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Simple Living Newsletter In this Issue
Current News Christmas on Jane Street William Morrow will publish a special 10th anniversary edition of Simple Living Tips It's Summer and the Living Is Simple.... and Easy! Buy Local Produce The flavors and colors of summer are available now at your local farmers' market, orchard, or curbside stand. Support your local economy by getting your fruits, vegetables and flowers close to home. Besides, fresh food is full of nutrients and vitamins and just plain tastes better. Continue to Conserve Rain barrels and other containers are great for collecting water from those passing summer thunderstorms. Use that water on your lawn and garden. If you do water with sprinklers, skip days when rain is in the forecast. And divert as much of your "grey water" from baths and household use to your lawn and garden. Wanda leaves Henry's bathwater in the bathtub for a day or two and scoops it out for her watering can. Mowing Tips The carbon emissions from one mowing session with a gas-powered mower can equal that of three cars. Consider an old-fashioned reel mower, or even an electric. If you do use a gas mower, try to mow during early morning or early evening hours. Mowing the hottest part of the day makes a larger contribution to ground-level ozone. Eco-friendly Summer Skin Conventional sunscreens contain toxic chemicals that can harm both your skin and the delicate ecology of our oceans. Traditional bug repellents contain harmful neurotoxins such as DEET. There are all natural alternatives that are widely available. Consider using these on your “summer skin.” Day-Tripping Consider a day trip close to home instead of a full-length vacation. Opt to take the rest of your vacation days at home. Get creative and plan fun activities for your own backyard. You’ll save money, time, and reduce your carbon footprint.
Calls to Action Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska is broadcast on public television stations reaching over half of the United States. If we're in your area, call your station to tell them you enjoy the show! If we're not broadcast in your market, call and request our series. Help us spread the word about the simple living lifestyle. Remember, nothing's too small to make a difference, and a call or email to your public television affiliate is a small gesture that can make a big difference to you and those who live in your area. To find your local PBS station, just type in your zip code on the “PBS Station Finder” on our homepage. Thanks for your support! Pass it on Know anyone who might be interested in our newsletter? Click here to forward this email to up to 5 friends at once. |
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Interest in voluntary simplicity is heating up! A recent article in the New York Times (May 17, 2008) declares: “Though it may not be the stuff of the typical American dream, the voluntary simplicity movement, which traces its inception to 1980s Seattle, is drawing a great deal of renewed interest, some experts say.” As people face new levels of debt, the economy stumbles, and the planet is in increasing danger, people are turning to the age-old philosophy of “less is more.” And soon, New Society Publishers will be presenting a new book, tentatively titled "Less Is More: Voluntary Simplicity in Troubled Times." This anthology of essays will be edited by long-time colleagues and friends Cecile Andrews and Wanda Urbanska. The book will feature many of the names that brought simplicity to the public eye in the past fifteen years including Duane Elgin, author of "Voluntary Simplicity," Juliet Schor, author of "The Overworked American" and "The Overspent American," John de Graaf, author of "Affluenza" and "Take Back Your Time," and Peter Whybrow, author of "American Mania: When More Is Never Enough," among others. Wanda Urbanska was one of the first to explore these themes in her books co-authored with Frank Levering, including "Simple Living," "Moving to a Small Town" and "Nothing's Too Small to Make a Difference." In "A Circle of Simplicity," Cecile Andrews focuses on bringing people people together in “simplicity circles” to support each other as members explore living more simply. Urbanska continues to take her message to the people with her popular television series. The book will help people improve their personal lives by providing guidance on becoming more conscious in the choices they make. As people learn to “stop and think” before they consume, they’ll reduce their debt, help the environment, and find more time for the things that matter. Their anthology will include a strong philosophical theme as well as a the practical one. People need to understand more deeply what it is that brings happiness. Many assume that if they’re rich, they’ll be happy, but research shows that after a certain point, more money does not bring increased happiness. What does? Strong, supportive relationships in the form of family, friends, and community. Thus a strong theme in the book will be how people can begin coming together in community. Whether it’s in their neighborhoods, their workplaces, faith groups, or simplicity circles. Editors Andrews and Urbanska are anxious to hear from the public about their concerns and the directions our lives are going. In particular, they would like to hear about the changes that individuals are making as they explore this new territory. To contact Cecile Andrews, contact cecile@cecileandrews.com and Wanda Urbanska at wandaurbanska@simplelivingtv.net. Meredith’s Musings - Notes from the Field 
SIMPLE LIVING: A PHILOSOPHY TO LIVE BY By Meredith Lloyd Moving. It’s usually something everyone dreads, and while my husband and I are not particularly enthusiastic about the amount of energy it will take to pack up three young children, a dog, and most of the contents of a house in which we have lived for four years, we are relishing the opportunity we have been given to put many new (to us) ideas into practice. This is the perfect time to make some changes in our lifestyle that may sound familiar to many of you, as they come straight out of the past four seasons of Simple Living. The first thing we did, well in advance of the move, was to sell my gas-guzzler of an SUV (which Wanda affectionately called “the behemoth” –she knew I’d come around eventually) for 1/3 of what we paid for it a year earlier (as demand for these soon-to-be relics has fallen drastically) and we replaced it with…nothing. That’s right, Nada. We are now a one-car family. Is it inconvenient? Yes, sometimes, but if you plan carefully, it works. Are we saving money? You better believe it. As if that were not incentive enough, we are also drastically reducing our carbon footprint. Our new house is less than two miles from where my husband and I will work, and where our children will go to school. We will not be driving as much, and therefore, we will even further reduce our carbon footprint. We are paring down with this move, as well. Many things are being sold, with proceeds going to finance the move, some are being donated, and some, recycled. We just have too much stuff! My oldest daughter made an accurate assessment when she told me she had so many things in her room, they made her “mind twirl.” My mind has been twirling way too long. It’s time to say “enough!” This is not to say that nothing new will ever cross the plane of the front door of our new house. Of course it will. However, each new thing will be subject to a sort of quiz. Whatever the thing is, we will have to be able to answer “yes” to at least one of the following questions to allow it in the house: 1. Is it a green product, or at least better for the environment than its competitor? 2. Is it local? 3. If not local, is it fair trade? 4. Is it organic? 5. Is it low or no VOC? 6. Is it harvested/made sustainably? I am extremely grateful for my time here as field producer. It has been an amazing experience. Although leaving Simple Living will be difficult, I am taking so much of it with me, as the key principles of the show will be put into practice every day in our new home. As I am transitioning from educational television into the field of education in the classroom, I'll start my new career as a language arts teacher for eighth graders at a school near Charlotte. (An added bonus: My children will enroll there, and I'll teach there alongside my husband.) In the classroom, I'll be incorporating the lessons learned here into my curriculum every day of the week. It's something I'm looking forward to!
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