Well hello there friends and welcome back I am your host

Stephanie Safarian and you are listening to episode 139 of the Sustainable

Minimalists podcast this week I am thrilled to introduce you to a new series that I am running this autumn

which is all about self-sufficiency baby steps. Key word baby steps. This series will bring you a short and

sweet interview designed to introduce you to an aspect of sustainability you

may never have thought about before. Now if you are

listening right now and you are thinking heck no I do not have any time to take on

some oversized projects right now don't worry because I am not going to expect you to

quit your job and start a homestead or live off the grid or anything like that.

Instead I have specifically chosen topics that are easy, attainable, and my absolute favorite, incremental.

My hope is that these many interviews in this series will inspire you to adopt a new hobby that is both fun and also just happens to be eco-friendly.

Now self-sufficiency is a major tenet of sustainable minimalism and if you have

considered yourself an eco-conscious minimalist for a while you may have likely

had an aha moment where you realize that the

end goal is actually not a tidy house. It is actually not a crate and barrel-esque home,

although that's nice. It's not a pantry filled with perfectly

uniform mason jars, either, although that is quite nice too. For many of us, and because you're listening

to this podcast right now, I might even say for all of us,

the end goal is decreased reliance on corporations and increased reliance on corporations on our own skill set. Enter self-sufficiency. Now on today's show

we are accomplishing two very specific goals.

First, I am offering up a quick introduction

as to what self-sufficiency really means and why it matters.

...