Only three weeks left of summer and the ads to stock up and save on school gear are invading our space. Grrrr!

Anxious kids sense the clock is ticking as they try to prolong the inevitable. Meantime, I refuse to listen, look or buy when it comes to the ads for “must have” clothes and supplies for fall.

I can’t stand it when the Christmas ads and music start playing after Halloween. I cringe when the Easter cards appear once Valentine’s Day cards are cleaned off the shelves, or when …

Tags: Conserve , consumption , fall , kids , parents , recession , recycle , retail , reuse , sales , school , summer , sustainable

6 Comments |

Link to this post |

|

Bookmark

The collapse of the economy has had a curious effect on our culture. Shuttered chain stores and denuded neighborhoods have made us realize how unstable and unsustainable a society predicated on constant growth and fueled by the twin demon drugs of easy credit and cheap consumer goods can be. When the Circuit Cities go away and the lesser Starbucks close, we realize we didn’t really need them anyway.

All over the country, people are reconnecting with their communities, saving money, working cooperatively, bartering and living a less consumption-dominated life. …

Tags: bartering , buy handmade , Community , consumption , DIY , extraction , gardening , genuine , grassroots , greenwashing , localwashing , original , slow money , sustainability

6 Comments |

Link to this post |

|

Bookmark

The grass is always browner when officials have Los Angeles homeowners turning off their sprinklers during the sizzling days of summer.

Starting June 1, the L.A. Dept. of Water and Power imposed mandatory restrictions aimed at reducing the city’s water use by 15%. Residents were ordered to use their sprinklers only on Mondays and Thursdays or be slapped with higher utility bills.

Nearly two months later, it’s clear that suburban lawns are dying of thirst in the San Fernando Valley where folks are complying as temperatures climb past 100 degrees in …

Tags: cemetaries , colleges , conservation , consumption , front lawns , golf courses , grass , los angeles , parks , San Fernando Valley , water restrictions

1 Comment |

Link to this post |

|

Bookmark

The U.S. is one very carnivorous nation. But what if, just for one day, everyone went vegetarian?

Well, according to a Huffington Post article by Kathy Freston, just one meat free day in the U.S. would save nearly 100 billion gallons of water, 1.5 billion pounds of crops, 70 million gallons of gas, and 33 tons of antibiotics.

Wow. All that just for eating pasta instead of pork chops. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. After all, the Livestock’s Long Shadow report, released recently by the UN, has already concluded that the …

Tags: consumption , energy , meat , sustainability , vegetarian

3 Comments |

Link to this post |

|

Bookmark