I belong to Flight Free USA, which helps motivate people to avoid the wretched addiction of flying. I recommend joining and taking their pledge to avoid flying. You’ll be glad you did. I recommend reading the profiles of people who have pledged and found the joy, fun, and freedom of not flying. Their last newsletter inspired me to think of other initiatives to start that could improve people’s lives similarly[…] Keep reading →

Sasha Laghonh invited me to her new series, Author Interviews by Sasha Talks | Celebrating the Arts, Culture & Life, to speak about writing. She’s a longtime podcaster who has hosted me before. We speak about many aspects of writing: habits, style, motivation, goals, and more. If you’re thinking about writing, I recommend listening. You don’t have to copy my style or goals. On the contrary, developing your own will[…] Keep reading →

My letter to the New Yorker’s editor in September led to a reporter, Zach Helfand, visiting and writing a story on me. They published it today (including spotlighting it, see below): Off the Grid in the Big City: It begins, “Josh Spodek disconnected the circuit breaker in his apartment, and now—thanks to solar-powered vegan stew—his carbon footprint is about that of three house cats.“ Along with the New Yorker piece,[…] Keep reading →

Today begins my sixth month disconnected from the electric grid. I didn’t think I would make it more then a couple days when I started. Instead, I’ve found the experience liberating and joyful. Not hurting other people eases the conscience. In fact, connecting with them through taking more personal responsibility for how I affect them, including you, mitigated through the environment. It’s a sustainability leadership exercise first and foremost. More[…] Keep reading →

Last week, while I picked up litter in Washington Square Park, a guy approached me and asked, “Why do you do it?” Before I could answer, he continued, “Really, I’ve seen you do it and wonder why you do it.” He told me his name was Dave. Before I could answer again, he continued and talked about values, where this country is going, integrity, and things like that. We got[…] Keep reading →

I was sitting on a bench in the park. I looked up and saw the tree whose trunk was in front of me and branches above had lots of yellow berry-like fruit on it. All the branches were too high to reach. Then I looked down and saw fruits all over the ground. I know from experience last summer to respect wild berries, but I was curious. This park is[…] Keep reading →

Longtime readers know one of the highlights of my summer is visiting the farm providing my summer and fall CSA vegetables, Stoneledge Farm. Since the pandemic, they haven’t chartered a bus for us in the city without cars. I’ve been biking more, including two overnight rides to Philadelphia, each 125 miles over two days. They were fundraisers and, since my group raised the most funds, I ended up getting free[…] Keep reading →