Adventures in Sustainable Living

In this weeks episode I want to discuss a very important principle involving personal sustainability and self sufficiency. It is something very easy to do and it will give you a great deal of personal security. Yet this is something that most people over look especially in our modern culture.  But it is my personal opinion that the structure and convenience of our society actually robs us of our p...

One to the fundamental principles related to being self sufficient is that first and foremost you have to accept that you are ultimately responsible for everything that you choose to do and everything that you choose not to do. The same is true when it comes to being sustainable. We first have to accept that every single thing we do has some sort of an impact. Once we realize that, then we have to...

In the last few episodes I have discussed several topics relating to how our transition to a more sustainable economy will have a direct impact on everyone. These topics have included electric vehicles, an environmentally friendly economy, renewable energy and total decarbonization of our society. There is nothing about our lives that will go untouched.  Obviously there are numerous barriers to ma...

Certainly by now we are all very familiar with the subject of climate change. We hear about it everyday. We witness extreme weather events on a regular basis. We see the devastation and loss of life and property. I think we can all agree that climate change is by far the most profound challenge of our time. It affects us as individuals, it affects businesses, and it affects governments around the...

The cost of solar energy has declined by more than 80% over the last 15 years. This is the very reason that my entire homestead has operated solely on solar energy for the last 6 years. Based on what my friends pay for electricity on a monthly basis, my solar electric system paid for itself in about 2 1/2 years.  The amount of solar energy that hits the planet Earth in one day is enough the replac...

It is one thing to say that we need to transition to a green economy and quite another to actually make it happen. While it seems as if everyone on the planet knows it needs to happen why is more not being done? Why is everyone still sitting on their hands.   We also know that we can no longer have an economic system focused on capital accumulation because this is not sustainable and it allows cor...

As our world slowly transitions to things more renewable. several states and national governments are moving to either ban to phase out gasoline powered vehicles.  As with anything else, there are advantages and disadvantages.   This episode is the first in a series to discussing various topics related to our transition to a greener lifestyle. In this episode I discussed whether or not electric ve...

It makes me happy when I hear more and more about the principles of zero waste, reducing carbon emissions, expansion of renewable energy, and the world moving toward a circular, sustainable economy. While this is encouraging, I also think we need to once again pay close attention and not accept things at face value. So many times we get distracted and even deceived by some that appears to be pract...

It always seems as if someone is out to make a profit at our expense. We are repeatedly told we need this product or that one. We are told the more we have the better. The more we buy the better because it is the source of our happiness. Over the last two years our society and indeed the entire world has seen unprecedented changes. Many things have undoubtedly been forced on us without our choice....

Have you ever known a person that seemed to have a conspiracy theory about almost everything? Every little thing that happens, they jump to the conclusion that some government plot or sinister group is responsible.  But what if it turns out that some of these theories are true? What if there really was a conspiracy or a major coverup to avoid taking responsibility for their bad deeds.  While I hav...

From the deck of my cabin I have a nice view of the mountains to the north and the east. This is the most common direction from which storms will move in toward the cabin. As we watch the distant ridges slowly disappear into the clouds we often jokingly say “Here comes the dark cloud of doom.”  On one such day I was watching an approaching storm and contemplating the fate of humanity. The thought...

In todays world it is almost impossible for anyone to escape the impact of environmental issues, the possibility of resource depletion, climate change, and skyrocketing inflation. Most of us likely feel helpless to do anything about all that is going on in our world.  But the first step is to ask yourself whether or not there is something we can do differently. What can we do as individuals that w...

In my opinion underneath all the chaos of our modern life, many people crave a simpler existence. Yet our modern version of the good life is robbing us of our money, free time, personal security and even our underlying happiness.  I have long believed that a sustainable life leads to more personal security and thus more happiness. But a sustainable life is truly a lifestyle choice. Believe it or n...

Our Earth is about 4 1/2 billion years old. After all this time, suddenly the Earth is under a tremendous amount of pressure, and it is us. This is because over the past century we have witnessed astounding growth in the human population. Partially due to this population growth we have been borrowing from the bank of Earth’s resources for over 60 years, which means we are using resources much fast...

There is no doubt that the fast food industry has transformed the world. It affects how we eat, what we eat, our nutrition, and even our average body weight. The average American spends $2,375 per year on restaurant food. The global value of the fast food market in 2022 was $881 billion. It is sad to think that cooking from scratch, or what I call slow food, is becoming a lost art in the average h...

Did you know that solar power is the most abundant resource on Earth. Covering only 4% of the world’s desert areas with solar panels would produce enough electricity to power the entire planet. Yet it is still difficult for me to believe that anyone would malign a global transition to renewable energy.  My homestead has been run entirely off of solar power for the last 6 years and my investment ha...

There are many ways to live more sustainably, some easier than others. But one of the most valuable things you can do from the perspective of sustainability is composting. Many people are put off by this thought because they have this ill conceived idea that composting is a big mystery. Furthermore, people make all kinds of excuses as to why they do not compost such as “I don’t have room.” “It is...

Homestead living is just not for everyone, especially if you sort of live on the edge of the world so to speak. Just like anything else in life, there are good days and bad days, successes and failures.  But if you enjoy the privacy, semi-isolation, and general lack of people, it is fantastic. If you are afraid of the dark and what might be lurking there, it can be a bit unnerving. All along my jo...

In my last episode I talked a lot about the progress of humanity and how our own cleverness has placed our planetary life support system in jeopardy. While we were moving along in life congratulating ourselves on our achievements, we forgot to balance the budget. Fortunately there are a lot of very smart people that have long since realized this and have found a way to restore the environment to m...

Progress, progress, progress. So many things are justified in the name of progress. All too often we hail the forward motion of progress because it improves our lives somehow. Things are easier, services are less expensive, anything we want is at our fingertips any time we want. But I would contend that such progress comes at a rather steep price that we tend to ignore. Besides the environmental c...

There are now 8 billion people on planet Earth. Due to our varied interests, cultures, belief systems, and politics, it is obviously necessary to have rules and laws in order to keep the peace and ensure mutual cooperation. But regardless of this there is a very effective weapon that can be used to accomplish the same thing. But no one ever seems to talk about it.  For hundreds of years this very...

On several occasions I have pointed out that the environment would be just fine without people but people would not be okay without the environment. This begs the question of whether or not humanity is actually beneficial to the planet or are we just another invasive species.  But if our existence on this planet is not beneficial then what exactly is our ultimate fate? Is the extinction of humanit...

What if I told you that sometimes the sand on the beach is nothing more than piles of fish poop and dead animals. I wonder if that would reduce the statistics on how many people enjoy using the beach.  Another thing that most people do not know is that due to several factors, there is actually a global shortage of sand.  A third seemingly unrelated fact is that nearly 65% of the people in the Unit...

In our modern culture we are at the point to where we cannot focus on any one thing without being distracted. Constant emails, text messages, notifications, phone calls, instagram, Facebook, coworkers, family, and friends. We no longer know how to actually be present in our own lives. We have lost the ability to actually focus.   And few people slow down long enough to realize just how much this d...

It is hard for me to believe that this is episode 100. It has taken me almost 2 years to get to this point and I am still going strong.  Over the last 99 episodes I have covered a wide variety of topics.  In this episode I want to simply review some of the more popular episodes and hopefully continue to instill in everyone not only the desire to start living more sustainably but also prove that th...