Upcoming Events - Feb. 1st Screening of "What Would Jesus Buy?"

FEB. 1st screening of "WHAT WOULD JESUS BUY?"
with Reverend Billy and the Stop Shopping Gospel Choir, Werner Films, Directed by Rob VanAlkemade, featuring Reverend Billy, 2007, 90 minutes

WHEN: Sunday February 1, 2009 1:15pm

WHERE: Community Church NYC, Gallery Room 28 East 35th st. @Park ave.

ADMISSION: Free, donations appreciated

Getting creative

One of the things we ended up talking about in VS circle this month was how voluntary simplicity (and trying not to buy so many new things) led us to being more creative in order to fulfill our needs (and our free time).

I am more of a practical person so my creativity has just involved using strips of fabric from old tights and t-shirts to make hair ties, using my dad's old ties as belts, old calendars as wrapping paper and reusing a lot of food containers for storage. I have not yet gone to the next level - but it is something I really want to do. I want to learn to sew and create more of my own stuff from the things that I already have - let's call it in-house recycling.

I have to say that I was inspired when I ran across this (thanks to a posting on the freegan discussion board) :

Andy Gregg at Bike Furniture Design makes furniture out of old bicycle parts (up in Marquette, Michigan). This is way past my highest hopes of what I may do in the future, but I think it is really great to see the kinds of things that can be created when we try to find imaginative ways to reuse, reduce, and recycle.

For more inspiration, I recommend checking out: The Visible Trash Society and Michael Reynolds' Earthship Biotechure Sustainable Independent Buildings.

I would love to hear from others (in the comments section below) about how buying less has led them to being more creative to fulfill their needs.

Last but not least - I want to thank all the new people who came to January's Voluntary Simplicity Circle. It was really great and a lot of fun getting to hear new perspectives, ideas, thoughts, experiences, etc...

Join us on January 8th for the first VS Circle of 2009

Get the new year started focusing on simplifying your life in 2009. We will be having a circle this Thursday night if you would like to join us:

7 to 9 pm, 28 East 35th Street (between Park and Madison Ave. - red door, ring the bell for the gallery) in Manhattan and is open to all interested persons.

See here for more details.

You can now also join us on Facebook here!

Cleaning out your bookshelf

If you are like me, you may be a pack rat when it comes to books. One of the hardest things I had difficulty letting go of was my books. I have moved miles and miles from one state to another, hauling boxes of heavy books that I have been collecting over the course of my life. It really made no sense because I am not a person who rereads books very often. I think I just liked to look at my collection of books and think that they somehow represented me. I had them on display when others visited my apartment and people could browse my books to get a better sense of who I am. But when I started to get more into voluntary simplicity, and I started to think about how much unnecessary stuff I owned, all my books seemed like such a waste as they sat still and dusty in my bookcases. And even more, I began to see that I am not my books and my books are not me.

A lot of this started happening when I discovered Paperbackswap. It is a website that allows you to list the books you are ready to part with. When other people request them, you mail the books (via USPS media mail) and get credits in return. You can then use those credits to order books from other people. It has really allowed me to let go of my need to hang onto books because I get rewarded for letting them go - I get new books to read! I have to say I am reading a lot more since I started swapping. There is less risk then when I had spend money on books, so I am more open to exploring new authors or indulging in frivolous reading. I also get to send books (with my credits) to my friends and family. After getting a couple books from me, my sister started swapping as well.

With almost 2 years (and 107 books mailed), I am keen to get rid of even more of my books, just keeping the ones with true sentimental value (gifts from others) or those that I need for reference. In addition to paperbackswap, I recently found that Better World Books (my favorite book seller - If I can't find a book on Paperbackswap, I buy from Better World Books. They are a certified B corporation who supports literacy projects, and has free carbon-neutral shipping.) is buying back books - depending on the value of the book - they will either pay you for your book or they make a donation to one of their literacy causes for each book that you send to them. They even pay for shipping!

So instead of just admiring (or dusting) all the books on your bookshelf, think about what those books could be doing instead:
www.paperbackswap.com
http://www.housingworks.org/donate/
http://www.betterworld.com/
http://www.nyc.gov/html/nycwasteless/html/new_homes/new_homes.shtml#books