All You Need Is Less

In a book by a former sports star, I was surprised to find an anecdote on what he calls "possessions mania".

We set out to attain the things that we want, when and where we want them. Most of us do just that: attain, accumulate, collect. Enough is never enough. The more we get, the more we want.
The big crunch comes when we realise what all that comfort, convenience and "stuff" costs. We have to pay for it, keep track of it, protect it, clean it, store it, insure it and worry about it.

It turns out that this particular sports star is also an architect, and has seen it from that side.

I know people who have used the services of an architect to design elaborate storage spaces, in the form of a "house extension" for the sole purpose of housing excess possessions.

On top of the emotional and financial drain, there's also the impact of factories around the world churning out excess amounts of junk which just ends up in landfill.

All of this has inspired me to write about ways we can reduce the junk, and unnecessary possessions, in our lives. I read that Australians spend $10.5 billion dollars a year on things we don't (or rarely) use. That's a lot of cash - and a lot of pointless greenhouse gas.