My desire to live more simply and to acquire less “things” began because of my strong environmental ethic, but it has gradually also become, a quality of life issue for me. Yes, my life is better because I own fewer things, because I get things fixed instead of purchasing a replacement, and I cull the pages of e-bay and Craig’s List for used items instead of buying new from the store. It is sometimes a pain to get things fixed, or to find what you need used – like my husband and I still haven’t found a secondhand kitchen table that fits our home and we have been there a year - but there is something respectful, and respectable, about not just throwing things away and buying new stuff. It takes work though, to keep the influx of possessions at bay. When I took my phone in to get fixed recently, the guy looked at me and said it would be much cheaper just to buy a new phone, and he thought I was kooky that I didn’t want that. Meanwhile, I was thinking, it isn’t cheaper for the planet, my friend, and my life is richer for spending money on repair. Not spending time buying - which has become a national sport these days, especially among young people – frees me up for other, more important things in life, and makes me more grateful for the possessions I do have.

A couple years ago, I decided I wasn’t going to purchase anything but food and soap for a month. My first reaction was panic – what if I NEED something? But right after that came a calm, knowing that I really already had everything I needed. To know that, that I had everything that I needed gave me an incredible feeling of peace. Because you know, our economy is based on the premise that we are not enough because we don’t have enough, and not buying into that (no pun intended!) was so liberating. And that month wasn’t hard at all – it was great. It wasn’t a sacrifice it was a gift.

Now, I am an actress living in Los Angeles. Those factors put me under a lot of pressure to keep up with the fashion trends, to live in a big house filled with fabulous furniture. People expect actors to have a lot of money, and to spend it. I read in US magazine an article on a celebrity, and she said she had to shop every day, and she wasn’t even ashamed of that. In this article it was celebrated like a cool thing to do. Now I am no saint – I want to look hip and pretty too, and I wrestle with this whole shopping thing. I had two functions in the last couple weeks that I considered buying new clothes for. I even went shopping once to look for something, but I couldn’t bring myself to purchase anything. I went home and found some things in my closet that made me look. … hip and pretty. About 10 years ago, I was at a premiere, going down the red carpet, and a T.V. reporter said to me, “I saw you in that outfit at an event last week, Alexandra”. My first instinct was to feel embarrassed, that I had been busted, but then I realized that was silly and I was kowtowing to odd societal rules that say you cannot wear the same thing too often or too close together, and I told him the truth, that I didn’t have very many dresses and that I thought I looked good in this dress. He didn’t know how to respond.

It is a constant thing my husband, Ian, and I work on. We give each other experiences like massages and picnics, instead of things. We downsized our home last year, and we found we prefer living in a smaller place. I think the best present I ever got was when my sister donated blood in my name for my birthday. When Ian writes me a note telling me why he loves me that is better than any piece of jewelry. I know that I still have too much stuff, that I still have that niggly thing sometimes that says that I NEED more clothes to be pretty and acceptable. But I am working on it, and being here today, among people like you, is an inspiration.

Alexandra is on the board of directors of Simple Living America. This talk was given at their 2004 annual meeting, in Los Angeles. www.getsatisfied.org

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Alexandra Paul Alexandra is an accomplished actress, having starred in over 50 feature films and television programs. When she is not in front of the camera, she is passionately pursuing her activism. Alexandra was honored by the ACLU of Southern California as their ‘2005 Activist of the Year’ for her long history of fighting for the environment, voting rights and peace issues. In 1997 the United Nations commended Alexandra for her environmental activism. In 1999, she won the International Green Cross award. She walked across America for over five weeks on The Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament, and has been arrested over a dozen times for protesting at the Nevada Nuclear Test Site. In addition, Alexandra wrote, produced and hosted JAMPACKED, an educational film broadcast on PBS about the human overpopulation crisis, which has won several environmental awards. She followed that up with THE COST OF COOL — FINDING HAPPINESS IN A MATERIALISTIC WORLD, which won a CineEagle award. Alexandra recycles, drives an electric car (her fourth EV), and will not use any products tested on animals. Her favorite book is Atlas Shrugged, her favorite food is chocolate, and her favorite man is her husband, triathlon coach Ian Murray. To learn more about Alexandra Paul go to www.alexandrapaul.com/gallery/gallery_misc.htm

My father was part of the group that started the first EPA in the early 70s, part of the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, and he was very big with the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts.

In the 70s, it was all around. With Carter, there was a focus on conservation. It’s what people were thinking about. We put on sweaters and turned down the thermostat. I made a t-shirt in shop class that said “Ecology”.

So I was interested in it back then and then when I became a mom, my daughter’s speech delay was an interesting door opening for me because she’s one of those kids whose brain works a little different, and no one quite knows why. And that opened the door to exploring vaccinations and chemical additives.

Is that what led you to your involvement with Healthy Child Healthy World, the organization dedicated to protecting children from harmful environmental exposures?

Healthy Child, Healthy World approached me and it seemed like a good fit. Almost two years ago, we launched the Blue Butterfly Campaign. It has five steps toward a healthy home and I adopted them all; eat organic, avoid the whole plastics thing (no micro waving in plastic), clean the air filters, no pesticides and use toxin-free cleaning products. I immediately chucked out everything and switched to Method cleaning products – we love Method, and then I called my gardener and said that we were not going to use the bad stuff anymore.

I had this really moving moment soon after that when we had ants in our pantry area. We called our pest guy . . .and they said they’d been trained to do it organically. The pantry area is near my home office, and I was thinking it would take 4 hours for the air to clear, and they said no, it’s fine to be in the treated areas. So I went back there, and the guy didn’t have his mask on and I said “Oh, you guys!” and he said, “Yeah, you have no idea, we’re around this stuff all day long.” It was this “circle of life” moment. So I was glad we’d chosen a natural approach, for my home and children, and for the sake of the people who do the treatments.

And I’m working with a wonderful woman named Ann from Paradise Contained (on creating a sustainable children’s garden.) She started me in a sustainable direction. I live in a desert, and I’ve grown to appreciate the parameters of my life, not in a way that is limiting, but in a way that is in synch - to acknowledge and celebrate the reality of living in a place that is 110 degrees in the summer. To be where you are, that is my journey, so I live in the Valley and three months out of the year it is really hot, so work with it.

What have you found challenging in this work?

I think it is so easy to sink into despair – I was reading about (the melting of) Greenland the other day, and it is, in a way, unprecedented this emotional and psychological journey that we’re on. I was thinking it was only like 100 years ago with the automotive engine, and we didn’t know (about the harmful effects of carbon emissions), but now we know and to not do something is insanity. It is that balance of action and despair that is so challenging.

What inspires you?

All the people thinking out of the box inspire me. I seek them out. Linda Loudermilk, the designer who makes clothes out of sustainable stuff, the guys making purses out of Luna Bar wrappers- I love that and try to support them.

I wish that all the ingenuity this country shows when it is at war could go into the environmental movement, and that people could think outside the box and be willing to sacrifice because this is bigger. I saw Al Gore speak about climate change, I found it so riveting and haunting, and I really want to hold on to that because it highlights the major importance of this issue. The potential for climate refugees, and wars over water is huge, if we don’t deal with the reality of global warming.

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Amy Brenneman
Amy Brenneman has a degree in Comparative Religion from Harvard University. She is a founding member of the award-winning Cornerstone Theater Company. Theater credits include: Romeo & Juliet, The Oresteia, Three Sisters, Sincerity Forever, St. Joan of the Stockyards (Yale Rep), God’s Heart (Lincoln Center) and A Nervous Smile (Williamstown Theater Festival). Film credits include: CASPER, BYE BY LOVE, HEAT, DAYLIGHT, FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS, THINGS YOU CAN TELL JUST BY LOOKING AT HER, OFF THE MAP, NINE LIVES, 88 MINUTES, JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB, and DOWNLOADING NANCY. Television credits include: NYPD BLUE (2 Emmy noms), JUDGING AMY (3 Emmy noms, 3 Golden Globe noms, winner of three TV Guide awards for Best Actress). Amy was co-creator, executive producer and star of Judging Amy. In May 2007, Amy was in a two-hour episode of GREY’S ANATOMY, and currently stars in the new ABC series PRIVATE PRACTICE.
Amy is married to writer/director Brad Silberling. The couple has two children– Charlotte, 6, and Bodhi, 2.