Project 333 is a minimalist fashion challenge that is more about freeing the mind from overwhelming choices and clutter and less about the actual clothing. I have been participating in Courtney Carver’s Project 333 for almost 2 years, and this year she released a book about the project, which I highly recommend.
Today, I’ll tell you about Project 333’s role as a model for minimalism as well as about my own journey with the wardrobe challenge.
“You can remove a significant amount of stress from your life simply by reducing the number of items in your closet.” -Courtney Carver
Image by Ylanite Koppens from Pixabay
“We wear 20 percent of our clothing 80 percent of the time, yet 100 percent of our wardrobe gets 100 percent of our attention, emotion, space, and time. That’s exhausting.” -Courtney Carver
The Project
Project 333 is a minimalist fashion challenge where you dress with only 33 items – including clothing, accessories, jewelry, and shoes – for 3 months. A few exceptions include undergarments and workout clothes, but check out the website (link below) and the book for the full guidelines.
“Remember that what you are wearing is probably the least interesting thing about you.” -Courtney Carver
The experiment began when Carver tried wearing the same 33 pieces interchangeably for 3 months to see if anyone noticed. But no one did. “People care more about what they wear than what I wear,” she writes on her website. We can simplify our lives and free up mental and physical space for things that matter more than clothing.
“There are so many things I’d rather think and talk about than what’s on sale, or where you got that dress/purse/shirt.” -Courtney Carver
Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay
Too Many Choices
Decision fatigue, as minimalist and author Courtney Carver describe it, can be eliminated by reducing the amount of small daily decisions. If you think about all of the decisions we have to make every single day, it is no surprise that we are all overwhelmed, stressed, tired, and worn out. What or where to eat multiple times per day, what to cook, what to wear based on what we are doing that day, what to say in conversation, write in an email, what chores we need to complete, errands we need to run, exercise, what to watch out of thousands of choices, what to read, what to listen to (audiobook, podcast, or music?), when to take the car in to get the brakes checked.
If we have children, we have an additional set of decisions to make: school, homework, meals, clothes, hygiene, permission slips, lessons or sports, money, when to fit in quality time, and when to teach them about any number of topics. Add in any kind of shopping, which is nothing but decisions at every angle and which overwhelms all of the senses. On top of that, we have social media, a monster of comparison and decisions based on what other people post. If you take the time to think about all of the micro-decisions we make every single day, it’s mindblowing. So most of us don’t, we just power through and that eventually takes a heavy toll on our mind, health, and lives.
What to do about Decision Fatigue
We have far too many daily choices to make, far more than humans have ever had to make in history, and it overwhelms our brains and taxes our ability to make good decisions. It makes us mentally and physically tired.
What can we do about it? We can eliminate some of those daily choices by meal planning in advance, checking email less, and by reducing the number of clothes in our closets. Less decision making equals less stress and more time for the decisions that matter to us. This was the driving force for Courtney Carver’s creation of Project 333.
“Fewer decisions about what to wear allow more clarity for more important choices.” -Courtney Carver
Additional Benefits of a Small Wardrobe
Improved Self-Esteem
If you only own clothes that you feel and look good wearing, then every day you will feel more confident. “It’s utter madness what we do to ourselves while simply getting dressed,” Carver wrote about the negative self-talk and guilty thoughts we have from owning clothes we spent too much on but don’t wear or clothes that don’t fit our bodies correctly.
“Limiting your clothing items to 33 items for 3 months forces art. Limiting your wardrobe does not rob you of personal style – it causes you to find it.” -Joshua Becker, Clutterfree With Kids
Saving Money
You will obviously spend less if you buy less clothing overall. “Investing in one $100 dress that actually fits you saves more time and money than spending on five $25 dresses through-out the year,” Carver explains.
“The average woman owns $550 in clothing that has never been worn.” -Courtney Carver
By eliminating impulse buys from shopping to fulfill boredom, you will save even more. Carver has talked about how she used to fulfill a deeper need by shopping, thinking she was bored with her clothing, but that the issues were much more complex and had nothing to do with her wardrobe.
Saving the Environment
A minimalist wardrobe not only helps you live a better life, but it helps the environment too. Here are a few fashion facts from Carver’s book:
The world now consumes about 80 billion new pieces of clothing every year.
95% of discarded clothing can be recycled or upcycled.
The amount of water for annual clothing production could fill 32 million Olympic-sized swimming pools, while over 1 billion people across the world lack access to safe drinking water.
Polyester (which is plastic) clothing can take up two hundred years to decompose.
Carver says when trying to build a new, more eco-friendly wardrobe, don’t try to replace your entire wardrobe all at once. “The most eco-friendly thing you can do is to consume less by using what you have,” she writes. Stay away from trends and look for clothes that have a more classic appearance, and your clothes won’t feel out of style.
“Trendy looks good today; timeless looks great everyday.” -Joshua Fields Millburn
My clothing journey
Like many people, I used to have too many clothes. I had two dressers and a closet full. Years ago, I reduced my clothes by a third because I wanted to move one of my dressers into my son’s room instead of buying additional furniture. Later, I read Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and cleaned out my clothes even more.
I piled my clothes on the bed. This photo was taken after the first cut.My pile of clothes to donate.Dresser drawer using Marie Kondo’s folding method.
My Project 333
When I discovered Project 333 almost 2 years ago, I was surprised and excited about this new challenge because I felt like I’d already let go of so much. By then I’d become inspired by minimalism and began living with a more minimalist mindset. But I still owned far more than 33 items of clothing.
Using the Project 333 website to clear out clothing again, I began building my capsule wardrobe. I put everything on the bed again. I made three piles: favorites, maybe keep, and donate. My favorites went back into my closet and dresser. Per Project 333 guidelines, a large amount of maybe’s and out of season items went into a storage container. The donate pile got boxed up for the local thrift store.
Bin of clothing to reassess next season.My closet after doing Project 333 almost 2 years ago.
I ended up with a few more than 33 items, but as Courtney Carver always says, the purpose is not about the exact number as much as it is the intentionality. I think I had around 45 items including shoes and accessories (but not jewelry). But I was left with about thirty empty hangers which I was able to donate. I also had an entire empty dresser drawer which became my bedsheet storage, instead of the bathroom closet.
Today
My Project 333 has evolved over time, as it does for everyone. I ended up getting rid of many of the items in the storage bin because I forgot about most of them within the first 3 months. I also do not rotate my clothes seasonally anymore because of where I work and where I live, both of which have changing climates! I keep all of my clothes in the closet and dresser and have no clothes in storage. So I do own more than 33 items, but for year-round wear.
Image of my current closet.
I continue to follow Project 333 rules, such as:
My workout clothes do workout
I don’t go shopping unless I actually need an article of clothing
I only own shoes that do not hurt my feet
I let go of items I haven’t worn in the past year, with a few exceptions: one vintage dress that belonged to my mother, a Halloween costume, and my wedding dress.
My size fluctuates sometimes so I keep a few items that are too small and too big.
As I replace articles of clothing, I’d like to buy more sustainable clothing. I’d also like to buy more muted tones so that it will be easier to mix and match.
Minimalist Fashion Might Be the Answer
Overall, this minimalist fashion mindset is about what’s important for our sanity and the environment as consuming less is the key. If you want to make your clothes last longer, Carver says to “do laundry better” by line drying clothes or using wool dryer balls. Furthermore, common laundry detergents and fabric softeners are full of toxic chemicals that are harmful to human health. You can read my post on how to replace fabric softener and dryer sheets to learn more.
Thank you for reading, and please subscribe. Let me know in the comments below if you are participating in Project 333!
Check out these great links related to Project 333:
Published in 2011, author Serge Dedina writes about corporations’ attempts at destruction along the US and Mexican Baja California coastlines. These types of endeavors happen regularly and are indicative of how greed and human selfishness challenge natural ecosystems and environmental protections.
Dedina grew up surfing in Southern and Baja California and holds a doctorate in geography. He is the co-founder and executive director of Wildcoast, an international nonprofit that combines environmental issues with cultural values to protect coastal areas and marine ecosystems. I’ve featured just a few of his stories from this book.
Gray whale breaching. Image by Eric Neitzel on Flickr, Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Natural Resources
Dedina began the international campaign against Exportadora de Sal’s proposal to develop the world’s largest salt production facility. This company, jointly owned by the Mitsubishi Corporation and the Mexican government, would have built its facility adjacent to San Ignacio Lagoon. This is the world’s last undeveloped gray whale birthing lagoon. This project would have destroyed more than 500,000 acres in the reserve and prevented gray whale breeding and calving. Fortunately, the Mexican president canceled it in 2000 as a result of the campaign against it. Today, Wildcoast exhibits its progress with gray whale protection on its website.
Google map screenshot of Baja California with San Ignacio Lagoon indicatedGray whale in San Ignacio Lagoon. Photo by Ryan Harvey on Flickr, Creative Commons license (CC BY-SA 2.0)
“From 2001 to 2008, as a result of the explosion of energy development and hotel, condo, and housing construction in the United States, the landscape of coastal protection suddenly changed: for activists to keep pace with development threats to the coast became almost impossible.” -Serge Dedina
Energy Production
In the early 2000s, Dedina worked against the proposals of Shell, Chevron-Texaco, Sempra, BHP Billiton, and Marathon Oil to build a network of eleven liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals between Tijuana and Ensenada. They were supported by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the George W. Bush administration. The biggest threat was Chevron-Texaco’s plan to builds its $700 million plant adjacent to the Coronado Islands, which are home to elephant seals and the threatened sea bird, Xantus’s murrelet.
Google map screenshot showing the short distance between Tijuana and Ensenada; Coronado Islands on the left
In 2007, Chevron-Texaco announced that it was abandoning the project in the Coronado Islands. By 2009, all but 3 of the LNG projects had been abandoned. Costa Azul LNG opened in 2008, located 15 miles north of Ensenada, and was the first LNG terminal on the North American west coast. Sempra LNG and IEnova announced in March 2020 that they plan to add liquefaction facilities to the existing Costa Azul terminal. Environmental and conservation issues continue as many LNG’s exist all over the world, many of them on or near coastlines.
Northern elephant seals by Elaine Calvert on Flickr, Creative Commons license 2.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
“The U.S.-Mexico border can no longer be a no-man’s-land that provides refuge for corporations seeking to escape U.S. environmental laws and elected officials seeking to blame Mexican migrants for our nation’s problems.” -Serge Dedina
A Xantus’s Murrelet by Stonebird on Flickr, Creative Commons license 2.0 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Human Recreation
In 1999, the City of San Diego proposed dredging a tiny beach in La Jolla called Casa Beach “to rid the area of a small population of what were supposed to be federally protected harbor seals.” La Jolla is an upscale suburb of San Diego. A small group of its influential and wealthy residents were also irrational, antiwildlife activists who wanted the seals removed so that humans would have more recreational beach area. This plan would have violated the Marine Mammal Protection Act enacted by President Nixon in 1972.
Harbor seal in La Jolla, California. Image by Amy the Nurse on Flickr, Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
The legal and political dispute over the seal rookery and these beautiful animals inhabiting Casa Beach has continued through the last decade (view the timeline). Fortunately, beach access is not allowed during harbor seal pupping season, December 15 through May 15.
Unfortunately, humans are sometimes selfish and some continue to disturb the harbor seals. Often this is in the form of photographing people with the animals, a form of wildlife tourism. Other times, the seals are taunted, teased, and even physically harmed.
Remember, wildlife viewing is ok from a distance. Give animals plenty of space between you and them so that they do not feel threatened and alter their normal activities because of you. Even photography with animals can be harmful and disturbing. Please teach your children this too!
“Conserving marine mammal populations in densely populated urban coastal areas in Southern California is a national test case for our ability to protect coastal and marine ecosystems and the wildlife they harbor.” -Serge Dedina
Many Other Movements
Problems persist with the human quest to exploit natural resources, which threaten coastal and marine areas. Dedina worked against a botched sewage treatment facility scheme in Tijuana; a desalination project in Southern California; and the destruction of protected marine areas. Additional projects include LNGs, oil drilling, pipeline installation, border and security wall construction proposals, and human recreation.
“A new generation of pirates has emerged in coastal Southern California. They are bureaucrats, union officials, corporate lobbyists, CEOs, oil company barons, and elected officials who view the natural coastline and ocean of California as an area to be plundered rather than preserved. They do their best to rid Southern California of the shoreline that makes the coast the oxygen that fuels the state’s vibrant culture and economy.” -Serge Dedina
Solutions
Dedina and Wildcoast continue their work to conserve coastal and marine ecosystems. The organization works with local communities to stop poaching, promote conservation, and protect resources. They work to develop systems of marine protected areas, also called MPAs, which help preserve natural coastal and marine ecosystems. You can read more about these on Wildcoast’s website.
There are many ways we can all help! When traveling, educate yourself on the local nature and wildlife protections in place. Clean up trash, track wildlife and fauna through a local group, or lobby for clean air. Teach others about climate change, pollution, endangered species, or any of the important topics surrounding safeguarding our beautiful planet.
I really enjoyed this book and found it worth reviewing. Thanks for reading today, and please subscribe!
When I first wrote this article, I’d already written about how the Trump administration weakened the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in 2019. A report from the United Nations report indicated that up to a million species may be threatened with extinction.1 One million!
“We are on the brink of a global extinction crisis. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) found that up to one million plant and animal species face extinction, many within decades, because of human activities.”2
But despite the depressing news, I wanted to share something that truly inspired me.
Cover of National Geographic October 2019, available for purchase at bookstores and online.
We’re Losing Species at an Alarming Rate
This cover of National Geographic caught my eye and I checked it out from the library. It features a keeper at a conservancy in Kenya saying goodbye to the last male northern white rhinoceros. Yes, you read that correctly – the last male. There are two females left. In the whole world.3
How did it come to this? Mostly from human activity such as poaching, pollution, habitat destruction for land and logging, pesticides, and climate change. The rhinoceros is a keystone species with a 50 million-year-old lineage, and in just the last 100 years we have brought it to near extinction. The author of the article wrote that “Watching a creature die—one who is the last of its kind—is something I hope never to experience again. It felt like watching our own demise.”4
Photo by Alfonso Navarro on Unsplash
“When we see ourselves as part of nature, we understand that saving nature is really about saving ourselves.” -Ami Vitale, National Geographic5
Joel Sartore & The Photo Ark
The same issue of National Geographic featured an article about Joel Sartore, a photographer who has worked for the magazine for 25 years. The Photo Ark6 is “an effort to document every species living in zoos and wildlife sanctuaries,” and Sartore has photographed nearly 11,000 species. The goal is 20,000.7
His ultimate goal is “to get the public to care about the extinction crisis while there’s still time.” His work is beautiful and stunning and astonishing.8The editor of National Geographic asked Sartore, “What do you want people to know about the state of life on Earth?” He responded, “A recent intergovernmental report says that as many as one million species are already on their way to extinction. It’s folly to think that we can throw away so much life and not have it affect humanity in a profound and negative way.”9
Photo by Florian van Duyn on Unsplash
“The biggest question of our time is: Will we wake up and act, or will we stare into our smartphones all the way down to disaster? My goal is to get the public to care about the extinction crisis while there’s still time to save the planet and everything that lives here.” -Joel Sartore10
Check out his work
Sartore did a TEDx Talk in 2013 and talked about photographing the first few thousand animals for The Photo Ark. The video is almost 20 minutes long but I promise it’s worth your time, especially the second half.
Sartore and The Photo Ark have published several books that feature his photographs, including children’s books. They include animals that have gone extinct just in the few years since he photographed them. There’s also a fascinating three-episode documentarian PBS series entitled Rare: Creatures of the Photo Ark about this project. I’ve featured these books on my Books page under the Endangered Animals section. I’ll also put links to The Photo Ark’s store and the film under Additional Resources.
“The intersection of plants, animals, and their environment is the engine that keeps the planet healthy for all of us. But for many species, time is running out. When you remove one, it affects us all. The National Geographic Photo Ark is using the power of photography to inspire people to help save species at risk before it’s too late.” -Photo Ark Wonders11
What can you do?
There are so many things you can do! Follow legislation related to endangered species, habitat destruction, hunting and poaching, and pollution. Pay attention to what’s going on in your area locally, too. Donate money to any of the organizations that protect wildlife and the environment. Keep learning from leaders like Joel Sartore, Jeff Corwin, David Attenborough, Jane Goodall, and so many others that I haven’t mentioned. Share their information, shows, and books. Educate your friends and your children on the dangers of extinction. Spread the word!
Thanks for reading, and please subscribe!
A note about the images used in this post: In order to not violate copyright and maintain a free website, I did not use any images belonging to Joel Sartore.
“Every year, more than 20,000 species tragically disappear from our planet.”
If you’ve never heard of Jeff Corwin, I want to introduce you to him. For many years I thought he was just another popular tv show host but it turns out that he’s much more. He’s a biologist, wildlife conservationist, educator, advocate, and voice for endangered species across the planet.
This book caught my eye at the local used bookstore and I had to buy it. This is a very intelligible book for anyone and is meant for all audiences. It’s not written academically but it cites an immense amount of research and scientific studies. I honestly had a hard time putting it down even though it deals with subject matter that is depressing. But Corwin countered much of the sorrowful information with stories of progressive movements and hope. And all of it is so important for us to know.
The Title
The title comes from the most critically endangered species we are about to lose which have fewer than 100 individual living members left. All are direct consequences of the actions and behaviors of humans. Here, Jeff Corwin talks about the film and book:
I have not been able to find the companion documentary they referred to yet, but if I do I will update this post.
The Contents
Corwin explained the story of each species delicately yet methodically. I did read one review where Corwin was criticized for jumping around from one species to the next in different regions of the world. But one glance at the table of contents reveals that he was clearly dividing his book into thematic sections about the major human causes of endangered species. The sections were:
Global warming and habitat loss;
The introduction of non-native species, pollution, and disease;
The exploitation of animals for products and economy.
I will say that that same review applauded Corwin for his genuineness and for highlighting how we can motivate people around the world to change.
“If you’ve ever doubted that a small group of people can make a big difference in the face of a tide that seems inexorable, organizations like the WWF and the IRF are proof that such a change is possible.”
The Endangered Species list is vast
At the time this book was written, there were 16,928 endangered species in the world. I was hoping that that number had decreased since 2009, but I figured it probably increased at least slightly.
But I was devastated to discover that there are now 27,000 endangered species according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). They are generally accepted as the global authority on endangered species. Corwin cited the IUCN heavily in this book. If you’re not familiar with the IUCN, please check out this 3-minute video that will help you learn about them:
Corwin explained that there were 3,246 critically endangered species (the highest risk category for endangerment of extinction by the IUCN) in 2009. He wrote: “Whether we realize it or not, we need them…We’re inextricably bound with nature. When we put the survival of the natural world in jeopardy, we simultaneously put our survival in jeopardy.” We’ve harmed landscapes and habitats and entire ecosystems, and it’s going to hurt every species, ourselves included.
“We can’t fall back on letting nature take its course when we’ve changed the land and its inhabitants in ways that nature never intended.”
Habitat Destruction
I was surprised to learn that habitat destruction is the number one cause of species extinction worldwide. It makes sense – as the human population increases, human activities spread and drive the land to a state in which the land can no longer support the indigenous species. Urban sprawl, logging, mining, commercial fishing, homesteading are all culprits, but agriculture is the main source of habitat destruction.
Deforestation and habitat destruction is the number one cause of species endangerment. Image by Robert Jones from Pixabay.
Oil & Drilling
We all know oil spills are bad. When animals try to lick off oil from their fur or feathers, “the effect is toxic and can induce kidney failure.” They also rely on their fur or feathers for warmth, but when they’re coated in oil, the animal can freeze to death. “Unless they’re rescued – a monumental feat in remote regions – animals affected by oil spills typically die of hypothermia.” This makes me want to stop driving immediately. How do I stop supporting this global greed for oil? That’s a discussion for a future series of blog posts.
Image by David ROUMANET from Pixabay.
Poaching, Slaughter & the Exotic Pet trade
Poaching is another major cause of species endangerment and extinction, although it is not always defined as just the slaughter of wild animals. It often includes animals captured for the exotic pets trade, for which there is a huge demand on the black market. Those animals are removed from their habitats, affecting the ecosystem. This reduces the populations in more ways than one – since they do not reproduce in that ecosystem, their numbers obviously decline further.
Slaughter for commercial profit is most visible from the slaughter of elephants and rhinoceroses. These large animals are killed for only one body part, the tusks or the horns. The rest of the animal is left to rot. National Geographic recently featured an informative article on poaching. My family and I recently visited the Nashville Zoo and I was impressed with their exhibits about critically endangered species. I took a photo of one about the rhinos because the image so shocked me that it moved me to tears:
Exhibit from the Nashville Zoo. Photo by me.
We can do better, I know we can!
“While the dinosaurs disappeared as the result of a natural but catastrophic event, the current causes of extinction are largely the result of human behavior.”
African elephant. Image by Christine Sponchia from Pixabay.
Inspiration
Even though the book made me quite depressed about the state of species across the Earth, the book was very inspiring. It inspired me to feature this review of the book, to read more on the topics, and to write future posts on the subject. Corwin offered hope at every turn in the book and that is why I loved the book.
“We’re not powerless, though. As demonstrated by the success story of the American bald eagle, great strides can be made through compassion and dedication.”
Image by skeeze from Pixabay.
I found the dedication Corwin wrote to his daughters particularly inspiring. Here’s part of it:
“To my daughters…you are both so very precious to your mother and me; your optimism and trust, reflected through a lovely lens of innocence, inspires us…While at present the creatures who share Earth with us are in jeopardy, I have faith that my generation will make things right so you and your children will have the opportunity to thrive upon a rich, healthy, and diverse planet. We will not fail you.“
That’s beautiful, and it’s exactly how I feel about my own child. My son is precious to me and I do not want to leave a devastated planet behind for him to deal with. I want to be part of the change!
