I don’t aspire to poverty or deprivation or asceticism. But I do think that I am easily fooled into believing that the short term pleasures brought by more-than-enough material things will translate into longer-term happiness. (In fact, I wrote about materialism versus happiness just the other day). The tragedy of this confusion is that it […]
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We’ve got something wonderful going on here
These come via Tuco Rides: Photographer Norbert Rosing planned to take some sunset photos of a group of sled dogs near Churchill, Manitoba, in northern Canada on the Hudson Bay, when from stage left comes a 1200 pound polar bear. The dogs’ owner thinks he’s just about to lose his pack. The dogs, though, don’t […]
Environmentalism means less deprivation
People ask me if the reduced use of consumer conveniences that goes with the No Impact project doesn’t mean a lot of deprivation. I say that I spend more time with my family, eat more healthily, get more exercise and am a better dad. Then I ask: “Was I more deprived before or am I […]
A whole country goes dumpster diving
First off, thanks to all the readers who made phone calls to New York State Assembly members yesterday. You really did make a difference in getting diesel fumes out of kids lungs. And by the way, if you live in New York State, and you’d like to help some kids by dialing a couple of […]
Your chance to get diesel fumes out of kids lungs (but you have to act NOW!)
By dialing two phone numbers, we can help save a bunch of kids from getting asthma. Not hopefully. Not maybe. But definitely. I’ll tell you what to do in a minute, but first some background from an OpEd by Errol Louis of the Daily News (or you can skip the background and go straight to the instructions in bold […]
Yeah, there’s global warming but I need a job
Yesterday, I said that convincing American’s to do something about global warming is the biggest marketing problem in history. Beloved readers emailed that they thought the problem is convincing the public that global warming exists. I disagree. Look at the numbers below from an Environmental and Energy Study Institute factsheet: According to an April 7, […]
The biggest marketing problem in history
Tell people that air pollution causes asthma in one in four children in central Harlem and the Bronx or tell them that global warming may cause millions of children to die of dysentery and the best you’ll get may well be a shrug. Show them a child who has collapsed on the street and is struggling for breath, on […]
Healthier planet, healthier people
One thing I go on about on this blog is how in many ways we benefit rather than sacrifice when we change our lifestyles and public policies in order to treat the planet more kindly (see here and here, for example). Because very often, making the planet more healthy makes the people more healthy, too. […]