Research pick: Less is more, more or less - "Quest for less! Living with minimalism for building a better sustainable world – a qualitative study exploring millennials perspective"

A study in the International Journal of Sustainable Agricultural Management and Informatics suggests that minimalism is perhaps the only viable, sustainable path forward to address the problem of environmental damage due to ever-increasing consumption. Global consumption is thought to account for almost two-thirds of greenhouse gas emissions. Our seemingly endless buying and discarding of material goods at a rapid pace has also become an important factor in environmental degradation.

Varghese Joy and Vijay Kumar Jain of DIT University Dehradun in India, have explored minimalism, a lifestyle shift that emphasizes reduced consumption and purposeful living, as a promising antidote to modern consumer excess.

In the 1970s, the voluntary simplicity movement began in the USA. This advocated for a less material-focused life, but today that kind of minimalism has taken on added urgency. Rather than a lifestyle trend, minimalism could have policy implications and reshape how we think about happiness and well-being and to weave that into mental clarity, purposeful experiences, and environmental responsibility. The team suggests that such a shift in attitude away from endless consumerism could reduce our environmental footprint, as well as moving society towards a less materialistic future.

The team has looked at what they call, enablers, factors that drive people towards a minimalist approach to life. They used interpretive structural modelling to analyse these enablers. At the top of the list were personal attitude, cautious shopping habits, self-sufficiency, and the strategic elimination of clutter. Each of these enablers could have a role in helping people adopt minimalism.

Personal attitude reflects a mindset that eschews the cultural push and pull of materialism. It is an attitude that values experiences over possessions, prioritises environmental responsibility, and allows us to appreciate the non-material side of life. In adopting this positive personal attitude towards minimalism, we might take on conscious consumption where we buy only what we need and not everything we want.

The next enabler is self-sufficiency. This encourages us to focus on using what we already have, maximizing our skills and resources before buying more of anything. This attitude shuns our dependency on novelty and so reduces demand on production, which in turn lessens waste and resource depletion.

Clutter elimination is third on the list and involves removing non-essential items from one’s living space to create a calmer, more organized environment, which might then boost mental clarity and reduce stress.

While minimalism seems to offer many personal benefits, such as a less stressful existence, better mental health, and greater fulfilment. The true potential could be on a global scale.

Joy, V. and Jain, V.K. (2024) ‘Quest for less! Living with minimalism for building a better sustainable world – a qualitative study exploring millennials perspective’, Int. J. Sustainable Agricultural Management and Informatics, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp.405–428.