Adventures in Sustainable Living

I’m sure we’ve all heard the old joke “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” This refers to the fact that   people often take a trip and do some outrageous things. Once they are back home they would rather not share their silly shenanigans with friends and family. But, things are often very different when it comes to a lot of other human shenanigans, such as altering the climate of our planet. On...

Have you ever wondered why some people are successful and others are not? Why is it that some people appear to be living their dreams and others only complain about not achieving the same thing. Have you ever thought about being on your death bed, looking back over your entire life and admitting that you have no regrets?  Such a lifestyle is possible. But just like anything else, if you truly want...

You may think that home food production is a thing of the past but you would be wrong. Despite our modern culture and all of our wonderful technology, having some control over your own food supply is more important than ever. Yet the trend of our present culture is to depend on someone else for most of our basic needs. That is a mistake.  No matter where you live and what you do, it is possible to...

Over the last few episodes I have covered several topics regarding the health benefits of a sustainable lifestyle. From out diets, to reducing toxin exposure, to getting more physical activity and reconnecting with nature, as well as supporting our mental health and emotional well being. The affects of a sustainable lifestyle are as far reaching as the affects of climate change.  Besides the obvio...

There was a time when most of us were self reliant. It was because we did not have a choice. However,  with modern technology these days we are more about ease and convenience. We can get online and order anything we want and have it on our doorstep by the next day. At this point I think the average person’s concept of self reliance is the ability to go to the supermarket by themselves.  But have...

Welcome folks to part four of my on-going series on the health benefits of sustainable living. Hopefully by now you have an appreciation for the fact that a sustainable lifestyle is about so much more than recycling, reducing your use of plastics and ditching the plastic bags.  So far I have discussed the health benefits of changing how we eat, how to reduce your exposure to toxins, and how sustai...

As you have likely heard me say before, I truly think the world would be a better place if everyone could live like I do. No matter how stressful my day becomes I still get to go home to a nice quiet peaceful place and live on my terms.  Yes I do have chores to do on a regular basis that makes it possible for me to live off grid. However, those chores give me some physical activity which tends to...

There is a long list of benefits for living sustainably. As you can likely imagine, such a lifestyle is easier on the environment and as such is healthy for our planet as a whole. We use resources more conservatively, we reduce our personal environmental impact, we eat a more planet friendly diet, and we reduce our carbon emissions.  But what most people do not realize is that such a lifestyle is...

I have often said that the world just might be a better place if everyone could live like I do. When I go home it is quiet and peaceful with no traffic noise. I sort of have neighbors but I may only see them every couple of weeks if that.  Much of my time is spent outside even in the winter. I often have chores to do that requires some sort of physical labor which of course gives me regular exerci...

Did you know that on average we now spend almost $12K per year on food. This includes money spent on take out and delivery as well as cooking at home. The average person in our culture only eats 8 meals per week at home which means we are spending far more money on restaurant and take out food.  Unfortunately, in our modern society fewer and fewer people have the desire or skill to cook at home. C...

I often say that it’s the little things that make the difference. But whenever you say that, no one thinks that you are actually taking about bumble bees, or for that matter, any of the other tens of thousands of small creatures that pollinate our plants.  Unfortunately we are now seeing a global decline in all of our pollinators and it is happening for a variety of reasons.  If this continues, it...

One of the first things you learn when going through a medical based education and something that forms the very foundation of medical ethics is the concept “Above all do no harm.” But you kind of have to wonder why this does not seem to apply to the rest of the world.   For example, eventually you have to ask who established so-called “safe levels” of known toxic substances in our food. The list...

To say that our society is toxic would be a gross understatement. It is truly impossible to avoid exposure to some sort of toxic substance. We have pesticides in our foods. We clean our homes with toxic compounds. We routinely place toxic chemicals on our lawns. We breath in microplastics and even eat them. Even our health care products contain synthetic compounds. Based on this it should not be a...

I have often said that self sufficiency is the best security blanket. But I see fewer and fewer people that truly appreciate the value in being able to take care of yourself with little or no outside help. I think this attitude prevails in our current culture because the average person no longer sees the need to have such skills.  However, our world is constantly changing, sometimes over night. Co...

There is so much talk these days about going plastic free. Plastics are everywhere and in every part of our lives. It is nearly impossible to get through an entire day without utilizing something made of plastic.  But the challenge we now have is that plastic is becoming the bane of our existence. Because plastic production continues to increase and degradation is long-term, microplastics are virt...

Many years ago when I decided to live off the grid, everyone around me thought I was crazy. Fast forward 25 years and now everyone wants to know how it is that I do what I do.  Living off the grid is now becoming an increasingly common choice for a long-term lifestyle. Just like anything else, it has it’s pros and cons but so does living in suburbia.  One of the questions I most commonly encounter...

Humanity has not always been the best at looking into the future. We tend to do whatever we are going to do and never give a lot of thought to the consequences. But as I always like to say, everything we do has a price.  Over time we have always favored development over conservation. We have always framed those two choices as an either/or situation. Because of that we are now paying the price of c...

No matter what you do, some day something is going to come along and change your world without your permission. No one is immune to such things. This of course can create a tremendous amount of stress. But this is where our personal resilience comes into play. Our resilience allow us to adapt to change and deal with the unexpected in a healthy way.  But resilience is also directly tied to sustaina...

Just the other day I was sitting on the hillside in the sun enjoying a cup of coffee and thinking about all the time I’d lived at the cabin. My thoughts were centered around all that I had accomplished and the amount of time it had taken. And of course there is always that lingering question of whether or not it had been worth it.  Furthermore, after all this time had all my efforts produced a lif...

The condition of our planet is slowly but surely becoming a daily headline. This is both good and bad. But being what it is, at least this type of daily news is getting everyone’s attention. It is perhaps pressuring people and businesses to take a more serious stance toward our sustainability efforts.  However, there is no one thing, no magic bullet that will save our planet. It is going to requir...

An amazing thing happens when you truly focus on zero food waste. Creativity and ingenuity takes over when you focus on using every little thing.  You start making new dishes, trying new sauces and creating flavors you never thought possible. It is unfortunate that more often than not we throw away certain food items as a matter of habit, never realizing we may have been able to repurpose it into...

The challenges we face in our world today are truly unnerving. All we hear about is one bad news story after another. Big governments and big business are still arguing about climate change instead of focusing on actions needed  to build a greener future. All the while, the average person sits back day to day and feels as if our future is uncertain and is completely out of our control.  Younger ge...

Chores, chores, chores. Some days on the homestead it seems as if the chores will never end. At times I get discouraged and ask myself if it would not be easier just to skip this whole process. Sometimes simplicity seems difficult.  Would it not be easier to do what most other people do and just take full advantage of our modern conveniences and live a life of ease.  But in many respects this is e...

There was a time whenever someone mentioned vegetarian or vegan diet that I would just roll my eyes and walk away. But now that seems to have transitioned into something else we hear more frequently and that is “plant-based diet.”  For most of us we may think of this as a boring diet with few options and perhaps it even conjures up visions of eating a salad every night. While this is far from the...

The internet is truly a powerful tool. We have access to thousands of years of information in a matter of seconds. In combination with digital technology this has literally changed how we live and function. It saves us time, work, money, gasoline, and in many ways reduces our impact on the environment.  While this all sounds wonderful, what most people do not know is that using the internet actual...