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2021

December

31: The uncomfortable but desired result of the 70-pound (31.8 kg) kettlebell
30: What fruit or vegetable has industrial agriculture destroyed most?
29: How personal action on the environment is like practicing to reach Carnegie Hall
28: How personal action on the environment is like changing your baby’s diaper
27: 545: Jesse Eisinger: Pulitzer-Prize winning investigative reporter for Propublica
26: Year 3, day 2 on this one load of trash
25: Hope in small places: a dusting of snow
24: How to Create a Sustainability Movement: sneak preview of my book and workshops
23: 544: Michael Carlino, part 3: What would Jesus do with an iPhone?
22: Decade two, day 1: I reached the ground with my heels on downward dog for the first time in my life.
21: Ten years (3,652 consecutive days)
20: 543: Hilary Link, part 1: a college president leading her school to carbon neutrality
19: How Biden can pass his program with bipartisan support. With global support.
18: Hear me on America Out Loud’s After Dark: “Single White Straight Male Living In America”
17: 542: Chad Foster, part 3: Experiencing nature, people, and sex without sight
16: The three people who understand my sustainability least
15: How I started coaching professionally: a “free coaching” offer on Craigslist
14: 541: My “rant” on “People want to act, Josh, but it’s hard”
13: 540: Blake Haxton, part 3: Exploring nature from a wheelchair with a shotgun
12: What “Circular” and “Closed-loop” mean
11: Why don’t the media and courts treat Ghislaine Maxwell like an independent woman with agency?
11: Heartwarming reasons I pick up litter knowing it alone won’t fix the world’s problems overnight.
10: 539: Katharine Hayhoe: Saving Us: A Climate Scientist’s Case for Hope and Healing in a Divided World
9: How we’re like gorillas with kids
8: 538: How much should I reduce my pollution? How many slaves should Thomas Jefferson have freed?
7: 537: Nate Hochman, part 1: Toward a Conservative Environmentalism
6: We live better today than kings before?
5: How to reform taxes: A chess model
4: Saying “It won’t matter if we pollute less if China and Russia don’t” is the opposite of leadership.
3: My fourth TEDx talk: Don’t call Doof Food: systemic change begins with personal change
2: Advice to a young adult in 2021
1: 536: David Pogue: How to Prepare for Climate Change: A Practical Guide to Surviving the Chaos

November

30: What leadership brings to sustainability
29: Euphoria from food
28: 535: The best sledding hill in the world, Tommy’s Hill in Philadelphia (from my third TEDx talk)
27: 534: Mom, part 2: Opportunity and oppression: race and religion in my childhood
26: A gift your partner will love receiving. No cost or waste. Minutes to prepare.
25: Tomorrow is Buy Nothing Day. Make it Buy Nothing Season. Give the gift of your presence and attention.
24: 533: Laura Coe, part 3: The Nature of Love
23: Another reason for individual action
22: 532: Michael Lenox, part 3: How to Decarbonize the Global Economy by 2050
21: Buzzfeed’s privilege “calculator”: How I Did
20: Stop saying “The planet will be fine. It’s us who may not make it.” Everybody knows.
19: 531: Scott White, part 1: The Founder/CEO of an Energy Company on Sustainability
18: Genesis 1:26-28 and Sustainability
17: On depression
16: 530: Cassiano Laureano, part 2: Burpees for the body, banzai tree for the heart and mind
15: 529: Katie Redford, part 2: No distractions. Keeping oil in the ground.
14: Profane
13: My brief conversation with someone smoking crack by Washington Square Park, next door to Babbo, with a twist at the end.
12: Why everything will collapse (someone else’s video)
11: People who fly do it for themselves and end up hurting others. People who avoid flying do it for others and end up helping themselves.
10: Is flying to protest in Glasgow like PETA practicing animal sacrifice?
9: 528: Don’t Bother With Stewardship. It Makes Your Life Worse. Especially If You’re American.
8: Is Capitalism Driving Our Environmental Problems?
7: 527: Mike Michalowicz, part 1: Entrepreneurship, stewardship, and engaging, compelling writing
6: 526: A recent talk on doof, heroin, crack, and sustainability
5: A billion-dollar simple (partial) solution to litter
4: Response to a Christian reader about his friends struggling with stewardship
3: 525: Katie Redford, part 1: She beat a multinational oil company in court just getting started
2: Scrubbing the floor regularly
1: 524: James Rebanks, part 1: Pastoral Song

October

31: “Bucket list” means craving. You’ll never be satisfied with other places until you’re satisfied where you are.
30: I graphed my ecological footprint, according to the Global Footprint Network
29: A way to lower pollution that would work
28: 523: Dr. Warren Farrell, part 1: Listening to men, what they keep to themselves
27: Another way to see the problem with chasing energy efficiency as a strategy
26: The environment has losing stories.
25: My shameful reason for not learning to play basketball
24: 522: Abdal Hakim Murad, part 1: Britain’s most influential Muslim thinker
23: Notes from a reader who made famous no-packaging vegan stew from my video
22: Renewables are less renewable than we thought. That’s the starting point.
21: Why do so many people lecture me on what it’s like to be a straight white male?
20: 521: Blake Haxton, part 2: Teamwork is crucial. How to solve that we’re divided
19: My second Bronx cooking workshop to fill in food deserts, in one of New York City’s most beautiful spots
18: National Geographic wants you to pay to exploit, plunder, and destroy Earth’s beauty and cultures, co-opting ecologists
17: Why does nearly everyone reject Gandhi’s advice?
16: Prepare yourself that you will soon be unable to fly across an ocean
15: 520: Blake Haxton, part 1: This Paralympic silver medalist shares the mindset we can all use to face our environmental crises
14: Asking for help is leading.
13: 519: Terik Weekes, Chief Engineer for Elroy Air: The future of electric flight
12: Vegans who fly?
11: 518: Killing cities, gardens, and parks, New York’s cruel “Open Restaurants” overreach
10: In One Chart: How America Can Influence the World on Sustainability and Why It Can’t Now
9: Refining one of my core message: Systemic Change Begins With Personal Change
8: 517: Michael Carlino, part 2: Faith, God, the Bible, and Values
7: You knew flying, plastic, etc were too good to be true. You didn’t earn them.
6: Robert McNamara and Geoengineering
5: 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics: Climate Science and my response
4: 516: Geoengineering: Prologue or Epilogue for Humanity?
3: Technology is less important than you think to change culture.
2: 515: Chad Foster, part 2: A blind man overcoming the trap of feeling you have to fix the world
1: “Touch grass”

September

30: 514: Jojo Mehta: Ecocide: why you want this law more than you’ve imagined
29: 513: Jon Levy, part 2: Which influences more, shame and guilt or support and love?
28: 512: Perhaps our most useful lesson, from of a Paralympic athlete who endured catastrophe
27: “Even when it doesn’t taste as good, it tastes better when you cook it yourself.”
26: 511: Joe Collins, part 1.5: Can We Clean South Central Los Angeles?
25: My little litter poem
24: Another morning walk seeing litter in my neighborhood.
23: Spodek’s Law of environmental debate
22: My main discovery that makes The Spodek Method work
21: 510: Jonathan Hardesty, part 6: “This method of doing things is making me become a better husband and parent”
20: Would Jesus or Buddha fly in 2021?
19: 509: Joe Romm: From science to working with James Cameron, leading through story
18: How to remember e to 20 decimal places
17: The two biggest chips on my shoulder
16: Imagine India without Gandhi, South Africa without Mandela, the U.S. without King. Now imagine Earth today with their equivalent.
15: My first open letter to the leadership training community
14: 508: Eric Orts, part 2: To the U.S. Senate by living the values he leads
13: 507: Behind the Mic: Teamwork Versus Leadership
12: Teamwork will elevate us to victory
11: 506: I lost $10 million on September 11, 2001. Here is what I learned from those who sacrificed and served.
10: #4 of the Top 15 Leadership Blogs You Should Be Reading in 2021: This One.
9: 505: Michael Carlino, part 1: From the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
8: Graduated to a new kettlebell: 70 pounds (31.8kg)
7: Welcome to the newest member of the This Sustainable Life podcast family, TSL: Biodiversity & Conservation by Michèle Watson
6: 504: Dar-Lon Chang, part 2: Activists on Exxon’s Board (and fighting a real estate developer who lied about sustainability)
5: Why does almost no one pick up litter?
4: Why you shouldn’t live sustainably (not really): Coming clean about my shameful sponge
3: Want to live more sustainably: The measure that matters
2: 503: Jonathan Hardesty, part 5: Facing and overcoming gluttony
1: Notes from biking from New York City to Philadelphia over the weekend

August

31: My 1-minute video on a counterintuitive concept in science and technology
30: 502: Cassiano Laureano, part 1: The world record for most burpees in an hour
29: We know less about nature and science than ever
28: 501: Big City Andrew, part 2: Cleaning small towns and big cities
27: 500: This Podcast’s Next Milestone
26: Even when governments pay them to have more kids, families want fewer
25: How much litter should you pick up?
24: 499: What sets limits on pollution, part 2: some answers
23: 498: What sets the limits on pollution? Why don’t we pollute less or decrease faster?
22: How will a sustainable world look?
21: 497: Don’t let judgment and criticism kill action: Gernot Wagner’s personal example.
20: They’re creating a bike route from Maine to Florida. Sponsor me in a fundraising ride!
19: 496: Reverend Doctor Ambrose Carroll, Sr., part 1: Greening the Church
18: Inspired to my first run in almost a year: 9 miles. Still plogging.
18: Leading a children’s workshop on picking up litter in Union Square
17: 495: Alexis Stewart, part 1: Martha’s daughter’s passion for picking up litter
16: 494: How Is Addiction to Fossil Fuels Different From Addiction to Heroin and Crack?
15: The point of individual action when you want to change systems
14: Space: The Final Frontier, hear me on America Out Loud on space, space travel, and astrophysics
13: Another million dollar business idea: Goodwill Food
12: Young people don’t want kids out of fear. What does it take to wake up and fix our culture?
11: How to transform my famous no-packaging vegan stew into restaurant food
10: 493: Sarah Wilson: Living Joyfully Sustainably (more fun than excuses)
9: 492: Did Steven Pinker’s Better Angels of our Nature miss why we’re less violent?
8: The distraction of reporting more wind and solar
7: When pollution happens
6: Bullshit Cargo
5: Food poisoning and burpees nearly as hard as after a marathon
4: 491: Nevcan Gungor, part 1: Surviving Myanmar’s military coup
3: More recursion after last week’s recursive map post
2: I helped get bikes allowed on New York City subways
1: On sustainability, technology is not the solution. It’s more part of the problem.

July

31: There’s no such thing as a superfood
30: 490: Karen Shragg, part 2: Lowering birth rate and raising tomato rate
29: The most amazing “You Are Here” map you’ve ever seen
28: What would you say to a slave trader in 1806 England or 1860 U.S. who feared for his or her profession?
27: The twisted, non-thinking of economists thinking economies must grow or they’ll collapse
26: 489: Martin Puris, part 2: All big ideas begin in the mind of one person thinking creatively
25: Know the 2 carbon cycles and don’t confuse them.
24: A pile of ten syringes outside a luxury building by Washington Square Park. Where is Mayor De Blasio?
24: Communicating with tech geeks on sustainability
23: Olympic devastation that could be local fun instead
22: We will soon see plastic the way we see asbestos, leaded gasoline, and marketing cigarettes to children
21: 488: Maxine Bédat, part 1: Everything You’ve Always Wanted to Know About Fashion’s Sustainability (or lack thereof)
20: Personal action: Nobody said act once and stop. Act, learn, act more, lead others.
19: Hear me speak on Initiative on Moving Mountains with Sasha Laghonh
19: 175,000 burpees
18: Eugenics, anti-miscegenation, and ecofascism, especially in the United States
17: 487: Karen Shragg E.D.D., part 1: At last, simple, reasonably talk on (over)population
16: The best presentation on population I’ve seen, by TV and movie star Alexandra Paul
15: 486: General Kip Ward, part 2: Not flying by choice, and smiling about it
14: I don’t pick up litter because I care about the environment. I care about the environment because I pick up litter.
13: How a Nation With No Racists Can Appear Half-Racist to Everyone in It
12: Reinterpreting the Marshmallow Experiment
11: Doing something nonpolluting doesn’t offset something polluting
10: Eating something healthy doesn’t offset something unhealthy
9: 485: Jonathan Hardesty, part 4: How to Lead Someone to Stewardship: The Spodek Method
8: 484: John Sargent, part 2: Fun Transforming MacMillan, a Big 5 Publisher
7: A New Reason I Pick Up Trash Every Day
6: Hear me on ExecuPeaks on leadership and sustainability with Sasha Laghonh
6: “Olympic Swimmer Caeleb Dressel Says the Key to Success Is Making Your Bed”
5: 483: Jane O’Sullivan: Debunking the “Aging Problem” Scam
4: How Close Are We To July 4th, 1775?
3: How Pollution Happens: the Bicycle Analogy
2: Don’t put your faith in the next generation. The last generation put faith in you. Act yourself first.
1: 482: Florida’s Condo Collapse, Doom Psychology, and Our Environment
1: 481: Joe Collins, part 1: From a gang to Congress?

June

30: 480: Scott Hardin-Nieri: part 1: Scripture to Mobilize Climate Action
29: How Much Space You Take Up Is Irrelevant
28: “Pride Destroyed the Park”, Washington Square Park after a parade (Video)
27: 479: Martin Puris, part 1: What’s Wrong With America?
26: My new top advice on what to do about the environment
25: 478: Forrest Galante, part 1: Saving Zanzibar Leopards and Other Not Yet Extinct Species
24: More Mechai Viravaidya resources: Our world’s top role model
23: 477: Mechai Viravaidya: My #1 Top Role Model in the World
22: 476: Tom Murphy, part 3: The Science Book of the Decade
21: Why I Chose Not to Run for Office
20: Signs of Overpopulation
19: Video: What’s wrong with New York City?
18: What Actions Reduce Greenhouse Emissions Most?
17: The scams that keep us from solving our environmental problems
16: 475: We Can Dance Around Environmental Problems All We Want. We Eventually Reach Overpopulation and Overconsumption
15: 474: Frederick Lane, part 2: Intrinsic Versus Extrinsic Motivation
14: It’s Time to Ban Single-Use Packaging: The Village Sun published my op-ed piece
13: Comedian Bill Burr on Overpopulation
12: 473: James Suzman: What We Can Learn From 300,000 Years of Human History
11: More Used Syringes Littering My Community, This Time at Penn Station and Moynihan Hall
10: 472: Big City Andrew, part 1: Traditional Conservative values and stewardship
9: 12 Sustainability Leadership Lessons Unplugging My Fridge for 6.5 Months Taught Me
8: Hear me on My Wakeup Call with Dr. Mark Goulston
8: How I keep going when I feel like giving up (which is often)
7: Hear me on conservative talk radio: Living By Your Values Is Freedom
6: 470: Sustainable Activities: I’m learning singing (my mortifying “before” recording)
5: Clawing back: 4,951 meters in 20 minutes. 49 to go.
4: Recycling is like improving Enron’s health care plan
3: 469: Podcast episode: The Science Book of the Decade: Energy and Human Ambitions on a Finite Planet
2: 468: Alexandra Paul, part 2: How to Reduce Something (Wasteful) You Enjoy, to Improve Your Life
1: 467: Frederick Lane, part 1: The Rise of the Digital Mob

May

31: Memorial Day Glory in Greenwich Village
30: The Science Book of the Decade: Energy and Human Ambitions on a Finite Planet, by Tom Murphy
29: 466: Shaun Donovan: New York City Mayoral Candidate
28: Richard Nixon: Environmentalist (compared to us today)
27: You’ll change when the five people around you do
26: 465: Markus Pukonen, part 1: Around the World With No Motors
25: Immigrants and poor people don’t do work other Americans won’t. We create horrible jobs when we can exploit people.
24: What do you think is the main thing that makes a healthy, long lasting relationship?
23: Dominion, the documentary
22: “Corporations should change, not consumers” and other nonsense
21: 464: Resilience: Six months with the fridge unplugged
20: If I ever write a novel, what I’ll write
19: 463: Brad Hoylman, part 1: From New York Senator to Manhattan Borough President
18: 462: Bill Ryerson, part 3: The biggest impact you can make
17: Exercise: Imagine a Day Without Doof
16: 461: 24 Hours With No Electrical Power (After)
15: 460: 24 Hours With No Electrical Power (Before)
14: 459: Jonathan Hardesty, part 3: How to Continue a Sustainability Podcast
13: Exercise: Imagine a Day Without Using Electric Power
12: 458: The Spodek Method: How to Lead Someone to Act Joyfully Sustainably
11: 457: Jon Levy, part 1: The Art and Science of Cultivating Influence
10: Envisioning a more open world: an exercise
9: The solution to intermittency in solar and wind power
8: Pollution:Earth :: Obesity:Body
7: How to take two years to fill a load of trash or get a $1.70 electric bill
6: 456: Jonathan Hardesty, part 2: How to Start a Sustainability Podcast
5: I Saw A Guy Eating Ice Cream With Zero Joy
4: At a loss for words at people playing with their fat
3: What was it like to watch Mandela, Gandhi, and Dr. King and not help?
2: Should streams have rights? Should corporations?
1: We Can’t Change the Past But We Can Choose Our Values

April

30: 455: J. B. MacKinnon, part 2: What happens when you pay for quality?
29: Would you rather eat as much as you want or have someone cook for you and serve you?
28: 454: Richard Rothstein: Racial segregation in generations of U.S. law
27: More reasons to act now, not wait for governments or corporations
26: 453: Bill Ryerson, part 2: How can we talk about population? What can we do?
25: Each month is 1%
24: Sometimes writing is peaceful and flows. Sometimes it takes work, toil, and struggle.
23: The Benefits of Staying Local
22: Month 6, Day 1: Fridge still off (Happy Earth Day)
21: The Story of Plastic Animated Short Video
20: How to Get Free Vegetables With a Smile
19: Preferring a virus to a vaccine?
18: 452: Book Update #1
17: 3 minor fitness successes
16: 451: Alexandra Paul, part 1: A Genuine Celebrity Role Model
15: Progressing From DJs to Dirt
14: “How Exercise May Help Protect Against Severe Covid-19” Comments
13: Finally, I illustrated what’s missing from sustainability
12: After ten years, pushing 50, burpees are getting harder
11: Thoughts on singing
10: Vasectomies aren’t about fewer children. They’re about more sex.
9: Success Through Garbage
8: More evidence it’s wrong that only government and corporations can make a difference
7: 450: Brian Keating, Losing the Nobel Prize
6: Why I predict the Next Pandemic Will Happen Sooner Than in a Century. More like a decade or two.
5: Rowing 4,936 meters in 20 minutes
4: How do you honor Easter?
3: Missing birds
2: A lovable bigot is still a bigot and a lovable polluter still pollutes.
1: I Bet You Care More Than People Think You Do

March

31: But I don’t have any farmers markets nearby. Should I give up?
30: Wisdom in short audio clips, part 2
29: Wisdom in short audio clips, part 1
28: You Can’t Think More Complex Than Interruptions Allow
27: Litter Hurts
26: An empty sidcha I’m considering
25: Don’t call plastic “green space”
24: The Weather Is Warm. Guess Who’s Back in Washington Square Park, Sadly?
23: Year 6, day 1 since I last flew
23: 449: Chad E. Foster: How Do You Handle Huge Challenges? Not Big. Huge.
22: “I refuse to be silenced because you’re afraid of change”
21: Starting month 5 With My Fridge Unplugged
20: Family Planning Success Stories From Around the World (mostly videos)
19: 448: Robert Bilott: The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare
18: 447: Kathryn Garcia, part 1: Candidate for New York City Mayor
17: Vertical farms illustrate the problem with fusion
16: Learned helplessness and managing population
15: 446: Wondering how you can make a difference? Action begets action.
14: Book 3, first draft done
13: 445: Rabbi Yonatan Neril, part 2: Religion, Interpreting the Torah, and Nature
12: Bill Gates and environmental leadership, part 2: His Addiction Speaking
11: 3 Meditation Updates
10: What happened to utopia?
9: Bill Gates and environmental leadership
8: How I improved on Eisenhower
7: Can people collaborate across lines of nationality, skin color, etc when it counts?
6: Debunking the myth that an ageing population is a problem.
5: 444: Dar-Lon Chang, part 1: The engineer who made headlines for quitting ExxonMobil
4: Vegan Seitan Stew, 4 minutes prep time (video)
3: 443: Nobody understands what’s so bad with climate change
2: What Genesis Meant
1: Our environment is getting biblical

February

28: Marathon Number Eight
27: 442: Jonathan Hardesty, part 1: The Journey from Absolute Rookie to Mastery
26: “Do black men have a harder struggle in life than most? Are white men privileged?” see me on a Magamedia panel
25: You can make a habit stick faster than the “experts” say
24: 441: John Sargent, part 1: The CEO who reduced a Big Five publisher’s footprint
22: How learning sustainability is like learning sex
21: Pandemic Fatigue? How to Achieve Pandemic Thriving
20: Why do we end sentences with “and stuff” and “or something”?
19: 440: Andrés Reséndez: The Other Slavery
18: “The 11 Best Leadership Books You Should Read This Year” named Leadership Step by Step
17: Hear my second conversation on This Sustainable Life: Solve for Nature
17: 439: How to Fix Texas
16: Do we need math and science after school?
15: The Founding Fathers, travel, and flying
14: Where Is the World Going, Mr. Spodek?
13: 438: Avoiding Creating Garbage, Advanced Edition
12: What the biggest human structure says about culture
11: Hear me on the Cybertraps podcast
10: My latest ecological footprint, according to online calculator: 0.8 tonnes of CO2 annually
9: 437: Bill Ryerson, part 1: Population matters
8: 4 things to remember when riding in 29 (-2C) degree weather
7: 436: You’re right, it’s not fair!
6: 435: Etienne Stott MBE, part 1: Olympic gold medalist climate activist
5: The reason renewables are becoming cheaper than fossil fuels nobody mentions
4: Old person: get with the program
3: Is the best book on pollution and depletion a picture book you can finish in a sitting?
2: Why I’m singing
1: Population: Why not educate men on family planning?

January

31: Hear me again on the Ask Women podcast on seductive conversation
30: Do you drink bottled water? Watch Tapped, the movie.
29: Do you have any secret or latent concerns or fears about the environment? Did I miss any?
28: Are these your main worries about the environment? Did I miss any?
27: Are these your burning questions about the environment? Did I miss any?
26: 434: Manisha Sinha: The Slave’s Cause: A History of Abolition
25: Man Ray, the great artist, on his greatest satisfaction
24: 433: Adam Hochschild, part 2: Abolition then, pollution today
23: This Sustainable Life: Solve for Nature launches from Japan, hosted by Eugene Bible
23: 10 Years of Daily Posts
22: I love Goodwill, but we let it enable our wasteful choices
21: 432: Matthew Stevenson, part 2: What can environmentalists learn from disarming racism?
20: 431: I sang every day for two months, unplugged (still going)
19: Senate hearings on Lloyd Austin III, who invited me to speak at West Point
19: The problem with “Governments and corporations have to change”
18: 430: Rabbi Yonatan Neril, part 1: The Eco Bible
17: 429: What about jobs?
16: Government and corporations are more problem than solution
15: Emotions following a summer of BLM, a winter of insurrection, and ongoing pandemic
14: 428: Vanessa Friedman: The New York Times Fashion Director and Chief Fashion Critic
13: Why Food Is Not Medicine
12: The problem with “dependence on foreign oil”
11: A recent video overview on sustainability leadership
10: I used 2.5% the average American’s electric power last month
9: 20 years ago, my first media coverage: The Wall Street Journal
8: What one person does matters. What more evidence do you need?
7: Government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth
6: 2020 versus 2021
5: Elon Musk and the Environment
4: Sketch for book or TV series introduction
3: 427: Behind the Mic: Attraction and leadership
2: 426: Why unplug?
1: “Philosophy of Shrinking Footprints” and “Shrinking Your Travel Footprint”, hear me on 2 Growthbusters episodes
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