Adventures in Sustainable Living

There is a long list of benefits for living sustainably. As you can likely imagine, such a lifestyle is easier on the environment and as such is healthy for our planet as a whole. We use resources more conservatively, we reduce our personal environmental impact, we eat a more planet friendly diet, and we reduce our carbon emissions. 

But what most people do not realize is that such a lifestyle is one of the best ways to improve your...

I have often said that the world just might be a better place if everyone could live like I do. When I go home it is quiet and peaceful with no traffic noise. I sort of have neighbors but I may only see them every couple of weeks if that. 

Much of my time is spent outside even in the winter. I often have chores to do that requires some sort of physical labor which of course gives me regular exercise 

Many people do not understand why...

Did you know that on average we now spend almost $12K per year on food. This includes money spent on take out and delivery as well as cooking at home. The average person in our culture only eats 8 meals per week at home which means we are spending far more money on restaurant and take out food. 

Unfortunately, in our modern society fewer and fewer people have the desire or skill to cook at home. Cultural shifts, changes in prioritie...

I often say that it’s the little things that make the difference. But whenever you say that, no one thinks that you are actually taking about bumble bees, or for that matter, any of the other tens of thousands of small creatures that pollinate our plants. 

Unfortunately we are now seeing a global decline in all of our pollinators and it is happening for a variety of reasons.  If this continues, it will have devastating effects on ou...

One of the first things you learn when going through a medical based education and something that forms the very foundation of medical ethics is the concept “Above all do no harm.” But you kind of have to wonder why this does not seem to apply to the rest of the world.  

For example, eventually you have to ask who established so-called “safe levels” of known toxic substances in our food. The list of potential diseases linked to thes...

To say that our society is toxic would be a gross understatement. It is truly impossible to avoid exposure to some sort of toxic substance. We have pesticides in our foods. We clean our homes with toxic compounds. We routinely place toxic chemicals on our lawns. We breath in microplastics and even eat them. Even our health care products contain synthetic compounds. Based on this it should not be any great surprise that chronic dise...

I have often said that self sufficiency is the best security blanket. But I see fewer and fewer people that truly appreciate the value in being able to take care of yourself with little or no outside help. I think this attitude prevails in our current culture because the average person no longer sees the need to have such skills. 

However, our world is constantly changing, sometimes over night. Consequently, I think self sufficiency...

There is so much talk these days about going plastic free. Plastics are everywhere and in every part of our lives. It is nearly impossible to get through an entire day without utilizing something made of plastic. 

But the challenge we now have is that plastic is becoming the bane of our existence.Because plastic production continues to increase and degradation is long-term, microplastics are virtually everywhere. Furthermore, no one...

Many years ago when I decided to live off the grid, everyone around me thought I was crazy. Fast forward 25 years and now everyone wants to know how it is that I do what I do. 

Living off the grid is now becoming an increasingly common choice for a long-term lifestyle. Just like anything else, it has it’s pros and cons but so does living in suburbia. 

One of the questions I most commonly encounter is whether or not it is legal to do ...

Humanity has not always been the best at looking into the future. We tend to do whatever we are going to do and never give a lot of thought to the consequences. But as I always like to say, everything we do has a price. 

Over time we have always favored development over conservation. We have always framed those two choices as an either/or situation. Because of that we are now paying the price of climate change, environmental degrada...

No matter what you do, some day something is going to come along and change your world without your permission. No one is immune to such things. This of course can create a tremendous amount of stress.

But this is where our personal resilience comes into play. Our resilience allow us to adapt to change and deal with the unexpected in a healthy way.  But resilience is also directly tied to sustainability. Both concepts are inter...

Just the other day I was sitting on the hillside in the sun enjoying a cup of coffee and thinking about all the time I’d lived at the cabin. My thoughts were centered around all that I had accomplished and the amount of time it had taken. And of course there is always that lingering question of whether or not it had been worth it. 

Furthermore, after all this time had all my efforts produced a lifestyle that was truly sustainable an...

The condition of our planet is slowly but surely becoming a daily headline. This is both good and bad. But being what it is, at least this type of daily news is getting everyone’s attention. It is perhaps pressuring people and businesses to take a more serious stance toward our sustainability efforts. 

However, there is no one thing, no magic bullet that will save our planet. It is going to require a complete cultural shift, a compl...

An amazing thing happens when you truly focus on zero food waste. Creativity and ingenuity takes over when you focus on using every little thing.  You start making new dishes, trying new sauces and creating flavors you never thought possible.

It is unfortunate that more often than not we throw away certain food items as a matter of habit, never realizing we may have been able to repurpose it into something else. By doing so, we are ...

The challenges we face in our world today are truly unnerving. All we hear about is one bad news story after another. Big governments and big business are still arguing about climate change instead of focusing on actions needed  to build a greener future. All the while, the average person sits back day to day and feels as if our future is uncertain and is completely out of our control. 

Younger generations in our society also feel t...

Chores, chores, chores. Some days on the homestead it seems as if the chores will never end. At times I get discouraged and ask myself if it would not be easier just to skip this whole process. Sometimes simplicity seems difficult. 

Would it not be easier to do what most other people do and just take full advantage of our modern conveniences and live a life of ease. 

But in many respects this is exactly the attitude that most people ...

There was a time whenever someone mentioned vegetarian or vegan diet that I would just roll my eyes and walk away. But now that seems to have transitioned into something else we hear more frequently and that is “plant-based diet.” 

For most of us we may think of this as a boring diet with few options and perhaps it even conjures up visions of eating a salad every night. While this is far from the truth, a plant based diet is certain...

The internet is truly a powerful tool. We have access to thousands of years of information in a matter of seconds. In combination with digital technology this has literally changed how we live and function. It saves us time, work, money, gasoline, and in many ways reduces our impact on the environment. 

While this all sounds wonderful, what most people do not know is that using the internet actually have a significant impact on the ...

New things, the unexpected, circumstances out of our control and any sort of change are all things than can make us a bit uneasy. Perhaps it is nothing more than fear of the unknown. We feel as if we will lose something or maybe we will lose our present lifestyle all together. 

One thing is certain. Change is always scary. World politics, the climate, price of energy, price of food are all things that change constantly. Advances in ...