indeed available via at least three very prominent international retailers. Our planet is going up in flood and flames, and we’re all complaining about having too much stuff, so let’s convey as consumers that makers must stop producing total junk like this. It’s pointlessly wasteful, and ultimately it just ends up cluttering our homes before cluttering up a landfill.
An entire home gym:
There are many understandable reasons why someone might have a piece or several pieces of work out equipment in their home. (And I imagine that most people who could fit a home gym into their space are probably not reading this blog.) But if it’s not a necessity to you and yours, exercising outdoors or sharing equipment at a gym are simple ways to cut down on the number of large machines being manufactured, packaged, shipped, and — ultimately — discarded.
Catch-all dishes:
If you’re shopping vintage or supporting an artist by buying their handmade ring or catch-all dishes, great! But mass made valet caddies, ring dishes + holders, and coin trays are things that can easily be made from numerous repurposed items that are probably already available around your home. Or maybe you don’t need them in the first place! (For example, I just put my rings in a safe spot on top of our first aid box when I shower.) After all, items like this take up valuable surface space in a small home.
