Tomorrow I leave with my daughter Isabella and the cameraman of the documentary about the No Impact project on a 200-mile trip to my hometown of Westport, MA, a trip I haven’t made for nearly a year because of the project. But now that the rule-based phase of the project is formally over, even my […]
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NYT ethicist Randy Cohen on the ethics of transportation
Thanks to Clarence Ekerson of StreetFilms for emailing me Open Planning Project Executive Director Mark Gorton’s interview with New York Times ethicist Randy Cohen. It’s about the ethics of transportation in New York City in particular and in big cities in general. During the interview, Cohen says (slightly paraphrased): Ethics is about the effects of […]
The No Impact Dear Santa letter
Dear Santa, I was thinking about how much I love playing with my little girl Isabella and talking to my wife Michelle and joking around with my best friend Tanner. You know what I realized? There is nothing more fun than just laughing with the people I love. There isn’t a gadget or a game […]
An organization that wastes not, global warms not (and saves money, too)
If every car in the United States idled 5 minutes less a day we’d save 13 million tons of CO2. If “smart” power outlets stopped delivering current to electronics sucking up juice in standby mode, we’d save 10% of household electricity use. Okay, maybe reducing waste won’t solve the climate crisis, but it makes a […]
What Would Jesus Buy?
I talk a lot on this blog about how less consumerism makes for more happiness, both for the people and the planet. Well, today in the United States, the day after Thanksgiving, a winter vacation day with not much to do, millions of Americans head to the malls to begin the consumer frenzy of Christmas. […]
On caring without despairing
This a guest post by Beth Terry, who blogs about not using plastic at Fake Plastic Fish. If, by the way, you’re an international reader, don’t think the absence of new posts on November 22 and 23 means I’m dead. It’s a holiday here in the USA. Happy Thanksgiving! My dad asked me the other day […]
Time to live in the gray
So, it’s been a year. Twelve months ago, 52 weeks ago, 365 days ago, my little family–one wife, one toddler, one dog, one husband–embarked on a project to live with as low as possible an environmental impact for one year, smack bang in the middle of what some people think of as the most polluting […]
Take the pledge (but drink all the beer you want)!
This is a guest post by Jenna Garland, who works with Corporate Accountability on their Think Outside the Bottle Campaign. Jenna wants us all to sign a pledge to stick with drinking tap water instead of bottled. Here, she tells us why: The Think Outside the Bottle campaign is asking people to pledge to opt […]