Wolfgang Lutz is one of the world’s experts in projecting global population levels and demography. I contacted him to help understand the differences between projections based on demography like his and the United Nations’ versus systemic ones like in Limits to Growth. He gave a comprehensive overview of who projects and how, at least as much as can be covered in under an hour. Some highlights: Who projects based on[…] Keep reading →

I’ve meant to collect the top principles in sustainability leadership, the things I say nearly daily and govern embracing living sustainably. “Nothing is more damaging to you than to do something you believe is wrong.” — Abraham Lincoln Systemic change begins with personal change. You tell me what you fear losing most and I’ll tell you exactly what you’ll get more of. You can’t lead someone else to live by[…] Keep reading →

The scene: We’re walking along and see a bunch of helpless children drowning. Instead of helping them, scientists study the situation, educators teach about what the scientists learn, journalists write stories about tragedy, politicians seek funding to solve, CEOs see all the activity and find ways to sell products about the situation, and activists protest that something like this shouldn’t happen. But none help. As they study, teach, write, raise[…] Keep reading →

I’m taking a break from sustainability leadership and my other usual topics to share something I’ve started sharing more lately. For some reason, while chopping fruits and vegetables, I’ve starting coming up with my own fun names for them. I’ve generally held back from sharing silly things that might make me feel embarrassed or ashamed. Some things, though seem to prompt people sharing back silly things of theirs or finding[…] Keep reading →

Here’s a typical email with a message I see all the time. This one was to me, but I see it in all contexts: “I’m sorry but I have to cancel our meeting of tomorrow. There’s just too much going on at the moment and I need the time.” The message is always something like: I care about the environment. It’s incredibly important. I plan to act on it. There’s[…] Keep reading →

Consider two cultures, one living sustainably, one unsustainably. Does the following sound familiar? The sustainable one must be living within its means. In fact, it must have some abundance to withstand an occasional flood or drought. Many cultures have survived and thrived for tens to hundreds of thousands of years. The unsustainable one is living beyond its means, decreasing what resources it needs to survive. In most cases, it can[…] Keep reading →

On July 21st last year, both the solar panel and power station broke. I don’t know why or how, but cutting-edge technology is prone to fail. As the next day would complete two months, double my goal and twenty times my expectation, I decided I could declare victory, reconnect the circuit, and plug back in the next day. You can hear me say so in my July 22 podcast episode,[…] Keep reading →