While suburbia has long symbolized comfort, safety, and home ownership, its consequences reach far beyond picket fences and cul-de-sacs. From traffic congestion and environmental degradation to economic inequality and declining community life, our reverence for sprawl has reshaped how we live, work, and connect.

On today's show author and developer Steve Nygren [https://stevenygren.com/] discusses how this pattern of development took hold, who benefits when we're isolated, and what better alternatives can look like.

Here's a preview:

[6:30] Calling out the "boundaries that box us in"

[14:30] The antidote? Connect with people who have common concerns

[22:00] Easy ways to live with community — not sprawl — in mind

[32:00] Who benefits when we're isolated, lonely, sedentary, and sad?

Resources mentioned:
 * We have an aligned sponsor! Head to Duckfeetusa.com [https://duckfeetusa.com/] and use code MAMAMINIMALIST FOR $50 off.
 * Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where We Live With Radical Common Sense [https://bookshop.org/p/books/start-in-your-own-backyard-transforming-where-we-live-with-radical-common-sense-steve-nygren/176c9c9e9ebf75b6?ean=9781637747438&next=t]
 * Last Child in the Woods [https://bookshop.org/p/books/last-child-in-the-woods-saving-our-children-from-nature-deficit-disorder-richard-louv/ca7b8fb573e26639?ean=9781565126053&next=t] (by Richard Louv)
 * The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness [https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-anxious-generation-how-the-great-rewiring-of-childhood-is-causing-an-epidemic-of-mental-illness-jonathan-haidt/e7dfa59b478f9574?ean=9780593655030&next=t] (by Jonathan Haidt)
 * Serenbe [https://www.serenbe.com/]
 * This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting! [https://sustainableminimalists.substack.com/]
 * Join our (free!) Facebook community here [https://www.facebook.com/groups/134165317219800/].
 * Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, [https://www.facebook.com/SustainableMinimalists/] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/sustainableminimalists/] + Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmEjOfANT67KkwTTp3pgSOg] @sustainableminimalists
 * Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Suburban Sprawl

The downsizing mindset isn’t just about moving to a smaller home or getting rid of clutter. It’s a lifestyle that creates a habit of routinely shedding excess weight from your life.

If you’re feeling heaviness and overwhelm, embracing a downsizing approach to life may serve as an act of personal liberation. Detaching from possessions often frees up time, money, and energy for what really matters. It may also release you from the societal pressure to constantly accumulate more.

A downsizing mindset quietly trades excess for ease and distraction for depth. On today’s show podcaster and organizer Tracy Hoth [https://simplysquaredaway.com/] suggests simple routines to usher in the downsizing mindset, whether you’re planning to move in the near future or not.

Here's a preview:

[5:00] Not downsizing anytime soon? That's A-OK! Here are two things you should be doing now anyway

[10;30] If you're feeling the urge to save items for your children, keep this in mind

[16:00] Revisiting the kids' artwork and awards conundrum. How much should we be keeping?

[25:00] If you've got loads of "unmade decisions" in your home, here's one thing you can do right now

Resources mentioned:
 * We have an aligned sponsor! Head to Duckfeetusa.com [https://duckfeetusa.com/] and use code MAMAMINIMALIST FOR $50 off.
 * The Organized Coach [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-organized-coach-productivity-business-systems/id1687840766] podcast

 
 * This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting! [https://sustainableminimalists.substack.com/]
 * Join our (free!) Facebook community here [https://www.facebook.com/groups/134165317219800/].
 * Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, [https://www.facebook.com/SustainableMinimalists/] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/sustainableminimalists/] + Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmEjOfANT67KkwTTp3pgSOg] @sustainableminimalists
 * Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Downsizing Mindset

Want to get off fossil fuels but don't know where to start? Thinking about ditching utilities but overwhelmed by the complexity? Many off-grid advocates attest that countercultural living saves money and infuses meaning into daily life. For my environmentalists listening, burning fewer fossil fuels also means you're living and breathing your pro-climate values.

On today's show author and off-grid enthusiast Ryan Mitchell [https://www.thetinylife.com] offers his best tips for stepping back from—but not completely abandoning—society's (fossil fuel burning) systems. And because clean energy tax credits are soon expiring, today's conversation has a special focus on installing solar panels when the time is right.

Here's a preview:

[4:00] It's prudent to be intentional about how you power your life. If you aren't, others will be happy to make those decisions for you, to their benefit

[9:00] You can *incrementally* take back some of your power, so choose your own adventure!

[17:00] Self-sufficiency 101: Lean into your natural curiosities

[22:00] Thinking about solar panels? Here's what you need to know

[28:00] Going incrementally off-grid will likely save you money. It was also reduce your reliance on fossil fuels

Resources mentioned:
 * Clean energy tax credits are expiring at the end of 2025 [https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/residential-clean-energy-credit] (via the Internal Revenue Service)
 * Living Off Grid: 50 Steps to Unplug, Become Self-Sufficient, and Build The Homestead Of Your Dreams [https://resources.thetinylife.com/store/off-grid-living/]

 * This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting! [https://sustainableminimalists.substack.com/]
 * Join our (free!) Facebook community here [https://www.facebook.com/groups/134165317219800/].
 * Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, [https://www.facebook.com/SustainableMinimalists/] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/sustainableminimalists/] + Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmEjOfANT67KkwTTp3pgSOg] @sustainableminimalists
 * Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com [https://pcm.adswizz.com] for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Incrementally Off-Grid

After World War II Americans became bonafide consumers. And yet conditioned consumerism sneakily hijacks our time, money, and mental bandwidth. It also harms the planet.

The system is entrenched, the marketing is omnipresent, and it's all designed to keep us buying until we die. But there IS a way out. On today's show author and former marketer Ashlee Piper [https://www.ashleepiper.com/] pulls back the curtain on modern marketing so that we may hop off the addictive consumer hamster wheel for good.

Here's a preview:

[5:30] There's a reason why so many of us shop to soothe our discontent (We're told to!)

[8:00] Advertising + Psychology = A powerful selling combination

[22:00] When people feel lonely, inadequate, or restless they shop

[32:00] When marketing gets predatory: zip code marketing, old guard sexism, and more

[35:00] Why Ashlee has a problem with the 'underconsumption' trend, and for good reason

Resources mentioned:

 * No New Things: A Radically Simple 30-Day Guide to Saving Money, the Planet, and Your Sanity [https://bookshop.org/p/books/no-new-things-a-radically-simple-30-day-guide-to-saving-money-the-planet-and-your-sanity-ashlee-piper/21543486?ean=9781250382160&next=t] (via Bookshop.org)
 * Book Club (with Ashlee!) is scheduled for Monday, August 25 at 7pm EST. Email to come.
 * Join us for the Instagram giveaway, which officially goes live on Wednesday, August 6 [https://www.instagram.com/sustainableminimalists/]

 
 * This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting! [https://sustainableminimalists.substack.com/]
 * Join our (free!) Facebook community here [https://www.facebook.com/groups/134165317219800/].
 * Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, [https://www.facebook.com/SustainableMinimalists/] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/sustainableminimalists/] + Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmEjOfANT67KkwTTp3pgSOg] @sustainableminimalists
 * Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

Conditioned Consumerism

From a young age, many of us were exposed to messages linking financial success with personal value. Advertisements, media, and even family conversations equate wealth with achievement and social status.

Not surprisingly, this constant reinforcement creates strong associations between money and self-worth.

Although our culture tends to regard money (and fancy job titles, for that matter) as symbols of success, my guest todays argues that money is nothing more than a tool. And if money is just a tool, it certainly doesn't have the power to say much about who we are as people: How worthy we are. How good we are. How important we are.

On today's show: A conversation with podcaster Shari Rash [https://www.everyonestalkinmoneypodcast.com/] about untangling your self-worth from your net worth, for good.

Here's a preview:

[7:30] Money is just a tool to help you feel the way you want to feel

[11:00] Money conservations might be awkward, but they're essential in bringing to light your unconscious beliefs about finances

[15:00] Exactly how our culture ties money to identity—and why that’s so damaging

[21:00] Rewiring the way you see yourself in relation to money

Resources mentioned:
 * Breaking Free from the Consumption Hamster Wheel: How Minimalism Can Transform Your Money Mindset [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/breaking-free-from-the-consumption-hamster-wheel-how/id957163760?i=1000715255317] (Part 2 of my conversation with Shari)
 * This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting! [https://sustainableminimalists.substack.com/]
 * Join our (free!) Facebook community here [https://www.facebook.com/groups/134165317219800/].
 * Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, [https://www.facebook.com/SustainableMinimalists/] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/sustainableminimalists/] + Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmEjOfANT67KkwTTp3pgSOg] @sustainableminimalists
 * Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com

Your Net Worth Isn't Your Self-Worth

Cultural messaging and suggests you should be happy all the time. But your "happy chemicals"—dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin—evolved to motivate survival behavior, not make you happy.

In fact, unhappiness is your brain's default state.

On today's show Dr. Loretta Breuning [https://www.innermammalinstitute.org] argues that you can manage your happy chemicals when you know how they work in the state of nature, and she's here to show us how.

Here's a preview:

[9:00] Serotonin is about social dominance. Enter comparison and competition

[13:00] Want a dose of oxytocin? Be part of a herd

[15:30] Endorphin is the brain's natural opioid. But you can habituate to it!

[18:00] Just got something you want? That flood of happiness is dopamine's doing, but dopamine runs out

[25:00] We are living in an era of immense abundance. So why aren't we happy?

 

Resources mentioned:

 * Why You're Unhappy: Biology Versus Politics [https://amzn.to/3SuyGe5]
 * Become a subscriber on Substack! [https://sustainableminimalists.substack.com/]

 
 * This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting! [https://sustainableminimalists.substack.com/]
 * Join our (free!) Facebook community here [https://www.facebook.com/groups/134165317219800/].
 * Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, [https://www.facebook.com/SustainableMinimalists/] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/sustainableminimalists/] + Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmEjOfANT67KkwTTp3pgSOg] @sustainableminimalists
 * Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

Unhappy? You're Normal

Every purchase you make has an impact on the world. If you aren't careful, your shopping choices contribute to climate change and social injustice. But when you align the contents of your shopping cart with your personal values you slowly but surely shape the market.

Times are uncertain and everyday goods are getting more expensive. Still, we should purchase with intention anyway. On today's show author and sustainability expert Diane Osgood [https://www.dianeosgood.com/about] offers a comprehensive roadmap that navigates each of us toward positive and sustainable shopping practices.

Here's a preview:

[4:00] 70% of the U.S. economy is driven by consumer spending. We citizens control the market!

[13:00] 3 easy-peasy shopping principles to guide you when you're feeling overwhelmed

[17:00] Should you listen to the angel on your shoulder, or the devil? Here's what to remember in those moments you want to backtrack

[21:00] *Exactly how* to avoid products made with forced labor or child labor

[28:00] Buying small, local, and diverse has the power to "chip away at systemic inequality". Here's how

 

Resources mentioned:

 * Your Shopping Superpower: Follow Your Values and Better Your World One Purchase At A Time [https://bookshop.org/p/books/your-shopping-superpower-improve-your-world-and-feel-better-one-purchase-at-a-time-diane-osgood/21711427?ean=9780757325267&next=t]
 * The Chocolate Scorecard [https://www.chocolatescorecard.com/]
 * Remake [https://remake.world/]
 * U.S. Cotton Trust Protocol [https://trustuscotton.org/]

 
 * This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting! [https://sustainableminimalists.substack.com/]
 * Join our (free!) Facebook community here [https://www.facebook.com/groups/134165317219800/].
 * Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Instagram, [https://www.instagram.com/sustainableminimalists/] Substack [https://sustainableminimalists.substack.com/] + Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmEjOfANT67KkwTTp3pgSOg] @sustainableminimalists
 * Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

Your Shopping Superpowers

Influencer marketing is a case study in how easy it is to sell things to followers who trust their favorite online personalities. But offering that elusive 'personal recommendation' for EVERYthing has normalized both inauthentic endorsing and impulse shopping. It has normalized the buying and selling of your precious attention, too.

Here's a sneak peak of today's episode for subscribers. Listen to the whole episode by becoming a paid supporter! On Apple Podcasts hit the "Try Free" button or, if you listen elsewhere, sign up via Substack. Thanks for considering!

Sneek Peak: Influencers Aren't Friends

There are few things more satisfying than completing a proper spring cleaning. Deep cleaning when the weather warms is a biological imperative that's rooted in centuries of tradition because the practice lightens moods and improves health. It also symbolizes renewal as we come out of hibernation and back into the sunshine.

You aren't alone in your seasonal desire to deep clean. On today's show: Opening the windows, deep-cleaning those closets, stripping the beds, and vacuuming those oft-ignored places just in time for the Spring Equinox.

 

Here's a preview:

[5:00] The evolutionary reasons that may explain why humans have "shaken their houses" for over 3 thousand years

[8:00] Using newspapers to clean your windows, mopping every week, and other cleaning myths

[18:00] Yes, you do need to spring clean your appliances! Here's how

[24:00] Exactly how to deep clean your bedding in 4 steps

[30:00] Love a good spring cleaning and want extra credit? Don't forget about these 5 oft-overlooked areas

 

Resources mentioned:

 * Episode #487: Big Cleaning [https://mamaminimalist.com/487/]
 * Episode #257: Spring Cleaning for Home, Head, and Heart [https://mamaminimalist.com/257/]
 * Should You Use Your Oven’s Self-Cleaning Setting? It Depends. [https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/guides/should-you-use-oven-self-cleaning-setting/] (via Wirecutter)
 * The Ultimate Guide on How to Clean Your Washing Machine [https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/institute/a23727/how-to-clean-a-washing-machine/] (via Good Housekeeping)
 * How to Wash Pillows Properly, According to a Cleaning Expert [https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/home/cleaning/tips/a19468/clean-bed-pillows/] (via Good Housekeeping)
 * Tip jar, and thank you! [https://buymeacoffee.com/sustainableminimalists] buymeacoffee.com/sustainableminimalists

 
 * This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting! [https://sustainableminimalists.substack.com/]
 * Join our (free!) Facebook community here [https://www.facebook.com/groups/134165317219800/].
 * Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, [https://www.facebook.com/SustainableMinimalists/] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/sustainableminimalists/] + Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmEjOfANT67KkwTTp3pgSOg] @sustainableminimalists
 * Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

The Psychology of Spring Cleaning

When we let go of what doesn't serve us, we remove weight that holds us down. On today's show we turn to Zen Buddhism for wisdom on letting go of anxiety about the future, grudges, stuff, dead relationships, and more.

Here's a preview:

[4:00] Insanely anxious about the future? (Me too!) Don't spend your energy worrying; do this instead

[12:00] Think of decluttering not as throwing stuff away; think of it instead as setting your stuff (and yourself!) free

[19:00] How to let go of lost friendships and relationships, straight from the mouths of Buddhist monks

[26:00] Holding a grudge requires vast amounts of energy so become skilled at forgetting

[34:00] You're going to get to where you're meant to go, so there's no need to second-guess your choices

 

Resources mentioned:

 * This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting! [https://sustainableminimalists.substack.com/]
 * Join our (free!) Facebook community here [https://www.facebook.com/groups/134165317219800/].
 * Find your tribe. Sustainable Minimalists are on Facebook, [https://www.facebook.com/SustainableMinimalists/] Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/sustainableminimalists/] + Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmEjOfANT67KkwTTp3pgSOg] @sustainableminimalists
 * Say hello! MamaMinimalistBoston@gmail.com.

How To Let Stuff Go

Creating eco-friendly, minimalist homes (without the extra work).