I have never thought of myself as a “hippie” or “eco” person, but lately I have started doubting the habits of the modern day. I have questioned the necessity of very common things we have in our household or consider essential part of life. Some of the realizations came when we were moving for the second time this year and discovered how much unnecessary stuff we have, others came through life experience or having read about better alternatives. Here is a list of things I am doing perfectly fine without:

1. Commercial pet food
   Dogs and cats are carnivores. They do not need grains, which make up most of the kibble sold in supermarkets and veterinary offices. Think of what they would eat in the wild — they need real meat and bones to crunch on. Would you eat the same dry cookies every day for years? Why do you make your pets do that? Feeding raw food is actually cheaper, once you find a good supplier and your pets will be so much healthier.
2. Books
   Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE books, but it just doesn’t make any sense to have tons of them at home. Most of them you’ll read only once. You can find most of the books at the library and keep only the most precious books which you know you’ll read again on your shelf.
3. Pads and tampons
   After having read about menstrual cups, I realized how much money I could save and how much less waste I would produce. Besides, Diva Cups are far more convenient as you won’t need to have tampons falling out of every pocket when you leave home and it needs emptying only once or twice a day.
4. Bra
   Did you know that a study by Jean-Denis Rouillon showed that not wearing a bra makes breast tissue stronger and your breasts will actually be in better shape without it? Having relatively small breasts, I never felt the need to wear a bra, I had only been wearing it since everyone else did. It actually felt uncomfortable, so I stopped wearing a bra immediately after reading the article.
5. Microwave oven
   It takes up so much room and you can perfectly well heat up your food in the oven or on the stove. I need my precious counter space for preparing food, thank you.
6. Vacuum cleaner
   Sometimes it felt like the vacuum cleaner just rolled the sand grains around and the wind from the back just blew dog hair further under the counter. A simple broom can do the job, is more quiet, not even half as heavy and takes up less space.
7. Unnecessary furniture
   With the new trend of moving into tiny houses I, too, started to think whether I need all the furniture I have. I allocated a shelf from the wardrobe for my beauty essentials and now my little red drawer is looking for a new owner. The bedroom has so much more free space and I will thank myself for giving away the furniture pieces when we move again.

With this article I hope I have encouraged you to look at your everyday life with a sharper and smarter look. I now have much less “stuff” at home and I feel that I am making healthier choices. I believe a human needs to be exposed to new ideas multiple times before he/she is ready to make the real shift. I had heard of menstrual cups or the bad effect of kibble years before, but just couldn’t take the ideas in yet, they just seemed so different from what I was told is normal. Having revisited these ideas later I was already familiar with them and ready to give a try.