Giving Is Good

You know you have arrived at a certain stage of humanity when you are mature enough to prefer giving to getting. That is because giving is good.

That it is better to give than receive is common wisdom. It is also commonly ignored, or disparaged during times of selfishness and greed. 

In spite of that, scientists are finding that generosity, giving and helping changes everything - it changes the giver, the receiver, and changes weak communities into ones that are strong. 

Giving our time and assistance to others can have health, as well as social, effects. The act of giving has been found to reduce mortality risk associated with depression and stress in the giver.

One study found that volunteerism provided similar health benefits as exercising 4 times a day, or attending church regularly.

After giving we experience what is known as "giver's glow" or "helpers high". This rush of feel good brain chemicals makes us feel happier and more satisfied with life.

So the other day, when our neighbour dropped by with a homemade pie, it felt great. But it felt even better to give her a jar of our homemade pickled beets when she left.

We have to be careful, however, that giving is not interpreted as an obligation, or the giver's glow could turn into compassion collapse over time.

Therefore, giving should be offered voluntarily and spontaneously to have all those positive effects.

When it is offered freely, the positive effects of giving are spread widely. It does not matter if you are giving money to a charity, helping your aged neighbour shop for groceries, or giving someone something you have in your house but no longer use or need, the beneficial effects are the same. 

It has been shown that just thinking about helping can yield some benefits  as well.

And are there not more opportunities to give and to help now than any other time in human history? There is so much need globally, that there are plenty enough opportunities for every single one of us to become advocates and practitioners of repeated selfless acts towards others (including Mother Earth).

It comes down to a very simple conclusion. Practice giving - be healthier and happier - make your community, and the world, a better place. 

And as a bonus? Live longer. 

It that simple. It works. 

Giving is good.

All Wound Up About Christmas?

How to Have A Buy Nothing Christmas

Step 1: Take a risk - don’t conform to those in the spending spree.

Step 2: The best gifts come in no packages. The Christmas story is all about flipping the system on its lid.

Step 3: Image is everything? Well, don’t get pegged as a mindless consumer - be a rebel this Christmas, and buy nothing.

From: buynothingchristmas.org

Getting What You Need

You can't always get what you want (nor should you), but hopefully you can get what you need. How to best get what you need is a topic of heated debate here in the final throes of a failing system based on greed and planetary destruction.

A recent comment from an NBA reader prompted me to consider what we are doing on this blog, and how the ideas expressed here have manifested in our lifestyle which seeks to pull support from an economy based on selfishness, and heal the planet as a result.

A curious Cloe wonders "about consumerism, and how people can consume without buying."

"I have" she said, "some questions for you".

- How do you live without buying ? Is it with gardening?
- Do you practice swap?
- Do you consider yourselves as consumers even if you don't buy?

Those do get to the nugget of what we have been doing on Not Buying Anything since 2008.

First of all, I would say in response, the world is structured in a way to make it very difficult, if not near impossible, to not buy anything. Having said that, it can be done, as evidenced by some very fiscally frugal and cash-creative individuals.

Simple living advocates and activists like Mark Boyle, Peace Pilgrim, Daniel Suelo, Heidemarie Schwermer, and others in the GiftEconomy, are on to something that makes for a worthy goal - living without buying anything.

In the meantime, while we hold that ideal in mind, we buy things that we need, and can't be procured for free. There are many ways things can be acquired for free or near-free. We are only limited by our skills, time and creativity. But in our experience, as that of most people who aren't off-grid and/or  relatively self-sufficient, a time comes when some things must be bought.

Having said that, over the past few years we have severely curtailed the amount of things that we buy. The most important thing we do in that regard is limit our desires. Most things are not worth having. We rarely buy things other than those that we actually NEED.

To reduce how much we have to buy anything, we engage in a variety of practices, including:

• make things last by using gently and regular maintenance/cleaning
• avoid anything not reusable/repairable
• repair things to extend their lifespan
• use things up - no upgrades, new and improved, or latest fads
• don't pay for anything we can do ourselves
• make as much as we can with our own hands 
• do as much as we can with what we already have
• acquire things for free (free stores, swapping, liberating from the trash and curb side, trade/gifts) 
• grow as much food as possible in the back yard... or front yard, side yards, too
• trade work for items needed
• share, share, share - participate as a generous giver, and receiver
• enjoy community and family
• cook from scratch using wholesome vegetarian ingredients
• we take really good care of our teeth and general health 

In the event we can't source things for free, we look at buying second hand first. Buying something brand new at full price is a last resort, and such a purchase is always preceded by a period of sober hesitation. No binge buying here.

Some consumption, whether through commerce or by participating in an alternative economy, is necessary for survival. We are all consumers, but we don't have to be Consumers. We could decide to create a system based on generosity and good will that ensures that everyone is getting what they need.

So, Cloe, we are still buying things, but as little as possible. Thank you for posting your questions. Remember to eat well, brush and floss regularly, and exercise mind and body. May you, and all NBA readers, get what you need with as little buying as possible throughout the New Year.

Giving Is Natural

"Giving of any kind… taking an action… begins the process of change, and moves us to remember that we are part of a much greater universe."

- Mbali Creazzo

Never mind selling things, it can be a lot of work to just give things away. But it is worth the effort to be part of an exchange relationship not based on money and personal profit. To me it feels more natural.


This week I gifted our local public library with a wood chess table and ceramic pieces that I made in high school in 1978. When I start to think of how many times I have moved this functional furniture made by my own two troubled-teen hands, I am flooded with images of times and places passed.

I tried to tabulate how many times I moved the table over the years, but got dizzy and gave up. Considering the history, it was one of my most cherished give-aways.

A couple of days later, I visited to take a picture of the chess set in its new library home. I noticed that just inside the front door was a prominently positioned table with a display of several books on chess, along with a sign directing interested patrons to the the new acquisition.

I like the idea of leaving something behind in this place that we have come to enjoy so much.

Donate Stuff And Lower Your Carbon Footprint

… is good for the environment.

I would rather give things away than sell them. It is so much easier and stress free. Therefore our local thrift shops are the recipients of a lot of our stuff.

In doing research on various agencies accepting donations, Linda came across the following information about how giving to thrift shops diverts things from the waste stream and lowers your carbon footprint.

"When you donate to us you help the environment by responsibly processing your clean, gently used possessions for reuse through our thrift stores. 

Each year, our program diverts more than 48 million kilograms of clothing, household items and electronics from Canadian landfills. 

This translates into a savings of 876 million kWh of energy while reducing our donors’ carbon footprint by 120 million kilograms of CO2 emissions.  

This is equivalent to driving a car 43,000 times around the globe or saving 8.6 million trees."

The Half Life of Stuff

If I had a garage sale every item would have one of these tags. Take my clutter - please!

I can imagine a world with no possessions, but I think we are a long way from achieving that particular goal. In the meantime I recommend you get rid of 1/2 of your possessions as soon as possible. After a well deserved rest, start on getting rid of 1/2 again.

I call this the half life of stuff, and I learned of it through experimentation in the NBA research laboratory. This is what I have found.

Within a certain amount of time any item loses half of its initial appeal and/or usefulness. Over the next period of time it loses half of the appeal that is left, and so on. Eventually the item ceases to hold any appeal at all at which point it degrades into toxic waste. Now it is clutter, and it is harmful to your health.

Almost ten years ago Linda and I gave away half of our total possessions over a couple of days. Some was easy, like the massive desk that we did not feel like dealing with when we moved west. Other things, like our personal library, were harder to let go. But let go we did, and we never looked back.

When we drove away from our home for good to move to the coast we pulled a small trailer of possessions behind us. It wasn't even full. We felt like a basement full of burden had been lifted from us as we floated toward the Pacific.

Since arriving here we have added very little to our collection of things. Rather, we have exercised a constant cutting in order to make our 560 square foot beach home as minimal, efficient, and comfortable as possible.

There is nothing that we have given away that we miss now or regret tossing from our lives. Nothing.

Now we are feeling another half life of stuff coming up, which means that before long another 50% of our things are going to be removed from our lives. I can't wait, even though it will be a bit harder this time since we aren't starting with as much. It is getting down to the nitty gritty of possessions for us.

Not everyone is ready for a 50% cut overall, although I really do recommend you give it some serious thought. You could start with a smaller project to get a taste of the liberation that is possible with minimalizing more.

For example, pick a single closet and cut its contents by half. Or dig into that junk drawer and pull out 50% of what is in it. Same with the garage, or the storage locker, or medicine cabinet, or kids toy box. The result will be the same in every case - it feels great!

Imagine your home with 50% fewer possessions. Its easy if you try.

Be A Good Ancestor

We are consuming future generation's global inheritance

Are we being good ancestors when we consume more than our fair share, while endangering the survival of future generations in the process?

Jonas Salk, inventor of the polio vaccine, thought that our greatest responsibility was to be good ancestors. Put another way, Native 1st Nations tell us we should be thinking 7 generations ahead as a guide to all our decision making.

You would think that people with kids (and most people have children) would be ruled by this line of forward thinking. After all, how can you leave an all important genetic legacy if you consume the planet to ashes, thus jeopardizing the survival of your spawn?

Leaving a non-toxic planet for our kids does not seem to be a priority, for if it were, we would be toning down our still-accelerating decimation of nature.

Not only should we want to live more lightly so our kids can live at all, but we should be thinking about our kids children, and their children, and theirs... 7 generations and beyond. The way things are going we will be lucky to get just a few more generations before homo sapiens becomes yet another species to fall during the current global extinction event.

With our global population mushrooming, and in a time of peak-everything, a great way to be a good ancestor is to reduce consumption, live more simply, and leave something behind for the good of those yet to come.

If we made being a good ancestor our greatest priority and #1 responsibility, it would profoundly affect our expectations, and how we behave as consumers. We would realize that we do not own this world, but are only borrowing for a short while before returning it to our children.

Will the planet they receive make them think of us as good ancestors?

Don't Give 'Stuff'

Looking for a gift?
Spend time together hand in hand... or paw in paw

I saw this anti-consumer message recently and it meshes nicely with NBA's mandate during the holiday season, and year round.

Don't Give 'Stuff'

Give the 5 Hands instead.

1. Handmade
2. Hand-me-down
3. Second hand
4. Helping hand (donate)
5. Hand in hand (spend time together)

When giving gifts, if that is what you choose to do, let these 5 waste-reduction, money-saving tips be your guiding hand.

Less

Less stuff - more meaningful personal interactions

Less greed - more giving

Less hate - more love

Less me - more us

Less job - more family

Less shopping - more walking in nature

Less lies - more truth

Liebster Love

Ahem - tap, tap. Is this thing on?

On April 8th NBA was awarded a Liebster Blog Award. It is an award bloggers give to blogs they think are worthy of merit. It is a way to promote blogs you like, and help create links through the blogging community.

With over 70 million blogs out there, it is also a good way to introduce more of the 2.5 billion Internet users to worthy smaller blogs.

Now, I am not sure if NBA is of superior quality, or even particularly good. However, whether it is an award, or a comment left in response to a post, it is really great to get feedback from readers. Positive feedback is especially nice.

Other guidelines for the Liebster are:

1. Link back to the nominator.

NBA was given the Liebster Award by the family bloggers at Clamco. Their fine blog is diverse and creative - treasures and little bits of beauty can be found there.

2. Nominate other small blogs.

There are so many deserving blogs, including all those I follow (some of which are on the NBA Blog Roll on the sidebar), but today I give the nod, and some Liebster Love, to the following:

    * Peak Energy: An Australian blog that features posts about peak oil, global warming, and sustainable energy solutions. Tons of excellent information here.

    * Ditch Your Fridge: This is a green blog that starts with a radical idea: living without a fridge. It shows that not only is it possible, but in many ways is better.

    * Dreams You Dare To Dream: Another green blog, but one with geographical significance - it is in my locality. It is about living minimally and lightly upon the earth. Could you get by with only 100 things? That is the dream.

I enjoy creating NBA along with Linda (editor, proof-reader, and simple living co-participant), and it is gratifying for us to know that someone, anyone, is enjoying it.

With the help of readers, and fellow bloggers like those at Clamco, we are moving toward our goal of hosting 350,000,000 people at our little blog.

Our simple mission is to share what we have learned about breaking free from endless working and consuming. Along the way we hope to help make a better, more rational and enjoyable world.

We are humbled by this award, your comments, and the time you take to read our thoughts and ideas on our Not Buying Anything Blog. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Give Your Stuff Away Day

"Pleasure is spread through the earth in stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find." - William Wordsworth

Let's face it - most of us have piles of stuff driving us crazy. One way to organize the mess is to give it away. In the name of purging, generosity, efficiency, and environmentalism, Mike Morone proposed an International Give Your Stuff Away Day on May 14th, 2011. Having attended several excellent 'Reuse Fairs', I have seen how effective such efforts can be.

Click to enlarge

You can give away some of that clutter in your home, garage, or yard by setting it at the curb on the 14th. You will be creating 'stray gifts' for others to use and enjoy. Free.

Go for a walk in your hood to see if you can find your own stray gifts. Better yet, organize a Neighbourhood Swap on this day. Or Free Sale. Reuse Fair. Or Stray Gift Event.

Be creative, have fun, give generously, get some things you need (control yourself or it defeats the whole purpose of purging), and help get all that stuff languishing and unwanted into circulation.

And all without the added hassle and concern over maximizing how much money you can get for your unwanted things. If you don't want an item, it essentially has no value to you anyway. We can give and receive free of the tyranny of the marketplace.

Get organized - give your unwanted stuff away. It's fun. It's liberating. It's happening May 14th.

Working Together

Once my father accused me of being "so damn independent". I didn't think it was possible to be too independent. Don't parents want kids to be independent as soon as possible?

"Ok, now that you are walking can we get a little hand with moving the furniture?"

My dad was frustrated because he wanted to help me, and I was pretty low maintenance and self-contained. But I was missing balance.

I was missing the fact that one needs to be able to incorporate both giving and receiving. Most of us have difficulty with receiving, giving, or both, but it seems that in our culture, with so much emphasis on individualism, more of us have problems with receiving comfortably.

Giving is associated with positive attributes like generosity and strength. Cultural conditioning has prepared us to see the act of receiving in a different light. We may think of selfishness, neediness, or vulnerability. But it is not this way in healthy human interactions. We need both. We need each other.

If my dad were still around, in addition to helping him out, I would be more accepting of his help. This cycle is as natural as exhaling and inhaling.

Things work out best when we freely receive and give in a natural flow of energy and life. Our collective liberation depends on it.

We Are Here To Help Each Other

However capable and skillful an individual may be, left alone he or she will not survive. It is because our own human existence is so dependent on the help of others that our need for love lies at the very foundation of our existence. Therefore, we need a genuine sense of responsibility and a sincere concern for the welfare of others.

- The Dalai Lama

Yesterday I watched out the window as another what we call "nautical disasters" took place. The Sooke River empties into the harbour creating a delta that is often submerged above a certain tide level. This can be dangerous for boaters unfamiliar with the local terrain, causing trouble for them. Today there was trouble.

A sailboat had grounded itself on a submerged sandbar in the middle of the harbour. It was just before low tide so I knew that all the lone sailor on board had to do was wait an hour or so and the rising tide would free his craft. The man seemed resigned to his strandedness, but occasionally put an oar overboard to see if he could dislodge the boat. But to no avail.

Before long I noticed a tiny rowboat with a white-haired person at the oars. It was a windy day and the little rowboat struggled against the small whitecaps. At first the rower did not seem to be getting anywhere with the occasional wave temporarily stopping the boat. But the person hunched at the oars persevered.

It looked like rowboat was heading for the stranded sailboat, and sure enough judging by the line it was taking, that is were the rower was headed. To lend some good, old fashioned help, lend a hand, give assistance, rescue. All of a sudden I found myself rooting for this anonymous wool-caped nautical superhero.

It felt like a long time since the rowboat set out. The sailboat had, in the meantime, successfully dislodged itself and was now motoring toward the rowboat. All of a sudden the sailboat became grounded again. The rowboat kept on plodding along making slow, but steady progress.

With amazing skill the rowboat maneuvered alongside the sailboat. The sailor dropped his anchor into the rowboat. The rower rowed back out into the whitecaps and wind, and took the anchor out away from the sailboat, dropped it, then rowed back to join the sailor. I could not believe the stamina and courage of the white-haired rower that obviously knew exactly what needed to be done.

Now on the sailboat, the rower took over the controls while the sailor sat on the bow and pulled on the anchor rope. Working together they muscled the sailboat back into deeper water. The rower got back into the row boat and began to row away. The sailboat motored across the harbour... and got stuck again.

The rower, noticing that the work was not done, turned around and rowed against the wind and waves back to the newly stranded sailboat. Again the rower helped to get it in deep water and on its way.

Still, the work was not complete. The rower had to repeat this process two more arm-straining times before the sailboat could head home free and clear.

Last time I looked the white-haired hero was bending to the oars on the way home, task now complete.

I thought, "I must be more like this person. They know what it means to help another in need. They are a stellar example of selfless compassion with a strong altruistic streak that I wish to emulate in my own life."

Image what good we could do if we would take the time to help each other more often, rather than sit back in judgement and blame.

To the white-haired rowing superhero - thank you. Your desire to lend a hand to someone in need, despite the hardship and danger to yourself, was a powerful lesson for me.

We are all in this together, and our job is to help each other.