Live. Well. Green.

Episode 06: Affluenza Antidote

March 17, 2020 Kristina Hunter Episode 6
Live. Well. Green.
Episode 06: Affluenza Antidote
Show Notes

In today’s episode of Live Well Green Podcast, I am going to talk about affluenza and the antidotes to this dreadful condition. Together, we’ll explore what is affluenza, where do we see it around us, and talk about a variety of antidotes such as voluntary simplicity and the slow movement. I also share a personal life experience story of living minimally, how the effects of minimalism flow into the rest of your life, and some key strategies for slowing down in our everyday lives. So if you are ready to implement these tips into your day-to-day living, tune in and get ready to learn more about today’s topic to see how it can benefit us in our sustainability quest and how we can truly flourish. 


Key Points From This Episode: 

  • The definition of affluenza: Affluent + Influenza 
  • Where we see affluenza in our lives and how it plays out in different areas.
  • The distinction between perceived obsolescence versus planned obsolescence.
  • The effect affluenza has on our personal well-being and validation as a person. 
  • A quote from a documentary called The Story of Stuff.
  • Antidotes to affluenza: Can we live more and buy less?
  • Antidote number 1: Voluntary simplicity and what that means for affluenza.
  • Substituting new things with finding depth in other areas of our lives.
  • I share a personal life experience of voluntary simplicity.
  • A few tips on how to incorporate voluntary simplicity into your daily lives.
  • Antidote number 2: Minimalism.
  • How decluttering can go beyond a tidy closet and have positive impacts on our lives. 
  • How minimalism spills into not only the physical but your whole being.
  • Antidote number 3: Down-shifting.
  • The benefits of down-shifting in your life.
  • Antidote number 4: The Slow Movement — A cultural revolution.
  • A few different examples and benefits included in the Slow Movement ideology.
  • Four practical tips on how to live slow in our day to day lives.


Quotables:

“A partial restraint in some directions is necessary to in order to secure greater abundance of life in other directions.” — Kristina Hunter [0:14:46]

“Voluntary simplicity asks us to redefine what we consider to be wealth. Consumer culture has been said to have an impoverished definition of wealth, we should look for all different dimensions of wealth. That includes intellectual, ecological, spiritual, health, and social wealth.” — Kristina Hunter [0:16:00]

“We should think about voluntary simplicity as choosing to consume less and being more mindful with our purchases. Buying quality, and environmentally friendly products, consuming more locally and choosing how to spend our time, intentionally.” — Kristina Hunter [0:17:45]

“The idea in all of the spheres in the slow movement are to get us to slow down, connect, enjoy, savour and just really live in the moment.” — Kristina Hunter [0:32:45]

 

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Kristina Hunter on LinkedIn

Voluntary Simplicity by Duane Elgin

Sustainable Well Being Start Kit

In Praise of Slowness by Carl Honore

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

Marck Burch

Joshua Becker

Courtney Carver