knowledge about potential solutions is not an obstacle, it is politics, collective norms, and behavioral choices ~
Calculating for all of US potential solar roof output
Katie Conlon Mar 23, 2017
Invest in the soil; it’s not dirt, it’s wealth
Back to the land, and back to nourishing the soil. Self-sufficient organic, localized farming is the direction we collectively need to be heading. Soil provides healthy food full of micronutrients, healthy ecosystems, recharges the water table, filters water,...
Becoming plastic, through everything in modern life
Endocrine disruptors aka plastic everything is no joke. Consumer society has come so far from what it means to be human, to be integrated in the natural life cycles. Plastic is entering foodchains and we are absorbing toxic chemicals from these plastics. If we...
Oceans are beyond suffering from plastics and pollutants
Recent, disconcerting studies on the state of ocean dystopia: -Plastics taken up in the food chain, and found in fish sold in the supermarket -Baby fish have been found to prefer eating plastic in plastic laden water than their natural food source (like junk food...
Chado, the way of tea, the way of peace ~
Chado, the way of tea and the art of the tea ceremony, is a way of cultivating the inner and the outer being, the wabi-sabi. The tea house is symbolically a place of peace, neutrality, and contemplation. In warring Japan in centuries past, the tea house served as...
Light Pollution blinds us to more than we know
The only time I really experienced the night sky - stars so big you could grab them - was in the Sahara in northern Mali. The Tuareg people in that region use the stars to guide them as they travel through the desert, under the cool of the night sky. Follow this...
Power to the People: Ongoing responsibilities of Civic Engagement
Happening in Portland right now: "Massive Anti-Trump Rally." Happy for the civic awakening, just wish it could have been more pre-election support and momentum for Bernie vs. post-election frustration and protesting. Can this outflow of energy be also turned into...
The inverse is what we want
All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking. - Nietzsche In car commuting we separate ourselves from each other and our environment. The creative flow of ideas is cut. We stagnate our minds and stifle our collective imagination. Instead of eye...
All we need is less ~
Globally, we operate at an environmental deficit: "Today humanity uses the equivalent of 1.6 planets to provide the resources we use and absorb our waste. This means it now takes the Earth one year and six months to regenerate what we use in a year." (Global...
Pandora’s Box of Chemicals
A little history on our chemical predicament: The EPA's Toxic Substance and Control Act was enacted in 1976. At that time, 62,000 chemicals were grandfathered in with no testing. The Act also created a strange catch: there needs to be evidence of harm done in...