Category Archives: Addiction

I wrote a poem: The Poem of the High-Fiber Diet (trigger warning: juvenile humor)

on June 13, 2025 in Addiction, Creativity, Humor, SIDCHAs

Am I going to get in trouble for a puerile post? Will it distract from my sustainability leadership focus? I hope not. I had a blast making the poem. Regular readers know my sidchas and standard operating procedures mean that I meditate as one of my first morning activities. Before meditating I go to the bathroom. Between my routine being so consistent and my diet containing so much fiber, I[…] Keep reading →

When they say “transition fuel,” they mean “more polluting and depleting,” not less pollution or depletion

on June 7, 2025 in Addiction, Nature, Podcast

If “transition” means we stop using the old fuel then there has never been an energy transition. You can hear more details when I post my next episode with Mark Mills, but it deserves more publicity. I recorded with him again after reading his recent piece We’ll Never Have an Energy Transition, in City Journal from the Manhattan Institute. I find his results compelling, as always. Every fuel we’ve ever[…] Keep reading →

Nature’s discipline missing in today’s world

on June 3, 2025 in Addiction, Nonjudgment

Walking across the Manhattan Bridge, I saw a lot of graffiti. It looked to me like it was painted by boys or young men, likely making a statement vaguely like lashing out. I’m not sure, but it didn’t look like it was designed to make the place feel safer or more secure. I thought about how many boys and young men feel motivated to show their independence and probably have[…] Keep reading →

Hear me on WNYC: “Meet the NYC environmentalists going off the grid and eating discarded food”

on May 2, 2025 in Addiction, Audio, HandsOnPracticalExperience, Nature

Listen to this story about me on WNYC: The text introducing it says: As President Donald Trump pursues a deregulation agenda, New York’s ambitious clean energy goals appear further out of reach. So what’s a climate conscious New Yorker to do? WNYC’s Rosemary Misdary reports on some New York City residents taking an extreme approach to eliminating their carbon footprints. I won’t split hairs, but I would describe what I[…] Keep reading →

A simple way to view the choice to live sustainably: Think of others more than yourself

on April 24, 2025 in Addiction, Choosing/Decision-Making

People tell me how hard it looks to them to live sustainably. I recently wrote about people thinking it’s hard: First they say it’s impossible, then easy, then easy for me but hard for them. Anything but acting or responsibility. Almost always, they talk about themselves: “Me, me, me. It’s hard for me. I don’t want to give up doing what I like.” They never talk about the people that[…] Keep reading →

Addiction by chance versus Addiction by Design with Intent

on April 19, 2025 in Addiction, Freedom, Habits

That something in poppy can be extracted into something that addicts (opiates), that fruit and grains can be fermented into something that addicts (alcohol), or smoking tobacco can addict, or that gambling addicts are all chance results from nature. People may have found ways to capitalize on and profit from that addiction, but no one created the effect. Evolution did. By contrast, we now know how to addict people to[…] Keep reading →

Telling people problems with tobacco and alcohol is perfect message for the industries selling them

on April 17, 2025 in Addiction, Habits

I was talking to a friend about how addictive products work so well for people who sell them. The products sell themselves. From the perspective of the buyer and society they don’t work so well. Regular readers know I’ve concluded that since polluting and depleting destroy life, liberty, and property, a government mandated to protect life, liberty, and property must prevent polluting and depleting, as surely as it has to[…] Keep reading →

Why treat doof as second hand smoke

on April 11, 2025 in Addiction, Doof, Freedom

If an adult wants to smoke in their home, that’s their business. If they give themselves lung cancer, that’s their choice, assuming their sickness doesn’t tax others who didn’t choose. Likewise, if people want to consume doof, that’s their business too. But if someone smokes where others who don’t or can’t consent to breathing that smoke, or if someone too young to know the long-term results of their choices smokes,[…] Keep reading →

What happened to produce stands in America?

on April 7, 2025 in Addiction, Doof, Fitness

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 →

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