The Importance of Leadership

Good leadership is important. It can make or break a community, a nation, even our world. As citizens we depend on leaders to establish policies and standards that make our community safe. They must balance the immediate needs of many while keeping an eye on long-term trends that will shape our future. It’s not an […]

A Sense of Urgency: It’s Too Late to do Nothing for Earth

I try to keep the tone mostly warm and friendly here but what drives me to write is very serious. We are facing… no, strike that. We are creating a planetary emergency. Let me state a few facts and then tie them all together. The Earth has an energy imbalance due to added greenhouse gasses […]

Solar-Ready Homes

The policies set by local governments can do much to move us toward sustainability. We do not have to wait for national regulations to change the way we build or rebuild the homes in our communities. There is much to be done and with the political gridlock in Washington, local action is our best hope […]

Bathing with Sunlight

I enjoy writing this column and sharing ideas about living lighter on the planet. I think it works best when I write about real experiences, especially my own. Several years ago I set a goal to install a solar domestic hot water system. This week, I checked that one off the list. Now, most of […]

Solar Hot Water – Be the Change!

We live in interesting times. Never before have we witnessed so much change in so little time. Whether we resist or embrace change, it is still inevitable, but if we actively embrace the changes we like we can often minimize the change we’d prefer to avoid. For example, almost everyone in this country uses some […]