In the last two episodes I talked a lot about how as a global community we are over stepping the planetary boundaries that are responsible for our very survival. Hopefully by now we all realize the need to change a lot of the basic things in our lives that we take for granted. In other words, how we run our lives on a day to day basis.   Part of the discussion about those changes needs to include the concept of net zero. Think of this in terms of putting back as much as you take out, replacing the resources that you use, minimizing the impact of every aspect of your lives. That is what w ..read more

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast Episode 155 The Nine Planetary Boundaries Part Two Living on the Brink Welcome back everyone to the Nine Planetary Boundaries Part Two. In last week’s episode we discussed the nine boundaries that we as humans need to operate within in order to live sustainably and thrive.  It is becoming painfully obvious that due to our rapid population growth and our insatiable appetite for resources, that we are pushing the limits of what our planet can cope with. We have actually crossed the theoretical barrier for 6 of our nine boundaries.  That being s ..read more

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast Episode 154 Nine Planetary Boundaries: A Safe Operating Space for Humans  Over the period of 5 decades we have added 4 billion people to our planet. By 2020 our population was 8.5 billion. With the combination of more people and longer lifetimes our absolute numbers continue to rise. All of these people of course require the use of more resources. We continue to turn forests into farmland, wilderness into wheat fields and prairie into parking lots at an unprecedented rate. It is now becoming painfully obvious that there are limits to essential glo ..read more

Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast Episode 152  Regenerative Agriculture Explained Did you ever think that maybe we should have left things alone? Surely you have heard the phrase, “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” These are the sorts of things I think about and the sorts of questions I ask when I look at many things going on in our modern world. Granted our advances in technology have proven to be to our advantage in many ways. But there is a price to pay for that convenience.  And such is the case with farming. In last weeks episode I discussed the reason we have factory f ..read more

In last weeks episode I discussed how important it is for us to know the origin of our food. Such knowledge empowers us to not only make healthier choices about what we eat but also to make choices that supports a sustainable food supply.  That said, far too many of us are still completely disconnected from how our food is produced and what happens in order for us to have food on the shelves at the supermarket.  This week I am going to continue that trend from a completely different angle. What I want to do is take a look at factory meat production, how it came into existence, the pr ..read more

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 to  increase our happiness and well being and one of those things is gratitude. Taking a little time everyday to make a short list of the things that you are grateful for tends to focus your ..read more

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 looking, there is plenty of good news all around us. Even today there are exciting new discoveries, encouraging news about the environment and people just doing some good things for others. So thi ..read more

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 way of increasing my quality of life.  That being said, I do not completely ignore the world around me. But when I do pay attention to it seems as if it is always bad news. So, for the next couple ..read more

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 anxiety and depression are increasing and so are the feelings of hopelessness.  And because of that I am going to devote some time to giving you ways to stay positive.  So, stayed tuned for ..read more

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 early Spring pollinators, especially bees. And in our over exuberance to maintain a pretty lawn, we are actually damaging our environment in more than one way.  In this episode, I am going to ..read more