A minimalist lifestyle is about simplifying until you reach the number of possessions you can easily maintain in your current season of life. In doing so, you’ll also reduce your load on the planet’s resources and landfills.
While turning your household into a minimalist family may seem like a pipe dream, living with children and reducing your carbon footprint is possible—they’re not mutually exclusive. These simple tips will help you transform your home from cluttered, to a minimalist and eco-friendly space.
1. KEEP SURFACES CLUTTER-FREE
Are you tired of your surfaces piled high with random bits and bobs? You can’t find your keys amid the piles of mail and long-forgotten fast-food toys. Cluttered counters and tables only encourage more of the same. These catch-all spots make your home look messy and feel overwhelming.
Fight this phenomenon and create a more peaceful, minimal home by resetting all the flat surfaces in your house once a day. Go one step further and reduce the clutter coming in from the start. The average household throws out 13,000 pieces of paper each year, so going digital could minimize mail in your home and decrease the burden on landfills. Remember to recycle any documents that do make it through your door.
2. TRY A KIDS CAPSULE WARDROBE
Face it, you and your kids probably have far too many clothes. You may think buying more pieces is the solution to the “I have nothing to wear issue,” but it isn’t. The prevalent theory among minimalists is that we wear 80 percent of our clothes 20 percent of the time. You don’t need as much as you think, nor do your kids. Simplify your morning routine by decluttering your closets.
Parents should determine what number feels good to them based on the climate and the amount of laundry they’re willing to do. For your kid’s capsule wardrobe, consider aiming for the 5-4-3-2-1 method—5 tops, 4 bottoms, 3 pairs of shoes, 2 layers and 1 dress or special item. This can be adapted depending on your kid’s preferences, and you can keep items that pair well for a versatile mix-and-match wardrobe. Having less means you’ll be able to spend more on quality, long-lasting pieces, significantly reducing your carbon footprint. In fact, fast fashion causes more CO2 emissions than do air and water travel combined.
3. SET GIFT-GIVING BOUNDARIES
Giving and receiving gifts is an exciting part of any relationship, especially when kids are involved. You want to make your children happy by giving them toys or items to bring them joy. This constant need for more, however, is terrible for the environment and strains the capacity of your home.
Live more minimally by changing how you approach gifts, giving fewer material things to each child and prioritizing experiences instead. Friends and family members may take longer to get on board with the changes. Parents can talk with their loved ones and politely request they adhere to some guidelines when giving gifts to their family and explain why—you want to feel more at peace in your home and reduce waste.
4. USE WHAT YOU HAVE
Having kids and a desire to save money go hand-in-hand but they can be challenging to balance. Children are tough on clothes, toys, and furniture. While you’ll need to replace some of these items, you can decrease the load on your budget by repurposing what you have and finding ways to make the old seem new again. Buying new, on the other hand, consumes more resources and lands your old items in landfills.
Keep toys looking new for longer and maintain your children’s interest by starting a toy rotation. Create a smaller collection of toys that stays in their room or play area at one time and store the rest away. Switch things up every couple of weeks. Your kids will be interested in their old toys all over again as if they were new, and their items take up less living space at once. You’ll also buy fewer toys over your kids’ lifetimes.
5. SAY NO TO BEGGING
What parent hasn’t succumbed to the toy aisle whining or checkout candy bar demands? You’re certainly in good company if you occasionally make impulse purchases to appease your kids.
Taking children to the store can be challenging. Sometimes buying them a toy or candy for good behaviour feels easier than listening to whining and fighting the entire trip. These purchases, however, take up space in your home and contribute to overflowing landfills. Reduce begging and meltdowns by being clear on your expectations for behaviour before heading into the store.
6. PARE DOWN THE MENU
Creating premade meal plans and rotating through them can save you so much time each week. On top of that, you can create menus that share ingredients, so there’s less food waste and more free space in the fridge. Simple, natural meals will appease the kids, your budget and the planet.
Another great way to improve your nutrition and reduce your environmental impact is to eat less meat. Meat and dairy are responsible for 14.5 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing meat on your menu, especially beef, can lower your household’s footprint and monthly grocery budget.
7. MINIMIZE CLEANING SUPPLIES
Keeping a minimal home can drastically reduce the time needed to clean your home, even with your kids and their messes. Of course, though, you’ll still need to wipe down your house occasionally.
Rather than whipping out a caddy full of specialized scrubs and sprays, take a more minimal approach. Replace your chemical-laden cleaners with natural and more sustainable options. A vinegar solution in a reusable glass bottle won’t leach microplastics into your home or cause breathing problems for your kids, and it’s effective on almost any surface.
START BY MODELLING MINIMALISM
Maintaining minimalism with kids around can be challenging, but the first step is to change your own behaviours. Start with these steps and model sustainable, eco-friendly actions. Have open discussions with your household about why you want to make these changes—to simplify life for your family and do your part for the environment. As your kids watch and listen, these habits will naturally trickle into their daily lives.
