I’ve never been big on product recommendations, not because I don’t like some products a lot but because I know I’m no expert on organic baby food or toilet paper. I tend more towards broad principles, because they’re easier to remember. Choose small things. Choose light things (concentrated products without much water, for example). But [...]

Just as there are reasons we grab a fast-food meal instead of making lentil soup or a vegetable stir-fry, there are reasons we jump into the car instead of using public transport. Every life choice requires us to balance a variety of demands, desires, and practical limitations. That’s why those of us promoting change need [...]

I was at my niece’s wedding last month, in a museum courtyard in Florida under a beautiful evening sky. A fine crescent moon rose behind the palm trees, with a bright star near it. Venus, I thought, vaguely remembering the the first star in the sky is a planet. I wondered, though, and asked around. [...]

I’m in the process of gathering lots of new content for this blog and website, because I can see that in light of recent events we’ll all be thinking much more about both energy conservation and our relationship with the natural world (though at this stage the hard-hit people in Lousiana and Mississippi aren’t thinking [...]

This won’t save the planet, but it’s a useful and seasonal tip, here on the East Coast, because so many people go to Florida this time of year. It’s so tempting to bring reminders home—even when we should “Take only photographs, leave only footprints.” (And traveling by any vehicle other than a plane is also [...]

The holidays gave us time at home, cooking and baking, pulling out the dishes we always use for celery and baked squash, and figuring out where I left the other Christmas pudding. I’ve lived in this house for almost 10 years, far longer than I have ever lived anywhere, and during these inside months (we’re [...]

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to talk about “Defining Community” at a conference held at Hancock Shaker Village, which is not far from here. It was a miserable damp day and we were in an unheated barn, but what a pleasure it was to talk about community, and the Encyclopedia of Community, [...]