Adventures in Sustainable Living

After the last two episodes where I gave you nothing but good news about our world, I have decided to continue on that trend. I have often said that if everyone in the world could come home to a place of peace and quiet and have the ability to just mentally shut down, the world would be a much happier place and people would be a lot less angry.  There are a number of things that have been proven t...

In last weeks episode I gave you ten different stories of good new about our world. The reason I did that is because we are constantly bombarded by bad news. And because of that people are developing climate anxiety, depression, hopelessness, and apathy. If all we ever hear about is bad news that we get to the point to where we never expect a good outcome for any reason.  But if you really start l...

More than likely most of you know that I do not watch network television, I do not spend a lot of time on social media platforms, nor do I pay a lot of attention to the news. Constantly hearing about tragic events, inflation, the next weather related disaster, violence, and racial injustice, is not likely to put me in a good frame of mind. Consequently, filtering what I hear about everyday is my w...

All we ever hear about these days is bad news. Approximately 95% of news media is negative and 90% of all news is centered around sensationalism. On top of that, almost daily we hear about some new climate related disaster, how our world food supply is in jeopardy, and how our entire planet is now contaminated.  Unfortunately, all of this bad news has an affect on our mental health. Rates of anxie...

Raise your hand if you love dandelions and chickweed. Well, I think many of us who have tried to maintained a well manicured lawn can at least share a story about the battle of the dandelions. I am almost ashamed to admit the lengths I have gone to in order to eliminate them from by yard when I owned property in South Carolina.  Unknown to most people, these plants serve a vital function for the e...

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast Episode 144 How to Turn Your Home into a Wildlife Habitat Even after living on the homestead property for 27 years, 95% of that property remains in its natural state. That was intentional because one of the best things about being there is the wildlife that we see. We not only want the wildlife to come around we encourage them to do so by leaving their habi...

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast Episode 143 The Need for Wildlife Coexistence  One of the best things about where we live is the amount of wildlife we encounter. In fact, if we stayed at home most of the time we would see far more wildlife than people. The majority of the time those encounters are benign. But one thought is always in the forefront of our minds. We live in the middle of th...

Almost daily we hear something new about the affects of climate change. One of the more interesting things from a scientific perspective is that global warming is not uniform. Europe is warming faster than the US. Canada is warming twice as fast as other parts of the globe. And the Arctic is warming four times faster than the rest of the planet.  Global warming is producing some widespread affects...

Have you ever been around someone that was so overtly negative that it made you cringe just to be in the same room with them? It’s that person you see in the break area at work and you turn around and go back to your desk. You see them walking down the hall and you try not to make eye contact. If they start a conversation you are quick to come up with excuses to get back to what you were doing. We...

Many times I stand on the back deck of the cabin enjoying the unobstructed long range view of the mountains and listening to the quiet. The only thing that interrupts the quiet is the sound of the creek that is at the height of Spring run off. It is the middle of June and there is still plenty of snow above timber line which means it was a productive snow filled winter As I sit here I think about...

Just the other day I was up on the hillside above the cabin working on the greenhouse. I would take intermittent breaks, sit at a home made table, enjoy the view of the peaks and soak in the peace and tranquility. The only interruption to my silence was the sound of the distant creek that is at the height of Spring run off. I distinctly remember when I first moved onto the property how all my frie...

Too many times I hear people complain about the cost of a sustainable lifestyle. But what most people frequently overlook is that making the right choices for your well being is quite often easier on your bank account, better for your health and better for the planet. The same holds true for your kitchen.  The vast majority of our household waste is related to what we do in the kitchen. But changi...

In our litigious society people commonly file lawsuits after an injury obtained while using a product. Much of the time the lawsuit is based on some version of “Well you did not warn me that could have happened therefore you are responsible and you owe me.”   And yet the one thing about our so called modern lifestyle that never ceases to amaze me is how many toxic substances we are exposed to ever...

In the last couple of months I have produced several episodes geared toward helping you be prepared for the unexpected. Even though survival and prepping are not the subject of this podcast, self sufficiency is related directly to sustainability and part of sustainability is being responsible for yourself and being prepared.   In my search for articles related to all things sustainable I repeatedl...

For most of us that live in a developed country and have an adequate income, we never think much about having enough to eat. However, there are millions of people in the world that go hungry and millions more that experience food insecurity.  We don’t think about it because we don’t see it. It is out of sight, out of mind.  In the face of such widespread hunger and food insecurity there is also a...

Electricity or not? That is the question.  I lived without it for about 16 years at my off-grid cabin. Consequently  I know from personal experience that it is very possible to do so and at the same time be very comfortable. But I remember all too well just  how happy I was when my solar electric system went online. Although I cannot complain about how I lived before that, having electricity certa...

Since I have been self employed for many years, I always have a certain amount of year-end accounting work to do in order to prepare for my tax return. Whenever I do this it is a perfect time for me to look over the past year and review where my money came from as well as where it went. Then I modify my budget accordingly in order to save money.  This year I decided to take a much close look at ju...

With all the hype in the news media these days about nuclear war, economic recession, another banking crisis, food shortages, prolonged drought conditions, and yet another storm wreaking havoc, it is easy to overlook the biggest threat of all.  Most scientific experts would agree that the biggest threat to our social structure and way of life is climate change. And we hear about this also everyday...

In my previous episode I discussed 12 reasons why we make our lives so complicated. Then I gave you solutions to each one of those challenges. If you put a little further thought into that episode, it should have occurred to you that it is all the complications in our lives that limit our personal freedom.  I think a good definition for freedom is the ability to live your life the way you want. In...

Very few people that I know have simple, slow-paced, uncomplicated lives. Even after most people retire, they go through a period of simply staying busy. It is not until several years into retirement that they give themselves permission to slow down and relax.  Even in the complex world of today, it is possible to live a simple life. So why is it that humanity defaults to making things complicated...

If you have never lived outside of your home country most likely you have no appreciation for just how expensive it can be to live in the United States. While most people view the US as the land of opportunity, there are plenty of places in the world  where life is much more simple. We get so caught up in just living day to day, that we never stop to realize that life could be so much different. ...

If you have been following me at all, you already know that I have lived off the grid for many years. In fact, as of August 2023, I will have owned my homestead property for 27 years. I greatly enjoy the lifestyle that I have and would not have it any other way. It is one of the few things that has been a major driving force in shaping my adult life.  Often times I wonder why more people do not ch...

Having grown up with two working farms in my family, raising and processing our own food was a way of life. In fact, I never really gave it much thought. I figured this was what everyone did. It was not until I was in my teenage years that I realized it was actually more common for people to purchase their meat and other staple items from a supermarket.  As you well know, I am a big fan of being a...

As I have said previously, part of having a sustainable lifestyle is being prepared for the unexpected. I think at this point all of us have seen media reports of natural disasters, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc that have destroyed communities and hundreds of people have gone days and even weeks without any sort of basic services, shelter, electricity, food or fresh water.  Every time I witness such...

An important part of living sustainably is being prepared for the unexpected. In my last episode, I discussed the basics of food storage. In this next episode about being prepared, I want to discuss a second important skill.  Imagine a scenario where a major storm comes through your area and the utility grid is non-functional for days to weeks. Numerous trees are down and blocking the road. It is...