American culture is heavily influenced by a “rise and grind” reverence for hustling, and many of us have adopted the belief that sleep is a waste of time. When we dismiss the importance of sleep, we have more time to work harder and longer. And when we have more money in our pockets, what we are really doing is keeping our capitalist engines turning.

Contrary to what you've been told, sleep is not time wasted. On today's show: The Number One way to improve your health, wellness, and quality of life without spending any money at all (ahem ... prioritizing sleep).

 

Here's a preview:

[3:00] Rise and grind culture promotes sleep deprivation!

[9:00] What happens when we sleep? Hop on a metaphorical submarine and explore the Sleep Sea 

[15:00] A laundry list of bad sleep's deleterious health and wellness effects

[21:00] In your 40s or 50s? You especially need to prioritize sleep, and here's why

[29:00] 6 research-backed ways to prioritize sleep every darn night

 

Resources mentioned:

 * Episode #472: Breath Awareness [https://mamaminimalist.com/472/]
 * Episode #465: Optimizing Your Walks [https://mamaminimalist.com/465/]
 * Outlive: The Science And Art Of Longevity [https://amzn.to/3Xw7fUw] (by Dr. Peter Attia)
 * Why We Sleep: Unlocking The Power Of Sleep And Dreams [https://amzn.to/4dNYCKp] (by Dr. Matthew Walker)
 * The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [https://www.med.upenn.edu/cbti/assets/user-content/documents/Pittsburgh%20Sleep%20Quality%20Index%20(PSQI).pdf]

 

 * 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.



Sleep Is Medicine

We humans are evolutionarily primed to live in concert with the natural world, but these days Americans spend over 92% of time either indoors or inside a vehicle. The result? Stress, inflammation and — for some of us — a pervasive sense of malaise. 

American culture is designed to keep us indoors because capitalist engines make money when we are distracted, and yet cutting-edge science supports the reality that life on this planet is radically interconnected. On today's show author Lyanda Lynn Haupt [https://www.lyandalynnhaupt.com/] introduces the concept of rooted living to benefit of both humans and nature.

 

Here's a preview:

[11:00] Nature provides connection, and yet 21st century life vilifies the outdoors

[16:00] Exactly why our capitalist engines benefit when we live indoors lives 

[22:00] Musings on our collected extractive mindset, plus: how roots are the antidote

[28:00] Lyanda's Number One tip for re-rooting yourself and your children (It's a good one!)

 

Resources mentioned:

 * Rooted: Life At The Crossroads Of Science, Nature, and Spirit [https://amzn.to/4e5bxaK]
 * Lyanda on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/lyandahaupt/]
 * Episode #384: Forest Bathing 101 [https://mamaminimalist.com/384-2/]
 * 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.

Roots

A product needs to fit into someone’s life seamlessly in order for it to be bought, and it’s the job of the advertiser to show exactly how the item in question will fit into a life. On today's show: 5 crucial insights advertisers know about us (that we perhaps don't know about ourselves).

 

Here's a preview:

[1:00] Examining our clutter problem through metaphor (bathtub, baby!)

[9:00] Selling isn't about emotion; it's about seduction

[13:00] We humans are animals, and animals are evolutionarily primed to heed warnings

[15:00] Curiosity versus urgency: Both emotional states convert!

[21:00] How companies slowly but surely increase market share, plus: here's what happens when a product differentiates itself on eco-friendliness

[26:00] Insider advertising works!

 

Resources mentioned:

The Hidden Clutter Creator Right Under Your Nose [https://www.yourhousemachine.com/p/the-hidden-clutter-creator-right?utm_source=multiple-personal-recommendations-email&utm_medium=email&triedRedirect=true] (via Your House Machine on Substack)

 

 * 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.

What Advertisers Know

One football field's-worth of forest is lost every single second of every single day. Loss of forests means loss of species and loss of stored carbon; it also means an increased risk of pandemics.

On today's show: Explaining the ways in which deforestation is linked to the pandemic prevalence, with tangible action steps for conscious consumers.



Here's a preview:

[5:00] It's not *just* about timber; it's about livestock, soy, and palm oil too

[12:30] Exactly what happens when we raze forests and the generalists (ahem ... the rats, the mosquitos) march in

[26:00] Breaking down the differences between the 3 Forest Stewardship Council certifications

[29:00] Revisiting the palm oil problem

 [32:00] The industrialized food system is broken, and it pays to shorten your personal food chain

 

Resources mentioned:

 * Episode #447: No Topsoils, No Food [https://mamaminimalist.com/447/]
 * Episode #187: Why Is Palm Oil Bad? [https://mamaminimalist.com/187/]

 

 * 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.

If Trees Could Talk 

Parenthood is awash with immense pressure to do right by our kids. We are told that children need certain (expensive) experiences to 'get ahead', and many of us observe our parenting peers investing in countless extracurriculars. But children need downtime, and recent research suggests that children should experience twice as much unstructured time as structured enrichment.

On today's show podcaster Kathryn Garland [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/homespun-create-the-life-you-crave/id1724081613] and I discuss how to find the structured, extracurricular sweet spot for your family. 

 

Here's a preview:

[4:30] Scheduling rule #1: Family First (not Kid First!)

[15:00] When dabblers don't fit into a world of specializers

[22:00] Musings on extracurriculars, the 'rat race' and getting ahead

[26:00] Start with the end in mind (and other tips for finding the extracurriculars sweet spot)

[31:00] Words of encouragement for leaning into the quiet and into the slow

 

Resources mentioned:

 * Don't Sign Your Child Up For That (Extra)Curricular [https://sustainableminimalists.substack.com/p/dont-sign-your-child-up-for-that]
 * Episode #478: Charting A Rich Life [https://mamaminimalist.com/478/]
 * Homespun: Create The Life You Crave Podcast [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/homespun-create-the-life-you-crave/id1724081613]
 * Kathryn on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/homespun.kathryn/]

 

 * 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.

Extracurriculars Are Extra 

‘Tis the season for back-to-school door busters, price slashes, and closeouts. On today’s re-air: How to reduce clutter, save money, and help the planet by shopping for back-to-school with greater intention.

 

Here's a preview:

[6:00] Let’s pull back the curtain on back-to-school marketing, shall we?

[11:00] Here’s what it actually means (and what it actually looks like!) to shop your own home

[18:30] Revisiting the kids’ capsule conversation

[26:00] Thoughts on teacher wishlists (from a former teacher)

 

Resources mentioned:

 * Episode #391: Predictors Of Back To School Success [https://mamaminimalist.com/391/]
 * Episode #006: The Ultimate Kids' Capsule Blueprint [https://mamaminimalist.com/006-2/]

 

 * 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.



Back To School Shopping

Welcome to Back To School Week 2024!

In many homes, back to school season means back to packing lunchboxes. It's a stress-inducing chore, sure, as many parents find it difficult to think up new, creative lunch ideas that are actually healthy (and will actually get eaten!).

On today's show registered dietician nutritionist Megan McNamee [https://feedinglittles.com/] offers up her tried and true lunchbox formula; she also suggests simple lunch ideas that will make prepping lunches a breeze.

Stay tuned for Thursday's Back To School episode about acquiring school supplies, clothes, and gear like a sustainable minimalist. 

 

Here's a preview:

[4:00] Is there anything "wrong" with school lunches?

[8:00] Pack when your kitchen is open! (And other practical ways to make lunchbox packing easier)

[13:00] Add balance and variety by following Megan's Lunch Formula

[20:00] Lunchbox ideas you've never heard of before

[26:00] Must lunchboxes have a dessert?

[33:00] How to best use after school snack time as a sneaky way to supplement your child's diet

 

Resources mentioned:

 * Feeding Littles Lunches: 75+ No-Stress Lunches Everyone Will Love [https://amzn.to/4dhXTRL]
 * Episode #391: Predictors Of Back To School Success [https://www.mamaminimalist.com/391/]

 

 * 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.

Feeding Littles Lunches

Scientists have found unsettling details about the potential health risks of common household cleaning products. And yet Big Cleaning capitalizes on fear of germs, bacteria, and disease to sell us home cleansers with traditional chemical compounds on the regular.

It behooves us to ask ourselves whether the ways things have always been done align with our own values. On today's show Zac Kieffer [https://us.e-cloth.com/collections/all?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADuUZXEuwDxoRPP9YRdjHGAXd9Et6&gclid=CjwKCAjw2dG1BhB4EiwA998cqIxdLLE0dMSnUneRhbo97aUDYXIKl-ORmALRAt1LSxzlKASVmxTBhBoC13MQAvD_BwE] argues it's high-time we redefine what it means to clean.

 

Here's a preview:

[3:00] Three reasons why it's important to perpetually question the way we clean and disinfect

[8:00] Are you disinfecting correctly? (Answer: Probably not.)

[16:00] Ammonia! 2-Butoxyethanol! BACs! Here's what cleaning companies don't want you to know about the (very powerful) chemical compounds in traditional cleansers

[21:00] Big Cleaning and fear-based marketing

[28:00] Does microfiber = microplastics?

 

Resources mentioned:

 * Episode #417: How To Buy Soap  [https://mamaminimalist.com/417/]
 * E-Cloth [https://us.e-cloth.com/collections/all?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADuUZXEuwDxoRPP9YRdjHGAXd9Et6&gclid=CjwKCAjw2dG1BhB4EiwA998cqIxdLLE0dMSnUneRhbo97aUDYXIKl-ORmALRAt1LSxzlKASVmxTBhBoC13MQAvD_BwE] (Minimalists15 for 15% off site-wide)
 * Cleaning Products Emit Hundreds of Hazardous Chemicals, New Study Finds [https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/2023/09/cleaning-products-emit-hundreds-hazardous-chemicals-new-study] (via EWG)

 

 * 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.

Big Cleaning

If you're like me, you're likely dealing with constant, low-grade clutter situations, and that's because once a purchase is made, the item is ours to maintain, manage, and store. Sadly, consumerism never talks about the negative wellness effects of buying (I'm looking at you, cortisol!).

If clutter keeps piling up despite your best efforts, my guest today argues that it's time to dig deeper. Not deeper into the piles, of course. Deeper into yourSELF.

On today's show professional organizer Jenny Albertini [https://www.jennyalbertini.com/] argues that decluttering is an act of self-care; it can also become a habit that enhances wellness. Put this episode on while you tackle an oft-forgotten space in your home and get to work!

 

Here's a preview:

[4:00] Why do we clutter?

[5:30] Breaking down the bidirectional exchange between clutter and wellness

[12:00] Our personal thresholds for clutter tolerance ebb and flow throughout life (and that's totally normal)

[24:00] Tangible ways to stop the many clutter streams coming into our homes

[27:00] Thoughts on right-sizing other people's gifts and hand-me-downs with our own space confines

[31:30] The quiet genius of the "Someday Maybe" technique

 

Resources mentioned:

 * Decluttered: Mindful Organizing for Health, Home, and Beyond [https://bookshop.org/p/books/decluttered-mindful-organizing-for-health-home-and-beyond-jenny-albertini/20275856?ean=9781684352241]
 * 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.



Thanks to E-Cloth for being the feature sponsor of this episode! Use my code "Minimalists15" for 15% off sitewide: https://us.e-cloth.com/

Decluttering For Self-Care

In our hyper-capitalist society, it's often implied that the only things worth savoring are the really fancy, really shiny, really new, and really exotic. Let's push back against that narrative by finding the glimmers, also known as those simple moments of pleasure that pop up during our days.

We minimalists already know that it's in the small things that beauty lies. On today's show: Research-backed ways to spot life's glimmers and reap the most joy possible from every instance.

 

Here's a preview:

[8:00] Glimmers are all around us all the time. Are you paying attention?

[16:00] Savoring offers many wellness benefits. One of them? It's an active way to fight back against our innate negativity bias

[26:00] Introducing savoring's evil cousin, dampening (plus: how to stop it right this second)

[32:00] Add in some effort! Determine a glimmer in your life and get optimizing

[37:00] Downtime is a necessary part of life (it's also a time when we are most available to catch the glimmers)

[42:00] Say it loud and say it proud! Verbalize the simple pleasures as a means of extending and expanding the pleasure

 

Resources mentioned:

 * Episode #439: The Negativity Bias [https://mamaminimalist.com/439-2/]
 * Aro [https://www.goaro.com/]

 

 * This show is listener-supported. Thank you for supporting! [https://sustainableminimalists.substack.com/] **If you're a financial supporter over on Apple Podcasts and want to join book club, please email me and let me know! For privacy reasons, Apple won't share your contact info with me. Just email me and I'll happily add you!**
 * 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.

 

Glimmers

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