The abundance of physical items can be increased by conserving and recycling. The shortage of petroleum has led to the tripling of the price of gasoline over the last decade. We finally need to get serious about totally eliminating fossil fuels from our economy. We must move to renewable energy and make the needed changes in our behaviour. This effort will take decades but will become one of the most profitable areas of the remaining free market economy.

We are all aware that the use of fossil fuels adds to greenhouse gases and global warming and will cause a number of effects that are likely to reduce the abundance that we now enjoy and may drastically alter our way of life. Any politician that is not actively working to totally replace fossil fuels needs to be recalled or voted out of office.

Energy prices affect not only fuel for our cars heating costs but are involved in the cost of every product or service. Conserving energy will keep price increases down. Think of the ways that you can conserve energy and implement them. Combine trips as much as possible. Keep a list of errands next to your grocery list to decrease travel.

Possessions are often just the bars of prisons that we build for ourselves. We must spend a considerable portion of our life financing, repairing, protecting and maintaining our house, car and other possessions. If we limit our desires to the things that truly make us happy we will have more freedom and abundance. We should carefully consider the true cost of our status symbol possessions in terms of personal abundance and freedom.

Many of our purchases are due to advertising that causes us to buy the consumerism dream that happiness can be achieved through buying a particular product. We should know that true happiness is achieved only by doing what is believed to be the right thing and by being appreciated by others.

Many financial institutions will offer easy credit, refinancing and loans in order to have you commit yourself to a financial prison. When we use this easy money for things that aren't needed, we just add to our financial prison sentence.

Recycling is an excellent way to conserve resources and make physical goods more abundant. You can recycle materials such as cardboard, aluminum, tin cans and glass containers. You should also recycle your usable but unneeded items through local charities such as GoodWill or the Salvation Army. You can also recycle through offering your surplus to others on services like FreeCycle.org or CraigsList.org. Another means of recycling is to resell your goods on services such as Amazon.com's marketplace for used books, consignment shops, ebay etc.