LATEST BLOG POSTS

Okay, I’m speaking a bit tongue-in-cheek because I know most people think what they do doesn’t matter and imagine touching anyone else’s litter risks keeling over and dying, or maybe gangrene and covid-19. People claim to be germaphobes and the like to excuse their inaction. But I know there’s no risk if you just avoid dangerous things, which still leaves an infinite amount to pick up, so I discount their[…] Keep reading →

Aren’t we living in the best time in history? Don’t we have to keep pressing forward to avoid returning to medieval serfdom or the Stone Age and everyone dying young? No. History, anthropology, and archaeology show these beliefs wrong. Humans weren’t living on the verge of starvation or nonstop working all day long. Other cultures than the one we descended from enjoyed more health, longevity, abundance, resilience, and freedom than[…] Keep reading →

This post is me trying to express the sadness I feel seeing litter everywhere, increasing, imagining the beauty Manhattan island once held before we paved it over; seeing how doof covers over beauty of the human body with disease and excess. My sadness runs deeper than that lost beauty. I lament the abdication and capitulation of responsibility. At least half the people I see walking the streets of this city[…] Keep reading →

You’ve heard every politician pay lip service on the environment. They talk abstractly about carbon dioxide levels, solutions to spend more money, and something about a future improved by electric cars and solar panels (conveniently missing how these “solutions” pollute). How many share their personal experiences? How many share their vulnerabilities we know they have? Derek shares his personal experience honestly facing environmental challenges himself. What does it feel like[…] Keep reading →

I can’t stand when people interrupt me. I don’t like myself when I do it either. But there is at least one time when I would consider you my friend for interrupting me. More than interruptions, I can’t stand when someone who can do something and believes they should but has filled their head and heart with some cockamamie limiting belief. They say they can’t get in shape, get promoted,[…] Keep reading →

Abortion is in the news, which hinges on when a sperm and egg transition to becoming a life protected by the law. My world is filled with people whose beliefs in the supernatural differ from mine and whose conflicts with others’ supernatural beliefs cause suffering and death around the world. Their justification seems to be nothing more than strong feeling that they’re right, yet people they disagree with justify themselves[…] Keep reading →

Short answer: because they realize they are complicit and want what plastic provides. Long answer: Picking up litter every day, I find almost not one type of trash comprises things I buy. Nearly all is doof, mostly beverage bottles and can, takeout, chips, coffee cups, wrappers, and such. I buy or consume none of them. There’s plenty of packaging from Amazon, doof purveyors, retail bags, and more things I don’t[…] Keep reading →