Category: Counting On …

Reflections and actions during COP26 and going on

Counting on 2026 …. Day 38

7th May

Simple living ‘is also an act of resistance. It pushes back against the assumption that more is always better, and that growth must always be pursued..’ (1)

Living simply is not just cutting back on what we consume and withdrawing in on ourselves. It is about living life where we choose different priorities. 

Rather than a meat based diet or a diet of ready made meals, I choose a plant-based diet that is largely cooked from scratch. I choose to keep a sour dough starter going and to use that to make crumpets (with the daily excess of starter) and bread. It is more time consuming than going to the shop but it feels more rooted in what is natural and sustainable. 

I choose to buy from local businesses – a refill shop so avoiding excess waste, a health food shop, the independent bookshop, the post office, and a independent cafe for coffee beans. I could just nip into the supermarket and do one big shop, but this feels more sustainable, supporting the local economy and therefore local community. It also feels more human in scale: small shops with people I recognise behind the counter and with whom I can have a conversation.

I choose to buy vegetables by the box from Riverford farm as it is a company that pays its staff fairly (and engages them in decision making) and farms organically and sustainably. 

I choose not to buy new clothes but rather to buy from local charity shops where I can prevent other clothes being thrown out as waste. I choose to repair the clothes I wear rather than throwing them away when they tear or develop holes. 

When I do buy new clothes, I choose to spend more in order to buy items that will last and to buy items where I have some confidence that those who made them have been fairly rewarded. 

I choose not to buy each kitchen gadget that comes along. I choose not to upgrade my phone/ iPad on a regular basis. I choose to resist advertising and social trends. 

(1) https://hazelnutcommunity.substack.com/p/the-life-we-miss-while-wanting-more?r=1r0y9l

Counting on 2026 …. Day 37

6th May

The stress and strain of modern life or ‘disorientation’  “is shaped not only by personal choices, but by the systems of power and wealth that tell us what we need to be happy, systems that tell us we need to consume for a better life.”(1) 

Living simply is about choosing not to dance to the tune of advertisers, not blindly following tradition, not getting caught up in the system that says more – and bigger – is better. And therefore living simply may also be about challenging those systems and providing a counter story. 

For example is the purpose of education simply to get a job or is it to be more engaged with life?

Is the purpose of a job just to get a pension so that you can then stop working? Is it necessary to buy a yet bigger house/ bigger kitchen/ bigger car? Will it make you happier?

Living simply is making choices that you have thought through for yourself, choices that are appropriate for you, choices that don’t cost the earth. 

Of course it is possible that simple living itself will become a system!

(1) https://hazelnutcommunity.substack.com/p/the-life-we-miss-while-wanting-more?r=1r0y9l

Counting on 2026 …. Day 36

5th May

Over the next few days I shall be reflecting on some of the issues raised in the Hazelnut Community’s recent edition of Rooted in Rubble, about living simply – https://hazelnutcommunity.substack.com/p/the-life-we-miss-while-wanting-more?r=1r0y9l

“There is a profound difference between the pain of poverty and the choice of simplicity. Poverty is not freedom. It is constraint, often imposed and unjust, limiting choice and exhausting those who live within it. It must never be romanticised or reframed as virtue.” 

This is clearly an important point to highlight. I think it places a responsibility on those of us who have choices, to make choices that benefit the poor and those disadvantaged by our economic system. In other words we shouldn’t just withdraw from world in order to enjoy lives of simple living, but should create lives of simple living within or alongside the world so that we can also find ways of changing the world so that it does benefit the poor and estranged.

This might be by campaigning, writing to our MP, signing petitions. It might be by choosing to buy from or support companies that operate fairly and proactively in favour of the poor and vulnerable (explore for example, fair trade companies and B Corps). It might be by giving generously to, or otherwise supporting, organisations that seek to improve the wellbeing and opportunities of the poor and marginalised.

Living simply should not prevent us from, but actively prompt us to, better loving our neighbour!

Counting on 2026 …. Day 35

4th May

Joy in Enough is about not wanting more and more, or bigger and bigger. 

How many pairs of trainers do I need? How big a television do I need? How far do I need to travel for my holiday? 

If I have too much of everything, will I really be able to enjoy them all? If I choose the biggest thing will it really make me happier than the smaller version?

It is interesting to note that even now that we have separate bins for recycling for the waste we can recycle, why is it that dustbins – for what we can’t recycle – are still  getting larger and larger! How do we manage to produce so much waste each week?

Counting on 2026 …. Day 33

30th April

Living simply is also about not hanging on to things. 

I regularly take to charity shops things that we are not using anymore, things that we have in duplicate, things that are taking up space. This could a dress I bought but no longer wear, books I have read and won’t reread, toys the children have outgrown etc. Conversely when I need something, I will check out the charity shops – this often involves patience but in time the saucepan or jacket I need will turn up. And there is always a good supply of books to read. 

The house feels more comfortable when it is not cluttered with stuff. And there is less to worry about – be that keeping it clean, finding space to store it etc.

Counting on 2026 …. Day 34

1st May

I am also a member of Green Christian which has one section called Joy in Enough. For me this is – in part – about taking delight in small things. I enjoy having a good coffee in a local friendly cafe. I enjoy the drink – its taste, smell and feel. I enjoy contemplating the view which could be the River Thames, people walking long the path with their children/ pets, birds pecking at crumbs etc. I enjoy contributing to the local economy. Local independent shops, including cafes, only exist if we use them; their staff only have jobs if the business remains profitable. 

If it’s on offer, I also choose a vegan option – cake, toast and peanut butter, porridge etc. Plant based options will only be made available if people buy them!

Awakening to a New Economics

Counting on 2026 …. Day 33

30th April

Living simply is also about not hanging on to things. 

I regularly take to charity shops things that we are not using anymore, things that we have in duplicate, things that are taking up space. This could a dress I bought but no longer wear, books I have read and won’t reread, toys the children have outgrown etc. Conversely when I need something, I will check out the charity shops – this often involves patience but in time the saucepan or jacket I need will turn up. And there is always a good supply of books to read. 

The house feels more comfortable when it is not cluttered with stuff. And there is less to worry about – be that keeping it clean, finding space to store it etc.

Counting on 2026 …. Day 32

29th April

I am a Franciscan tertiary. One of the things that drew me to the way of St Francis was the example of living simply. Francis himself chose absolute poverty as his lifestyle, but for those in the third order – those who aim to combine the spirit of Francis with everyday as opposed to monastic life (a movement established by Francis himself), living in poverty is revisioned as living simply.

For me this is not buying more than I need. I don’t need numerous pairs of running shoes and leggings. I don’t need new outfits every season. I don’t need to fill my kitchen with juicers/ air fryers/ rice cookers/ food processors etc. Rather I can make things last, I can mend things (when our sheets wear thin in the middle, I cut them in half and resew them, edges to the middle). I do without items. I take pleasure in having things that have a history – my current jacket was my husband’s school blazer.

Counting on 2026 …. Day 31

28th April

One bit of advertising that did influence me was a small booklet picked up in a Lush store about zero waste. That prompted me to steer our household towards a zero waste lifestyle – and gave me an aversion to plastic. I will routinely not purchase a product – greetings card, pen, sandwich, chocolate bar, packet of biscuits, etc – if it comes wrapped in plastic. Sometimes I do have to give way – eg screws that tend to come in plastic packs. But my general aim of avoiding plastic does change the way I shop and consume things. I will pay more for the unpackaged item.

Read more about our household approach to zero waste – https://greentau.org/2026/04/27/zero-waste/

Counting on 2026 …. Day 30

27th April

Thinking more about greenwashing, in my twenties I used to subscribe to magazines such a Good Housekeeping and Country Living. After some years I realised that they were selling me an unachievable and unsustainable lifestyle. I stopped subscribing and was no longer sucked into the consumerist trap they represented.

I now subscribe to the Ethical Consumer! 

Counting on 2026 …. Day 29

24th April

Yesterday I spotted the first new small leaves on our grape vine. A sign of hope – what looks like a dead branch is alive and in due course will produce the fruit that we and the birds and insects will enjoy this autumn.

Like walking in green spaces, so there is a growing mass of research that says that growing plants, whether that is flowers, wild plants or vegetables, is good for our wellbeing, the wellbeing of nature – and may even produce something tasty to eat. 

Ours is semi wild garden with uncut lawns and wild plants growing alongside fruit trees, herbs and salad crops. The vine provides shelter for al fresco meals in the summer, fruit in the autumn, and a habitat for various small creatures.

Today’s CAAC reflection is very apt: https://cac.org/daily-meditations/hospitality-on-our-earth-home/