Is consumerism/materialism making you sick? Me too...

After coming back from living in China I experienced serious shock at how consumer driven American culture is. I had a really hard time adjusting to what had been the norm my whole life.

I have a love hate relationship with consumerism, and an serious hatred of materialism. Despite this, I still find it hard not to consume the stuff I like when I have the money for it.

Turns out I'm not alone. Every time I meet a really interesting person, we get to talking about the vacuity of materialism and how in the world can be escape it?

Here are some great books that help me on my path toward a more sustainable and fulfilling life:

Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence: Revised and Updated for the 21st Century [Paperback]

Vicki Robin, Joe Dominguez,, Monique Tilford

The Overspent American: Why We Want What We Don't Need by Juliet B. Schor

Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill by Matthieu Ricard and Daniel Golema

The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom by Jonathan Haidt

Anything by Thich Nhat Hanh

Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life by Thich Nhat Hanh

The Tao of Pooh

A New Earth, Eckhart Tolle I bought the audio book for this and highly recommend it over the paper form.

The Art of Being Minimalist http://www.artofbeingminimalist.com/art-of-being-minimalist.php

Joining a C.S.A. = Eat More Veggies, Help Sustain the Earth, and Meet Like-Minded Individuals

The best thing I did for my boring life in Phoenix, AZ was join a CSA. Every week we got new produce that we had to learn how to cook and eat. I also was forced to go to the farmer's market every week which brought a whole new dimension of community to my life.

It's quite cheap compared to the average weekly grocery bill. ~$20- $30 a week.

Orange County, NY: Stonegate Farm

Commuter money saver

Metro-North 10 trip passes: purchase on the internet and you'll save a few bucks.

Downsizing

Downsizing is time consuming. How much of my life have I spent accumulating?

animal rescue: cool kids who feed lost baby squirrels from bottles (they rescue pigeons too)

The Empty Cages Collective (ECC) is a New York-based animal and environmental advocacy organization. ECC aims to cultivate a culture where animals are recognized as fellow sentient beings worthy of respectful and compassionate treatment.

http://emptycagescollective.wordpress.com/

Naomi Klein kicks some ass

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTLbAFjJ3hE

“We did not lose the battles of ideas. We were not outsmarted and we were not out-argued,” journalist and author Naomi Klein said. “We lost because we were crushed. Sometimes we were crushed by army tanks, and sometimes we were crushed by think tanks. And by think tanks I mean the people who are paid to think by the makers of tanks.

Watch this video and get INSPIRED