I always go on about how the current crisis in the habitat we depend upon for our health, happiness and security is full of opportunities for an improved way of life. What’s good for the planet is often what is good for the people. This principle is illustrated in the simple example of home care […]
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Tired of talk, so let’s have a little do
So funny, but if you read yesterday’s post in which I went on and on about doing instead of talking when it comes to saving our planet, you may have noticed the irony of the fact that the post itself was talking instead of doing. Then a lot of people came and read and thought […]
When it comes to saving the world, just try, try, try
There is a story I love, one of those stories that bolsters me up. It’s about the Korean monk who founded the school of Zen where I meditate (the Kwan Um School of Zen). Dae Soen Sa Nim, as his students called him, decided that world peace would come if all the religious leaders of […]
A technological approach to individual action on climate change
So a while back I met this artist/engineer/satellite designer and otherwise genius professor from New York University, and I instantly started arguing with her. Natalie Jeremijenko (who you can read about on Salon) was talking about technological approaches to climate change, and I just started on my rant about how we can’t wait for new […]
Remember how I visited my Congressman? Your turn!
You may remember that, as the No Impact Man project proceeded, my definition of individual action on climate and the environment came to include not only lifestyle change but civic participation. I ultimately realized that there was a limit to how much less harm I could do alone, but that the good we could do […]
Oil addiction
Remember that song that went something like “your foot bone is connected to your ankle bone?” Well here’s a cool video from Good Magazine that makes the same sort of connections all the way from dinosaurs to oil to high food prices. You could get the crazy idea that breaking our reliance on fossil fuels […]
Exchange of love
Click image to enlarge This is going to sound corny, but let’s assume that after basic needs are met, what we really want is love. Social scientists can dress up the word love as “social status” or what have you, but what status gets us in the end is love. Why am I harping on […]
Social obstacles to change
A couple of days back, I posted a couple of pictures–one of a big TV and one of my little girl flying a kite. I posed a question. Which is more life fulfilling, the time spent working to pay for and watching the TV or the time spent in the less resource-intensive activity with my […]