Nature

People love someone justifying doing what they know hurts others but they just want to anyway. They'd believe jet planes emit rainbows and unicorns if they wanted to see the Eiffel Tower enough. Hell, they basically do believe their flights don't pollute and that drilling and refining the oil fueling them didn't destroy people's homes, air, land, and water when they spend a few dollars on "carbon offsets." People love feeling absolved of responsibility for actions that make them feel guilty. They usually respond to their conscience feeling free by polluting more. Every time I've heard the terms "green growth," "closed loop," and "net zero," the context has been applying "creative" accounting---that is, deception---to something revoltingly unsustainable, leading to people feeling absolved of responsibility. Like…

What almost no one talks about but that everyone can do something about, the greatest taboo of our time, yet the greatest issue behind covid-19, behind all pandemics, behind global warming, behind plastics, mercury, dioxin, and all other pollutants, behind the 2008 recession, behind the coming recession (or depression), behind more plastic in the ocean than fish, behind there being no place to vacation not overrun with people, behind people (maybe you) giving up on the environment, behind the threat of nuclear weapons, behind most wars, . . . you get the idea . . . motivating all these problems: exponential growth in a finite system. Dave Gardner took on growth, running for office in Colorado, and created a documentary, Growthbusters. For a short time…

Podcast guest and bestselling author Nir Eyal, whose pre-lockdown challenge included avoiding flying, emailed the following question: Hi Joshua - I had a question you may be able to answer. Have you considered the potential positive impact on the environment due to reduced emissions as a result of the COVID crisis? I wonder what reduction in use of fossil fuels would be required to prevent climate change and if we're anywhere close to those numbers now that economic activity has been so heavily impacted.Any ideas?--- Nir Eyal Most of us have seen pictures of New Delhi skies and Venice canals so know that globally we're polluting less, however externally motivated. I decided to look up if people had researched. I thought you might value my…

Would you take piano lessons from someone who breaks pianos with a sledgehammer but doesn't play? Does it matter how many books on music theory that person read? If they don't play but only break pianos, you probably are going to learn more how to break pianos than to play them. If you learn anything about the piano, it will probably be theory at best. Then don't take advice on the environment from someone who flies around willy-nilly and doesn't live sustainably. More important, I recommend not being someone who sledgehammers pianos, pollutes the environment, or gives advice on it. Most people give themselves advice on how to act environmentally. If you pollute a lot, you'll probably give specious, self-serving, fatuous advice that leads to…

Women's Wear Daily quoted me today in Kaley Roshitsh's article, Not Buying It: Is the issue overconsumption? Some consumers and industry experts are simply not buying it. "No-buy" stints and zero-waste draw interest. The article begins Not Shopping Period: "No-buy" stints and zero-waste draw consumer interest.There is the growing consumer trend toward "buying less, but buying quality." There is the increase in renting and resale. And then there is the ultimate in sustainability: not buying anything at all. I spoke about motivations to avoid buying clothes, in part driven by Lorna Davis's experience on my podcast foregoing buying clothes for a year and loving the experience. Moreover, she inspired many of her peers---high-powered executives---to follow suit. Here's a pdf version. If you're not an industry…

I wrote a blurb for The War on the EPA (on Amazon), launching next week, February 8. If you're looking to understand and act on the US federal government's inaction, despite its one-time action, I recommend the book. It explains the EPA's history, goals, and people. I've spoken with author Bill Alley. He is deeply committed and cares about the agency's mission, as well as our nation's. Few actions could help this nation and world more in the long run, I suggest, than establishing stewardship and responsibility as primary values and actions. Restoring the EPA can help. You can read my blurb in this image or scroll down. The War on the EPA assembles the government agency's history, the toxic tragedies that prompted its creation,…

EDIT: Here's my TEDx talk on doof: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4OAaI_uXgY EDIT: I recorded podcast episodes on doof. Here's the first: EDIT: People who are using the word doof: New York City Mayor Eric Adams, bestselling author Dr. Joel Fuhrman, bestselling author Dr. Michael Greger, bestselling author Dr. Michael Turner, addiction specialist and psychology professor Bruce Alexander, and more. Many more I've lost track of, but will try to share as they come. We need a new word to describe a concept missing from English. Books on food try to distinguish between healthy, fulfilling food grown to sustain and industrial products designed for profit, to entertain your mouth, without regard for your health. For example, when Michael Pollan's Food Rules says "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants,"…