SLOHAS - Slow Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability

I've been wanting to write about this for a while - what do you think of this concept? Maybe it should be Sloth Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability?

Anyway - this is a start of developing it as an idea - maybe it has already be done - let me know if I should keep developing it - or
just have fun with it as a blog.
Love, or Life, anja

■Slow Mother Blog

In all the busy creating of the past month here in Woombah - I have been inspired to write about a new concept:

SLOHAS - Slow Lifestyles of Health and Sustainability
- because it shouldn’t cost the Earth to live Green.

We shouldn’t need to work in a stressful, high powered job to be able to afford to pay for high quality childcare/education, organic vegetables and the latest eco-labels. By living more simply we can
make the time to be with our children, grow our own organic vegetables and use our own initiative to build, create or scavange
the ‘things’ we need around us. It is fine to enjoy some stress from time to time and to set ourselves challenges in the things that provide meaning in our life if we choose it. But to be obedient to trends that further entrench us into a slave-like existence in jobs and lives that we don’t like will not make us happier or the Earth healthier.

What does SLOHAS mean? It is creating a healthy, ethical and
sustainable lifestyle without needing a high income. It is a
lifestyle choice that incorporates downshifting, grassroots democracy and voluntary simplicity. It is, to me, a commonsense practical response to the sound of the Earth crying, global inequality balanced with our strong instinct to provide a safe, healthy and happy future for our children. It is not withdrawing, but engaging - being proud rather than embarrassed that you can enjoy life with things that most people would throw away. It is not accepting the definition of the ‘yoke’ of poverty but instead celebrating the liberation of simplicity.

So, I think I am creating a SLOHAS life, learning slowly as I go.
Our income is very low but we have enough. The children are fed and clothed, healthy and we have a roof over our heads.

All our clothes, furniture, bicycles, etc are second hand. We are
slowly planting a garden of fruit trees and vegetables that will
provide our organic food for the future (scavenging thinks like
seaweed and mulch and volunteer plants). We leave the car at home
and ride our bikes and buses to get around. I am building using
recycled materials and using the resources I have on hand to create our new living space. The help from my family, friends, neighbours
and woofers builds and strengthens communities – both locally and
from afar.