My wife and I have a strange hobby. We like to pick up trash at the beach. Let me clarify. It’s not that we enjoy picking up other people’s garbage; it’s more that we feel compelled to do it. Have you been to a beach lately? Look closely at the sand your child uses to build their castle, which almost certainly contains an alarming amount of plastic.
In case you weren’t aware, the ocean is full of trash, and some of it washes up daily on the world’s beaches. Also, inattentive or uncaring humans leave trash wherever they go, the beach being no exception. As I explained in Our Vacation Home: Dream Come True or Financial Nightmare?, my family loves the beach, so this is particularly distressing to us.
So, my wife and I have made it our goal to keep the beach near our home clear of trash, or at least as clear as possible. We walk the beach every morning as the sun slowly rises over the ocean. We often do it again in the evening as the sun sets. My goal is to fill at least one shopping bag with trash each day we spend in Hawaii.
Unfortunately, picking up trash at the beach is a little like working in the ER. No matter how hard we work, the job is never really done. It can’t all be picked up. And when we return the next day, it’s like yesterday never happened. All you can take away is the knowledge that you did your best.
I promise this isn’t a post about beach trash or a virtue-signaling pat on the back to demonstrate how environmentally friendly I am. It’s about realizing that consuming less does more than improve your finances.
FIRE
Perhaps the most elegant tenant of FIRE is that the less you spend, the less you must save for retirement. Using the 4% Rule, if you spend $200,000 per year, you will need to save $5M for retirement, while if you only spend $100,000, your FIRE number becomes $2.5M. When it comes to FIRE, the little things matter. For every $100 per month you remove from your expenses, your retirement number drops by $30,000! This virtuous cycle promotes frugality as a way to expedite your FIRE journey.
However, there is an unexpected co-beneficiary to frugality that is often overlooked when discussing the benefits of FI . . . the earth. The less we buy and consume, the less waste ends up in landfills or the ocean. If enough people started consuming less, businesses would have to start manufacturing less, which is a win for our wallets and for the world.
OK, Let’s Get This Out of the Way
I do not consider myself an environmentalist, and I know nothing about climate change. I work in West Texas, the fossil fuel capital of the US. My last two daily drivers (before the Honda Civic) were a 707hp supercharged V8 Jeep and a Hummer (it was the small one, at least). However, you don’t have to be Greta Thunberg to admit that we use too much plastic, too much of which ends up in our oceans. In fact, we use too much of everything: plastic, clothing, housing, electricity, etc., which not only drains our wallets but pollutes our planet.
Facts are Facts, Not Politics
The world has produced roughly 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic over the last 70 years, doubling production every 15 years. It is estimated that worldwide, 91% is not recycled. 33% of the plastic is single-use only – designed to be immediately thrown away, while 50% is discarded within a year (2).
269,000 tons of this plastic has ended up in our oceans. It is estimated that 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic are floating on the sea surface (1), collected in 5 gyres or enormous garbage patches. The largest, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, covers an area twice the size of Texas (3).
The pie chart shows that China, North America, Europe, and the Rest of Asia produce the most plastics, with China being by far the largest. Even though the Western world produces a significant amount of plastic, we are not the major polluters of the ocean. India dumps nearly a third of the world’s trash in the sea. The top five polluting countries, India, China, Indonesia, Brazil, and Thailand, are responsible for a combined 311.3 million kilograms of trash entering the ocean each year. The US is a distant eighth at 2.4 million kgs. While there is room for improvement at home, using a paper straw will do nothing for the environment if the top 5 polluting countries don’t change. Sorry.
The Blue Bin Lie
I will assume that as an educated, responsible human, you recycle. For the heathens who don’t – WTF is wrong with you? Recycle! It doesn’t take that much effort, and ignorance is the only acceptable reason for not doing it. It’s like smoking – once you know, you know, and making a conscious decision to ignore the facts kind of makes you a bad person. Sorry, that got a little preachy but there really is no excuse for not recycling (or for smoking).
So, putting materials in the blue bins means we’re virtuous and saving the planet, right? Right? Well, yes and no. You should use the recycling bins. There is no downside. However, not everything we put in those bins gets recycled. Most paper products can be recycled, as can cardboard, unless it is covered in plastic or wax. Aluminum cans can also be readily recycled if placed into the correct bins.
Once aluminum gets into the recycling system, approximately 90% is recycled (4). Unfortunately, only 50% of aluminum cans in the US make it into recycling bins. The system has some waste, but the challenge is getting Americans to put their soda and beer cans in the blue bins (Germany recycles 99% of their consumer aluminum by comparison). A newly produced can in the US contains around 73% recycled material.
By contrast, only 9 % of the world’s plastic is recycled, with only 5% in the US (6). It is becoming painfully clear that plastic recycling is some combination of oil company propaganda and an outright lie. Let me be painfully clear – the plastic you put into the recycling bin is NOT being recycled. The state of California (of course) just filed a lawsuit against Exxon Mobile for deceptive practices regarding plastic recycling (6).
“Urine is Sterile. Wash Anyway.”
This sign was hung over the urinal in my favorite Greektown bar in Chicago during med school. The owner let my roommates and I take over the jukebox, playing both discs of the double Smashing Pumpkin’s album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness for free, and didn’t mind if I occasionally punched the Golden Tee machine (circa 1999, those things were seemingly indestructible). He also supplied us with frequent rounds of free shots. In return, we were regular clients. And we gave him a discount (and didn’t tell his wife) when he brought his girlfriend to the hotel where we all worked.
Anyway, the message over the trough is what matters. Regardless of whether the plastic you use in the US ends up in the ocean, use less. It still ends up in a landfill. Whether or not using less plastic in the US makes a difference globally, do it anyway. Stop buying single-use plastic bottles. Buy aluminum cans of water instead. Or use the 20 Yetis you’ve gotten as gifts or your fashionable Stanley cup for your hydration needs. Stop taking lids and plasticware that you don’t need. Give out books instead of cheap plastic toys at your kid’s birthday parties. Stop. Using. So. Much. Plastic.
Clothing
Now that we know we should use less plastic, especially single-use plastic, let’s look at other things we don’t need to buy. There are approximately 80 billion garments produced per year worldwide. Eighty Billion. There are only about 8 billion people on earth, which means we produce more than 10 articles of clothing for every man, woman, and child every single year. Many of the planet’s inhabitants can’t afford new clothing, so this number is much higher for those of us living in the US.
I still have clothes in my closet from 1998. Seriously. While you don’t have to be as ridiculous as I am regarding clothing, you also don’t need a new outfit every few months. Who cares if you don’t have the latest throw-away fashion from H&M or SHEIN? Besides being made in sweatshops, it all ends up in the trash in a year or two anyway. It’s literal garbage when you buy it. Buy timeless, well-made clothing made of natural materials (if possible) that you can wear for years. And don’t fool yourself by giving the fast-fashion clothes you’re tired of to Goodwill (a for-profit company, by the way) or the Salvation Army (a much better choice). They throw away many of the items they receive, and you’re just pushing your junk onto someone else. It only works if you stop buying new items and shop at secondhand stores.
Consider that the two wealthiest men in Europe, Bernard Arnault (LVMH) and Amancio Ortega (Zara), own clothing companies. That should tell you something about the volume and margins of their merchandise, which come at the expense of consumer finances.
Oh, and just to make it even worse, 60% of our clothing is now made of plastic, which releases microplastic fibers into our environment, especially when we do the laundry (5). Many of these microfibers end up in our oceans, where marine animals consume them, and we, in turn, eat the animals. Awesome.
Amazon et al.
There is a reason that Jeff Bezos is so rich as Amazon revolutionized how we shop. There is no denying how convenient it is to have anything you want delivered to your door, often on the same day as your order. But this comes with a heavy price on the environment and your wallet.
The average American household receives 3-4 packages delivered to their home per week. America has 100+ million households. You do the math. The items you ordered are often covered in plastic wrap, protected by more plastic bubble wrap, and placed inside cardboard boxes to be safely delivered by a driver to your door. Seems efficient to me.
But we have reached a tipping point where it is too easy. Amazon cleared the path for other retailers, grocers, and food delivery services. Nearly anything you desire can quickly be yours. Click a few buttons on a screen and the item magically appears at your door. The bill comes later, so why worry about it? But how much of what you order do you REALLY need? If you had to get off the couch and drive to the store would you still buy it right now? Would you even remember that you still “needed” it the next time you went shopping?
Go through your Amazon account and see how much money you have spent over the past six months or one year. How many of the products you purchased do you still use? Could you have done without them? Now, look in your garage or trash can and see how many Amazon boxes are there. Are you recycling the cardboard?
Amazon claims to now obtain 100% of its energy use from renewable sources. However, experts argue that the company employs an imaginative use of math (7). Amazon’s factories, warehouses, and distribution networks function 24 hours a day. They function in places where the sun doesn’t always shine, and the wind doesn’t always blow. While Amazon has always obscured data on its energy usage, some estimate that Amazon Web Services (AWS) alone consumes 2% of all electricity in the US (8)!
Miscellaneous
Do you need a 400hp commuter car? Do you need a 5000lb SUV to take your kids to soccer practice? How about that jacked-up truck to drive to your office job? Smaller, cheaper, more fuel-efficient cars not only help your wallet but also the environment. I have discussed how the American obsession with cars affects our finances in the article Navigating the High Cost of New Cars.
We have a housing affordability crisis in the US. You may be aware that the median nominal home price has risen from $39,000 to $427,000 since 1975, an increase of 122% (adjusted for inflation). This is a highly quoted statistic used to demonstrate how difficult it is for young homebuyers. However, it is rarely discussed that the median home size has gone from 1535 to 2256 sq ft over that same period, an increase of 47%.
This is while the median household has decreased from 2.94 to 2.51 people, meaning that the median sq footage per occupant has increased by 72%. We also now have central air, two car garages (that generally only fit one of our enormous cars), better insulation and safety features, and nicer finishes. Yes, houses are more expensive, even when adjusted for inflation, but we do get a better product for that extra money. However, the real question is, do we need all the additional space and amenities?
Do our children need so many plastic toys? My kids have a lot of them at home, and they rarely play with most of them. When we are on vacation, they read, swim in the pool, and invent games. I’m writing this from an Air BNB in Portugal right now, and for the last two weeks, the kids have been learning how to solve different varieties of Rubick’s Cubes, making up adventure games, and working puzzles they found in the house– when they’re not playing at the beach. They don’t need a lot of toys that will end up in the trash in a few years to be occupied and happy.
Practical Advice
Besides the items we discussed, I have other practical advice for buying less stuff. First, create a 7-day rule before you purchase anything online. If you want to buy something, wait at least seven days, then re-evaluate whether you still want it. You’ll find that many things you wanted turned out to be passing fancies. You can also make a rule that you will only buy things at a physical store. This puts a barrier between your desire and the opportunity.
Next, join local “Buy Nothing” communities online. It’s incredible what people are willing to give away for free just to get items out of their houses. We have gotten bicycles, books, and sports equipment. And don’t forget to list the items you don’t want anymore! Facebook marketplace is a great place to buy and sell used items you can’t get for free.
Cook at home instead of buying pre-packaged foods. This has a triple advantage. One, it is healthier to make your own food. Two, it costs less. And three, buying fresh ingredients uses less packaging.
Final Thoughts
We’ve all seen “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!” marketing surrounding various waste management and environmental programs. Most people tend to focus on the last one, but as we’ve seen, when it comes to plastics in particular, recycling doesn’t work. Reduce is listed first for a reason.
I’m not suggesting that you make your own clothes, grow your own food, live in a tiny house, and ride your bicycle everywhere – I’ll leave that to Mr. Money Mustache and others. However, everyone can downsize their lives and make little changes in how they think and consume.
Buy less clothing of a better quality. Buy a smaller car with better gas mileage and drive it for a decade. Stop purchasing single-use plastics. Buy less junk on Amazon and fewer things in general. Use what you have. Wait to see if you really need something before you buy it. Ask a friend if they have what you need.
As always, I try to practice what I preach. My family of 5 moved from a 4300 sq ft house to one with 2800 sq ft. I swapped my 15-mpg daily driver to one that gets 42. I now drink Coke Zero from a can instead of a plastic bottle, and we get our water from the 5-gallon refillable dispensers instead of individual plastic bottles. I’m far from perfect, but I’m doing what I can – and saving money along the way.
Follow some of these suggestions, and you’ll spend less money and reach FI faster. Come and join me at the beach when you do, and we’ll pick up some plastic together.
Thank you for reading Business Is the Best Medicine. Subscribe below to receive weekly updates on our new articles. I promise we’ll try to keep the preaching and virtue signaling to a minimum.
References
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