A minimalistic way of life is only a part of sustainable living, and if you are opting for an eco-friendly life, then you have to embrace minimalism with all its perks. Luckily, there are more than you can imagine. A minimalistic way of life brings us closer to our most essential values and teaches us how to be more satisfied with what we have and enjoy life as it is. This doesn’t mean that you have to give up on improving your life, but merely learn how to focus on what’s truly important to you. Continue reading to find out more about some changes you can incorporate into a minimalistic way of life.

Declutter your living space

Living surrounded by piles of unnecessary stuff is the worst enemy of minimalism. In a consumerist world, we tend to gather and pile up a lot of things that we keep “just in case”, although this case is very unlikely to happen. Moreover, we tend to get attached to all this stuff and avoid throwing it away, so we keep it all and hoard more and more. Eventually, we find ourselves overwhelmed by our own clutter, living like hamsters trapped under piles of their own shed fur. Distance yourself from the things you piled up by simply asking: “What are the odds of me needing this in the near future?” Once we realize that our stuff doesn’t define us, we are already one step closer to a minimalistic lifestyle.

What you want is not equal to what you need

Although this might sound obvious, nowadays, it’s very hard to differentiate the two. Thanks to globalization, personalized ads and overall aggressive marketing, we are led to believe that we need all the stuff that we might like. Once your search engine makes an algorithm from your search history, it’s already late, because all your social media feeds will be covered in boots that you’ve recently searched for. It’s never been as important as it is now to understand how these mechanisms work and try not to be hypnotized by them. Before urgently typing in your credit card number to buy those boots, think about how many pairs you already have. Do you really NEED another pair, or are you buying them just because they are on sale? 

Give wardrobe items a second chance

A good way to embrace minimalism is to start living sustainably and Earth-friendly, and you can do so by immersing into the world of second-hand and thrift shops. Many people are repelled by the mere idea of wearing clothes that someone else has worn before them. If you’re a part of this group, there are some facts about the second-hand businesses that you should know. First of all, many items that come to second-hand shops have never been worn. Moreover, a lot of those that have been worn were only used once or twice. For instance, you can find beautiful silver earrings straight from the box that someone was saving for a special occasion, but never got to wear them. Stuff you buy in the store has been tried on more times than that.

Finally, the prices here represent the actual value of the clothes without the industry behind it. It does take more time to find just the right piece than it would when shopping online, but it’s worth a shot if you wish to lead your way to a waste-free life.

In the end, it’s important to learn how to recognize quality. You have to train your eye to carefully examine details in order to know what will last and will not. This way, you will buy less stuff, enjoy higher quality products and also live in a minimalistic manner. The choice is all yours.

Fiona is a lifestyle blogger based in Melbourne, Australia. She's in love with good coffee, croissants and fashion magazines. In her spare time, she plays tennis and travels around the world. You can read more from her on her blog High Style Life.