A Look At America’s Growing “Small Living” Movement

Thought this article touched on a variety of important points that fall into the theme of our current green retrofit. Exerpt from Enviromental News Network:

"In a super-sized obsessed age, we’ve now fallen into the gap where we believe our home should also reflect a shift toward the grandiose. Yet this obsession with gigantism has completely dwarfed our sense of self. Whereas even meals used to be an art form, the rising trend on bigger (and ultimately considerably ridiculous creations) is aimed at promoting a consumer culture that ironically strips us of culture.

Some would even argue that in addition to relinquishing culture, we rescinded our identity as we grow increasingly lost amidst a rising expanse of materialism. With consumer culture, it’s no longer about what we have, but about how much we can stuff into ourselves, pile on ourselves, and collect around ourselves. An inflationary ideology that compromises quality for quantity, the idea that more is better and less is miserly can be traced back to Hollywood and celebrity, two groups that promote a culture of excess that majority of star gazers flock to emulate.
Yet an undercurrent movement referred to as “small living” is creating waves as a chic counter culture against wasteful consumption. An increasing number of global citizens are realizing that bigger is not better, that more is not necessarily feasible, and that a continued practice of parasitism is not in our mutual interest....

...Small living is simply much cheaper. It’s cheaper to furnish your place, utility costs are lower, and smaller spaces are generally much more affordable to rent or purchase. It was Leonardo da Vinci who first said, “small rooms discipline the mind and large ones distract it,” – and perhaps he was right. Surprisingly, there are a number of other benefits that go with smaller spaces, which anyone who’s walked the walk will quickly recognize."

To read more, please see: http://blog.enn.com/