Greetings from Alison Wiley here in Portland, Oregon. I'm a writer/doer/thinker who lives happily by putting people, nature and God ahead of accumulating more stuff. Read more →
This guest post offers a refreshing, tech-savvy counterbalance to my usual low-tech approach to sustainability. I agree with author Hunter Richards that we need a system for measurably holding businesses accountable when they claim to be green, eco-friendly, or to be reducing carbon emissions. Hunter blogs at Software Advice. ____________________________________________________________________________ Greenwash (verb, \ˈgrēn-wȯsh\) - to [...]
Tags: carbon footprint·Enterprise Carbon Accounting·greenwashing·Hunter Richards
I am flawed in oh so many ways. I am impatient, intense, I don’t write to my invalid mother as frequently as I should, and while I no longer binge on Haagen Dazs ice cream, my sweet tooth is such that my husband terms my coffee a vehicle for sugar. In my favor, though, I [...]
I’m writing from Chicago, where the BlogHer conference I’m attending will start tomorrow. My run on the lakeshore last night took me to Millenium Park, where I had another of my little ecstatic, falling-in-love experiences, between the gardens, the symphony orchestra playing in the outdoor pavilion, and most of all, the unique fountain and wading [...]
Tags: Bill McKibben·BlogHer conference·carbon footprint·Chicago·chickens·climate change·culture·Deep Economy·Detroit·fun·global warming·happiness·Millenium Park·papalars·urban farming
I hope the G-8 related climate talks in Italy today seriously consider Princeton researchers’ outside-the-box proposal to reduce carbon emissions (CO2). Carbon is the main driver of global warming; this new approach is part of the Carbon Mitigation Initiative that’s based at Princeton . The Princeton group is suggesting we measure and reduce the collective [...]
Tags: carbon footprint·family
One of my readers, Bryce Beattie of Real Self-Reliance, has written a thoughtful response to my criticism of legislators opposing the Waxman-Markey bill. This bill is known as the carbon cap and trade bill; it narrowly passed the House last week by getting some bipartisan support, and will be facing much opposition in the Senate. [...]
Tags: bipartisan politics·Bryce Beattie·carbon footprint·climate change·global warming·government control·Jared Diamond·self-reliance·Waxman-Markey bill
Staycations in lieu of travel vacations let us have fun while living within our means and not racking up any credit card debt. Plane trips, especially for whole families, quickly run into thousands of dollars, not to mention the way restaurant meals cost double to ten times what you’d spend cooking at home. Plus, any [...]
Tags: carbon footprint·email·family·fun·green living·happiness·ktylerconk·long-distance relationships·phone conversations·relationships·staycations·thrift
Thor Hinckley, manager of the nation’s leading renewable power program, supplied this guest post. Thor is my husband. To quote from Nobel laureate Al Gore: “For those who care about the global warming catastrophe — this is the moment”. The Waxman-Markey legislation known as the Carbon Cap and Trade bill is coming up for a [...]
Tags: Al Gore·bipartisan politics·cap and trade bill·carbon footprint·climate change·global warming·Repower America·Waxman-Markey bill
My sidekick Hanmi Meyer and I are pleased to be posting this morning our new page Resources For Good Living. It’s a set of links, well-labeled and organized, to cool sites that help us increase our happiness and lower our consumption. While this opening date is a bit behind schedule (the summer solstice had been [...]
Tags: bicycling·carbon footprint·consumption·contest·energy conservation·family·fun·gift certificates·green living·happiness·life·links·Oregon·outdoors·religion·renewable energy·resources·thrift·water
Yesterday afternoon I alit at the Amtrak station here in Portland, heavily laden with my laptop, book-bag and purse. It would be quite a trudge to where I needed to go. What should conveniently appear at the curb but a pedicab, pedaled by a lovely young woman named Margaret? Margaret, who leases her pedicab from [...]
Tags: bicycling·carbon footprint·cars·Cascadia Pedicab·fun·green living·happiness·Oregon·outdoors·pedicab·technology
Call me lovestruck, call me dreamy-eyed. Forgive me if I’m a little gushy today. WES and I have discovered each other. WES takes me to all the best places . . . from Beaverton all the way to Wilsonville . . . through lush, green countryside . . . fertile wetlands . . . . [...]
Tags: 844steamtrain·bike lockers·carbon footprint·climate change·commuter rail·green living·happiness·Higgins·love·trains·WES·Wilsonville
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