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Forums - General Discussion - I Want to Become a Minimalist

Vini256 on 24 November 2018

I've been getting into a minimalist lifestyle for a while now and I think it's great. It all started when I decided to sell my Wii U and 3DS (And all their games) to save up for the Switch (Which at this point wasn't even announced yet). When selling those games I realized that I didn't really feel like owning physical media anymore since it wasted a lot of space and especially since I like to keep everything in pristine condition and was getting sick of cleaning/dusting off my collection all the time. So nowadays I'm 100% digital with my games, be it on PC or the Switch. I'm not much of a reader so I don't own a lot of books (I do have some manga though), but I've been wanting to start reading more and I'll probably get a Kindle soon so everything I read will be digital from now on. I also really want to move to another country after I graduate, so the less stuff I own, the better.



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Nighthawk117 on 24 November 2018

I'll say this much....I can't stand clutter. It pisses me off. I can't stand being around people who are pack rats - and my mother is the biggest one I know.
I can't stand clutter in any room, nor in the cupboards, and especially in the refrigerator. I buy only enough food so that I don't have to throw any of it away - but I will toss it in the garbage instead of letting it rot away.

So, yes, like the OP, I like open, clean spaces. Why live in a large house or apartment? That only means you have to buy more furniture and other crap to fill in the spaces - and then you gotta clean/dust/vacuum/mop the whole gigantic goddamn place. Or hire a maid.



Conina on 24 November 2018
Signalstar said:
Farsala said:
"I have not had a car for about 4 years. I prefer public transportation and it is better for the environment." and "I like to travel. I visited two countries this year."

Those 2 quotes are a bit contradictory, A car and road tripping around your own country would probably save more than a plane ticket and public transportation.

If you traveled to another country by plane, then that is not being minimalist to the environment. As a person seeking to travel a lot myself, I am well aware of just how harmful flying is to the environment. Using a car or public transportation pales in comparison. For example in my car, I filled it 5-10 times a year, which is about 50-100 gallons ( or 189 to 378 liters), a single round trip ticket to another country for me uses about 174 gallons ( or 660 liters). Of course the plane ticket has the advantage of being per person, so if I carpooled with anyone at any point I am already saving more gas then showed. And the numbers just get worse if I decide to take multiple trips in a year.

The plane is taking off with or without me. If I did not occupy my seat either someone else would have or it would have been empty. The plane uses the same amount of fuel regardless.

That's just ignorant. Less people flying -> less flights -> less pollution and less consumption of kerosin.

Tokyo's Narita airport handled 40 million passengers last year, 33 million of them on international flights. If half of them should decide not to fly anymore, probably 40% to 50% of the flights would be canceled instead of keeping the frequency and sending the planes only with half of the passengers.

 



KLAMarine on 25 November 2018

I'm trying to get rid of stuff but sometimes I'm too emotionally attached.



TheBird on 25 November 2018

I wish I could say I was a minimalist, but I got quite a few flaws.

- Long showers

-Consistently buying new games and never selling my old stuff I don't even touch

-Not wanting to replace my gas guzzling, oil burning 22 year old car.

- And my kitchen...


But of course I am a pretty conservative when it comes to other stuff like cosmetics and such. I don't buy useless shit for the sake of having it in the place, and I don't replace my wardrobe every 6 months like most people seem to do nowadays. I won't replace my technology until it is necessary (Phone and computer parts).



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Signalstar on 25 November 2018
Conina said:
Signalstar said:

The plane is taking off with or without me. If I did not occupy my seat either someone else would have or it would have been empty. The plane uses the same amount of fuel regardless.

That's just ignorant. Less people flying -> less flights -> less pollution and less consumption of kerosin.

Tokyo's Narita airport handled 40 million passengers last year, 33 million of them on international flights. If half of them should decide not to fly anymore, probably 40% to 50% of the flights would be canceled instead of keeping the frequency and sending the planes only with half of the passengers.

 

Ok good luck convincing 20 million people not to fly anymore. Especially from an island nation. I believe in you!



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Qwark on 25 November 2018
Signalstar said:
Conina said:

That's just ignorant. Less people flying -> less flights -> less pollution and less consumption of kerosin.

Tokyo's Narita airport handled 40 million passengers last year, 33 million of them on international flights. If half of them should decide not to fly anymore, probably 40% to 50% of the flights would be canceled instead of keeping the frequency and sending the planes only with half of the passengers.

 

Ok good luck convincing 20 million people not to fly anymore. Especially from an island nation. I believe in you!

Its quite simple tax kerosine the same as gasoline in The Netherlands and people will not fly as much anymore. For the environment its not a good thing that you can fly towards another continent for a few hundred euro's outside the tourist and holiday season. 



Please excuse my (probally) poor grammar

Barozi on 25 November 2018
Signalstar said:
Farsala said:
"I have not had a car for about 4 years. I prefer public transportation and it is better for the environment." and "I like to travel. I visited two countries this year."

Those 2 quotes are a bit contradictory, A car and road tripping around your own country would probably save more than a plane ticket and public transportation.

If you traveled to another country by plane, then that is not being minimalist to the environment. As a person seeking to travel a lot myself, I am well aware of just how harmful flying is to the environment. Using a car or public transportation pales in comparison. For example in my car, I filled it 5-10 times a year, which is about 50-100 gallons ( or 189 to 378 liters), a single round trip ticket to another country for me uses about 174 gallons ( or 660 liters). Of course the plane ticket has the advantage of being per person, so if I carpooled with anyone at any point I am already saving more gas then showed. And the numbers just get worse if I decide to take multiple trips in a year.

The plane is taking off with or without me. If I did not occupy my seat either someone else would have or it would have been empty. The plane uses the same amount of fuel regardless. Whereas if I have a car, every solo trip I take is completely on me and I responsible for that pollution. I also am willing to accept that I am not a perfect minimalist. Like physical books, travel is one of those things I want more of not less. I tried to join a ecological cruise ship that was sailing around the world that way I could see the world with minimal harm to the environment but it did not work out for me. If I am lucky I will travel to 3 countries next year.

That is just completely wrong. The airline knows how many people are going to be in the plane and they know exactly how much luggage is on board. They will fuel the plane accordingly (plus reserve fuel). It wouldn't make any sense to fly with more fuel than you need, because fuel is heavy and anything that is heavy needs even more fuel to be transported.



Barozi on 25 November 2018

Well....just got my 500th BluRay a few days ago. Also lots of mangas and games. Other than that I don't buy a lot of stuff.
Very few clothes, one pair of shoes that I wear daily for a year or two. One smartphone every 5 years or so. I walk to work every day.

On the other hand I recently booked a flight from Germany to Hong Kong, then one from Hong Kong to Taiwan and one from Taiwan to Seoul (and back to Germany obviously)....



aikohualda on 25 November 2018

if im single... i will probably live in a car and shower in the gym...