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 →

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 →

Have you heard anyone propose as a solution to our environmental problems actually living sustainably? I haven’t. It would work—that is, if everyone lived sustainably, humanity collectively would live sustainably. By contrast, if no one lived sustainably, such as we are now, how can we collectively live sustainably? We can’t. We can’t all live unsustainably, yet somehow magically collectively live sustainably. Why not try it? Why doesn’t anyone try it?[…] Keep reading →

I finished the first draft of my next book, on sustainability leadership, this afternoon. I’m relieved, exhilarated, scared, worried, and many other emotions. For the first time, I skimmed through it. It’s rough. I feel like it’s too long, too short, too comprehensive, not comprehensive enough, and many other problems. Still, I know how much editing improves. I think it covers the main experiences, lessons, views, and ways forward I[…] Keep reading →

Many people see how Americans galvanized and worked together to put a man on the moon and mobilize to fight World War II and call for a moonshot or mobilization on that level. I’d love to see it, but America’s internal division seems the problem. I propose Richard Nixon’s 1972 visit to China as a more relevant target to replicate. At the peak of the Cold War, it was “one[…] Keep reading →

Jim Harshaw and his team pulled this core message from my conversation with him. I thought it deserved its own post. I’d describe it but it’s under sixty seconds and speaks for itself.

Jim Harshaw invited me back to his podcast Success Through Failure. We’ve been friends since I first appeared on his podcast in May 2019, Initiative: A Blueprint For How To Make Your Idea Work With Josh Spodek. He posted our latest conversation, From Mindset to Action: Josh Spodek on Living a Sustainable Life, in which we talked about sustainability, including failures. I keep realizing I should talk more about them,[…] Keep reading →