Best and Brightest … Genius — Esquire

A once-in-a-lifetime game-changing advance
in our field everyone else will follow
— Marshall Goldsmith

Astrophysicist turned new media whiz — NBC

Passionate … confident … — Forbes

You don't just learn theory from
him, you improve your life.
— Inc.

The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Harvard University, Standford University, Princeton University, MTV, IBM, US Army

My Mission

My mission is to help change American (and global) culture on sustainability and stewardship from expecting deprivation, sacrifice, burden, and chore to expecting rewarding emotions and lifestyles, as I see happen with everyone I lead to act for their intrinsic motivations.

In my case the emotions have been joy, fun, freedom, connection, meaning, and purpose.



Systemic change begins with personal change.

Some of my values. What are yours?
Months living off the grid in Manhattan: 34 (and counting)
Loads of garbage I filled in 2025 so far: 0
Loads filled in 2024: 0
Loads filled in 2023: 0
Loads filled in 2022: 0
Loads filled in 2021: 0
Loads filled in 2020: 0
Loads filled in 2019: 1
Loads filled in 2018: 1
Loads filled in 2017: 1
Days picking up litter: 2,898 and counting
Years not flying: 9 (108 months) and counting
2024-25 grid electric grid use at home: 0 kilowatt-hours
Annual carbon emissions: about 1 ton
Daily burpees: 246,405 and counting
Resting pulse: 46 bpm

LATEST BLOG POSTS

You are as much an expert in sustainability leadership as anyone, or can be

on April 2, 2025 in Education, Freedom, Leadership

People seem to want to defer to “experts” in sustainability and sustainability leadership. Many people know about science, technology, economics, legislation, and places where we might apply sustainability, but nearly no one knows anything about leading people or cultures to enjoy living more sustainably. Telling people facts or what to do or cajoling or coercing them isn’t leading them, yet it’s what nearly everyone does. It doesn’t work. It frustrates[…] Keep reading →

The last dead Christmas Pagan Tree of the season, at the end of March?

on April 2, 2025 in Nature

Following up my post about Hundreds of trashed dead Christmas pagan trees, 2025 from late February, I saw what I figure will be the last one thrown out for the season at the end of March. That’s how many trees we kill for a holiday tradition based in a different time and place, that we’re still throwing them away, like octopuses in the garbage, months after the holiday. Different either[…] Keep reading →

Octopuses are so smart we cook them and then throw them away without even eating them.

on April 1, 2025 in Nature, Visualization

After picking up litter today, I had to look up octopus intelligence. The first link on my search was titled Octopuses may be so terrifyingly smart because they share humans’ genes for intelligence. Why did I have to look up their intelligence? Because of how disgusted I felt, but didn’t feel I felt disgusted enough. Below are three increasingly horrifying pictures of a garbage can in the northwest corner of[…] Keep reading →

Volunteering warmed my heart on a cold spring day

on March 31, 2025 in Habits, Stories

I wrote the following to my newsletter and thought after finishing it that it would work as a post, so here it is. I forgot to mention that volunteering has come to replace time I used to spend watching TV or on social media. Since Americans average over five hours of screen time per day and I don’t have a TV or use social media, I spend less time per[…] Keep reading →

810: Giora Netzer, part 2: Leadership coaching leads to far more than “just” the C-Suite

on March 30, 2025 in Podcast

In our second conversation, Giora reveals more about his developing as a leader. If you listen for it, you can hear the vision he had for himself and his profession, but also the development he needed to realize it. This podcast is about sustainability leadership. You probably envision a sustainable world, or at least trying with everything you can to help achieve it. Maybe you’ve adopted my vision and mission.[…] Keep reading →

Abraham Lincoln never went overseas yet accomplished a fair amount. Maybe flying isn’t that necessary.

on March 29, 2025 in Addiction

People act as if flying is necessary for life. I sometimes list people who have never flown. Here’s a short list from a recent presentation I created: Maybe it’s just me, but they seem like people who accomplished meaningful things. I was curious about Lincoln: had he traveled overseas? I knew Jefferson, Franklin, and other Founding Fathers had spent time in Europe, meaning sailing across the Atlantic multiple times. I[…] Keep reading →

809: Alexander Clapp: Waste Wars, how we profit off polluting the world claiming to help them

on March 28, 2025 in Podcast

I found Alex when listeners sent me an opinion piece in the New York Times he wrote, The Story You’ve Been Told About Recycling Is a Lie. Getting to where I take years to fill a load of trash means I’ve researched waste a lot, so based on the headline, I thought, “yeah, I’ve read this story before. I’ll skim it so I can say I read it and then[…] Keep reading →

People thinking sustainability is easier if single are insensitive, lacking empathy and compassion

on March 27, 2025 in HandsOnPracticalExperience, Relationships

I’ve been holding back on posting this post’s idea for months, maybe years. It’s a simple concept, though bold. More importantly, some may find it offensive, but, if so, no more offensive than people are with me. Over and over people tell me it’s easier to practice sustainability for someone who is single. They suggest I can decide things unilaterally. Lacking hands-on practical experience, they think the hard part of[…] Keep reading →

Sriracha sauce: yuck! Enjoying food over doof.

on March 26, 2025 in Addiction, Doof, Fitness, HandsOnPracticalExperience

It’s been almost ten years since I posted Why Sriracha Hot Sauce tastes good. In it I wrote: Progress report on enjoying food over doof I don’t think I’ve tasted it in the decade since. Then in my volunteer work salvaging food that would be thrown away, I ended up with a jar to deliver. It had been opened, so I had a chance to taste it. It’s been years[…] Keep reading →

Sign up for my weekly newsletter

Subscribe to my weekly newsletter

I post in-person events and special updates

We won't send you spam. Unsubscribe at any time. Powered by Kit