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We love a TED speaker here on Nokia Connects and Graham Hill is no different. Graham is the man who is campaigning to tell us that ‘less stuff and less space = less CO2, more money and more happiness’. The designer and environmentalist has noticed that our happiness has plateaued in the last 50 years, despite the fact that our incomes and the spaces in which live have increased. He also cites that we can help the environment greatly via his philosophy of ‘life-editing’. 

via scoop.it

Back in October last year Graham Hill introduced his sustainability concerns to the TED conference. He realised that Americans (the prime focus of this study) had 3 times more living space than they had 50 years ago, however, a $22 Billion industry for personal space storage had emerged?! So in layman’s terms, the living space for Americans has tripled, but somehow there was still a need for lots more space!?

Terrible news for the future of the environment and our back pockets. He then went on to suggest that the experiences we have on the road, in a hotel, camping or within a student dorm for example, gave us a sense of freedom (which I completely understood), the notion we didn’t need to have clutter constantly around us. The expression ‘less is more’ springs to my mind.

Here is Graham’s speech in its entirety to help you understand his ethos in depth:

via Ted

So how does Graham go about achieving this equation below?

via Ted

Well his website LifeEdited suggests everything from sharing systems and behaviour, to sustainable apartment design and efficient storage.

Sharing systems: have you thought about sharing your car with someone else before?

via 

Efficient storage: think you are struggling for storage space in your home? Well check out this video of Valentina Maini’s apartment in Barcelona that Graham has posted on his website. It’s all about the bath, I bet you can’t guess where it’s hidden….

via 

Sustainable department design: here is Graham’s apartment, if you watched his TED speech then all of this below will be very familiar to you.

via LifeEdited

So Graham is not only coming up with solutions himself, he is crowd-sourcing ways for you to save the environment and be happier from all over the world on his website. What do you think of the site and Graham’s ideas? Does less stuff and less space really equal happiness.

Let us know @Nokia_Connects or leave a comment below.