Welp. I’m starting all over again with Joshua Spodek’s Initiative exercises from the very start. For the fourth time. But I’m happy about it. And here’s why. If you read Josh’s book on Method Initiative, there’s one thing he stresses: it’s not necessarily a book on entrepreneurship – it’s a book to help you find your passion – finding that […]
TSL:SFN – Am I Too Old To Save The Planet? w/ Lawrence MacDonald
Alarmed by the surge in climate-related disasters, a growing number of Americans are asking “What can I do to help?” Lawrence MacDonald’s new book, Am I Too Old to Save the Planet? A Boomer’s Guide to Climate Action offers unexpected answers for the 70 million boomers–people born from 1946-1963–who are still America’s most powerful generation. A former foreign correspondent and […]
The Joy of Sustainability – Plant-Based Milks
Got milk? Heck yeah, I do. But it doesn’t come from these: I mean, honestly, when you really think about it, the idea of drinking milk is pretty gross right from the start. Come on, would you drink your mother’s breastmilk right now? How about your friends mother’s? Some you don’t know’s? Or even your wife’s? What about your dog’s? […]
TSL:SFN – Alfie & Me w/ Carl Safina, Ph.D.
When ecologist Carl Safina and his wife, Patricia, took in a near-death baby owl, they expected she’d be a temporary presence. But Alfie’s feathers were not growing correctly, requiring prolonged care. As Alfie grew and gained strength, she became a part of the family. Carl and Patricia began to realize that the healing was mutual; Alfie had been braided into […]
Method Initiative – Exercise 4: 10 Friends and Family
The goal of Initiative Exercise 4 was to ask 10 family and friends for advice on your chosen project. In a bit of a turn of events, I started to do this, but within a few interviews, I decided that my chosen project from Exercise 3 was not right for me at this time so I’ve actually decided to switch […]
TSL:SFN – Follow-Up w/ Sara Turner (Nexii)
Sara Turner, Sustainability Manager at Nexii Building Solutions is back to talk about how her challenge went that she decided to take on during our first recording. Was she able to take the plunge? Listen in and find out! Find Sara Turner and Nexii online: Donate to This Sustainable Life: Solve For Nature Click here to support the podcast, so […]
Method Initiative – Exercise 3: 5 Close Contacts
Post-Exercise Reflection The purpose of Initiative Exercise #3 is to reach out to the people you are most comfortable with (and therefore easiest to ask something of) and to ask them for advice on your 5 problem/solution pairs. Also important is working on a few skills as you do: Before the exercise Because I had done the Initiative exercises before, […]
Method Initiative – Exercise 2: 5 Unsolved Problems
Post-Exercise Reflection: For Initiative Exercise #2: ‘5 Unsolved Problems’, the goal is to identify 5 unsolved problems that a specific group of people feel, and come up with a rudimentary solution for them. The exercise was one that I found pretty difficult the first time around – it’s surprisingly hard to think of a problem before a solution…My mind wants […]
The Joy of Sustainability #004 – Water-Wise Water Closet
Ka-whoooosh, sssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh, glug-waahhhh…..sssssssssssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…. Okay, I did my best. Who can tell me what household object makes this sound? Undoubtedly because my sound effect descriptions are terrible (I need to read more comic books), it is perfectly natural that you have no idea. The correct answer is the humble toilet! And in my case, every time this sound was heard through […]
Method Initiative – Exercise 1: The Personal Essay
Exercise #1: The Personal Essay Am I ever going to accomplish something truly significant? Am I too old now for becoming someone that could change the world, or even a small group of people only 1 degree of separation from me – a.k.a friends and family? Am I just not good enough to become someone that important? Or that well-known? […]