- Make what you need. If you run out of lip balm, make your next tube. If you love yogurt, make some more. You can make most of the things you would buy.
- Learn to want less. We need food, water, air, shelter, exercise, meaning, and love. We want comfort, beauty, entertainment, sensuality, and so much more. Control your desire to consume and learn that you can live on much less.
- Choose your projects based on need and interest. Do you love eating tempeh? Make some. Always wanted to learn to garden indoors? Do it. A note on pretty DIY projects: Yes, we all crave beauty. Craft a home that reflects the beauty of your spirit, of your dreams and imagination. Don't just start a project because you're bored and the tutorial online looks pretty.
- Use what you have. Upcycle and re-use, don't buy new materials. Be resourceful.
- Source materials that are used, free (gifted, traded, found, dumpstered), local, and recycled. If you really need something you don't have, do what you can to avoid buying new and imported.
- Choose function and frugality over appearance. Don't buy fancy fleur-de-lis contact paper to decorate your new plastic wall-hung organizers, no matter how well it matches the curtains. That's just wasteful.
- Learn skills as you go. Don't let inexperience stop you. Read, plan, read some more, learn from others, and give it a shot!
- Ask others for help. Other people are so smart! Ask questions, work together, and build community.
- Teach others what you know. Trade your skills. Network, barter, organize skillshares - the more everyone knows, the better.
- Consume less, produce more. Radical DIY returns the power of production to your hands; it doesn't lead you to consume more.
You might like:
- What Makes Homemaking Radical, Again?
- Forget 'All or Nothing' - Do Something!
- Ecological Footprint: Live Simply So Others May Simply Live
- Bend Towards Justice - MLK's Legacy
This post shared at Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Simple Lives Thursday, Sunday School, and Your Green Resource.
- What Makes Homemaking Radical, Again?
- Forget 'All or Nothing' - Do Something!
- Ecological Footprint: Live Simply So Others May Simply Live
- Bend Towards Justice - MLK's Legacy
This post shared at Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Simple Lives Thursday, Sunday School, and Your Green Resource.