According to Leslie Garrett, local writer, the key word is ‘reduce’

I reduced my food and clothing costs today.

I ate leftovers and said ‘no’ to a trip to the Village of Values [i.e. Value Village] where I would surely have spent at least 10 bucks on second hand clothes.

Not bad, eh?

The word ‘reduce’ is on my mind a lot these days for two reasons:

I want to reduce my costs related to food, clothing, shelter, transportation and recreation, and am brainstorming ways to accomplish my goal before our country’s recession worsens.


["Reducing my costs!": link to photo]

As well, while interviewing Leslie Garrett yesterday for a future column she emphasized the importance of reducing our overall consumption of all goods.

“Of the three words - reduce, reuse, recycle - we focus a lot on recycling,” she said, “but the most important one is reduce.”

Leslie is the author of a book entitled The Virtuous Consumer - Your essential shopping guide for a better, kinder, healthier world.

[See Recommended Reading - side panel]

Over morning coffee at The Red Roaster I asked her several brilliant questions, heard many astute answers but the simplest solution seems to be to reduce consumption.

If I do that I reduce costs and become better, kinder and healthier toward the world and my wallet.

Is there anything more essential than ‘reduce’?

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