Recently, I went to see the new Little Women movie, and it was amazing! I laughed, cried, and sat in complete awe of this modern retelling of a beloved story I grew up reading. I have also just finished watching the newer Anne of Green Gables on Netflix and fell in love with that story in a way I never had been able to connect to it before. If you haven’t seen either of these, I highly recommend doing so! 

Now, I’m not here to write a review on either of these stories because this blog isn’t about critiquing movies. Instead, I am here to focus on the eco-friendly lifestyles I noticed throughout each of these stories and how they impacted my point of view on our current society. 

To be clear, the 1800s are not a period I would want to live in. There were so many social justice issues going on that we should NEVER go back to (each of these modern retellings of Little Women & Anne of Green Gables does a good job of capturing some of the issues society had at that time). The 1800s were a very rigid time with many high expectations from all different classes of people. Both Lucy Maud Montgomery & Louisa May Alcott gave us beautiful and romanticized stories that pushed the limits of feminism and other social justice issues of the time.  As I go forward with this blog post, I will mainly be focusing on what I noticed from the most recent on-screen versions of these stories and how the creators decided to present the 1800s lifestyle. 

Appreciation & Simplicity: 

First, I noticed in both of these stories that everyone had a lot more appreciation for what they owned than most of us do today. Every time something was lost or broken, the grief and frustration were much heavier on them because being able to replace an item was more expensive and time-consuming. Because everything was costly, most people didn’t have much in their homes except for what they found necessary or could make themselves. Nowadays, you can buy super cheap versions of almost any household item and have it in one day with zero thought about where the item came from.

In the Anne of Green Gables show, I found the simplicity in Anne’s home very calming and the minimalism in the home quite beautiful. Then I think of the Orchard House in Little Women; their house had many more items, but every item was still cherished and filled with love. The Orchard House didn’t come off as over-cluttered and messy, but instead felt cozy and warm.  Even though these homes were drastically different in many ways, they were both well-kept and loved, along with all the items in each home. This shows that you don’t have to spend a fortune on your home for it to be beautiful and welcoming. I think that the love and beauty in a home are made out of the time and effort you put into cleaning and cherishing it.

This is why so many of us (or at least I) have been attracted to the minimalist movement. The idea of having not only less clutter but also being surrounded by things in our homes that we truly connect with is a very calming idea. This is a lost practice and can be a struggle to accomplish and maintain, but once accepted, it can really change our lives for the better and bring back an appreciation for our belongings. 

More everyday skills: 

Okay, so I’m not saying that none of us no longer have skills, but I do strongly believe that we lack many skills that help us bond more to our earth, food, and clothing. The characters in these movies knew a lot more than we do about growing their own food, cooking recipes completely from scratch, and mending their clothing to make it last years. 

Convenience is great most of the time, but it disconnects us from what we are putting in and on our bodies. There are also a lot of natural minerals and hormones we miss out on from not growing and making our food (B12 is an essential mineral that we now lack from not having our gardens and being in the dirt). These stories show us the joy that can come from putting hard work into what we consume. There have also been studies that show depression and anxiety can be lowered by taking part in gardening and also cooking with natural ingredients. 

Another skill lost to time is how to mend or darn our clothing. We don’t typically see this as a need nowadays because clothing is much cheaper and more accessible. Still, considering fast fashion's impacts on the environment, this is probably a skill we should pick back up. The characters in both of these movies/shows often work on their clothing to maintain it because clothing was much more expensive back then, but this also created a closer bond to their clothing. Recently, I have been watching YouTube videos by Bernadette Banner and learning from her how clothing was made in the past. I recommend checking out her channel to understand the history of clothing better. 

I believe that both modern stories do a fabulous job of showing us all the aspects of appreciation and simplicity we need to bring back into our lives and instead of having this fast life of technology, buying without thinking, throwing away without caring, eating without knowing and so much more that passes us by without a care. 

We hear over and over again that our current culture is always moving too fast and that we all need to slow down, but how can we do that if we don’t have the proper building blocks to create a more simplified lifestyle? Both Little Women & Anne of Green Gables showed me that there is a way to live more simply, but it will take a lot of transitioning back into a do-it-yourself way of life that will hopefully bring back more appreciation and fulfillment into our lives.