Leo Babauta, Author of the mnmlist
Leo Babauta
I am an architect by training, so I think everything is about design. When I started with TreeHugger five years ago I wrote my bio:
Lloyd became convinced that we just use too much of everything- too much space, too much land, too much food, too much fuel, too much money, and that the key to sustainability is to simply use less. And, the key to happily using less is to design things better.
That is why I think there is such a relationship between frugal green living and the architectural concept of minimalism; The less stuff you have, the less money you spend to store and maintain it and the better it looks. That is also why I am such a fan of Leo Babauta, who writes Zen Habits and mnmlist, the cleanest and most minimal site on the internet. His recent post, the Price of convenience, has some interesting lessons.
We're a society of conveniences, more than anything else. But at what price?
The global warming crisis, for example, has been entirely caused by conveniences, and the solution, many say, must be just as convenient as the problem: electric cars, clean energy, smart homes, organic convenience foods. I'm not entirely convinced -- I think we're going to need to rethink our love of conveniences.
Leo looks at everything from the car to our diet, and notes that all of our conveniences have a real cost, both personally and externally. He concludes:
I once said we should unautomate, and it's a thought that we should come back to often. It's inconvenient to hang dry clothes, but it's also pleasant and sustainable. Having a small home garden is not as convenient as relying on agribusiness, and yet it's worth the price of inconvenience. Walking, biking, and taking mass transit isn't so convenient, but it's much more enjoyable and sustainable than relying on cars.
Good points. More at mnmlist
