Today marks the first day of my sixth month with my fridge unplugged. My past two months’ electrical charges from Con Ed were $1.70. I used about two percent the average American’s power use. I’m still avoiding packaging, so no cans or other sealed stuff. On the contrary, I’m finding fresh vegetables and fruit stay a long time without refrigeration. Here’s my podcast episode describing my motivation. It’s not about[…] Keep reading →

Anyone who knows me knows I read and watch a lot on sustainability and the environment. Most of their information I already knew or I find they disengage people. The Story of Stuff team’s work stands apart, especially The Story of Plastic. I recommend watching all their videos, starting with the short below, since you’re here. Following last year’s panel on the awesome, tragic movie, The Story of Plastic, they’ve[…] Keep reading →

Working on the book proposal, I finally saw how to illustrate what’s missing from sustainability. It’s simplicity almost embarrasses me that I didn’t think of creating it before, except that I remember that simplicity comes from more work, not less. The Venn diagram below illustrates what we’re missing. We don’t lack facts or bold ideas. We lack leaders experienced in Leadership Science and complex systems Living sustainably, not just talk.[…] Keep reading →

When you talk about population as often as I do, the topic of vasectomies and other forms of contraception arises. People think vasectomies are about not having children. They’re not. A discovery I made about a different surgery will clarify. Almost two decades ago I got lasik surgery for my eyes. One day I needed glasses, the next I didn’t. I thought lasik gave me 20/20 vision, but that’s not[…] Keep reading →

I had heard of plogging before John Lee Dumas, but hearing his transformation on my podcast to enjoy picking up garbage inspired me. Before trying, I wondered if I could make it one block, given New York’s litter. Looking back I can see that temptation to analyze and plan to make me feel like I’m acting without doing anything. As with avoiding packaging, the solution was to act. Actually running[…] Keep reading →

I’m no epidemiologist, but some trends seem pretty obvious. While we haven’t suffered pandemics every hundred years as some have said, several have hit us and the last big one was about a hundred years ago. Then again, we’ve seen others more recently, like SARS and MERS. The causes of pandemics have been increasing. Not just happening, but we humans have increased them. I’m not saying we deliberately chose to[…] Keep reading →

This morning I joined my regular Sunday group organized by my City Council to pick up litter. I pick up litter daily, but Sundays connect with others and spend more time. Most days I pick up maybe a dozen pieces. Today I filled three or four bags. Today is Easter too. Raised by two biological parents and one step-parent, each raised with different traditions, I painted a few Easter eggs[…] Keep reading →