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Essay

100 Things: Buy Less Things, Have Less Impact, and be Free.

Writing and Photography by Everett Bogue | Follow me on Twitter

Everett Bogue · November 13, 2009 · 5 min read

The history and reason behind of 100 things.

100 Things is a challenge originally issued by David Michael Bruno. The idea behind it is that human beings only need 100 things to survive, but most of us have way more than that. By restricting ourselves to 100 things, we're creating less waste, we're more flexible in how and where we live. It's a win-win situation! One of the more famous bloggers who has 100 things is Leo Babauta.

I mentioned in my 100 Minimalist Ideas article that I had 79 things. I was wrong, I have 97 things!

You'll notice that some of these things are in New York, in a box that my friends are keeping at my old apartment at the School House in Brooklyn -- I'll be fetching these at some point. I also have some warm winter clothing in Chicago, which I sent to my mom when I left New York. I've counted all of these in my 100 things, even though they're not with me right now.

I did NOT group my underwear or socks into one thing. I believe it's fine to cheat on underwear and socks, but I didn't need to so I listed them all. You'll also notice that I don't have any kitchen stuff (except the coffee grinder in New York,) this is because I've only lived in shared houses where kitchen stuff was already present. I'm probably never going to live by myself, so these things will always be shared. I also didn't count food that I have in the fridge, because I'm going to eat that. I also didn't count absurd things like cords and power plugs, assume these go with the computer, camera, hard drive, etc.

You'll also notice that I have no books or CDs. I read my books in the library, or at the bookstore. When I do buy books, I donate them or sell them after I finish reading them -- they're in my head, I don't need them anymore. Books are freakin heavy, why don't we put them back into the system after we're done with them? I mp3ed all of my CDs years ago, and donated them to the universe. I get all of my music online now.

Here are my 95 things, as of November 12th 2009.

  1. Black Macbook

  2. Canon Digital Rebel XTi Camera

  3. Wide Angle Zoom Lens

  4. 50mm Lens

  5. Off-Camera Flash

  6. Slingshot Camera Bag

  7. Yoga mat

  8. Lightweight black jacket

  9. Medium-weight army-colored jacket

  10. Heavy weight bomber jacket

  11. Grey work pants

  12. Belt to keep gray work pants from falling down

  13. Gray hoodie

  14. Fleece sweatshirt

  15. Gray sweatpants

  16. Brown sweatpants

  17. Faded pink hoodie designed by Nathan

  18. Knitted hat made with love by girlfriend

  19. Tibetan hat with fleece on the inside

  20. 1TB hard-drive for backup and photo storage

  21. iPhone 3GS

  22. Black Diamond backpacking bag.

  23. Sleeping bag with fleece insert

  24. Bike that I'm trying to sell before I go to Chicago

  25. Heavy-duty unbreakable bike lock

  26. Eureka two-person backpacking tent

  27. Gray Brooklyn Industries bag for laptop

  28. Work boots

  29. Brown ripped up t-shirt

  30. Gray v-neck t-shirt

  31. Gray v-neck t-shirt

  32. Purple v-neck t-shirt

  33. Gray t-shirt

  34. Black v-neck t-shirt

  35. Gray awesome baggy shirt with buttons that I never button on the neck

  36. Purple tank shirt

  37. Gray tank shirt

  38. Green tank shirt

  39. Black tank shirt

  40. Blue tank shirt

  41. Red tank shirt

  42. Gray underwear

  43. Gray underwear

  44. Gray underwear

  45. Red underwear

  46. Red underwear

  47. Bright blue underwear

  48. Black underwear

  49. Black underwear

  50. Pair of socks

  51. Pair of socks

  52. Pair of socks

  53. Pair of socks

  54. Pair of socks

  55. Pair of socks

  56. Pair of socks

  57. Pair of socks

  58. Pair of hiking socks

  59. Pair of socks with a hole in them

  60. Green scarf

  61. Moleskin notebook (contains the story of Aspire and Thain, literary agents: call me.)

  62. Three little Moleskins for notes, counting as one because they're so small and rubber-banded together

  63. Silver pen for writing in Moleskins

  64. Deodorant

  65. Dr. Bronnor's Magic Soap (I use this for everything: bathing, laundry, etc.)

  66. Razor for shaving

  67. Toothbrush

  68. Tom's organic toothpaste without fluoride

  69. Lightweight travel towel

  70. Needle and thread for sewing damaged clothing (just used this to sew crotch rip in work pants!)

  71. Parachute cord, just in case.

  72. Hand lotion

  73. Lip balm

  74. Headphones

  75. Computer screen wiping cloth

  76. Business cards

  77. Leatherman (in New York, I think?)

  78. Computer lock (in New York, I think?)

  79. Green puffy winter jacket (in Chicago)

  80. Giant furry black trapper hat (in Chicago, I need this to survive the cold harsh winter)

  81. 500 GB hard-drive with backup of life's work just in case the drive I carry with me dies (in Chicago)

  82. Motorcycle boots (in New York in a box - I need to get these, because my work boots are starting to leak)

  83. Bike helmet (in New York, I know I know, I'm going to die.)

  84. Leather jacket (in New York in a box)

  85. Tweed jacket (in New York in a box)

  86. Coffee grinder (in New York in a box)

  87. Leather polish for motorcycle boots (in New York in a box)

  88. Nice jacket for interviews and dinner with fancy people (in New York in a box)

  89. Button up cowboy shirt (in New York in a box)

  90. Button up cowboy shirt (in New York in a box)

  91. Herringbone scarf (in New York in a box)

  92. Gray blanket and sheets (in New York in a box)

  93. Small JBL speaker system (in New York in a box)

  94. Small freestanding halogen lamp (in New York in a box)

  95. Small Freestanding halogen lamp (in New York in a box)

  96. Small Freestanding halogen lamp (in New York in a box)

  97. Small Freestanding halogen lamp (in New York in a box)

Take the 100 things challenge and let me know how you've done in the comments or on Twitter!