Common Sense for the New Times
Common Sense for the New Times
I recently had a social media conversation about Universal Basic Income, and I would like to expand on it here. I think a UBI may greatly increase our environmental impact—and produce only a more equitable arrangement of deck chairs on…
This is just a rant about total illiteracy of human behaviour, leading to literally the worst recycling expansion I have seen in my entire career. A contact lens weighs about 25 milligrams, so an entire year’s supply of lenses is…
“Well, should we just give up then?” If only I had a dollar for every time I have heard this, always from well-meaning people.⊕Well, if I had a dollar for each time, I would be drinking Laphroaig right now, with…
Trees are green, right? And green is good, right? So trees must be good, right? How could trees be bad for the environment? Many of us have a sense that we are not on the right path; in our bones…
Sustainable means able to be sustained, and the alternative, then, is things that are unable to be sustained.⊕Bill Rees, the co-developer of Ecological Footprinting, says sustainability is like pregnancy. You either are or you aren’t, no sorta. You can read my…
Why are we not winning the fight against climate chaos? Why was Trump just elected? Why has there been a slaughter of drug addicts this year? Because we think about change wrong,⊕You can read all my past writings on this…
I sometimes find myself making negative comments about vertical farming. This happened again today, and the facebook friend to whom I responded replied very openly with, “Well, what then? Green belts?” So rather than continue my terse and impatient crypticism…
I recently reviewed Jean-Martin Fortier’s book The Market Gardener (summary: Excellent. Buy it) and was reminded of a philosophical and yet very practical farming question I asked him over beer. “Since the economy is contracting, and for many reasons we believe…
Let me start this with a confession. I am a fiscally conservative radical leftist—and I think we need a new understanding of how an economy should serve society, and what sort of society we want our economy to serve. Our…
“An Environmentalist on the Lie of Locavorism” crossed my desk the other day. It’s a pretty eye-catching title, pitting “An Environmentalist” against local eating and urban farming, darlings of greens and urban planners everywhere – and calling them liars, to…
In British Columbia—where we live the Small and Delicious Life—it has been just twelve hours since the election was called for the expand-business-as-usual B.C. Liberal Party. For a little excitement, the leader of the party lost her riding, and so…
I just want you to close your eyes, and imagine a parakeet, sitting on its branch and eating seeds—wearing a tiny little collar with the cutest little tag hanging from it… The Atlantic Cities is producing a lot of thinking points…
Piece of the Puzzle: I developed my understanding of sustainability essentially by hyperlinking books. I would read a book, then go through the citations and find another interesting book. This led me through design and ecology and economics and psychology and business and so many other…