I live in Oakland, California with my best friend and partner in life. Sometime in 2012, reality hit home: we were paying $150 per month for a storage unit 10 miles away, even though we owned a house with a garage (yes, also filled with ‘stuff’).

What’s funny, is at the time, I considered our household to be a fairly eco-friendly place: Recycle? – Check! Compost? – Check! Hybrid car? – Check.

But I was suddenly horrified by the amount of “things” that we owned. Where did it all come from? And if you asked me how much of it I actually used regularly, the answer was about 7%, possibly 8%.

“Stems and All” grew out of the realization that we could do better: buy less, consume smart, get more use out of what we had. I want to spend less time rearranging boxes in a storage unit or buying toothpaste at a store, and spend much more time doing the things that I love.

The “stems and all” concept and journey is a work in progress, and I’m not sure how far – or where – it’s headed. Join me as I explore and share my triumphs, failures and everything in between.