I’ve said before that if our automobiles really make us happy, then to hell with the planet. The thing is, I don’t think they do. Listen: American adults average 72 minutes a day behind the wheel of a car, according to the WorldWatch Institute. That’s more than twice as much time as the average American […]
cars
Who says we need cars and planes for a good life?
Now that I’ve finished the draft of my book, we’re finally on holiday. What we used to do, before the No Impact project, was fly to France to stay with friends. But the long haul flight made enough carbon emissions to equal the average American’s entire year of driving, and we had to rent a […]
What our cities could be
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 […]
Greening my city makes me happier to live in it
Part of the No Impact project is to have a positive impact to offset the unavoidable negative impact of, well, being alive, and part of that has been to the work of environmental organizations. As a result of that, Wednesday night was a mega-proud night for me because I got invited to be a member […]
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 […]