The Minimalist Orange

How can an orange be part of a minimalist lifestyle? Here’s an example:

I needed a can of mandarin oranges to put into my son’s favorite chicken al orange recipe. I decided that I could cut up a fresh orange in about the same amount of time it would take to open a can. After some thought I realized that not only would the fresh orange certainly be healthier, but I wouldn’t have to recycle the can which would take my time to take it to the garage where it would take up space until it got recycled at the curb. The fresh orange’s peel can simply go into my compost bucket and return to the soil from which it came without the cost of transportation to a recycler who will undoubtedly use more energy to reprocess the can. Of course buying one orange was cheaper than a can of mandarin oranges too.

The orange example puts forth the basic concept of minimalism and it touches on each of the areas in my definition of minimalism. Use just what you need and don’t create waste. So before you act, think of the orange.