One definition of economics is the study of the choices of individual and groups of humans make when faced with the fact of limited resources but unlimited needs and wants. At the heart of neoclassical economics is the “rational actor” model of human behavior. That is, according to the model, individuals, groups and nations will […]
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A great life need not cost the earth
I could spend my time working to pay for and watching things like this: Or I could take that same time–as I did this weekend–and spend it with my three-year-old Isabella doing stuff instead of watching stuff: The politicians and so many others worry that using fewer planetary resources means deprivation and that deprivation won’t […]
The Carbon Age
There are a few reasons why a No Impact reader might care a whole lot about the fact that a writer named Eric Roston has just published his excellent book The Carbon Age. One reason might be that, with so much talk about carbon dioxide this and carbon dioxide that, no one, until now, has […]
Day off for me!
See you tomorrow!
Innovating business greenly
Meet Trevor Paque. He’s landscape gardener meets local food farmer. He rents himself to homeowners, but instead of planting and growing pretty flowers for them–and using the requisite water and chemicals–he grows them organic produce and leaves it in a box on their back porch. This apropos, partly, of yesterday’s post about innovation vs conservation. […]
Conservation versus innovation
There were seven stages to the No Impact project: no trash, no carbon-producing transportation, sustainable eating, no buying anything new, no fossil-fueled electricity, careful water use and giving back. The first six stages were all about conservation. About limiting. About doing less harm. There were incredibly discoveries to be made about the truth of where […]
The first step on the personal path to green?
Just wondering, if a friend decided they wanted to do something about the environment, how would you tell him or her to start? What’s the way in? What’s the most important first step?
Gore’s call for 100% renewable electricity by 2018
Al Gore Thursday made an important speech in which he called upon the United States to generate 100% of its electricity by renewable means by 2018. This is exactly the approach we need to achieve what is scientifically necessary. I haven’t spoken to them yet, but I believe it is entirely in line with the […]