Press Clippings
Minneapolis Star Tribune - April 27, 2005
Take Five With Simple Living Guru
By Connie Nelson
Wanda Urbanska is a pioneer of simple living, the author of several books and host of the PBS series Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska. We caught up with the queen of consumption control before she left for the Twin Cities where she will give a free workshop at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Living Green Expo at the Minnesota State fairgrounds.
1. You and your husband left promising careers and an upwardly mobile lifestyle in L.A. Why?
We worked too hard, spent too much and didn’t know our neighbors. We were hungry for a slower-paced life, for a community beyond ourselves, for simple living.
2. What is simple living?
It’s getting away from this hurried-up, multitasking lifestyle. It’s about making connections, making your own decisions and doing good by others and the environment.
3. You promote frugality, taking care of the environment, being involved in your community. Aren’t these things our grandparents taught us?
Exactly! But we’ve forgotten what grandma knew. One of the reasons we’re so busy is that we have to work so much to pay for all the stuff we think we want. But most of us are drowning in stuff.
4. “Nothing’s Too Small To Make A Difference” is your motto and the title of your latest book. But can we really change our lives and our world by doing little things?
Of course we need to protect wetlands and do what we can to promote clean air. But those are big-picture things. Little everyday things—like buying locally, using a travel mug instead of a throw-away, recovering the sofa instead of getting a new one—make a difference over time.
5. If you could recommend only one lifestyle change what would it be?
Reclaim your time. Everyone is so busy, but that’s not just a function of the times we live in, it’s also a function of the decisions we make. If you’re spending 10 hours a week doing your hair and two hours a week with your kids, you need to update your life script.