Policy makers and even the voting public make the mistake of thinking that growth in gross domestic product (GDP) is an indicator of societal progress. In reality, though, GDP is nothing but an indicator of national spending with no distinctions between those transactions that add to our well-being and those that diminish it. Chop the […]
consumption
Sustainable development vs reducing consumption
Michael Shellenberger of The Breakthrough Institute sent me a post from his blog that is written by Siddhartha Shome and starts like this: Car A gets a fuel efficiency of 46 miles per gallon. Car B gets about 50 miles per gallon. Car A is called the Toyota Prius and is hailed by environmentalists as a step […]
What makes us happy is not stuff but each other
In a nutshell, the degradation of our planetary home is caused by overconsumption of resources. We in the developed world consume so many resources–we feel we need so much stuff–in part because we are alienated from each other and need consolation prizes. If we build proper communities, not only will we help the planet by […]
How Christmas turned out for Isabella
(You can read previous writings to do with the effects of consumption on the planet and human security, health and happiness here, here and here.) Anyway, we worried that the daughter of the enviro-freaks–i.e. our nearly 3-year-old Isabella–would suffer for our principles while our adored Gordie and Ellie got to open gifts. We agonized. We […]
Picking up poo for Christmas and other sustainable gifts
I’m a big fan of Rachel of the original San Francisco Compact (the buy nothing new group), and not only because she is the only person I’ve ever known who has given, as a Christmas gift, the promise to pick up a certain number of piles of other people’s dog poop. To contextualize, Rachel walks […]
The human costs of consumption–a cool, new cartoon
Well, it’s not really a cartoon, but waste activist Annie Leonard‘s funny, hard-hitting and informative new animated short The Story of Stuff, about the effects of rampant consumption both on human health and the planet, does make you wonder if we’ve all gone Loony Tunes. Today’s No Impact Man homework is to watch the film […]
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 […]