Compact Action: An Orgy of Waste

The move was turning into an orgy of waste. With too much stuff and too little space, the driveway began to fill with a mountain of our discarded things. As a member of The Compact , a group dedicated to voluntary simplicity and conservation, this was a mortal sin for me. It was also an ill omen.

We were moving to Missouri from California. If our personal stand against consumption was strange here in the San Francisco Bay, it was going to be downright alien in the Ozarks.

I began working the phones, and pretty soon friends and acquaintances began to arrive and the pile began to shrink. I swapped a few things for stuff we needed anyhow, like bungee cords, and I extracted a promise from neighbors to put the rest up on Craigslist for free.

We left town a little late, but with a clean conscience that our discards were destined for reuse not refuse.

That is the sort of everyday stand our family takes against this consumer culture. We hope that if enough people take small actions, we'll call them compact actions, the sum will be greater than the parts.

Over 2007, we'll be taking it to the heartland. In the reddest corner of Missouri, we'll see if it is possible to transplant or left-coast, blue-state ideas to a land of subdivisions and Walmarts.

Cynthia has invited us to share the story with you. We'll look at how our family takes things beyond recycling, what works, and what doesn't in our new home. Feel free to share your comments and experiences with me at sanfordclark@sbcglobal.net.