To outsiders, Jeanne and Dick Roy appeared to be living the good life.
Dick was a corporate lawyer for a prestigious Portland law firm. Jeanne worked
for environmental causes. They could afford a life of comfort and luxury, but
they chose to live in a house they’d bought in 1971 for $30,000.
Although they lived simply, the Roys didn’t feel quite right about Dick’s
job defending corporate interests. They felt he was abetting a culture of consumerism
the Roys found wasteful and short-sighted.
In 1993, the Roys founded the Northwest
Earth Institute in Portland to spread the ways and means of a lifestyle
known as voluntary simplicity. Living off their savings, the Roys have donated
their time to the Earth Institute ever since, teaching individuals, large businesses
or communities the way to save time and money and promote a slower, more satisfying
and more sustainable life.
"What we felt we had to do was to make a more urgent commitment to our
lives and to the future," Roy said. "We acted decisively, as if our
granddaughter was sitting on a railroad track, and we had to take immediate
action to ensure she had a future."
Heather Coburn, 30, was born in Oregon and grew up poor in southern California.
"We were always struggling to pay for things that we didn’t really
need," Coburn said. She returned to Oregon 10 years ago to pursue a simpler
life. She lives in Eugene’s Whiteaker neighborhood, where she and her housemates
grow their own organic food and gather rainwater in barrels.
Coburn’s annual income from freelance writing, cleaning houses and selling
her artwork is $3,000 to $4,000. It is enough, she said.
"I’m working all the time, but I don’t work for money often."
Coburn said she works for change instead. A current project is a new organization
called "Food, Not Lawns," which advocates replacing turf with edible
landscaping.
Although Coburn represents the latest generation to discover the benefits of
voluntary simplicity, the idea has been around for a long time. Poet Henry David
Thoreau admonished 19th century society: "Our lives are frittered away
by detail. Simplify. Simplify."
Those who recall The Great Depression of the 1930s may remember the frugality
motto of the time: "Use it up, make it do, or do without."
The current appeal of voluntary simplicity is linked to publication of the 1980s
book, Your Money or Your Life. The book’s message resonated
with people of all ages and economic backgrounds who rejected long commutes
and the constant quest for prestige, possessions and power.
Some see voluntary simplicity as an expression of their religious faith. They
incorporate it into a lifestyle of service, sharing and community support.
To support themselves, they may turn a hobby into a business or cut back on
their work hours. They may start web-based or home-based businesses.
J. Carter MacNichol pursues sustainability through his business as much as his
lifestyle. MacNichol, a builder and co-owner with Sockeye Development Co. in
Portland, is a practicing advocate of so-called "green" building techniques.
These techniques involve building with an eye to environmental, economic and
societal benefits.
For example, the new Safeway store that MacNichol’s company is building
in downtown Portland will include second-story space for 130 residential units,
providing affordable housing in a central location.
MacNichol prides himself on building structures that are energy-efficient, such
as a new warehouse for Columbia Sportswear that uses recycled materials and
features low-water landscaping.
"(Sockeye) is balancing the cost of energy efficiency over a lifetime of
a building," he said. "In this climate of energy uncertainty, I feel
it is the smart thing to do. Energy prices are not going to get cheaper."
MacNichol said that adopting sustainable building techniques may be good for
the environment, but its chief selling feature is that it makes good business
sense.
"Whether you are a landlord or a resident in one of the buildings, the
biggest problem is keeping occupancy rates high. Tenants tend to stay longer
if they like the place and it is special." As a result, landlords don’t
need to raise the rent to recover costs of vacant space.
MacNichol said he isn’t the only builder practicing environmentally sound
methods. In fact, he’s considered mainstream.
"The city of Portland has economic incentives to build energy-wise,"
MacNichol said. "It’s politically correct to do this here, especially
in affordable housing."
Still, it isn’t incentives or a regulatory hammer that prompts clients
and builders to accept green building methods, he said.
"You have to build acceptance; show them it works by building it and having
them see that people want it. We teach by example. My latest task is showing
Safeway it’s smart to build in an energy-efficient way. … It doesn’t
cost that much more."
As far as personal satisfaction, MacNichol said that is a no-brainer, too: "I’m
living in accordance with my principles," he said. "That matters more
to me than money."