Social Sustainability
Voluntary Simplicity
Definition
Voluntary simplicity is a lifestyle choice to reduce consumption, possessions and paid work in favour of time, community, meaning and lower environmental impact — distinct from involuntary poverty in being chosen from abundance. Named by Richard Gregg (1936) and popularised by Duane Elgin's Voluntary Simplicity (1981), it ranges from downshifting careers to minimalism and off-grid living, and is studied as the lived form of sufficiency and degrowth values.
References
This reference provides supporting context for how “Voluntary Simplicity” is defined and used.
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Overview
How it is used
The concept structures sufficiency research, alternative lifestyle movements, wellbeing economics, and consumer culture critique.
Why it matters
Voluntary simplicity is the proof of concept that living better with less is possible — the lifestyle the numbers say the planet needs.