Following up on my post yesterday about Buy Nothing Season, I came up with a gift idea that costs nothing, takes almost no time to prepare, and only uses a sheet of scrap paper. I don’t know about you, but I would love to receive it. I think it would build a relationship. I doubt I came up with it. More likely I heard it a while ago and it[…] Keep reading →

Our culture promotes the wrong idea that buying things brings happiness. More like addiction. Stores yesterday were busy fake marking up prices to fake mark them back down. They aren’t doing you any favors. Did you know that many manufacturers make lower quality items specifically for this time of year. They break down sooner, costing you more, filling landfills more. But they really hit the poorest this way, which is[…] Keep reading →

I’ve seen this phrase more lately: “touch grass.” When someone starts sounding stir-crazy—that is, sounding as if they’ve been cooped up too long—someone will say “touch grass.” They mean, go outside and connect with nature. When did you last walk barefoot on land that humans didn’t manicure, or even that they did, like a lawn? It’s fall here, so maybe you walked on the beach. How about in a stream[…] Keep reading →

Today, picking up litter, it occurred to me that the more I act, the more I care about what I do. The less I act, the more indifferent, apathetic, and complacent I become. It could apply to picking up litter, avoiding packaged food, or many things I learned to do after childhood. I care (second) because I act (first). If you want to get technical, caring and acting are parts[…] Keep reading →

Everyone who knows me knows every morning I make my bed, cross the room, and turn off the alarm before it turns off, meaning within sixty seconds. I have other sidchas, like picking up litter daily, which I’ve done without fail since 2017. People ask why, which seems obvious. Doing something with a measure of quality and a time limit gives a sense of purpose. For a cash cost of[…] Keep reading →

Someone in 111F Portland wrote: “I’m hunkered down and keeping cool in my (outside Portland) apartment. I really don’t know what else to do anymore. Some of us have no ability to avoid these coming times…” I responded: Generations of people said they didn’t know what to do and didn’t do anything. We are suffering their inaction. Imagine you could go back to tell them what they could do. Now[…] Keep reading →

If you choose to act on sustainability, you will face darkness. You will want to give up. You will feel alone, misunderstood. I don’t say so to dissuade, but to prepare to face a part of all of us. Nobody is polluting because they are monsters. We’re all human. What is the alternative to confronting this part of us? To give up? To try to ignore and forget and try[…] Keep reading →