Skipping the plastic straw may make you feel good about yourself, but its not enough. While every small change we make is truly a contribution to the big picture, we need to make substantial changes in how we live and what we do if we are going to truly reduce our personal impact on the planet. While our individual choices for how and where we live is a deeply personal thing, we often take for granted the environmental impact our lifestyles have on a day-to-day basis. But there are a few things ...
Jan 22, 2025•31 min•Ep. 215
There is no doubt that we often find ourselves swimming in a sea of information about the questionable future of our planet. Big business and big government, while suppling us with most of our basic resources, continue to destroy the planet. More and more people want to live sustainably but we are too often at a loss for ways to help the planet that are both meaningful and impactful. At this point it should be no surprise that plastics have become the bane of our existence. Plastic pollution can...
Jan 15, 2025•35 min•Ep. 214
Public opinion swings back and forth like a pendulum. That is why I never pay attention to it. But occasionally I see something that gets my attention because I get curious as to why people are suddenly so concerned about that one particular thing. This is the case with the plastic straw. Depending on which study you look at, humanity produces approximately 350 to 430 million metric tons of plastic waste annually. Plastic straws only make up two and a half percent of that total waste. So is the ...
Jan 08, 2025•32 min•Ep. 213
The only chips I purchase on a regular basis is tortilla chips. It is because I make my own salsa. But when I go to the supermarket, there are literally 15 different brands of tortilla chips. But the same is true with so many other things that we deal with everyday. From supermarket food choices, to menu options, to the clothes we wear, to what insurance to purchase, and even our health care options. There is always an over abundance of choices. But is this a good or a bad thing? Does it improve...
Jan 01, 2025•37 min•Ep. 212
Like it or not our lives are now a product of globalization. The cost of our fuel, the food on our tables, the clothes we wear, and even our household gadgets are subject to the conditions of the world market. It is now possible for a drought, a natural disaster, a financial crisis or even a conflict in some small country on the other side of the planet to affect our daily lives. While globalization has its obvious benefits, there is also a downside. Among many other things, it has a significant...
Dec 25, 2024•41 min•Ep. 211
Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast Episode 210 Ten Ways to Grow Your Own Food As you well know one of my favorite topics is self sufficiency. Most likely this is because I am a strongly independent person and very motivated to take care of myself. I truly do not want to depend too heavily on any societal system to provide me with my personal needs. Additionally I grew up in a rural area where some degree of self sufficiency was necessary. But what I see in our society today is that over 80...
Dec 18, 2024•33 min•Ep. 210
Someone said to me once that you should never forget the power of a good conversation. Yet in our fast-paced hyper-connected world we are losing touch with this vital part of human communication. We are also losing our focus on the things that really matter because we are constantly distracted. We are so inundated with notifications, dings, and beeps that as we are driving to work we can’t even remember if we brushed our teeth this morning. Modern technology was supposed to make our lives easier...
Dec 11, 2024•41 min•Ep. 209
In today’s culture, borrowing money and making purchases on credit is a way of life. It is the only way most of us are able to afford the “big ticket” items. In fact, many of us could not fathom how our lives would function if we were not able to utilize the credit system. We borrow money, make payments with interest, pay off the loan and thus establish a sound financial history. This then becomes the basis for borrowing more money in the future. But what if this was not necessary? What if there...
Dec 04, 2024•44 min•Ep. 208
It can literally be overwhelming when you consider the concept and scope of our current global problems. The far reaching effects of our environmental changes and the challenges we face seem insurmountable. One of the biggest challenges we face of course is climate change. While I do we believe we are beyond the point of easy, I also believe that our climate future has not yet been decided. But what we have to accept is that it is the result of the individual choices of each and everyone of us t...
Nov 27, 2024•37 min•Ep. 207
Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast Episode 206 How to Be the Best Version of Yourself There are many aspects to the concept of sustainability and having a regenerative lifestyle. As you could most likely guess, the planet would be just fine without people. But without people there is no culture and no economy. However, our modern economy has largely lead us down the wrong path. Consumerism has both consumed our lives and our planet. As we get closer to a true environmental disaster many pe...
Nov 20, 2024•36 min•Ep. 206
Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast Episode 205 Rethinking Society: Are You a Consumer or a Citizen? All the head lines we hear and see these days are about disasters, wars, new diseases, climate change, ecological decline, and anything else that has to do with how the world is coming to an end. And guess what? They are all true. Truly we are facing some rather complex global challenges. But despite how difficult it may be for anyone these days to find peace of mind, I have truly found one ...
Nov 13, 2024•33 min•Ep. 205
Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast Episode 204 What Can We Do to Phase Out Fossil Fuels? We already know that our planet is in trouble due to the indiscriminate burning of fossil fuels. Climate change is obvious. Extreme weather events are becoming more frequent. Due to warming temperatures Arctic regions are now greening. Shifts in rainfall is even greening massive areas of the Sahara Dessert. The answer to all of this is simple. Stop burning fossil fuels. But the implementation of that s...
Nov 06, 2024•32 min•Ep. 204
Under normal circumstances, life can be over whelming at times. Managing time, money, family, work, the daily commute, and the mortgage, all takes its toll. And on top of that the world seems to be falling apart around us. But how can we possibly worry about that when the roof needs to be fixed? It is a nice concept to think of working out everyday, taking a walk in the woods on a regular basis, cooking more at home, and eating the right foods. Zero waste, plastic free, supporting sustainable br...
Oct 30, 2024•27 min•Ep. 203
Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast Episode 202 Change Yourself and Change the World By now it should be no surprise that our world is facing significant challenges. Climate change, widespread pollution, forever chemicals, biodiversity loss and ecosystem decline is just the tip of our melting icebergs. Numerous people from scientists to scholars and even individuals have been sounding the alarm for decades if not longer. Yet as a whole, we continue to operate as if the world is a place of l...
Oct 23, 2024•37 min•Ep. 202
Despite the fact that it’s been years since I’ve watched network television, I pursue the new once a week. It is the only way I keep track of what is going on in the world. Over the last year, whenever I sit to review world events, there seems to be yet another food recall in the news. And all of these recalls span a wide variety of products. From Salmonella to E. Coli to Listeria, there seems to always be some sort of pathogen we need to be concerned about. With every recall that I read about I...
Oct 16, 2024•37 min•Ep. 201
Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast Episode 200 Sustainability Summit 102 After covering quite a variety of topics over the last 100 episodes there are several things that clearly stand out. Sustainability is about people, planet and profits. It has a lot to do with being mindful about how you live as well as having the right mindset. I truly think we humans have a moral obligation to treat our planet well. Yet despite the clear need to reduce our use of fossil fuels, we continue to race fo...
Oct 09, 2024•34 min•Ep. 200
Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast Episode 199 Regenerative Living: A Step Beyond Sustainability After so many years of living at the cabin, installing solar, building the greenhouse, raising chickens and turkeys, and being 100% off the grid, I came to believe that sustainability was the end all be all. Turns out I was wrong. I was missing one very important concept, one vital part of the puzzle to connect all the other pieces to make a complete picture. I actually discovered this a couple...
Oct 02, 2024•28 min•Ep. 199
Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast E198 Fourteen Things You Can Do to Help Protect Our Biodiversity Considering all that is going on in our world it is not surprising that the average person feels as if what they do makes no difference. Yet it is the cumulative affect of our individual choices that has produced dramatic changes on our planet. And it is the cumulative affect of our choices that will decide whether humans continue to thrive. Of all the things we have altered, the loss of bio...
Sep 25, 2024•30 min•Ep. 198
Most of us are no stranger to talks about climate change. It is in the news almost daily. We sit and watch in awe as we see one devastating event after another. Most of us likely are asking “Why doesn’t someone do something?” But you must understand the choices we make does have an impact on the environment around us. Take those choices times 7 billion people and it affects the entire planet. Of course everyone is quick to look to money and technology to save us. By doing so we easily overlook t...
Sep 18, 2024•26 min•Ep. 197
Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast Episode 196 Is Going Organic Better for Your Health? Colorado is one of those places that has plenty of grocery outlets for the purchase of organic food. Despite this easily available opportunity, for years I refused to buy organic produce because of the cost. I always questioned whether or not it was actually beneficial. Furthermore, I questioned whether or not there were added nutritional benefits of going organic. And of course I kept right on doing wh...
Sep 11, 2024•33 min•Ep. 196
Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast Episode 195 How to Live Healthy in a Chemical World Working as a practicing veterinarian I commonly have to deal with infectious diseases. For the most part it is something benign. Occasionally I have to deal with things that are potentially of great concern for human health. One such disease is the Bubonic Plague. It is endemic in the prairie dog population in Colorado. Every now and then people get excited about it then the concern fades away. But, it i...
Sep 04, 2024•33 min•Ep. 195
Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast Episode 194 A Sustainable Life May Make You Live Longer Did you know that globally we spend about $170 billion dollars a year on dietary supplements. The cosmetic surgery market is now worth $63 billion annually. We spend nearly $3,000 per year on entertainment. On average we spend 2 to 2 1/2 hours per day on social media. We also eat a diet that is high in calories, fat, added sugars, and low in essential nutrients. Sadly nearly 20% of heart disease, str...
Aug 28, 2024•34 min•Ep. 194
Most people think our technology driven world is so much better than how things were in the past. If you have been around long enough to see substantial changes in our society and culture, it truly seems that even 40 years ago we were living in the dark ages. And honestly, many of the things I do these days would not be possible if it were not for modern technology. But the challenge is that technological advancements and all of these time-saving products and gadgets have produced a life of ease...
Aug 21, 2024•33 min•Ep. 193
Scientists and other experts with ExxonMobile knew about the long-term detrimental affects of burning fossil fuels back in the 1970s. Their predictions of climate change were astonishingly accuracy. Yet we were led to believe there was nothing to worry about. As we continue to see on-going changes in our world directly related to human behavior, we are now told that we should be more conscious about what we eat, what we wear, what and how much we drive, and to even learn to be a minimalist. Such...
Aug 14, 2024•27 min•Ep. 192
Despite the fact that we live in the age of information the average person is still confused about how to start living sustainably. This is somewhat understandable because there is so much information available. Furthermore, it is not helpful that much of the time we are given conflicting views on what to do and the potential value of any action at all. There is of course a long list of ways to start living a more sustainable life. All you have to do is pick one thing and focus on that until it ...
Aug 07, 2024•29 min•Ep. 191
Someone once said to me that the only problem with going plastic free is going plastic free. But the same could be said for having a sustainable lifestyle. It is a process, a choice, a journey instead of an end all be all. But I also think it is the same with going zero waste. We constantly hear talk about a sustainable circular economy but is it all just a dream? Is going zero waste even achievable for an individual much less an entire society and culture? What I want to examine in this episode...
Jul 24, 2024•28 min•Ep. 189
Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast Episode 188 Not in My Backyard: A Critical Review of Environmental Racism Surveys of community needs from around the world show that almost everyone wants the same thing. We all want a safe place to live and even raise a family. We want a healthy, natural environment, access to education, healthy food, housing, clean water, and fair use of land and local resources. How would you feel if you lived in a community where such things did not exist? You lived i...
Jul 17, 2024•35 min•Ep. 188
Adventures in Sustainable Living Podcast Episode 187 How to Eat Healthy on a Budget Inflation is taking a toll on just about everyone. But one of the most common areas where we feel the pinch is in the price of food. Food prices have consistently risen over the last 5 years and are expected to go up by several percentage points in 2024. Not only that, if you want to eat healthy and organic, you are going to pay even more at the checkout. To top it off, junk food is manufactured in bulk and full ...
Jul 10, 2024•34 min•Ep. 187
How would you feel if your neighbor came to your mailbox everyday and opened your mail? How would you feel if someone was always looking over your shoulder to monitor everything you did on the internet? I think most people would say "NO!" And they would say no because such things are an invasion of our privacy. We now live in a very connected world. More and more we depend on the internet for personal services, business purposes, data storage, communication and entertainment. But what most peopl...
Jul 08, 2024•54 min•Ep. 190
More and more frequently these days people are looking to live off the grid. Possibly this is because people are growing weary of the perpetual rat race and just want some peace and quiet. Hopefully people are looking to be off grid because they seek sustainability or simplicity or to otherwise have something that lacks any sort of complexity. If off-grid is what you want there are several realistic ways to make that happen. It truly depends on personal preference and of course your budget. Bott...
Jul 03, 2024•38 min•Ep. 186
