Category Archives: Environment

There is a famous line from the 1968 film “The Graduate” where Mr. McGuire gives Ben (played by Dustin Hoffman) one word advice about the future: “Plastics”. Plastic packaging and consumption has certainly grown over the last fifty years. The milkman doesn’t deliver milk in glass bottles and kids don’t collect pop bottles for candyContinue reading “Bad Advice from “The Graduate””

This week was the 50th anniversary of Marvin Gaye’s classic album “What’s Going On” and there are three tracks that remain very relevant: “What’s Going On”, Mercy, Mercy, Me (The Ecology)”, and Inner City Blues (Makes Me Want to Holler). Although much of the popular music of the late 60s and early 70s dealt withContinue reading “Mercy, Mercy, Me”

In 2009, a group of scientists at the Stockholm Resilience Center published the Planetary Boundaries Framework, nine processes that regulate the stability and resilience of our planet. These boundaries are: Climate change Biodiversity integrity Ocean acidification Depletion of the ozone layer Atmospheric aerosol pollution Biogeochemical flows of nitrogen and phosphorus Freshwater use Land system changeContinue reading “Climate Change Isn’t the Only Environmental Threat”

Last Sunday in church, our congregation celebrated Earth Day as we do each year. Some Christians believe humanity was given the Biblical imperative of dominion over the earth. Personally I believe that this means the responsibility of being stewards of the earth, caretakers of the big blue marble. And God said “Let us make humankindContinue reading “Creation Care”

At a conference that I attended yesterday, the keynote was on sustainability. One of the topics that was an eye opener for me was the energy required for our digital life. I’ve heard about the amount of energy required to mine cryptocurrency but did not understand it. Heck, I’m trying to figure out which IndianContinue reading “Less Code = Less Carbon”

“We have a finite environment—the planet. Anyone who thinks that you can have infinite growth in a finite environment is either a madman or an economist.” – David Attenborough https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/10060198-we-have-a-finite-environment-the-planet-anyone-who-thinks-that Economists like to remind us that the economy is not a zero-sum game in which for someone to win, someone else has to lose. AnContinue reading “Infinite Growth on a Finite Planet”

A few years ago, I took an online quiz that helped to determine which political party was closest to my views. My positions were closest to the Green Party at around 98% followed by the Democratic Party at around 90%. I did a little research and found that the Green Party has a list ofContinue reading “Green Party Values”