Season three of the White Lotus provided some useful guidance on navigating 2026. Considering the state of America, it’s encouraging that one of its most popular shows has suggested a path to preserving mental health and possibly healing a societal rift. Continue reading Surviving America, 2026: Lessons from The White Lotus
This post examines a correction to a seminal paper by Oxford University scientists Poore and Nemecek on the environmental footprints of food. It shows that, of all the products we make, including the massive amounts of cement and steel used for construction, beef is categorically responsible for the most GHGs, by a very wide margin. Continue reading A mammoth adjustment to beef’s carbon footprint
Last year, scientists from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab reported that the carbon footprint of plastic production is around 2.2 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalents. That’s more than double previous estimates, amounting to more than 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. If the plastics industry continues to grow at the current rate, it will be one of the biggest drivers of climate change by 2050. Continue reading The astonishing carbon footprint of plastic production
Many of us are overwhelmed by the political situation in the US – feeling helpless on the sidelines, watching as new horrors unfold every day and wishing there was something we could do. Well there is! Don’t allow annoying, unstable people ruin our long-term plan of saving the only home we have. Continue reading The most vital action to take in America, right now
Pope Francis passed away yesterday morning. Two years into his papacy, Pope Francis published a book on climate change and inequality. He chose to tackle the most critical environmental issue and the most critical social issue that we face on Earth. Continue reading Pope Francis on climate change and inequality
How do we live on a budget while also being as socially and environmentally responsible as possible? Well, the good news is that there is significant overlap between living on a budget and living an ethical life – they are actually pretty compatible goals. Continue reading How to live ethically on a budget
A key research paper investigated whether we will be able to feed the human population in 2050 without further deforestation. The researchers examined 500 scenarios of food production (high-yield intensive agriculture versus lower-yielding organic) and consumption (various diets) to find out which scenarios do not require additional encroachment on forests. The details of which scenarios work and which don’t provide crucial guidance on our food shopping habits. Continue reading How to feed the world without further deforestation
The US election result does not spell good news for climate change. But that just underscores how important our personal actions are – they are all we can rely on, for a while. Which corporations thrive and also the breakdown of what these corporations produce very much depends on our purchases. Continue reading Our actions as consumers are now critical
How should we think about ethical products when they are owned by multinational corporations with poor ethical track records? There are a few different ways of looking at this. I’ll share my thoughts and ask for yours in a survey on the topic. Continue reading Ethical brands owned by mediocre multinationals
I’m reluctant to create an ethical consumerism guide based only on my own opinion – it would be incomplete. We need a good, reliable guide that relies on user-generated content. The experiment starts next week! Continue reading User-generated ratings for ethical consumerism
The Green Stars Project 