A brief political history of sustainability [If you’ve watched my Short Course on Sustainability Leadership, you’ll recognize the following from my session on the political opportunities. I’m putting only the main points here. I’ll develop it more in a future post. I wanted to start writing. If you haven’t watched the course, I think you’ll find it one of the most important resources on our culture, the environment, sustainability, and[…] Keep reading →

After three or four days at least overcast, often raining, I got to charge outside today. Since I’ve also been charging through my window, today was my first time outside in longer than just since those rainy days. Unfortunately for me, it was 40F when I went out (4.5C), rising to 43F (6C) when I went home, but more challenging for charging was the wind. Panels are like sails in[…] Keep reading →

I passed through Chinatown this afternoon and passed countless produce stands selling fresh vegetables and fruit. A while ago I read in the New York Times that many stands there have a separate supply chain for their fresh produce that’s grown relatively locally independent of the supply chain for other grocery stores or farmers markets in the city. While Chinatown is full of produce stands, the rest of New York[…] Keep reading →

This week I finished: Troubled: A Memoir of Foster Care, Family, and Social Class, by Rob Henderson: I saw Rob Henderson speak about this book in person and met him briefly. I confess I didn’t know much about the book before learning about the event, but other attendees shared how much the book meant to them. It also sounded like it resonated with some experiences of my childhood. His sounds[…] Keep reading →

I’ve been working for months on what to show on SpodekMethod.com. My book Sustainability Simplified refers to the page so it has to help people who want to learn and to more. It’s pained me for it not to be ready for so many months after the book has been on sale and the New York Times profiled me with a two-page story starting on the front page of the[…] Keep reading →

We’ve all seen the graphs and data of rising obesity. People get riled up about it. I have no problem with people living by their values when their choices affect only themselves. I pick up litter daily and hear from Workshop alumni and podcast guests who pledge to pick up litter. They sometimes cry when their hands-on practical experience leads them to see and consciously process what they usually look[…] Keep reading →

Until I learned that “the electric refrigerator was made and marketed as means of supporting the physical properties of fossil fueled power plants,” I thought electric appliances were designed to save us time and effort. Some may, but our lives have less leisure time than our ancestors before agriculture, as well as many indigenous people today. No wonder, I realized, when it hit me that the industry didn’t begin to[…] Keep reading →

People seem to want to defer to “experts” in sustainability and sustainability leadership. Many people know about science, technology, economics, legislation, and places where we might apply sustainability, but nearly no one knows anything about leading people or cultures to enjoy living more sustainably. Telling people facts or what to do or cajoling or coercing them isn’t leading them, yet it’s what nearly everyone does. It doesn’t work. It frustrates[…] Keep reading →

Following up my post about Hundreds of trashed dead Christmas pagan trees, 2025 from late February, I saw what I figure will be the last one thrown out for the season at the end of March. That’s how many trees we kill for a holiday tradition based in a different time and place, that we’re still throwing them away, like octopuses in the garbage, months after the holiday. Different either[…] Keep reading →