When I talk about sustainability leadership, almost guaranteed, someone will say something like, “not everyone can do what you do. Some people don’t have the resources you do.” or “You don’t know what it’s like for a single mom in a food desert with three kids and three jobs.” I’m not sure what world they think exists that I don’t know these things, but the illustration below, though a weird[…] Keep reading →

Thomas Jefferson was one of history’s great advocates for freedom, with great accomplishments. He led writing the Declaration of Independence. His writings on freedom of speech, religion, and thought helped prompt the Revolutionary War that created this democratic nation. Yet he was a racist and owned slaves. He suggested orangutans mated with Africans (he spelled oranootan in his 1784 Notes on the State of Virginia), for which he can not[…] Keep reading →

The video shows me cooking, fermenting, climbing, setting panels up, volunteering, picking up litter, and more. They recorded hours of footage. I like what they edited and only wish they could include more. For example, pulling the cart, I was bringing overstock, perfectly good food to the community center for people to pick up free. My favorite moments they couldn’t include: See the text from the video below. A few[…] Keep reading →

I see American culture moving toward increasing isolation. Compared to any time in human existence, we spend more time alone. Our paltry amount of skin-to-skin contact between parents and infants might be considered child abuse in other cultures. We talk about visiting other cultures, but even when in-person, we generally look at them from the outside through curated experiences like going to zoos. All that visiting is homogenizing culture more[…] Keep reading →

If doing something kills people and you don’t want to kill people, you have to stop doing that thing. I’m not talking about morality or suggesting guilt or blame. I’m saying something as simple as if you don’t want to break a glass, don’t drop it on the ground. This situation couldn’t be simpler, at least for people who don’t want to kill other people. If stopping doing that thing[…] Keep reading →

We passed the spring equinox so there’s more light to read and work by. Barring injury or big equipment failure, I’ll make a year soon. You can do in your life what I did in mine. You are not powerless to use less power. You’ll be glad you did.

I was invited to speak on sustainability leadership on Matt Matern’s radio show A Climate Change. I think he was surprised at some of my approaches or found them not like other guests, in that I focus less on technology and legislation in favor of culture and people. Click to listen to the episode Each week we talk about the environment and what we can do to make a difference[…] Keep reading →