Marie Spodek is my mom. This picture shows her running her first marathon at 66 years old, never having run more than 5k at once before training. She’s been an entrepreneur, stay-at-home-mom, traveler, writer, and more. On travel, she wrote of her international start after growing up on a farm, then in a small town in South Dakota: Ten days after I graduated from Augustana College (1965), I was in[…] Keep reading →

I got a taste of what I believe leads people to tell me they can’t avoid packaging or buying fresh, local produce. Living in a semi-rural area led me to shop in a large supermarket for the first time in a year or two. They carried only doof and stuff shipped from across the country and world. I share the story and the uplifting results. Here are the notes I[…] Keep reading →

I got a taste of what I believe leads people to tell me they can’t avoid packaging or buying fresh, local produce. Living in a semi-rural area led me to shop in a large supermarket for the first time in a year or two. They carried only doof and stuff shipped from across the country and world. I share the story and the uplifting results. Here are the notes I[…] Keep reading →

Someone asked on a message board, “Do you research how much water certain produce requires to grow?” I responded: Yes. At the beginning, when I felt obligated to act and it felt a burden, I avoided learning new things, feeling if I kept learning, there’d be nothing left and I’d feel guilty eating anything. As I practiced more, met the farmers behind my CSAs and farmers markets, and learned how[…] Keep reading →

After my third TEDx talk a few days ago, spoke to a couple that told me how much they reduced waste but wouldn’t consider anything more. People love considering the biggest things immune from consideration, like flying or heating their homes to 70 degrees in the winter and cooling them to 60 in the summer, leaving the air conditioner on while they’re out just so it’s cool for thirty seconds[…] Keep reading →

After my third TEDx talk a few days ago, spoke to a couple that told me how much they reduced waste but wouldn’t consider anything more. People love considering the biggest things immune from consideration, like flying or heating their homes to 70 degrees in the winter and cooling them to 60 in the summer, leaving the air conditioner on while they’re out just so it’s cool for thirty seconds[…] Keep reading →

In this episode I describe how important I consider the accessibility of my personal behavior solutions — a matter of integrity, not to be confused with behavior to influence others, which is a matter of leadership. Here are my notes I read from for this episode. I recommend reviewing my memes on famous people saying what everyone says about acting on the environment. Access and its importance to me. Food[…] Keep reading →