This headline, Goodwill Doesn’t Want Your Broken Toaster, reminding me of my recent post that lines to dump worthless junk on Goodwill are often longer than the lines to buy it prompted me to post an idea I’ve had for a long time but for some reason haven’t posted. Pollution on the Earth is obesity on our bodies, manifesting our values and behaviors in different places. This: is this: The[…] Keep reading →

People ask how to use only $1.70 for a month of electrical use and take two years to fill a load of trash. I tell them I’ll give them two answers. The first is the one they think they want, but they always respond with something like, “Oh, yeah, well I can see that would work for you, but I’m different. It wouldn’t work for me.” That answer is to[…] Keep reading →

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 →

I collected my expenses on food for 2019 and found I spent less than the average American, despite those costs including feeding at least fifty people with my famous no-packaging vegan stews. Wait, aren’t farmers markets more expensive? Shouldn’t I have paid more? I’ll leave for another time launching into the perverse incentives in the billions of dollars subsidizing crops and factory farming, forcing me to pay for doof making[…] Keep reading →

I saw a post on Reddit’s community on vegan fitness that talked about making seitan with a prep time of 90 minutes. I responded 90 minutes sounds insane. I make mine with a prep time of about two minutes. Add water and soy sauce to wheat gluten, mix with spoon then with hands, cut into pieces. Then put in pressure cooker with stew for a few minutes cooking time. Maybe[…] Keep reading →

All the “experts” have some study for how long it takes for a habit to stick. Here are a bunch of articles from searching “how long to start a habit” not worth reading that give the common answers: How Long Does It Take for a New Behavior to Become Automatic? begins: “According to a 2009 study published in the European Journal of Social Psychology, it takes 18 to 254 days[…] Keep reading →

I posted on handling what people call pandemic fatigue to Thrive Global today: Pandemic Fatigue? How to Achieve Pandemic Thriving. Here’s the text of the article: When I learned I would be locked down indefinitely, knowing we were all heading into unknown territory, I looked for role models. Who had handled such a situation successfully? Nelson Mandela had been locked down for twenty-seven years, most of that time on a[…] Keep reading →

[EDIT: I added a powerful video at the bottom of this post that came out after I wrote this post that documents the results I describe. I recommend watching it. You can make a difference. What you do matters.] If you’re going to buy clothes, I recommend shopping at thrift stores, but I think most people use them for selfish, nefarious purposes. There’s a Goodwill between me and Washington Square[…] Keep reading →

I last emptied my trash on December 26, 2019 so today marks one year for this load. I made a video about the milestone in the style of my first time crossing one year, More than a year since I emptied my garbage, June 2018. Recall, I minimize waste to live by my values, as a matter of integrity, curiosity, and personal growth. I’m happy if people use me as[…] Keep reading →