The 100 Thing Challenge
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 06.25.08
Modern Minimalism
I always aspired to being a Miesian minimalist, but end up more Victorian clutter than the Farnsworth House shown above. That is why I love Dave Bruno's idea of the 100 Thing Challenge His goal: to whittle down the things he owns and needs to a list of 100 things by November 12 of this year, and to live with just those things for an entire year.
He is not completely doctrinaire; he has some memorabilia that he can't part with, that he is storing and not looking at for the year. He is not counting family-shared silverware and plates. Oh, and tools, "Some day I'd like to do more woodworking." And Books, can't get rid of the books. Oh, and most importantly, "I have a small collection of Marklin Z gage trains. This is kind of a personal thing. My father sold his collection of Marklin trains and I cannot bring myself to do the same."
Victorian Clutter
But he does provide a list of what he considers his 100 essential items and it is not a long list at all, particularly when it includes everything from his mechanical pencil to his toothbrush.
Its not the hardest challenge we have seen; MiniHome designer Andy Thomson spent a year sleeping in a tent to learn how little he really needed to live, and Hugh Sawyer slept in a ditch. But it is an interesting and more realistic idea, an enforced minimalism, extreme uncluttering and voluntary simplicity all rolled into one. It will be interesting to see how it turns out, and also interesting to see if those things that were too important to part with mean as much after a year in storage.
::The 100 Thing Challenge via ::PSFK
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I like the idea
of minimalism...
Society(t.v),add campaigns....etc....
convinces us that our identities are the product of our purchases.
"we are what we buy"
What you buy does not make you.
your personality,ideas and life style does.
However
buy organic and green and recycled if you know you will buy anyway!
This really makes me think about how much my stuff holds me down. I have tried numerous times getting rid of stuff, but my "collector" in me always squashes that. I admire anyone that can let go.