kickflipjr

well, you can read "The politics of simple living" online for free. Link below:

https://www.preservenet.com/simpleliv...pleLiving.html

BearsPaw

You can read Walden for free, with analysis, here.

Roody

Yes--Ken Kifer's site. In a different context, the topic of another recent thread.

While you're reading Walden, check out the rest of Ken's site--there's no better explication of the whole carfree/simple living concept.

eric!

Industrial Society and Its Future by Theodore Kaczynski

Indie

I can't remember the author's name, but my mom had a lovely book called Living Lightly on the Earth. This is a relic of the '60s/'70s hippie era, and it's all hand-drawn and hand-written. It's a big resource book of earth-friendly DIY stuff, from making clothes to brewing mead to digging and maintaining a pit toilet.

Roody

Another book along those lines was the Whole Earth Catalog. It's somewhat dated now, but a lot of the information--and especially the philosophy--is still valuable.

gwd

Hey, I have a copy of "The Last Whole Earth Catalog" right here under my chair. Its a window into a different era isn't it? The pages are beginning to deteriorate. It has that doper story in the margins. As I flip through it I see that the counter culture people back then were still firmly rooted in car-culture. Road trips in buses and stuff like that. If it weren't so huge it might be a good project to scan it in to preserve it. I was getting ready to take it to the goods exchange in case someone wanted to thumb through it before it rots completely.

kjohnnytarr

+1

eofelis 

Living the Good Life by Scott and Helen Nearing. They were modern homesteaders in Vermont and Maine from 1930ish-1980ish. I visited Helen at their place in Maine in the early 1990s.

Bike-a-Boo

Coincidentally, I recently read a raving review of "The Joy of Simple Living" by Jeffrey Davidson and just reserved it at my library. I'm looking forward to checking it out.

Re: "How To Live Well Without Owning a Car" by Chris Balish. I really enjoyed this book, but a book on the same topic that I am currently about 2/3 through and am enjoying even more is "Divorce Your Car" by Katie Alvord. I'm finding her points about some of the not-so-obvious costs of our car culture to be fascinating. She discusses many external costs: financial, societal, environmental, etc, that I had never even contemplated before (i.e. the oxymoron of "free" parking). And I haven't even gotten to the chapters with the practical suggestions. I'm sure this is the topic of another thread somewhere, but I just wanted to share.

Mahatma Zombie

+1,000,000 Thanks for the recommendation, I am reading it now and so far it is awesome!

-Grant

brunop

great book. also "dharma bums" by jack kerouac.

gerv 

There are definitely some interesting moments in this book. However, I have been a little annoyed at times by his insistence on equating owning a hybrid car with "simple living".

To be fair, I think his real message is that we should downsize a great deal and get back to a more rudimentary lifestyle. However, his definition of the downsize and mine are sometimes a little different...

Jude

Hardly!

Get rid of all your stuff, what other instructions do you need?

If you're not that hardcore though...you don't really need a book; just start dumpster diving and sell all your crap that you are never going to use, and then all your crap that you don't really need but just have as a status symbol, and see where it takes you.

Roody

Where Would Jesus Dumpster Dive?

making

beat me to it.

frymaster

behind loaves and fishes depot?

mondaycurse

I'm actually in the middle of writing a book on living simply and getting rid of excess baggage. Here is just an excerpt:

"Step 1: Get a trash can. Fill it with stuff you haven't used in the last year, along with everything you didn't know you had and know you won't have a use for.
Step 2: Organize house to make life function best.
Step 3: 2 weeks later, get a trash can and fill it with stuff you haven't used in the last 8 months.
Step 4: Reorganize house to make everything "visible" and easy to find. You will see stuff that you never use or want, so get rid of it, too.
Step 5: A month after starting the process, fill a trash can with stuff you haven't used in 4 months
By now you have a good idea of what you need or really like and what is just taking up space.
Step 6: Based on your firmly established needs and likes, filter out all the stuff you don't need or like: paperwork, that ugly sweater you bought and don't like but feel guilty to get rid of because you never wore it, christmas presents from co-workers, etc"

Well I guess that's pretty much the entire book, but I'll get a good closing to tie everything together and sell it for $30.

politicalgeek

^^^

Pretty much my winter project this year.

wahoonc

The book or the trash cans?

Aaron

politicalgeek

Gutting my stuff. I've got a good start. Went through the closet before my move, I've slowly been selling off books to half price. My bed and living room furniture is going to be replaced by a futon. So I'll have a futon, dining room table and chairs, a baker's rack, desk and freezer as my large furniture house stuff.

The next phase will be slowly thinning out the rest of my closet and replace most of it with stuff better suited for the bike, probably some thrift store scores for wool. I want to get rid of my dishes and cups and get down to 4 plates, 4 bowls, 4 glasses etc. Same with pots and pans. Also sort through my kitchen appliances.

keithm0

I don't know if this is what you're looking for but...

I recently started reading The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to Self-sufficient Living in the Heart of the City. So far, so good. The suggestions in the chapters I've read so far are simple (making butter and yogurt, canning fruit, composting, growing herbs, etc) but useful. I can't wait to try some of these things.

politicalgeek

I'll have to see about snagging a copy of that book.

Here is the website of the authors.

wahoonc

Why did you have to go and post that Now I have to BUY another book

Aaron

smilin buddha

I liked this one along with Better Off