You’ve probably heard a lot of hype about how electric cars are gonna save the planet, right? Our “climate savior” Elon Musk would certainly have us believe so. While they’re definitely a step in the right direction, but I would be careful not too get too carried away here – they’re not perfect. Electric Vehicles Pollute… One issue with electric […]
TSL:SFN – Follow-Up w/ Lizzie Horvitz
Lizzie Horvitz is back to discuss her challenge and how it went! If you don’t remember, she founded Finch, a browser extension that helps you select sustainable products on Amazon. It’s a tool that educates people on the ins and outs of sustainability, making it easier to shop sustainably online, add more transparency to online purchases, and dispel lots of […]
Leadership Step-By-Step – Personal Essay #3: Inner Monologue
The Leadership Step-By-Step chapter 3 is titled “Inner Monologue” and challenged me to write my entire inner monologue a few times a day. Basically, just write every thought that comes into your head as they come into your head. At first, it was really hard to do. Thinking about your own thinking immediately tends to make the thoughts stop, but […]
TSL:SFN – Smart Designs for Conservation w/ Adarsh Ambati
Adarsh Ambati, age 16, of California, has been utilizing his talents to design new technologies to help conserve nature! He designed a moisture sensor-based smart sprinkler system that integrates real-time weather forecast data and soil moisture levels to provide optimum levels of water for huge water savings. He also designed a very low-cost, rapid diagnostic to detect the presence of […]
All The Small (ECO) Things
There’s this nice thing that comes from doing sustainable things: it almost always has positive effects in other, related areas as well. Some examples: But there are certain things that I do that have a positive impact on the planet…But only a tiny insignificant amount, and yet I continue to do not because it’s good for the planet, but purely […]
The Sustainable Baby Chronicles #1: Thoughts on sustainability after a one month of being a baby-dad.
Learning To Dad-mode My newborn baby son, Jin, just turned one-month old. He’s doing great: he’s eating a ton, he’s super healthy, he sleeps a lot, and he’s learning so much about the world. We love him more than anything! Me, on the other hand, well…I’m…surviving: I never sleep more than 2 hours at a time, I half-zombie walk through […]
New Year, New Goals: 2023
I meant to do a New Years’ post at the start of the year, but there was a little hiccup: a little dude stole half my wife and my DNA, mooched off my wife for 9 months, then emerged as a demanding bundle of joy the first week of 2023. Wonderful news for me and my family, awful news for […]
TSL:SFN – Protecting Wetlands, With Science! w/ Sonja Michaluk
Sonja Michaluk of New Jersey works passionately to protect wetlands and drinking water sources using a novel bioassessment method she created. For more than a decade, she has collected scientific data and shared it with policy makers to help conserve ecologically sensitive wetlands, critical habitat for threatened species, wildlife corridors, and old growth forests. Through her Conservation Communities Initiative, she […]
Learning To Lead: Essay #2: Perception, Focus, and Attention
Leadership Step By Step, Unit 1, Chapter 2: Perception, Focus, and Attention (Essay #2) For Unit 1, Chapter 2: Perception, Focus, and Attention in Josh’s book, we turn our focus inward to ourselves. To begin, Josh recommended trying an exercises called the Three Raisins Exercise. In this exercise designed to help practice mindfulness and becoming self-aware, you basically go through […]
TSL: SFN – Upgrading Infrastructure w/ Javad Mohammadi
Javad Mohammadi is an assistant professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. His research interests include multi-agent optimization and machine learning in networked cyber-physical systems, including smart grid-interactive buildings, power grid, and electrified transportation systems. In short, he’s solving problems and figuring out how to make our electric grids smarter […]