TED2011
Graham Hill: Less stuff, more happiness
Filmed:
Readability: 3.1
4,988,747 views
Writer and designer Graham Hill asks: Can having less stuff, in less room, lead to more happiness? He makes the case for taking up less space, and lays out three rules for editing your life.
Graham Hill - Journalist
Graham Hill is the founder of TreeHugger.com and LifeEdited; he travels the world to tell stories of sustainability and minimalism. He tweets at @GHill. Full bio
Graham Hill is the founder of TreeHugger.com and LifeEdited; he travels the world to tell stories of sustainability and minimalism. He tweets at @GHill. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:19
What's in the box?
0
4000
3000
00:22
Whatever it is must be pretty important,
1
7000
2000
00:24
because I've traveled with it, moved it,
2
9000
3000
00:27
from apartment to apartment to apartment.
3
12000
3000
00:30
(Laughter)
4
15000
2000
00:32
(Applause)
5
17000
3000
00:35
Sound familiar?
6
20000
3000
00:38
Did you know that we Americans
7
23000
2000
00:40
have about three times the amount of space
8
25000
2000
00:42
we did 50 years ago?
9
27000
2000
00:44
Three times.
10
29000
3000
00:47
So you'd think, with all this extra space,
11
32000
3000
00:50
we'd have plenty of room for all our stuff.
12
35000
3000
00:53
Nope.
13
38000
2000
00:55
There's a new industry in town,
14
40000
2000
00:57
a 22 billion-dollar, 2.2 billion sq. ft. industry:
15
42000
3000
01:00
that of personal storage.
16
45000
2000
01:02
So we've got triple the space,
17
47000
2000
01:04
but we've become such good shoppers
18
49000
3000
01:07
that we need even more space.
19
52000
3000
01:10
So where does this lead?
20
55000
2000
01:12
Lots of credit card debt,
21
57000
2000
01:14
huge environmental footprints,
22
59000
3000
01:17
and perhaps not coincidentally,
23
62000
2000
01:19
our happiness levels flat-lined over the same 50 years.
24
64000
3000
01:22
Well I'm here to suggest there's a better way,
25
67000
3000
01:25
that less might actually equal more.
26
70000
3000
01:28
I bet most of us have experienced at some point
27
73000
2000
01:30
the joys of less:
28
75000
3000
01:33
college -- in your dorm,
29
78000
3000
01:36
traveling -- in a hotel room,
30
81000
3000
01:39
camping -- rig up basically nothing,
31
84000
2000
01:41
maybe a boat.
32
86000
2000
01:43
Whatever it was for you, I bet that, among other things,
33
88000
3000
01:46
this gave you a little more freedom,
34
91000
2000
01:48
a little more time.
35
93000
3000
01:51
So I'm going to suggest
36
96000
2000
01:53
that less stuff and less space
37
98000
2000
01:55
are going to equal a smaller footprint.
38
100000
2000
01:57
It's actually a great way to save you some money.
39
102000
2000
01:59
And it's going to give you a little more ease in your life.
40
104000
3000
02:02
So I started a project called Life Edited at lifeedited.org
41
107000
3000
02:05
to further this conversation
42
110000
2000
02:07
and to find some great solutions in this area.
43
112000
3000
02:10
First up: crowd-sourcing my 420 sq. ft. apartment in Manhattan
44
115000
4000
02:14
with partners Mutopo and Jovoto.com.
45
119000
3000
02:17
I wanted it all --
46
122000
2000
02:19
home office, sit down dinner for 10,
47
124000
3000
02:22
room for guests,
48
127000
2000
02:24
and all my kite surfing gear.
49
129000
2000
02:26
With over 300 entries from around the world,
50
131000
3000
02:29
I got it, my own little jewel box.
51
134000
3000
02:32
By buying a space that was 420 sq. ft.
52
137000
2000
02:34
instead of 600,
53
139000
3000
02:37
immediately I'm saving 200 grand.
54
142000
3000
02:40
Smaller space is going to make for smaller utilities --
55
145000
3000
02:43
save some more money there,
56
148000
3000
02:46
but also a smaller footprint.
57
151000
2000
02:48
And because it's really designed
58
153000
2000
02:50
around an edited set of possessions -- my favorite stuff --
59
155000
2000
02:52
and really designed for me,
60
157000
2000
02:54
I'm really excited to be there.
61
159000
2000
02:56
So how can you live little?
62
161000
2000
02:58
Three main approaches.
63
163000
2000
03:00
First of all, you have to edit ruthlessly.
64
165000
3000
03:03
We've got to clear the arteries of our lives.
65
168000
3000
03:06
And that shirt that I hadn't worn in years?
66
171000
3000
03:09
It's time for me to let it go.
67
174000
2000
03:11
We've got to cut the extraneous out of our lives,
68
176000
3000
03:14
and we've got to learn to stem the inflow.
69
179000
3000
03:17
We need to think before we buy.
70
182000
2000
03:19
Ask ourselves,
71
184000
2000
03:21
"Is that really going to make me happier? Truly?"
72
186000
3000
03:24
By all means,
73
189000
2000
03:26
we should buy and own some great stuff.
74
191000
2000
03:28
But we want stuff that we're going to love for years,
75
193000
3000
03:31
not just stuff.
76
196000
2000
03:33
Secondly, our new mantra:
77
198000
2000
03:35
small is sexy.
78
200000
2000
03:37
We want space efficiency.
79
202000
2000
03:39
We want things that are designed
80
204000
2000
03:41
for how they're used the vast majority of the time,
81
206000
2000
03:43
not that rare event.
82
208000
2000
03:45
Why have a six burner stove
83
210000
2000
03:47
when you rarely use three?
84
212000
2000
03:49
So we want things that nest,
85
214000
2000
03:51
we want things that stack, and we want it digitized.
86
216000
3000
03:54
You can take paperwork,
87
219000
2000
03:56
books, movies,
88
221000
2000
03:58
and you can make it disappear -- it's magic.
89
223000
3000
04:01
Finally, we want multifunctional spaces and housewares --
90
226000
4000
04:05
a sink combined with a toilet,
91
230000
2000
04:07
a dining table becomes a bed --
92
232000
2000
04:09
same space,
93
234000
2000
04:11
a little side table
94
236000
2000
04:13
stretches out to seat 10.
95
238000
2000
04:15
In the winning Life Edited scheme in a render here,
96
240000
3000
04:18
we combine a moving wall with transformer furniture
97
243000
2000
04:20
to get a lot out of the space.
98
245000
2000
04:22
Look at the coffee table --
99
247000
2000
04:24
it grows in height and width
100
249000
2000
04:26
to seat 10.
101
251000
2000
04:28
My office folds away,
102
253000
2000
04:30
easily hidden.
103
255000
2000
04:32
My bed just pops out of the wall with two fingers.
104
257000
3000
04:35
Guests? Move the moving wall,
105
260000
3000
04:38
have some fold-down guest beds.
106
263000
2000
04:40
And of course, my own movie theater.
107
265000
3000
04:43
So I'm not saying that we all need to live
108
268000
2000
04:45
in 420 sq. ft.
109
270000
2000
04:47
But consider the benefits of an edited life.
110
272000
3000
04:50
Go from 3,000 to 2,000,
111
275000
2000
04:52
from 1,500 to 1,000.
112
277000
3000
04:55
Most of us, maybe all of us,
113
280000
2000
04:57
are here pretty happily for a bunch of days
114
282000
2000
04:59
with a couple of bags,
115
284000
2000
05:01
maybe a small space, a hotel room.
116
286000
2000
05:03
So when you go home and you walk through your front door,
117
288000
3000
05:06
take a second and ask yourselves,
118
291000
2000
05:08
"Could I do with a little life editing?
119
293000
2000
05:10
Would that give me a little more freedom?
120
295000
2000
05:12
Maybe a little more time?"
121
297000
3000
05:16
What's in the box?
122
301000
3000
05:19
It doesn't really matter.
123
304000
3000
05:22
I know I don't need it.
124
307000
3000
05:25
What's in yours?
125
310000
2000
05:27
Maybe, just maybe,
126
312000
2000
05:29
less might equal more.
127
314000
2000
05:31
So let's make room
128
316000
2000
05:33
for the good stuff.
129
318000
2000
05:35
Thank you.
130
320000
2000
05:37
(Applause)
131
322000
6000
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Graham Hill - JournalistGraham Hill is the founder of TreeHugger.com and LifeEdited; he travels the world to tell stories of sustainability and minimalism. He tweets at @GHill.
Why you should listen
Graham Hill is the founder of LifeEdited, dedicated to helping people design their lives for more happiness with less stuff. When he started the company in 2010, it brought the ideas of his previous project, the eco-blog and vlog TreeHugger.com, into design and architecture. (The TreeHugger team joined the Discovery Communications network as a part of their Planet Green initiative, and Hill now makes appearances on the green-oriented cable channel.)
Before Treehugger, Hill studied architecture and design (his side business is making those cool ceramic Greek coffee cups). His other company, ExceptionLab, is devoted to creating sustainable prototypes -- think lamps made from recycled blinds and ultra-mod planters that are also air filters.
Hill is the author of Weekday Vegetarian, available as a TED Book on Amazon and Apple's iBooks.
More profile about the speakerBefore Treehugger, Hill studied architecture and design (his side business is making those cool ceramic Greek coffee cups). His other company, ExceptionLab, is devoted to creating sustainable prototypes -- think lamps made from recycled blinds and ultra-mod planters that are also air filters.
Hill is the author of Weekday Vegetarian, available as a TED Book on Amazon and Apple's iBooks.
Graham Hill | Speaker | TED.com