Bought two new non-food material things this year (cumulative: three things this year, I think)

on May 26, 2023 in Leadership

I bought a couple new non-food material items this week. I think so far this year I bought a thermal shirt used from a thrift shop. Other than that I think the only material things I’ve bought this year have been food. I’ve paid to pollute through my electric bill, phone bill, and so on, so I’ve got a long way to go. I try to keep track of what[…] Keep reading →

Analects of Sustainability Leadership (words to live by)

on May 25, 2023 in Leadership, Models

Analects are selected miscellaneous written passages, often words to live by. Here are ones on sustainability leadership, many I created. I’ll keep update the following as I develop new ones. You can’t lead others to live by values you live the opposite of Systemic change begins with personal change If you make a polluting system more efficient, you pollute more efficiently, even if you lower it in one area. If[…] Keep reading →

Year Two With the Circuit Open Between My Apartment and the Electric Grid

on May 24, 2023 in Leadership, Nature

Everyone talks about how hard transitioning to living sustainably is. They haven’t tried it—that is, seriously changing culture, not just trying to avoid straws. Yes, by practicing with easier things like avoiding packaged food, I prepared myself somewhat, but no way could I have predicted I could live for over a year with my apartment disconnected from the grid. Why couldn’t I have predicted it? Because I believed the lies[…] Keep reading →

Eight billion people behaving unsustainably will never become sustainable.

on May 23, 2023 in Nature

Do you know anyone living sustainably? I don’t. A few hundred thousand, maybe a few million, in indigenous cultures may still be living sustainably, as nearly everyone did before a couple centuries ago or so. They’re a rounding error, sadly. You can say individual action doesn’t matter, but 1) it does and 2) all of us have to start living sustainably. Why do people think everyone can live unsustainably and[…] Keep reading →

Love and marriage don’t cause pollution. Stop using them as excuses.

on May 22, 2023 in Models, Nature, Relationships

How many times have I heard about polluting and depleting less, “You can do those things because you’re single.”? I know when people rationalize and justify their inaction, say by saying it’s easier for me or particularly harder for them, they aren’t speaking rationally. They’re protecting their vulnerabilities, suppressing and denying that they are hurting others, acting against their deepest values. Still, it seems worth it to list a few[…] Keep reading →

This week’s selected media: May 21, 2023

on May 21, 2023 in Tips

I read and watched this week: Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness: Regular readers know my interest in understanding imperialism, colonialism, and slavery to understand our situation with the environment. Somehow I made it over five decades before reading Heart of Darkness, or listening to it since it’s in the public domain, so I downloaded a free version from Librivox. My first time through, I felt it overly descriptive and wondered[…] Keep reading →

Day 365* unplugged

on May 21, 2023 in Leadership, Nature

The electric grid here pollutes and depletes with every form of power it uses: nuclear, wind, solar, coal, gas, hydro, and everything else. Polluting and depleting kills people and causes unnecessary suffering. I don’t want to pay for and otherwise cause killing and unnecessary suffering. Last year, on May 22, I unplugged everything in my apartment that drew power from the grid. My goal was to remain disconnected for one[…] Keep reading →

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