This is a guest post by my friend Sean Sakamoto who writes the blog I’d Rather Be In Japan. You can read his previous post on No Impact Man here. “Thrift can take lasting hold of a consumer society, to disastrous effect.” —The New York Times I keep reading about how saving is the worst […]
Happiness and Life Satisfaction
What makes me happiest doesn’t cost the planet
My little girl Isabella and I just spent the weekend at a gathering at the Providence Zen Center, the head temple of the Kwan Um School of Zen, where I meditate. There were five or six other kids there and from the moment we arrived Isabella ran around having fun and paying almost no attention […]
The most important factor in a balanced, sustainable lifestyle?
“I believe living a life that involves meditation, reflection, and/or prayer is the single greatest factor in moving to more balanced sustainable lifestyles. I think quiet retreat from the dominant culture is vital. I also think that individuals are incapable of staying the course alone, so I think supportive communities and groups are vital.” –Betsy […]
Help me to remember to love things just as they are
I was sitting here trying to think of what to write. I was trying to think about how things about how we live that could be improved–things that would make us happier, things that would make the planet happier. I got to staring out the window. It snowed. Birds chirped. There was that hush over […]
The role of television in American resource use
At a certain stage during the No Impact project, we got rid of the television, which kept making use feel that spending less and using fewer resources made us losers compared to the people we saw on the screen. Duane Elgin, author of Voluntary Simplicity, said something that caught my eye (thanks for sending Rosa!) […]
Treating anxiety and depression could save the planet
Something a regular reader of this blog may have been able to guess about me: I suffer, at times, from anxiety and depression. I’m not talking about the worst kind of anxiety and depression. I’m talking about the kind that takes the edge off the gratitude I should be feeling for a good life. Not, […]
Sustainable living on a community level
Streetfilms posted an interesting video today about Los Angeles Eco-Village, where people have come together to enjoy the benefits of sustainable and community living. “An ecovillage is a human scale neighborhood where people know their neighbors and care about them. People can live close to where they work and play and have access to other […]
How shall we live?
Isn’t that the big question? How shall we live? We imagined for a century or so–at least here in the northern hemisphere–that we were on our way to becoming gods. We could control nature. We could move beyond the limitations of our bodies and intellects. Only the slow march of progress stood between our having […]