Leadership

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 and false stories founding the culture I lived in. The ones that persist are the ones that sustain and further that culture, not the ones that improve people's lives if they conflict. I believed that nature was scary, that technology was good, and so on. I discounted obvious observations, like that everyone had lived their…

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 month, though I didn't know how I'd make it past a few days. Thus, I didn't try to do it perfectly. I chose experimental physics for a reason: we learn from experimenting. Later people can create theory based on experiment. Theory not based on experiment still requires experiment. Mostly I work on sustainability leadership. This…

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? Is the prospect of living sustainably so horrible? Why does no one suggest or consider it, even environmentalists? Have you heard anyone suggest it? I hadn't thought about how simple the concept yet utterly absent from anyone even talking about it.

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.

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 way to present the information, shows where the biggest changes are possible. Of course, I work to help everyone, but I see leading the biggest polluters to pollute less as the place with the greatest potential to change. I see too many environmentalists focusing on the people being affected. I understand they are where we…

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. Thomas Jefferson 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 have had evidence. Did he make it up? Since he would never choose to be a slave, how can anyone excuse enslaving others? He could have freed them but didn’t. He had children with a woman he enslaved. I can't see how she could consent in such a relationship. His racism and anti-freedom…

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 is inconvenient, if you want to stop killing people, you still have to stop doing it. If stopping doing that thing means you can't travel as much, if you want to stop killing people, you still have to stop doing it. If you really want to do that thing, if you want to stop killing…

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've meant to collect the top principles in sustainability leadership, the things I say nearly daily and govern embracing living sustainably. "Nothing is more damaging to you than to do something you believe is wrong." -- Abraham Lincoln Systemic change begins with personal change. You tell me what you fear losing most and I'll tell you exactly what you'll get more of. You can't lead someone else to live by values you live the opposite of. Without personal action, you don't know what you're talking about and lack credibility. Not a principle, but a behavior I see a lot of: stepping on the gas, thinking it's the brake, wanting congratulations. Your greatest potential effect is in leading others. CCCSC (convincing, cajoling, coercing, seeking compliance) may…

I'd get bored of posting about it, but I keep learning more every month. No wonder no one even in sustainability comes up with workable plans. It would be like expecting an orchestra to play well together when not one of the musicians practices their instrument. It turns out practicing sustainability is deeply rewarding. Love for your fellow human. What do you want more of? If you want more human connection and less being spoiled and entitled, I recommend taking a leadership position. Ask me how if you don't know. We can use your help. It's also incredibly educational. I learn more about myself, solutions, and why people resist through acting than reading. It's the only way to find solutions that work. We don't need…

I talk about a mindset shift followed by continual improvement as a process to change culture. I just realized there's a second mindset shift. This post is partly like a diary entry, exploring a new idea, so not designed for easy reading, but maybe more seeing how my work develops. A few threads coalesced to clarify a huge missing piece of my mission, maybe a keystone that makes the structure stand. The threads I'm just coming to see how they connect, in no particular order: I've been sharing lately that I feel I've failed at communicating the fun I feel doing things like climbing the stairs to bring the solar panels to the roof and seeing how long I can keep my apartment disconnected from…

I've been learning more about abolition in the United States. In 1776, thirteen slave states, likely no one could imagine a world or nation without slavery. Yet in 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment made us one free nation comprising thirty-six free states. Today no one would seriously propose repealing the Thirteenth Amendment, what Lincoln called the "king's solution." No law, judicial interpretation, or executive order could achieve what it did. On the contrary, relying on them delayed uniting the U.S. in outlawing what a majority of Americans wanted to outlaw. I am going to propose to you something as bizarre of someone in 1787 proposing a constitutional amendment banning slavery: an amendment banning pollution. To many today, the Thirteenth Amendment sounds so inevitable, we can't imagine…