American households are one of the largest sources of green house gas emissions on the planet.  Households account for over a third of national greenhouse emissions and almost one tenth to global totals.  If they were their own country they would come in second behind China as the largest polluters.  A recent study undertaken by a joint effort of Vanderbilt and Michigan State University highlighted seventeen inexpensive “household actions” that can reduce these massive emissions without requiring individuals to drastically alter their lifestyle.

By implementing these simple fixes over a period of ten years, the reduction in U.S. carbon emissions would be 7.4% or the equivalent of the yearly carbon output of France.  For example, if everyone did…

The current economic downtown is unique in that it has, in an unprecedented way, spanned across both age and income brackets of all levels. Many, if not most, of us have had to take a step back and think about what’s really important in life. Americans are re-evaluating deeply ingrained feelings on consumption and what brings happiness – spending time with loved ones or spending money. A recent NY Times article has recently pointed out just how strong of a national trend this is.

Americans of all walks of life are cutting back on buying goods and services and are focusing on more of what matters such as “organizational, civic and religious activities.” Americans are visiting museums more often, seeing…

A recent Washington Post article got me thinking.  The silver lining in the economic doom and gloom could very well be that society refocuses itself away from consumption for consumerism’s sake and back onto things that really matter.  One example of this is a shift in holiday office parties from champagne and extravagance towards charity events and food drives for the needy.  The trend is so strong that it has one Washington Post writer exclaiming “lavish holiday galas seem as old-fashioned as dial-up Internet connections. “  Rather than its usual Christmas party one company is making Teddy Bears and wrapping them together with books to give out to needy children.  Before this sounds too much like…

Every year, growing numbers of us are unhappy with the shopping frenzy that surrounds the holidays but most of us don’t know how to get off the treadmill. What if we worked together to find another way to celebrate?  This holiday season join us in finding more of what matters.

During the two-weeks of the historic UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (December 7th-18th), we’re bringing people together to talk about the impact of holiday spending on their lives and the environment.  Join the No Impact Project and Center for a New American Dream for nationwide pre-DVD release community screenings of the documentary, No Impact Man, and a post-screening discussion about how to simplify our holidays this year.

Find a screening near…

This weekend I saw a very heartening example of community. On Halloween I was in New York City in the company of a two year old fairy princess (a friend’s goddaughter). We went to a party at Stuyvesant Town, a cluster of high-rise apartment buildings on the East Side.

As someone who grew up in a suburban environment, I’ve often marveled at the differences in city kids’ childhoods. On the plus side, New York infants can sleep serenely on a subway or ambulance-filled street. On the minus side, growing up in a huge city tends to mean living under a rightfully-watchful parent’s gaze. Millions of people mean exponentially more things can happen to your child, and in a place where people…

Thrift shopping has been a way of life for me for a long time. I’ve grown to value a garment or household item with a few imperfections more highly than I would a new one. Imagining what unknown recipes a wooden spoon was used for prior to arriving in my kitchen adds something to my life. My love for old things goes back as far as I can remember…one of my first favorite books was a story about a little girl who had been given a new, starchy china doll but preferred an old one made out of wood and straw. I know that for others, however, used stuff carries a different connotation.

Someone told me once that only a middle-class…

Source: U.S. Department of Energy

“The growth of clean energy can lead to the growth of our economy.” - President Obama

As part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act President Obama has allocated $3.4 billion stimulus grant money for 100 smart grid projects throughout the United States to modernize our power grid (locations can be found on the chart above).  Once smart grids are installed  “meters can report in, appliances can control how much energy they use, and electricity stored in batteries can supply quick jolts of energy where needed, replacing the expensive power plants now used to meet peak power needs.”  The project is expected to increase job opportunities, reduce…

As mentioned in an earlier post, there is a common vocabulary related to food, and it doesn’t always relay qualities that are intrinsic to foodstuffs: think “crazy” fruit flavors and “sinful” chocolate. Another issue seems to preoccupy us, or at least food advertising: wanting “more”–whether more volume (super sizes) or more flavor. “Mega” “super” and “ultra” are such common descriptors in our products that I wonder if this tendency to hyperbole is an essentially American trait. I remember a college professor once remarking that the Thanksgiving story–a formative tale of American identity–centered on the cornucopia, a vessel overflowing with, as he described it, “not just enough, but more than enough.” Maybe our yawning appetites can be traced to the endless…

Photographer and New Dream friend Chris Jordan has a talent for catching civilization enacting its values. From his photos of post-Katrina New Orleans to his to-scale models of the plastic bottles that end up in the landfill at an alarming rate, he highlights uncomfortable truths. This has never been more true than his recent work documenting the plastic diet of birds in the Midway Atoll of the North Pacific. Take a look at the remains of baby birds fed plastic by their parents and see if you don’t get a gut reaction of your own.

Over the next months (and even years) folks will be increasingly hearing about what is becoming known as the “New Economy.” At this point most are probably saying: Oh no, another term to be confused by.  But this is an important one to grasp.  The new economy is defined differently by different people but it has at its heart a change from business as usual (BAU) and an understanding that all people matter just as much or more than profits and that the environment needs to be considered in the business equation.  Another core concept is that this economic model tends to be more regenerative in that it seeks to rebuild communities and local networks, restore quality of…