Hello everyone! I hope you are doing well. As you can see I'm not in the van. We are currently
in Auckland and staying with family, so I am borrowing my friend's flat because they have
this beautiful backdrop and today I'm going to talk about 20 things you don't need in your life
anymore. Despite the cost of living rising I feel as though people are just still buying
and buying stuff. They're shopping as if there's no tomorrow, and I know myself how easy it is to
get sucked into consumerism. Even walking down the big shopping streets of Auckland the other day,
I had to remind myself to not get too sucked into the beautiful displays in the windows, which is
basically just plastic anyway. So today I wanted to give you some inspiration to not buy any more
stuff this year. Number one is scent sticks. This is one of those things that drive me absolutely
crazy. I see them in every single home, and Airbnb or even hotel that we've stayed in recently. Even
like my dental office will have them. They can be so harmful for our health because they contain
perfume, and perfume is just a mashup of toxic chemicals that aren't even being declared. Indoor
air quality is so important so I definitely will never ever use scent sticks. Number two is an item
I think is often missed in these lists, and that is, I'm just lumping them all together, everything
that costs less than ten dollars in the internet online shopping sphere. These items, no matter if
they're for your kitchen or for your car or for your bedroom or for anywhere in your house, they
are extremely cheap and extremely terribly made. They also just add clutter to your home. These
items you often find in people's junk drawers in their kitchen and in their bathroom. And because
they are so cheap they're often poorly made and there's no really need to replace them if they
break. So these products just add to this terrible cycle of consumerism. We buy them and we use them
or we don't even use them, and then we throw them away. And we sort of think that this is someone
else's problem. But they do clutter our space and our home and they do cost money, and worst of all
is that they contribute to climate change and also the people working making these items. I
think it's important to remember that everything you bring into your house is made by someone,
whether that is mixing the chemicals or mixing the plastic before it goes into the molds. People are
having to work with these items and they can be made of highly toxic material. So I don't believe
they're adding any convenience to your life and I really don't think you need them. Number three
is another pair of shoes. As a minimalist I only own five pairs of shoes and that works perfectly
fine for me. Shoes are also almost impossible to recycle so I suggest to not buy any more shoes
because most people can get along just perfectly fine with five to seven pairs of shoes, and that
would be absolutely more than you need. The next thing that people seem to be addicted to buying is
another swimsuit. Swimwear is made mainly and almost exclusively from plastic. That's why I
work so well to swim in and that's why I dry so quickly. No matter if it's made from new plastic
or recycled plastic, the current regulations isn't actually ensuring that your swim wear are
made from 100 recycled plastic. Before becoming a minimalist I used to buy one to two new pairs
of swimsuits before every summer season, which is absolutely insane. I feel extremely embarrassed
and I wish I hadn't done that because that is so much waste. Now I'm proud to say that I've had the
same two pairs swimsuits, one swimsuit and one bikini for the last I think six or seven years,
and by taking care of them really really well they've lasted me so well. So some of my tips
for taking care of your swimsuit is to wash them in cold water as soon as you've swam in
the ocean or in a pool, and then hang them to dry in the shade. The next thing is what some people
call a necessity, but I really don't think you need one and most people in Europe would agree,
and that is an air con. I recently learned about the problem of electricity in India,
and with a growing economy and more and more people getting into the middle class and earning
more money more people want air conditioners for their home. However, it would be imp possible for
us to cater for every human being or every family in the world to have an air-conditioned unit in
their home. Instead not buying an air conditioner when you don't need it, making sure that we
insulate our homes properly and using fans instead and airing at our homes and also being okay with
being a little bit warm are all tips that I think are very good. The next thing I mentioned
briefly in my past video as well and that is decor everything. Personally I've always been confused
with home decor. They take up space they are basically this clutter often collecting dust and
they don't really have a use. Home decor is often also very expensive and made from plastic or other
non-natural materials. I would suggest instead to decorate your home with items that you use,
and if you want to decorate your home just let it take time. Add a photograph when you get one and
add a piece of furniture or an item when you find it in a second hand store rather than buying it
new. The next one which is maybe the most crucial one is new tech. I've said this before but this
is potentially the most important one. New tech is one of the most detrimental things to our climate,
the people who make this tech the people who have to deal with the tech after we just chuck it away
because it doesn't work as well three years or two years or even one year later. So I would suggest
looking that up in case you need some motivation to stop buying more tech. Not to mention that tech
is extremely easy to find second hand. Everything from my camera that I'm filming this in to my
iPhone, it is all bought second hand and I didn't need to buy anything new to just have a little bit
of patience and a little bit of a time to look around and you will find anything you might need
second hand. The next thing is fake lashes and fake nails. This one also just gets me going so I
won't talk about it too much. Fake lashes and fake nails are most often made from plastic. The health
effects of these chemicals is so detrimental and I can't believe we're not talking about it more,
especially because fake nails and fake lashes are the most superficial and unnecessary item
possibly in our society. It doesn't make anyone look better or feel better, it's simply just a
waste of resources for just a superficial ideal that didn't even exist five years ago. And I have
to admit that I also used to do this. I used to definitely buy fake lashes, I even had to use them
for work when I was a performer. But for everyday people there is no need to ever ever ever ever
ever buy fake lashes or fake nails, and I highly wish we would discourage it as a society because
of the fact that it is just plastic and I don't think many people realize. The next one is new
clothes or fashion. I would like to challenge you to not buy any more clothes this year,
and I'd say just try it because how long can you go. Challenge yourself and see if you can go a
month without buying any new clothes or six months or a whole year. How long does it take
before you'll get so uncomfortable that you'll buy something new? Because I can almost guarantee that
everyone who watches this video has more clothes than than they need, then they practically need
to survive and thrive in society. The fashion industry is so so wasteful so the further away
we can come from supporting it the better for our environment, for our future and for the people who
work in their industry. The next one is something I think most people don't talk about how wasteful
it is and that is gear for your hobby. Whether it's for hiking or it's for art so it's for craft
I don't think it makes sense to buy new stuff simply to pursue a creative hobby. Now I know
that might not sound any fun, and I think people might even get upset from hearing that they can't
just buy stickers for their crafts or new camera for their hobby photography, but I really don't
think you can do that ethically. Instead I would wait for at least a year or two before you start
adding gear to your hobby. No one's going to want some old hiking poles or a half open bag
of stickers for your crafts and that makes it really really wasteful, especially when we then
keep buying new things and keep changing hobbies and we simply consume just for our pleasure. Now
if you think about that without getting upset that you're not allowed to consume anything,
I think it can be a really eye-opening to see that consumerism is not what ultimately makes us happy,
but it's the pursuit of creativity. The next item is activewear. Now this might also fit
in the items of clothing but activewear is most often made from plastic. Elastane, nylon, spandex,
polyester, anything else I can think of is made from plastic. If your item has stretch in it is
most most most likely to be plastic. So for me this just makes sense, and I think people miss it
because I had no idea that clothes could be made out of plastic until I started on my minimalist
journey. So if you go to the grocery store and you don't get a plastic bag, then why would you buy
plastic clothing? To me this just completely makes sense and that's why I have completely stopped
buying plastic clothes. The next one on the list is a bit different and that is fast food. Now this
is not an item and it's actually a consumable which I normally say is fine because we can eat
it and consume it and then it just turns to waste. But with fast food there is so much more involved.
Not only is it the buildings that these companies occupy, it is the removal of local business,
it is the extreme packaging that comes with fast food and also what the fast food is actually made
from. Fast food is killing our society, and it's also not good for the people who work with it. So
if you don't want to quit fast food for yourself you can at least quit it for the environment or
for the people who work with it. The next one is storage items. People seem to be obsessed with
buying storage items. Anytime I'm in a mall or something like that for whatever reason,
the one thing I see people walk out with is storage items. People buy storage for their
pet items, for their makeup items, for their home items. There is just so so so so so much storage.
These storage containers are almost exclusively made from plastic or if they're baskets they're
often made very unethically. That's why they are so cheap. So buying stuff to organize your stuff
isn't the way to get out of organizing in this cycle of clutter. Rather not buying anything else,
using what you have and decluttering is how to get out of clutter. The next one is a new one
on the list and that is bed linen. For some reason the bed linen industry seemed to have just boomed
lately. All my friends have now beautiful linen and they have not only one or two pairs, but they
basically have as many pairs as my grandparents do. But the difference is my friends are all in
their 30s, they don't have any kids, they don't have a spare bedroom yet they just have so many
pairs of bed sheets and linen that I don't really know what's going on. Just like with everything
else, it becomes wasteful if we buy things we don't need. It's using unnecessary resources,
it's using our money that we've worked very hard for, and it's just wasteful in general. So I think
it's fair to say that you will have more than you need if you have two sets of sheets in linen or
two sets of linen for each bed that you own. So I would highly recommend downsizing your closet
your linen closet, so that we don't turn into our grandparents who have these stacks and stacks of
old linen that no one is using. The next one is tote bags. We have enough bags, we just need to
reuse the ones we have. So if you want a trendy tote bag I highly suggest you make one yourself
or find it in a second hand store or simply just wait till you get one when you buy something
else. The next one is a funny one which I didn't realize until we were staying with family friends,
and that is condiments and sauces. I think this is one of those shopping addictions that people
have without necessarily realizing. People seem to buy, and I guess my family did this too growing
up I just completely forgotten, but just buying condiments and condiments and condiments. They
go off after a few years and people still keep them in their fridges, but they never ever use
them. So I'd highly suggest to declutter your fridge and just make it feel a lot cleaner in
general, and also to save money is to not buy condiments. Another thing in the kitchen that
I think we need to stop buying are kitchen appliances. I love using pots for cooking,
I love using knives for cooking. There are so many things that you can make yourself without
the need of expensive or fancy kitchen appliances. Kitchen appliances are also most often made from
plastic to a certain extent, and mixed with other materials like electricity or metal. So they are
almost impossible to recycle. This means that any kitchen appliance you buy new, once you have
finished with it or someone else you've given it or sold it to have are finished with it,
that's gonna go right to landfill and that thought to me is just quite overwhelming. So try not to
buy kitchen appliances and you can always see if you can call your grandparents or your parents and
see if you can borrow one of theirs, because I bet you they have at least one in storage.
The next one I think people also forget to mention on these lists, I wonder why, and
that is things that influencers tell you to buy. Whether it be stickers or keychains or a makeup
or t-shirts. Whatever it is you don't need it. Unfortunately one of the best ways to make money
for both artists and creators is to sell merch. However merch is often very different from items
that you can buy and that you do buy for yourself. Most often it's things that can be mass produced,
require very little money to produce, so there's very little risk and then you can also hike the
price on to have a really big margin. That's why things like keychains again and stickers
and mugs and t-shirts you really really don't need it. And I think if you want to support your
creator either ask them to make something that you would actually find useful, that you would use,
ask them to do that or you can also just help them or support them by donating money to them. But
just because someone tells you to buy it doesn't mean that you should. Which leads me on to the
next one which is something that most people I know have been literally forced into buying, and
that is shampoo and conditioner. Now isn't that crazy that people can force you to buy something.
I mean, all of my friends and I remember even my mother were definitely pressured into buying new
shampoo and conditioner from their hairdresser. My personal advice is that if your hairdresser
or people at a spa you like to go to or anything like that push products on you, leave a bad review
and don't go back, find someone else. Because I think it's really important that they don't push
products on us. It's very uncomfortable, and also no one I know needs more shampoo and conditioner.
It seems like one of these other addictions, shopping addictions people have. Even people
who don't care about their hair. But just please, finish your shampoos and conditioners before you
buy your new one. Your shower will be cleaner, there will be less clutter, there will be less
plastic and there'll be less waste in the world. The next thing is new furniture. I think it's
super cool being in this house because I know that all the furniture here has been found secondhand,
which is super super easy to find furniture second hand if you just have a little bit of time. Most
of us over decorate our homes and I think there's also a pressure on people to decorate empty rooms.
I've even heard people apologize to me when I visit their home they say 'oh I'm sorry we
don't have anything in this room yet, it's empty'. Where as I think that's great, because most homes
are exploding and exploding with stuff. So let your decorating take time and you actually don't
need a spare bed until you have someone that comes to stay. And the last thing I wanted to talk about
which I've stopped shopping is new souvenirs. This is a really important one because with the new
opening up of travel I think people are for sure going to buy more souvenirs, especially that now
we have a younger generation traveling that hasn't traveled in the last three years. I would always
get a souvenir when I traveled in Europe with my family growing up and it wasn't until I went on my
first trip by myself that I didn't get a souvenir. It did feel a bit like empty and strange at first,
but it was also so freeing. I realized that the memories were more important,
but also that these souvenirs are often these days just literally imported from China. They're not
made by the people selling them and they're not helping the local economy. So I highly recommend
trying going somewhere and not buying souvenirs, and there's just, it's just so beneficial to not
buy things. Minimalism and not shopping has changed my life so much, and I'm so grateful
for it. I think a good question to ask yourself if you feel like you want to buy any of these items,
or you have any other items that you tend to buy: What if everyone else did this? What if
everyone else bought a kitchen appliance? What if every single house also in the world bought
a rice cooker? Would that be possible? How big would that pile of waste be when those cookers
break? And always consider the whole cycle when you buy something. From what material it was made
from to who's made it to where it's come from to where it goes when you can no longer use it or
when the person you've given it or sold it to can no longer use it. I think these are really really
important questions to make and I think you'll find that your home is so much less cluttered,
and you have so much more money to spare on things that actually matter rather than just filling our
homes with stuff. So thank you so so much for watching, I really enjoyed making this video. My
friends thought I was very funny that I was making this video because they have a lot a lot of stuff,
but I'm so happy to have made this video and I really hope you liked it. And let me know
in the comments below if you normally buy these things, or if these are things that you would
absolutely never buy. Thank you so much for watching and I'll see you all next week. B ye!