Sustainable Minimalists

By Stephanie Seferian

Kids & Family

What's Sustainable Minimalists about?

Creating eco-friendly, minimalist homes (without the extra work).

4.8

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When Minimalism Feels Overw...

02.02.2023

Organizing mega-influencer Marie Kondo made headlines earlier this week when she admitted to "kind of giv(ing) up" on tidying after having her third child. If, like Marie, you're feeling overwhelmed and disillusioned with minimalism, today's episode is here to help. ...

Sustainable Minimalists episodes:

02.02.2023 When Minimalism Feels Overwhelming Organizing mega-influencer Marie Kondo made headlines earlier this week when she admitted to "kind of giv(ing) up" on tidying after having her third child. If, like Marie, you're feeling overwhelmed and disillusioned with minimalism, today's episode is here to help. ...
01.31.2023 The Gifting Experience When we return an unwanted gift to the manufacturer, it goes back on the shelf to be resold, right? Wrong. Most returned gifts (5.8 billion tons, to be exact) end up in landfills each and every year. The solution lies ...
01.26.2023 Dark Chocolate's Dark Side Thanks to its rich supply of antioxidants, dark chocolate has long been revered for its health benefits. But there's a dark side to dark chocolate: Recent research has found heavy metals in many of our favorite brands. The worst part? ...
01.24.2023 How Ethical Is Your Chocolate? Ah, chocolate. While those decadent brown rectangles enjoy near-universal consumer love, the reality is far less sweet: Chocolate is one of the most unethical and unsustainable foods we eat. We can continue to enjoy chocolate by purchasing smarter. Today's show ...
01.19.2023 Intentional Screen Time and Slow TV 70% of American parents worry their children spend too much time on screens. Are you one of them? Here's a preview: [3:00] The implications of multiple screen shifts on attention span and executive functioning [5:00] Exactly how much screen time ...
01.17.2023 Defend The Eco-Trend: Algae Algae is having moments in many spotlights. First, innovators are using microalgae - not petrochemicals - to create disposable packaging. Elsewhere, macroalgae is fed to cows to reduce their methane emittance. And pesky algae blooms? There's actually a company that ...
01.12.2023 Valuable Minimalist Lessons A Top 10 list of minimalism's best and biggest life lessons. Here's a preview of a few we're covering: [4:00] Memories don't reside in trinkets. [10:00] Save so you can spend ... on what matters. [21:30] Extras keep us cluttered. ...
01.10.2023 Plant-Based Families From meat-free 'chicken' nuggets to non-dairy ice creams, plant-based foods that actually taste good are becoming increasingly available in grocery stores. In many ways it's never been easier to find kid-friendly and carnivore-friendly cuisine. So then why aren't more of ...
01.05.2023 Your Right To Repair Stuff breaks. In 2023, stuff breaks often. Few amongst us possess the knowledge to fix the evermore complex gadgets we use every day; worse, professional repairs (if they're even available) often cost more than replacing the item outright. What's a ...
01.03.2023 Finite Resources We may indeed live in a world in which we can get whatever we want whenever we want it, but there's a problem with such instant (and incessant!) gratification: Resources are finite. On today's show, a conversation with blogger and ...
12.20.2022 The Big Fix A conversation with energy policy advisor Hal Harvey and award-winning NY Times journalist Justin Gillis about exactly what we need to do more of in 2023 to ensure the planet remains habitable for our children. Here's a preview: [2:00] Is ...
12.15.2022 Clutter's Hidden Costs What your clutter is costing you, plus 5 guiding principles for mindful rehoming. Resources mentioned: Episode #105: The Dark Side Of Donating: Where Do Goodwill Donations Actually Go? Join our (free!) community here. Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on ...
12.13.2022 New Year New You When it comes to health-first resolutions (eat healthier! feel better in jeans!), it's unfortunate but true: such resolutions often fail shortly after January 1. On today's show Leeann Rybakov outlines what it really takes to make your health-centered New Year's ...
12.08.2022 Holding The Line It's the most wonderful time of the year, or is it? December can be stressful, expensive, and emotionally taxing; it's no wonder, then, that 3 in 5 Americans believe the holiday season negatively impacts their mental health. Enter interpersonal boundaries ...
12.06.2022 Gift Boundaries How do we kindly ask our parents and in-laws to stop buying into plastic junk culture for our children? Why would we even want to embark on such an uphill battle? Overwhelming amounts of gifts may be commonplace around the ...
12.02.2022 RE-RELEASE: Listeners Call In! 20+ Non-Consumer Gift Ideas When it comes to giving presents, sustainable minimalists understand that less is more and thoughtful is better. Indeed, minimalist holiday gift ideas don’t manifest themselves when walking the mall; you can’t find them by panic buying in the days leading ...
12.01.2022 Something For Nothing Are you getting all you can from your library? Libraries are quiet pillars of our communities that often get overlooked. That's unfortunate because libraries are one of the few places where you can truly get something for nothing. On today's ...
11.29.2022 Expansion Success is often accomplished with grit, resilience, and action. Still, many of us women are bogged down by countless pressures each and every day. Who has time to work toward goals when the obstacles in the way somehow feel both ...
11.22.2022 O Christmas Tree Ah, the holidays. The 5-ish weeks between Black Friday and New Year's Day tend to be an extended party of sorts in which many of us overspend, overeat/drink, overdecorate, and excessively waste. The excesses associated with the holidays come with ...
11.17.2022 From FOMO To JOMO Joy Of Missing Out (JOMO) is about actively turning from the external stimuli that neither serves nor ignites. And whereas Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO) is rooted in external validation, obtaining JOMO is a giant leap toward serving your internal ...
11.15.2022 Life Lessons Parenting the eco-minimalist way is, well, difficult. It's also an 18-ish year commitment that goes directly against societal norms. I'm no expert, but I do believe that impactful parenting starts by capitalizing on teachable moments. On today's show I speak ...
11.10.2022 The Attitude-Behavior Gap The attitude-behavior gap is a fancy schmancy research term that describes the discrepancy between what we say and what we do. When it comes to eco-minimalist living, many of us quietly experience an oversized gap between our values (save the ...
11.08.2022 Minimalism And Well-Being Many minimalists boast that living simply has improved their well-being in a myriad of ways. The problem, however, is that such statements are anecdotal. Does research back up these personal stories? What - if anything - does science say about ...
11.03.2022 How To Buy Laundry Detergent There's lots to consider when searching for an eco-friendly and non-toxic laundry detergent. Are those strips and pods actually environmentally conscious if they're wrapped in PVA? Why don't detergents offer a full list of ingredients on their packaging? As it ...
11.01.2022 Impulse Buys Let's face it: Impulse buys are fun in the moment. But what feels good in the short-term doesn't always jive with our long-term goals and quick decisions may not align with our core values. If you regularly buy on impulse, ...
10.27.2022 Too Much Of A Good Thing There's such a thing as too much of a good thing. The key to a balanced life lies in moderation, as any of us who's ever overdone it knows that excess quickly becomes miserable. On today's show we first discuss ...
10.25.2022 The Rescue Effect The World Wildlife Fund's Living Planet Report is a checkup on the health of Earth, and this year’s report is the most comprehensive yet. Spoiler alert: its findings aren't good. But all's not doom and gloom: Enter the Rescue Effect, ...
10.20.2022 Rise And Grind? 'Rise and Grind' reveres working for work's sake, and it's immensely popular. But grind culture is capitalism's fuel; worse, it diminishes you and me to cogs in the capitalist wheel. Today we're discussing hustle culture: What it is, who benefits ...
10.18.2022 Thousands Of Data Points Your favorite smartphone apps, your preferred weather forecaster, your go-to photo sharing app, and other seemingly benign technologies likely reveal details about your life to companies looking to collect consumer data. They're eager to gather thousands of data points on ...
10.18.2022 Thousands Of Data Points Your favorite smartphone apps, your preferred weather forecaster, your go-to photo sharing app, and other seemingly benign technologies likely reveal details about your life to companies looking to collect consumer data. They're eager to gather thousands of data points on ...
10.13.2022 Energy And The Good Life "I just listened to your podcast about waste and was surprised to hear that our energy consumption is so high in America! The problem is, I don't know where the energy is going, nor do I understand which things I ...
10.11.2022 Fashion "Rules" Fashion rules abound and, historically, it's the patriarchy that has embedded them into our collective psyche. That's right: women's clothing is heavily influenced by the opinions of men, and just a few of the most common man-inspired fashion "rules" include: ...
10.06.2022 Rapid Fire Q&A We're at it again! Today I'm answering 5 listener questions in a rapid-fire format. Here's a preview of the questions I'm answering today: [1:30] Are laundry detergent strips actually eco-friendly? What about TruEarth strips specifically? [7:00] Is eco-friendly pet parenting ...
10.04.2022 (Re)Purposeful Organization We often think the solution to our household woes lies in better organization, but marketing pros have commercialized tidiness. "Getting organized" often entails purchasing plastic totes and baskets: Before we know it, we've spent boatloads of money to put order ...
09.29.2022 Prioritizing Your Priorities "How can I make eco-minimalist choices when I truly don’t have the time? I’m divorced, have two children, and work full time. There simply aren’t enough hours in the day to care for the kids, earn an income, and run ...
09.27.2022 Taming Your Triggers Triggered much? It usually goes something like this: Someone in your life does SOMEthing: Maybe your boss criticizes your work. Perhaps your partner says something that hits you the wrong way. You child stalls as you're trying to get out ...
09.22.2022 Low-Waste Lunchboxes "One of the hardest things we haven’t been able to tackle is our kids' snacks: we still end up using a good amount of single use plastic wraps. Do you have any ideas?" Citing convenience, ultraprocessed foods are often sold ...
09.20.2022 Defend The Eco-Trend: Closed Loop Consumption Is the future refillable? When we look at the history of plastics, it's disheartening to realize that only 9% of all plastics ever created have been recycled. Another 12% has been incinerated; a whopping 79%, then, has accumulated in landfills ...
09.15.2022 Climate Reparations? A hotter planet is here, my friends. Don't believe me? Just turn on the news. On today's show we first break down major current climate events; we then ask ourselves a set of ethical quandaries. Should the global north pay ...
09.13.2022 Life's Changing Seasons When it comes to growing up, we tend to believe it's only for children. Adults, then, are assumed to be fully grown. But even us "grownups" are constantly changing, maturing, and evolving (and often at a rapid pace). Such inner ...
09.08.2022 Materialism's Sweet Spot "Much of the time I tell my kids that material possessions aren't that important, but I also want them to take care of the possessions they have. How should I best juggle these messages and still get my points across?" ...
09.06.2022 Clutter Blocks Many people try to 'Marie Kondo' themselves out of clutter but find themselves unsuccessful. The reason? Decluttering only sticks when you first examine the deep roots into why clutter accumulated in the first place. Today I speak with with celebrity ...
09.01.2022 The Golden Triangle A triangle is complete only when its three corners are intact. Our wellbeing similarly demands that three pillars work together in quiet harmony. The Australian Wellbeing Index is a 15-year-and-counting study with data from over 60,000 participants. The results remain ...
08.30.2022 Future-Conscious Thinking Many people — and many societies, for that matter — rely on short-sighted quick wins as their go-to when managing oversized problems. But what works in the short-term likely isn't best in the long run; worse, such near-sightedness rarely considers ...
08.25.2022 The Gas Stove Love Affair Good cooks cook on gas, or so we've been told. Any realtor will likely tell you that a gas stove ranks high on homebuyers' lists of new home must-haves, but are they good for us? Are they good for the ...
08.23.2022 The Kids' Clothes Conundrum Have you ever bought an irresistibly on-trend outfit for a child in your life? If so, I'm willing to bet it was worn just a handful of times (or perhaps not at all). Gendered children's fashion is a twentieth century ...
08.18.2022 The Right-To-Know Revolution In 1986, California passed Proposition 65. The legislation forced companies that sell products with chemicals linked to cancer and birth defects to label them as such. While the legislation was originally a gigantic win for environmentalists, these days it's a ...
08.16.2022 Defend The Eco-Trend: Bamboo In eco-leaning circles, bamboo is hot, hot, hot. The grass (yep, it's a grass!) is touted as the solution to deforestation and these days bamboo is the main fiber in some paper products, textiles, bathroom necessities, furniture, flooring, and more. ...
08.11.2022 A Better Bag When it comes to trash bags, there's plenty of confusing verbiage. Compostable? Biodegradable? Bags with post-consumer recycled content? While one could certainly make the argument that biodegradable and compostable trash bags aren't worth the money since they're headed to the ...
08.09.2022 Productive Pantries Your pantry can be your friend or your foe. When it's well-stocked and organized it will support your health goals, but disorganized spaces will likely derail your long-term wellness objectives. The worst part? Pantry staples that are marketed as healthy ...

Older episodes

Sustainable Minimalists

What's Sustainable Minimalists about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Sustainable Minimalists episodes:

When Minimalism Feels Overwhelming

The Gifting Experience

Dark Chocolate's Dark Side

How Ethical Is Your Chocolate?

Intentional Screen Time and Slow TV

Defend The Eco-Trend: Algae

Valuable Minimalist Lessons

Plant-Based Families

Your Right To Repair

Finite Resources

The Big Fix

Clutter's Hidden Costs

New Year New You

Holding The Line

Gift Boundaries

RE-RELEASE: Listeners Call In! 20+ Non-Consumer Gift Ideas

Something For Nothing

Expansion

O Christmas Tree

From FOMO To JOMO

Life Lessons

The Attitude-Behavior Gap

Minimalism And Well-Being

How To Buy Laundry Detergent

Impulse Buys

Too Much Of A Good Thing

The Rescue Effect

Rise And Grind?

Thousands Of Data Points

Thousands Of Data Points

Energy And The Good Life

Fashion "Rules"

Rapid Fire Q&A

(Re)Purposeful Organization

Prioritizing Your Priorities

Taming Your Triggers

Low-Waste Lunchboxes

Defend The Eco-Trend: Closed Loop Consumption

Climate Reparations?

Life's Changing Seasons

Materialism's Sweet Spot

Clutter Blocks

The Golden Triangle

Future-Conscious Thinking

The Gas Stove Love Affair

The Kids' Clothes Conundrum

The Right-To-Know Revolution

Defend The Eco-Trend: Bamboo

A Better Bag

Productive Pantries