Keep in mind that nine million people have died per year from breathing polluted air since 2015, a number it took the Atlantic Slave Trade centuries to reach, and we can expect it to increase dramatically. Keep in mind the United States has regions called Cancer Alley and Sacrifice Zones. There are big differences between enslaving someone and polluting their air, but what of the underlying systems, which are more[…] Keep reading →

Why do people pay to chop down so many trees for pagan-based rituals? I mean, I know the answer is tradition, even if the tradition is opposite to what they purport to believe, but when will their consciences kick in, or their intelligence or compassion? I have nothing against any of the religions involved, Christianity, paganism, capitalism, patriotism, etc, but I have a lot for sustaining an environment that can[…] Keep reading →

More refined than concepts overweight and body mass index is overfat. I’m not a professional in the field, but I believe professionals consider the term more useful and are using it more. Someone with little muscle but enough fat to cause health problems can appear not overweight and have what looks like a healthy BMI so might be overlooked for care. Americans are more overfat than I would have predicted:[…] Keep reading →

You’ll hear Tony’s story of rolling up his sleeves and doing some hard labor. You’ll also hear the labor being just the start of the reward. He shares about the less tangible but not lesser results in community, emotional reward, enthusiasm to do more. Given his leadership role and experience, we talk about the Spodek Method. I took the liberty of pulling some what he said and formatting it. Listen[…] Keep reading →

A new way I’m communicating that systemic change begins with personal change: To cross the finish line of the marathon of changing a system, you first have to cross the starting line of changing yourself. Otherwise you aren’t in the race. In the case of sustainability, the starting line is to find joy and intrinsic motivation in acting more sustainably, so you look forward to the steps of continual improvement.[…] Keep reading →

This week I read and watched: The Overstory, by Richard Powers: People recommended this long novel for a while, saying I’d like it for being about nature. I didn’t find it boring, but didn’t get it either for the most part. I found the language distracting. I prefer the grammar and syntax not to call attention to itself, away from the meaning. I don’t find ecoterrorism appealing. The author did[…] Keep reading →

I was reading Harper’s magazine and Christopher’s story was on the cover: Inside the mind of an “ecoterrorist”! It begins In the summer of 2016, a fifty-seven-year-old Texan named Stephen McRae drove east out of the rainforests of Oregon and into the vast expanse of the Great Basin. His plan was to commit sabotage. First up was a coal-burning power plant near Carlin, Nevada, a 242-megawatt facility owned by the[…] Keep reading →