A Journey to Downsize in the Age of Climate Change

My wife and I sold our four-bedroom semi-detached home almost a decade ago. Did we do this to reduce our carbon footprint? No! We no longer needed the space with our daughter getting older and finding her independence. We moved to a midtown two-storey, two-bedroom apartment in Toronto. That meant letting go of the stuff we had accumulated before we knew each other and in over 40 years of married life.

When I read Michael Coren’s Washington Post article entitled “The Swedes know the secret to happiness: You are not your stuff,” I realized that our downsizing journey which is now into a third generation has been about not being our stuff anymore.

I have an older brother who is an accomplished pianist and artist. He has many challenges in his life and lives in a three-bedroom walkup in a low-rise apartment. His place, until a few years ago exhibited the worst hoarding one can imagine. It was hard to navigate through piles of stuff and green garbage bags and had become a health and safety hazard. When one of my other brothers and I sorted through the “stuff” we called for 1-800-Got-Junk to come and pick up a full truck of things that my older brother was reluctant to see go. But it had to be done and unfortunately, will have to be done again because old habitats don’t die easily.

Today, my wife and I are in a two-bedroom apartment that is about 25% the size of the home we left more than a decade ago. It is our third move and we hope our last. We still have to let go of things and are sorting through the “stuff” we no longer need. We have sold, given and thrown away stuff with each downsize. And we are still working on decluttering. That doesn’t mean we haven’t bought stuff. But each purchase has been thoroughly vetted for long-term use.

Coren’s article describes dealing with his journey with the stuff accumulated by his mom and packed into her one-bedroom apartment. When she passed away he was astonished by the content that lay behind closet doors and in kitchen cabinets. He writes, “Each item, on its own, wasn’t unreasonable. the aggregate proved overwhelming.” Coren had garage sales, giveaways, and eventually called trash handlers t take what was left.

He talks about a Swedish reality TV show called “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning” with its message to those planning to leave a legacy for their children and loved ones. The show deals with not burdening those who inherit your stuff. He goes on to suggest strategies such as selective purchasing, not buying things in the first place, and prioritizing the value of possessions.

“Clutter is also hard on our world” states Coren. He writes, “Each product we buy, on average, accounts for roughly 6.3 times its weight in carbon emissions. Together, our household purchases of goods and services account for between 26 and 45 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. That’s heavily skewed toward the richest 1 percent of the world’s population which emits two times more than the poorest 50 percent.”

In this latest downsizing move, my wife and I parted with lots of “stuff.” Our record and CD collection, stereo system, numerous pieces of furniture, hundreds of books, and many knickknacks. Having done this before, it wasn’t all that painful. We sold a lot, we found new homes for a lot, we gave away a lot, and we discarded those things we didn’t associate with our sense of well-being.

The Swedes call the process Döstädning and although that term translates to the process that follows cleaning out the accumulated things from a loved one who has died, in our case, we are very much alive and planning to go on for several more decades if a future pandemic, nuclear war, or climate change doesn’t get us.

Döstädning is about reassessing our relationship with “things,” about ending our attachment to belongings. This is something my older brother has yet to realize and it is no doubt restricting the remaining years he has left.

Döstädning is about not making the things we acquire the sum of who we are. Coren writes, “Instead of our possessions offering ‘a vital receptacle for our memories and identities,’ researchers say they become ‘fortresses,’ physical barriers to ward off feelings of insecurity and loneliness.”

Coren’s article has become an inspiration for me to look at what my wife and I are still holding onto so that we can stop letting things possess us. We can hold on to framed pictures of the family. We can keep a treasured keepsake. But holding on and buying more presents a bill that the planet can no longer afford to pay. And amassing stuff that ends up being a burden to loved ones who will inherit it is no more than an act of self-indulgence and selfishness.

Some döstädning basics include:

1. Start with easy stuff like clothes, furniture, things you haven’t looked at, opened or used for years.
2. Begin immediately by assessing the objects around you. The creator of döstädning suggests making daily decisions about stuff to sell, give away, or keep.
3. Tell loved ones what you are doing. Consider gifting objects to them now because you know they will be treasured. Ask them about stuff you have that you think they might want. This is a far better way to manage what you have accumulated in your life rather than to have loved ones sort out the stuff after you are gone.
4. Keep things that make you happy. Don’t keep the things that don’t.

Additional words of advice from döstädning:

Think about the stuff you buy and its fate before you pay. It is easier to not have to let go by not purchasing stuff. It won’t impact your sense of self-worth one iota.

If you are looking for an environmental justification, consider the climate impact of stuff that ends up as trash when loved ones have to throw it out. Landfills are net carbon emitters. Your legacy to descendants shouldn’t contribute to the worsening of global warming.