Best and Brightest … Genius — Esquire

A once-in-a-lifetime game-changing advance
in our field everyone else will follow
— Marshall Goldsmith

Astrophysicist turned new media whiz — NBC

Passionate … confident … — Forbes

You don't just learn theory from
him, you improve your life.
— Inc.

The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Harvard University, Standford University, Princeton University, MTV, IBM, US Army

My Mission

My mission is to help change American (and global) culture on sustainability and stewardship from expecting deprivation, sacrifice, burden, and chore to expecting rewarding emotions and lifestyles, as I see happen with everyone I lead to act for their intrinsic motivations.

In my case the emotions have been joy, fun, freedom, connection, meaning, and purpose.



Systemic change begins with personal change.

Some of my values. What are yours?
Months living off the grid in Manhattan: 30 (and counting)
Loads of garbage I filled in 2024 so far: 0
Loads of garbage I filled in 2023 so far: 0
Loads of garbage I filled in 2022: 0
Loads filled in 2021: 0
Loads filled in 2020: 0
Loads filled in 2019: 1
Loads filled in 2018: 1
Loads filled in 2017: 1
Days picking up litter: 2,772 and counting
Years not flying: 8 (104 months) and counting
2024 grid electric grid use at home: 0 kilowatt-hours
Annual carbon emissions: about 1 ton
Daily burpees: 239,685 and counting
Resting pulse: 46 bpm

LATEST BLOG POSTS

802: Lorraine Smith, part 2: The hidden, dirty secrets of corporate “sustainability” work

on January 13, 2025 in Podcast

I start by sharing how much value I get from participating in Lorraine’s weekly coaching group. Then she shares her path to coaching on sustainability. She worked in the heart of the corporate sustainability accounting and reporting. She saw it mostly did nothing and often exacerbated the situations it purported to solve. She has created a practice that exposes and helps fix these problems. I ended up coaching her back[…] Keep reading →

This week’s selected media, January 12, 2025: Nuclear Revolution, Powering America

on January 12, 2025 in Tips

This week I finished: Nuclear Revolution: Powering the Next Generation, by podcast guest Jack Spencer. I also watched his presentation on the book and panel at Heritage and followed up with the film he recommended in that presentation, Powering America, by the Heritage Foundation, where Jack works. Through our conversations on my podcast, especially doing the Spodek Method, and (coming soon, just recorded) on his, plus all the interactions that[…] Keep reading →

Measuring greenhouse emissions looks like a distraction. Extraction and introduction into the biosphere seems more relevant.

on January 11, 2025 in Nature

We track and report greenhouse gas emissions as one of our top measures of our impact on the environment. I propose that that measure may be a distraction. I wrote about the importance to know the 2 carbon cycles and not to confuse them: burning wood affects the environment differently than extracting fossil fuels from underground and burning them. They weren’t in the biosphere so they affect it differently than[…] Keep reading →

“I never had a more optimistic outlook than when things were going to shit,” said my friend about suffering a debilitating disease

on January 10, 2025 in Nonjudgment

A friend reminded me of a life lesson we could all use in facing our environmental symptoms. In her words: “I never had a more optimistic outlook than when things were going to shit.”

Is most of the economy transaction costs?

on January 9, 2025 in Addiction, Doof

I was learning about the economist Ronald Coase and a topic he focused on: transaction costs. A person in a video described how businesses and technology help lower transaction costs. The person used Amazon.com as an example, pointing out it takes less time to search the marketplace and buy what someone wants. My experience is different. When I look up what people buy most on Amazon.com, a lot of it[…] Keep reading →

801: Travis Fisher, part 3: Restoring time with family

on January 8, 2025 in Podcast

Meaningful interactions don’t have to be complex. Travis simply shares his experiences in nature in childhood and finds ways to recreate the emotional experience today. To me the most meaningful part is the result: he expects to spend more time with his children (and dog) doing something he’s meant to do a long time. It doesn’t cost money. It sounds like it will give him more time. The cleaning part,[…] Keep reading →

Why we feel so busy

on January 7, 2025 in Addiction, Awareness, Freedom

Do you feel busy all the time, like no matter how much you do, you still have more to do? I used to feel that way, but less so now. I still have to pay bills, buy food, and so on. It’s more that I recognized how our culture rewards companies and industries making us feel that way. Here’s how. Advertisers have learned to manipulate our emotional systems, often better[…] Keep reading →

Resources on Robert Carter III

on January 6, 2025 in Freedom, Leadership

Compiling resources on Robert Carter III for reference: Why do I care about Carter? A CNN article quoted Andrew Levy, who wrote a book on Carter, on why Americans seem to bury Carter’s story: Levy, whose books include a biography of Carter, “The First Emancipator,” has another suspicion: America doesn’t care – because it’s inconvenient. “It blows an enormous hole in this legacy we’re trying to balance for these founders,”[…] Keep reading →

This week’s selected media, January 5, 2025: The Anti-Jefferson: Why Robert Carter III Freed His Slaves (And Why We Couldn’t Care Less) and The Individualists

on January 5, 2025 in Tips

This week I finished: The Anti-Jefferson: Why Robert Carter III Freed His Slaves (And Why We Couldn’t Care Less), by Andrew Levy: This piece was a journal article in the spring 2001 issue of The American Scholar. Robert Carter III plays a major role in Sustainability Simplified as a contrast to Jefferson, Washington, and their peers who spoke of freedom but did not free their slaves. Carter freed all his[…] Keep reading →

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