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Minimalism is a Conduit to a Life of Freedom & Peace

 

 

We harbor and obtain so much stuff because of trying to establish a false sense of security. As we have evolved and progressed overall as human beings in terms of human society, we have unfortunately lost touch with the part of our selves that make us free. It is that side that made us want to go outside of our caves and tribes and want to explore and learn about life, nature and what else is out there in the world. It is the side of ourselves that requires embracing adventure. We certainly do not have this freedom if we are bound by a life filled with material obsessions, being chained to a high mortgage for a big house that we are too busy working for to find time to enjoy, organizing and searching for our junk because we just have too much (caveat: I had a recent frustrating event when I was looking for my only mouse pad, but still can’t find it as it is somewhere amongst my books and papers, which I still have too much of, but realize that I need to work on ASAP. I decided to use a book instead, and think I will toss the mousepad when I find it, then it will be one less thing to think about or look for.)

I was watching a BBC special called The Human Planet, and it was quite interesting to see native cultures still living the way they do, and how little they need. Granted, life is not easy as they go days without eating substantial food, and their mortality rate is very high. However, their simplicity of life evoke a certain freedom and peace that I saw I their eyes. I agree with Abraham Maslow that we do need to take care of our basic needs in the first 2 Steps of The Hierarchy of Needs, (such as food, shelter, clothing), physiological and safety, before we can seek to be our optimal self-actualized Self. However, it seems that in the world today, we get caught up on fulfilling those basic needs to an excess where they become wants. Yet, we fool ourselves that all these wants that we have are needs. Then, we wonder how come we have so much depression, stress and unhappiness. Well, we have forgotten the last three steps of The Hierarchy of Needs, being love/belonging, esteem, and at the top, self actualization. Last time I checked, these last 3 steps don’t require money or material things, but more so time. Time is one of the most valuable thing in life. We cannot gain back our lives or the time that we have lost. However, as humans, myself included, sometimes we forget that, and spend our time on frivolous things. For some, it is material things, for some, excess hobbies and interests, etc. This is what inspired me to begin this goal of minimalism, a goal of which I still don’t feel I have reached enough, but that I am continually working on.

Minimalism for me is not about reducing stuff to an arbitrary number or to have an empty hospital-looking home. The concept of minimalism in music or art is to reduce all elements to the basics. As a lifestyle, applying that stark definition is too limiting. It would be like considering only the first two steps on The Hierarchy of Needs. Minimalism as a lifestyle means reducing all the things that do not add value to me as a person, to my life and to the lives of the people I care about. This includes not only things, but hobbies, attitudes, and attachments. I seek to learn lessons from everything around me to achieve these goals. The most tangible way and frustrating also is to reduce my stuff. It is frustrating because I still have more to go in reducing my stuff, especially in terms of clothing and books. However, every week, I try to get rid of a few more. This sustained effort, like a healthy lifestyle (think healthy eating vs. extreme fad diets), is the key to success in many areas of life. Success for me would be being able to just have all my stuff fit into 5 or so suitcases, so I can just pick up and move to a new place in a few week’s notice. It is such an exciting thought. Sometimes, I get down on how far more I have to go. However, I have realized of late that what holds me back from letting more go is guilt and fear. It is the guilt of wasting so much money in the past, of others in the world wishing they had what I have and that I plan on donating or throwing away. It is the guilt of seeing my mother who I love dearly still work and hearing her tell me not to throw things out and waste things. It is also the valid human fear of being without, of not knowing if like the natives, I will be able to have the resources to obtain things for my survival. However, when I look at the natives in the BBC special, I don’t see half the fear in them that I and many of our society have, even though they live such stark lives, and have an 1/10 or 1/100 less than we have. Yet, they seem happy, at peace and free to have another day, another meal, time to enjoy life and their families. These are the people that inspire me and that I admire, not the multi-millionaires who own large mansions. Freedom, time and peace are truly some of life’s most invaluable gifts. Minimalism is a wonderful path for me to obtain these things. I hope that you also go forth today and take a step closer to these things.

Om Shanti Om

Minimalism is not a competition, or a one size fits all lifestyle, but a path.

I receive a comment recently that one reader did not think I was minimalist at all. While that reader is certainly entitled to an opinion, I think we need to be more compassionate with people and see how their lives may necessitate different things than ours. Minimalism is not a competition, or a one size fits all lifestyle, but a path.

I have reduced my items even more since I last posted the clothing items I own this post and I am indeed still trying to pare things down because it is an ongoing process as we bring things in and as things change in our lives. That being said, please consider my lifestyle:

1) I live in NY where we have 4 definitive seasons: winter, which necessitates me wearing 3 sweaters at once many days because I aenimic & always cold; summer, which necessitates tanks, pants and dresses as temperatures vary fro 70 – 100 and it gets muggy and clothes get dirty easily on NYC subway; and fall and spring, where the temperature varies from 50 to 80 degrees (In fact, it was 58-60 all week, and this weekend will be 80), so it can require a long sleeve tshirt  or mid weight sweater and even tshirts.

2) I work in a business setting that requires strictly business, not even business casual clothing. I meet clients often, and am judged on my image as a result, so I can’t wear 5 outfits every single week. I have pared down my choice in colors to red, black and navy, so that makes mixing and matching easier, but people notice if you’re wearing the same 5 things all the time.

3) I also have an active social life, and it is not practical for me to wear my strictly business clothing to do many activities.

4) I live in an apartment, and I am very hygienic, but I have to drive to the laundromat or walk 15 mins, then of course take time off to do it, so I don’t have the luxury and convenience of just having a few items that I can wash over and over.

5) I have not even mentioned the necessity for different shoes and coats for the different seasons.

With all that being said, I’m sure many people in my position do not dare to become minimalist even a bit. In fact, I know none, though will be glad to meet any so we can share tips. I know I will never be as minimalist as some people are with just 50 items or  who work from home, have more laid back jobs or live where the seasons are not so dramatic from one another.  However, I am trying to only keep what I use consistently, and not purchase superfluous things that I don’t use or need. I also try to purchase things from an ecological standpoint if I can afford them, but sometimes I can’t. I don’t eat animal flesh 80% of the time (20% flexible when I visit the homes of others or there are no nutritional options like tofu or eggs in restaurants as I am allergic to wheat flour products, such as seitan. In these cases, I will consume only seafood.)

As they say in yoga practice, a little sustained effort is better than extreme, but scanty effort, so that is what I’m trying to do – to be a little more minimalist as my life permits each day.

I welcome any suggestions that you may have. I encourage those who are trying to lessen their load as well.

Om Shanti Om.

Contact Dermatitis from Fabric

Another reason for using natural fabrics…It seems with more and more findings about the danger of chemicals used in our clothing not only for health and for the environment, it seems the safest bet is organic cotton, fair trade/ethical silk and fair trade/ethical wool. Check out this article for allergy and rash due to clothing, particularly synthetics. Some synthetics are reported not to cause dermatitis, but all synthetics are made with other dangerous chemicals, so to be on the safe side, it might not be a bad idea to not take the risk.

http://www.cottonique.com/blogs/blog/2424702-the-contact-dermatitis-and-clothing-connection

 

http://oecotextiles.wordpress.com/2011/01/04/formaldehyde-in-your-fabrics/

Lessons from Traveling – Minimize Clothing Clutter, Save Time, Get More Done, Have More Fun!

I traveled recently to South America and Florida for family reasons, then to Madrid, Spain for personal reasons, all within a time span of 2 months. I love traveling for so many reasons, but I usually am not equipped with the extra financial abundance or time to do. As a matter of fact, the last time I traveled aside from Connecticut was 2 years ago.

Traveling teaches us so many lessons about life and necessities. I always come back so reflective of what I really need in life.

On my trip to South America and Madrid, I actually over-packed. I was quite disappointed in myself in that arena. I packed 8 tops and 6 bottoms for South America thinking it will be hot, so I will need to change often, and being that I was there for 2 and a half weeks. However, I ended up wearing the same 4 bottoms over and over, and the same 5 tops. I did sweat like crazy from the heat, but I had access to water, soap and a clothes line, so  I just washed my tops and bottoms twice when I was there. This also taught me the importance of good quality materials because one of my skirts that I rarely wear was in bad shape after 2 washes. To my credit, what I was smart about in packing was all black and white clothing, save for 1 red top and 1 blue top. I did so because I went for a funeral, and for such a situation, I did not want to be bothered with worrying about matching my clothing. However, it affected me after even more because it was so freeing, and really allowed me an extra 15 minutes (+ an extra 10 save because I didn’t do makeup and such) to do important things for my family each morning, such as make sure we all eat.

I was in Madrid for 5 days, and I packed an extra boot in case we go out (in addition to the one I was wearing) and sneakers for sightseeing. Well, I never wore that extra boot, and it was just added weight for no reason. Since, I was staying at a hotel and did not have access to a clothes line, I packed 6 bottoms and 7 tops. I only wore 3 bottoms, and 4 tops because I really didn’t care if people in a foreign city saw me in the clothes 2 days in a row. We were there to have fun, and just get away from the chaos in my life due to tragedy and stress. The last thing on my mind was if I looked perfect or to garner attention. I was with my husband anyway, so who cares, especially when he takes 5 minutes to get dressed himself, and likes when I dress no fuss.

What I learned from that trip was that I should have stuck to my color scheme that I packed in South America. While I packed clothes that match at least one other item, a lot of the items were not worn because the teal and red colors were just too loud, and took so much thought. I love that Europeans dress so subtly, and look so elegant, in subtle colors and styles, and that was a lesson to me as well. When there is less things to match and less care about garnering attention, and more attention paid on being comfortable and looking appropriate, people look so elegant and effortless. I love being American, but we can learn a lot from Europe in this regard. It was in the high 60s to 70s there, and I didn’t see girls in short skirts or shorts without tights or stockings because they are more conservative. What a relief it was to see people not wearing just tights and a tee shirt. lol. The tights as pants thing drives me nuts because they are an accessory, not pants. lol.

From the standpoint that before I started a minimalist path a few years ago when I was becoming a bit of a pack-rat due to my compulsive shopping to stave away stress, I came a far way in paring down my clothes. I have reduced my clothing by only having silk, cotton/silk blend and merino wool since my skin is very sensitive and these fabrics last longer.I have also reduced my clothing by sticking to just a few colors in addition to neutrals, and trying to have interchangeable pieces for work and casual, which has been a but of a challenge because my work is so conservative, and I dress very casually. I also did capsule wardrobes and make sure each of my tops match with 1/3 of my bottoms, but it still wastes time and takes up room in my closet. All of these methods are discussed in this blog, and they are great starting points for those who are new to the minimalist path, revisiting it, or are having troulbe deciding what to donate and what to keep.

Yet, once we have a hang of the minimalist lifestyle, we all need to evaluate even methods to work well for even better ones. I was annoyed at myself that I wasted so much space packing excess clothing during traveling. All my items fit in a duffel bag, but they were wrinkled because they were stuffed so tightly. Half the number of items would mean that it would have been easier to carry, less time thinking about what to match/wear, and neater looking clothes. One of my minimalist roadblocks has been reducing my clothing even further, though I have about have less than 150 clothing items (not including socks and undergarments) total, which accommodates 4 New York seasons and multiple lifestyles (work and casual). Yet, now we can pare even further down by adding a few more rules. Here is my plan to pare down my wardrobe further

COLOR IS THE KEY

ALL tops and bottoms match and go together.

All main clothing items – tops and bottoms – should be neutrals. A pop in color in one or two colors will be used for accessories -  a few 2 red, leopard and one pink scarves, red and leopard shoes

I am keeping only tops in white, ivory, tan, nude/dusty pink and a few leopard

I am keeping bottoms in grey, tan, pinstripe and navy

My shoes an bags are already simple: 2 tan, 1 black, 1 red

I don’t have black bottoms except for 2 dress pants for interviews because it attracts dust and lint, and I don’t want to be bothered with the extra time to care for it. I choose off white colors because white gets dingy fast, and requires bleaching which is bad for the skin and the environment.ALL my tops and bottoms go together. I am not a matchy matchy type of person because it looks too contrived. I just want the colors to not clash and look odd, but subtle and elegant. If I want a pop of color, I will wear a red tee shirt under peaking up an inch or wear a red bag or shoes.

FABRIC/QUALITY

Go for the best quality. It will mean less clothing clutter and time saved from having to shop.

I have learned over the years that it is better to buy one pair of lightweight wool slacks that will last you years than 5 polyester ones for the same price that will wear out in a year. I wash my wool slacks on the gentle cycle or hand wash and hang dry because they are lightweight. They can be worn in the summer or winter.

I restrict my wardrobe to just the finest merino wool, silk and silk/cotton blend (cotton by itself deteriorates after a few washes). I have sensitive skin so I cannot wear synthetics, and synthetics are bad for the environment because they don’t decompose and they ware out faster so that means more items added to the landfill. I know that wool and silk production are not always humane or environmentally friendly, but there are a lot or organic efforts out there if you can afford them. I cannot afford all of them at the moment, but I try to buy a few items only that will last a long time, so that I am not contributing too much to these negative effects. I also shop vintage often via ebay or thrift shops. End of the season sales are also a great option to get great quality at a good price.

MULTITASK YOUR WARDROBE

I hate having clothing in so many different categories, i.e. work, formal, casual, etc. It means more items, less space in the house, and more thought on deciding what to wear. While, I cannot eliminate clothing when it comes to the seasons because we have four seasons in NY, I am going to start wearing my work clothes casually, and get rid of some of my tee shirts and casual sweaters. I will wear pencil skirts with work jersey type blouses, silk blouses, and camis that I wear under blazers. I will also wear my jeans with blazers, silk blouses and camis from work. That should trim my items down a bunch.

So, there you go everyone. I think you can still look elegant without much thought in the morning or at any time, and while maximizing your space, and minimizing your cleaning time. It just requires some thought and work now. Now I am off to declutter my closet further. Don’t forget to tell me your experiences. Om Shanti.

In my next post, I will tell you how I conquered my library. I went from being a bookaholic with over 100 hundred books in my minimalist life (more before then) to less than 20 physical books.

Charities that Pick Up

I don’t have a car or a charity near me, so I recently donated to this charity. http://www.vvapickup.org/web/pageDetail.aspx?pgID=home

They pick up from your house and leave a tax receipt. You don’t even need to be home. I will research more charities like this in the future. Of course, please continue your donations to Goodwill , Salvation Army, Thrift Shops, Nursing Homes, Hospitals, Community Centers. There are lots of charities out there if you look. So many people are in need. Throwing things out waste money, doesn’t help others and just harms the landfills.

Minimalist Guide to Loosing Weight or Getting Healthy/Fit

It has been some time since I have posted because I have been busy with classes and job hunting.

Being so busy, I do not always have time to dedicate to my health. I am sure many of you can relate to that statement. However, the truth is, that our health – mentally as well as physically is something that we should put first no matter how busy we are. The key in doing so is incorporating healthy habits every day and into your routine. It does not involve complicated diets or exercise plans. You don’t even need to get a gym membership, which is certainly something I cannot afford since I am not working, and even if I was, I am not sure if I would fully take advantage of. So, here I will give you some simple tips that have made me loose a few extra pounds, not because I was trying to get skinny because I am fairly thin, but purely because I wanted to be heathly. Just because you are thin does not mean your are healthy, and just because you are a little more than the arbitrary weight charts say does not mean that you are not!

1. Change Your Goal

I have to emphasize that you must start this with a positive attitude. That begins with seeing the beauty in yourself, no matter what your size or what the media portrays. Let your goal be solely to get healthy, not to be a certain weight or fit into a certain size or to look like a certain celebrity.

2. Filter your Vision

Restrict all attention to media that makes you self conscious. This means limit looking at fashion magazines to one day only a week when you are feeling positive or eliminating them completely if you feel they don’t really interest you (i.e. you only pick them up because they are around). Also, limit your television viewing to shows that actually have substance, make you laugh, or intrigue you, not shows with people who make you feel bad about yourself (i.e. the Hills, Extra, etc.)

3) Have a Reasonable Goal

As I said before, stop looking at those silly weight charts. They are quite arbitrary. Your weight does not depend on your height alone, but your bone structure, and your bone density. Instead choose a goal such as, eating 20% less carbs/protein/fat/etc. (whatever you feel you need to have a balanced diet), exercising a total of 2 hours a week, having less than 26% body fat, to be healthy enough to engage in activities with your friends, etc.

4) Filter your Refrigerator & Pantry

I cannot emphasize how important this is. I used to feel bad to throw food out because I thought of all the starving children and people right here in the U.S. and the world. This led me to consuming such insane amounts of sugar that I got hives. Yes, hives from sugar, not to mention regular pimples. If you have a lot of unopened junk food and snacks in your pantry, donate them to a homeless organization, soup kitchen or a homeless person you often see (if you give them canned goods, please give them can opener because they don’t have one). For opened items, if they are safe, feed them to birds or pets. Don’t feed animals things that are not healthy for them, though. Some things you will have to throw out, but remember that you are not helping the world by being unhealthy to your own self. You must take care of yourself first because you can effectively help others.

Of course, don’t purchase these unhealthy items and restock your pantry. Defeats the purpose, eh? Purchase healthy snacks, like fresh fruits or even dried fruits, as long as they have less than 10% added sugar content. For salty, savory snacks, purchase whole grains, or other healthy snack. Eat nuts also. I am allergic, so I cannot do so. I have drawn a liking to dried anchovies, and my husband likes dried squid. We are weird, I know. lol. For these snacks, make sure there are very little preservatives. I want to learn to dry my own.

5) Cook More or Eat Natural When Out

You don’t have to be a good cook. In fact, I find it easier to cook simple, quick  meals because if they are complicated, I am tempted to grab something outside. Reserve complicated meals for weekends and special occassions. Only buy fresh foods to cook. Chop them up or peel them and freeze them in portion sizes on weekends or days you have a lot of time. This way they retain their nutritional content, and you will not make the excuse that you don’t have time to prepare food or purchase. Cooking at home helps you to appreciate natural foods, and I find a joy in cutting my own vegetables and such. To make your life easier, cook a few times a week, so it is not so time consuming.

If you don’t have time to cook, when you purchase take out, order as natural foods as possible. Avoid fried goods, foods with too much oil, fast food, too much meat or excessive simple carbohydrates (sugar).

6. Exercise Daily in Short Increments

Odds are you are not going to find time for the large interval, and may even dread it when you do find time. Studies show that shorter incrementa are better anyway. So, walk 15 minutes to/from the subway (30 mins total). Get off an earlier train stop if you have to. If you drive to work, park the car, don’t go in the house and leave your stuff in the trunk, and walk 20 mins. You will feel energized or at least more positive when you enter the house. It will also give your mind time to clear before you do your evening chores. You will be more positive, and more happy to great your spouse and children, instead of wishing they would leave you alone. Which leads me to the last item below. I want to add, if you are a housewife, try to take the long way to the grocery store, or leave your yoga mat or exercise ball out, and hit it early in the morning before your mind finds other things to distract you with.

7. Find 10 minutes each day to be alone

You don’t need to be like Yogis, Zen monks or minister and meditate/pray for hours each day. Just take a few minutes to just relax and not think, and just feel your body and hear the sounds around you. Don’t say words in your mind. If you like to pray in your faith, take a few minutes to clear your mind before you pray. Your prayer will be deeper and more meaningful. Your 10 minutes can be in Lotus position like Eastern traditions do, during a yoga or exercize session or even in your morning walk. Just clear your mind of thoughts of the future, the past, of expectations or obligations.

This helps you really center yourself and will help your health because it will relax you. A lot of our bad habits are due to stress. As you pause your mind and listen to your body more, you will become centered and want to be nicer to your body.

I hope these tips were helpful to you. I will post again on this topic in the future.Your comments are greatly appreciated. Good luck on your path to better mental and physical health.

Minimalist Guide to Clothing Fabrics

Would you willingly put formaldehyde (a chemical that causes allergic dermatitis and has been shown to cause long term health problems, such as cancer as noted in this article on your skin everyday? Well, to my surprise, many clothing are made with formaldehyde and washing does not reduce the concentration in the clothing.

According to this article, the below fabrics most likely have formaldehyde:

• Rayon
• Blended cotton
• Corduroy
• Wrinkle-resistant 100% cotton
• Shrink-proof wool
• Any synthetic blended polymer (Eg rayon, polyester-cotton) • Heavy stiff fabrics

An added note, rayon is made from wood pulp that has been treated with chemicals, including caustic soda and sulphuric acid.

The below materials are not treated with formaldehyde resins:

• 100% silk
• 100% linen (if it wrinkles easily)
• 100% polyester
• 100% acrylic
• 100% nylon
• Spandex
• Flannel (if soft)
• Denim (jeans)
• Wool

However, I would just choose 100% silk, linen, wool, and 100% cotton though not the wrinkle resistant kind, as this article notes “Nylon and polyester are made from petrochemicals, whose production creates nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas that’s 310 times more potent than carbon dioxide; Acrylic fabrics are polycrylonitriles, which may be carcinogenic.”

Gap/Old Navy/Banana Republic; Eddie Bauer; Liz Claiborne; Levi Strauss do not use formaldehyde. Levis has been using organic cotton, and Gap is making efforts to do so as noted in this media release. I am not sure about Eddie Bauer and Liz Claiborne.

Conclusions

So again, I strongly advise everyone to buy organic clothing in natural fibers if you can afford it. This post, as well as the comments from readers to the post, provides many affordable organic clothing options. Organicconsumers.org is also a one of the best resources I have come across for more information on organic clothing.

For those who cannot afford organic, I strongly advise you to purchase items at thrift shops so that you are not contributing to a second round of pollution to the environment in terms of the chemicals to produce clothing, the water pollution and addition to landfill.

When purchasing at thrift shops, only buy 100% silk, 100% wool, 100% linen, and 100% cotton to avoid the dangerous chemicals in synthetics that cause skin allergy as well as serious long term health effects.

My post on Natural Fabrics provides more information on why natural fabrics are better; and my post on Thrift Store shopping gives some tips on the Pros and Precautions of Thrift Shopping.

Silver Lining

I was disturbed that these dangerous chemicals are being used in clothing. However, I am looking at the bright side. I donated 90% all my synthetic clothing over the years due to my skin being allergic to them. Having less options for clothing makes it easier to be minimalist and focus on things that matter. I certainly do not go shopping when I am feeling down as I did before. Now, I just watch a documentary or a good movie, read a book or informative blog. There is less temptation of consumerism because I do not window shop or go into random stores on my walk to the subway or when I am about in Manhattan as I know most of these stores don’t have organic clothing or have mostly synthetic items. When I do need something, I go to the thrift store whenever possible, or otherwise buy organic or 100% natural materials.

There are many negative choices that corporations makes without regard to the health and well being of consumers, but we consumers are not helpless. We should let our purchase speak for our values by buying organic and fair trade items as much as we can, and thrift when we are not able to economically.

Have a happy and healthy day!

Minimalist Wardrobe – Choosing less means less attachment & more humanity + Affordable Organic Clothing

As I have indicated in the past, my main goal for minimalism is to have a more streamlined life, where I can focus on the things that matter the most to me, as well as be an ecologically conscious consumer as much as I can.

I have sensitive skin, so can only wear natural materials, such as silk, cashmere, cotton and merino wool. However, even with natural materials, which have an ecological advantage because they biodegrade faster, we must be very mindful of our consumer decisions.

LEATHER

I abstain from wearing leather coats because I imagine that it will cost the lives of more cows to produce them. I do own a few leather shoes, but this is only because polyurathane or plastic material for waterproof footware is very difficult to bio-degrade and they also don’t last long, so there is a need to buy more and pollute more.  The leather shoe decision is one where I had to choose a lesser evil. Perhaps one day there will be more afforable, ecologically produced leather shoes. In the mean time, I do not purchase excess leather shoes than I need because it is not worth the lives of animals for vanity.

FUR

I do not wear fur at all because there are just too many alternatives to stay warm, which don’t require killing animals.

WOOL

Wool is more humane than fur and leather as the sheep are not killed to obtain fur, but of course, purchase only as few as necessary. Also, I was disturbed to find out there are inhumane practices in some countries. For instance, as this article on PETA.com notes, Australian wool producers engage in museling (the removal of wool and skin near the sheep’s rear end to prevent fly-strike). The link will provide an address to write to the Australian PM to stop this practice. You can also, of course, boycott by not wearing Australian wool. All it takes is taking a look at the garment tag as to where the material was made.

Organic wool is also on the rise. Orangic wool production does not expose sheep to pesticides and hormones, and does not engage in inhuman practices. You may check this link if you want further detail. I am sure that it is more costly than regular wool, but for a minimalist lifestyle, you ideally only buy items once in a blue and only on a need basis, so perhaps you can see it as a worthy purchase rather than buying lots of cheaper, less ecological materials.

SILK

I love the feel of silk because it is the least irritating of all fabrics on my skin. However, I was distressed to find out the inhuman practice of silk production. As this site explains, moths/silkworms are killed to prevent them from breaking the silk thread as they leave from their cocoons. The cocoons are from where the silk threads are reeled.  It takes 1000 cocoons to produce a silk shirt, as noted in this article. While some may not care about silkworms since they are bugs, killing so many innocent creatures is still not worth the vanity, since there are other alternatives. While I won’t throw away my existing silk as to not completely waste the sacrifice of the lives of those creatures, I will not buy silk again, unless it is organicly and humanely produced.

Since I am unemployed, and even when I worked, not making alot of money, I purchase thrift items (in natural materials) to be ecologically conscious. I will not be buying any more soon, however, because I have enough clothing and footwear now, and am always trying to weed out my closet even more as I feel it is still not minimalist enough. After all, it is important in a minimalist lifestyle to always be mindful of not letting more in and sending more out that you don’t truly need.

For those who would like mid range priced organic clothing, check out this post for 5 affordable eco-friendly retailers.

5 Affordable Eco-Friendly Retailers

Below are the links for the stores.

Rawganique                           http://www.rawganique.com/

American Apparel              http://americanapparelorganics.com/buy.html

Levis                                         http://www.levistrauss.com/

Jonano                                     http://www.jonano.com/

REI                                            http://www.rei.com/

I welcome any other suggestions as well to help me and other readers.

—————————————————————

aparigrahasthairye janmakathamtasambodhah
One who is not greedy is secure. He has time to think deeply.
His understanding of himself is complete. ~ Yoga Sutra II.39

“The more we have, the more we need to take care of it. The time and energy spent on acquiring more things, protecting them and worrying about them cannot be spent on the most basic questions of life. What is the limit to what we should possess? For what purpose, for whom and for how long? Death comes before we have had time to even begin considering these questions.”

(Translation and commentary of translation of Yoga Sutra II.39 by TKV Desikachar)