Upcoming BCAG presentation offers frugal living freedom

For anyone who has ever asked themselves, whether or not money can truly buy happiness, Brockville Climate Action Group founder Hugh Campbell, offers a resounding no.  In fact, like others who extol the virtues of simple living, Campbell has made frugality the watchword of his own life, eschewing unnecessary ‘wants’ in favour of  basic physical needs, such as food, warmth, clothing, and shelter, as well as social needs such as companionship, sharing and learning, and says it provides him with ‘much satisfaction’.  

To that end, Campbell will offer a ‘frugal-living smorgasbord’, in his upcoming presentation, ‘Frugal living for our own happiness and the planet’s health’, which he says will outline ‘simple ways to take back control of our lives’.

“The more people rely on themselves and each other at the community level, the less they need to depend on the complex systems that characterize modern industrial societies, such as supermarkets and big-box stores,” explained Campbell.   

During his presentation, Campbell will offer a wide variety of tips for self-sustainability, including  making your own cleaning supplies, growing your own food or finding food grown locally by others, preserving and storing food, using less energy to cook food, ditching your car or choosing options that use less fossil fuel, saving money by budgeting, choosing durable goods, repairing and reusing things, exercising in ways that don’t cost money, sharing and bartering,  saving water, and limiting your connectedness to the “virtual” world.

The BCAG meeting begins at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 27, at the Brockville Public Library.

The Brockville Climate Action Group was founded by local residents four years ago in response to increasing international awareness of severe climate change. The BCAG aims to provide a non-partisan forum for sharing information about how each of us, in our daily lives, can help to reduce the rate of global warming and adapt to the impacts of peak oil and climate change. BCAG builds and sells rain barrels to interested homeowners. It also sponsors a program that allows people to borrow a watt meter from the Brockville Public Library to measure the electricity used by various appliances and electronic equipment in their homes.

For more information, visit bcag.mybrockville.com or call Hugh Campbell, (613)-345-2712.