I was reading an account of Martin Luther King during the Montgomery Bus Boycott and noticed how a few things he said, often quoting or paraphrasing Jesus, applied to today. The big one was “He who lives by the sword dies by the sword,” which doesn’t seem a stretch to say those who live by pollution die by pollution. Despite everyone saying their flying does so much good it’s worth[…] Keep reading →

When I started graduate school in physics at the University of Pennsylvania, one of the faculty members in the department confused the students. He didn’t confuse us with complex science. He was a world leader in his subject, but the subject was tennis—the physics of tennis. I studied there in 1993-94. When the professor, Howard Brody, died, the New York Times published his obituary, Howard Brody, an Expert in the[…] Keep reading →

Over and over I meet people who say they care about the environment and people affected by human impact on the environment . . . yet they refuse to acknowledge their impact. Still they complain how somehow others don’t care, even as their own impact is as great. What does it mean to care if your actions achieve the opposite of caring. What does you saying you care matter to[…] Keep reading →

The first result on a search on bp carbon footprint was a Guardian opinion piece Big oil coined ‘carbon footprints’ to blame us for their greed. Keep them on the hook which linked to a piece in Mashsable The carbon footprint sham: A ‘successful, deceptive’ PR campaign. That piece begins: In a dark TV ad aired in 1971, a jerk tosses a bag of trash from a moving car. The[…] Keep reading →

Many TVs use more than 100 watt-hours in an hour or two when turned off. I used that much last year from grid power, from plugging in at NYU, which I allowed myself while I unplugged my apartment. My use at home was zero, of course. Last year, I published an article in Ars Technica, I disconnected from the electric grid for 8 months—in Manhattan. Eight months off the grid[…] Keep reading →

A reader emailed me: I really enjoy your podcast and greatly appreciate your work. It was very exciting to someone else thinking about personal choices the same way I do and effectively influencing others to do the same. I want to commit to a new personal challenge of only buying food without packaging — I’m almost there now but I want to publicly commit and go all the way …[…] Keep reading →

The Problem Do any of these situations resonate? Have you said or thought anything like them? Solutions I’m not saying the following are the only solution to each of these problems, but they work and create freedom, joy, and liberation. Anyone can learn the Spodek Method.

Have you hit rock bottom on the environment? The question isn’t if the problems are grave enough or you know about them. You’ve seen enough problems from litter on your street to a region called Cancer Alley in the most technologically advanced nation in history and front-page news nearly daily. The question of you hitting rock bottom is if you choose no longer to accept your rationalizations and justifications of[…] Keep reading →

Longtime readers may remember my op-ed piece in the Village Sun: It’s Time to Ban Single-Use Packaging: The Village Sun published my op-ed piece. The Sun is one of my local papers and I find it covers local news that matter but the big papers miss. All communities would benefit from local journalism like it. I mentioned in past posts how people approach and ask what I’m up to, which[…] Keep reading →