Live. Well. Green.

The books and articles on environmental hope and optimism still seem few and far between - too few for me to actually feel hopeful on a daily basis, that’s why I looked for ways to actually find a lasting sense of hope and even optimism despite the dire environmental circumstances that we find ourselves in. The research is pretty clear, we can find hope and even optimism, if we use these techniques to allow our brains to feel calmer about the circumstances.That is what I get into in this...

Feeling like you are a hamster on a wheel, not making an impact, not able to make substantive change to environmental and social justice issues can be depleting. Sometimes doing the work itself is not enough - it can feel like a drain on your energy and mental health. So you need to change what you are doing and how you approach the problem to get the gains you want. In today’s episode I talk to someone who has overcome exactly this when it comes to taking environmental action.Pauline is...

I was walking in the woods and it came to me as clear as day. The pieces came together and I understood how to move forward. This was my epiphany moment that came after a long, difficult period where the eco-overwhelm just seemed like it was too much.But what came to me in the woods changed everything for me, and it is what I still rely on myself and teach to this day.It turns out that part of what I was facing was a misalignment between my values and how I was living my life. Even though I w...

Wicked problems: isn’t that a great term?Wicked problems are complex and difficult to define, they cannot be separated from their context and there is no one definitive approach to solving them. Climate change, pollution, loss of biodiversity, plastic pollution, environmental racism, and the effects of colonialism are all examples of “Wicked” problems. You have likely been reading about or pondering how to address a Wicked problem recently in your own life. Something like, Why your ...

“I am worried about burning out.” is something I hear often, and this is a completely valid concern. After all, environmental and social justice work can be taxing both emotionally and physically.So, how do we tackle this very important, and necessary work without putting our own physical and mental health in jeopardy? Well, it turns out there are proven tactics with plenty of medical literature to support that it truly works.Now, these things do fall into the broad category of “self-care”, b...

There were certain environmental issues that I could barely talk about in my classes. Topics like animal suffering were simply too difficult for me to cover. I remember showing a video in class almost 25 years ago now of emaciated whales who were starving due to human over-fishing.I sat in that darkened classroom with tears rolling down my face. Yes, these emotions made me want to focus on solutions, but they also made me feel ashamed of my reaction. After all, I was the professional, and the...

You know that feeling of just spinning your wheels? Like you are getting pulled in every direction, trying to make headway, but nothing seems to be working? You are trying to make changes at home, in the workplace, and in society but you can’t seem to get traction.In this episode, I share four simple techniques to get real results, so that you can feel fulfilled, and like what you do matters.First, reconsider the small actions and their importance. It might be more meaningful than you tend to...

Do you sometimes wish that someone would just tell you the right thing to do when it comes to taking environmental action? It can be so darn complicated it seems. Every day there is another new campaign or cause, and they all seem important.Easy to feel torn in multiple directions. And it doesn’t help with the Eco-overwhelm! So I want to show you how to apply the concept of Voluntary Simplicity to direct your actions. What is Voluntary Simplicity?Voluntary Simplicity, despite being linke...

There is NO shortage of issues and causes that need our attention, and yes, they may all be important and worthy. But what can YOU do with your time and energy - that we all know is not bottomless?This problem of not knowing where to focus is the number one issue I find that keeps people stalled out on meaningful environmental and social change. So that is what we are going to tackle today.So, there is a greenspace in my neighborhood that really needs to be protected from development, and our...

One of the foundations of how I like to approach actions for sustainability - is through the lens of Sustainable Wellbeing. This is really, I believe, the foundation of how we can do this work and not burn ourselves out emotionally and physically along the way.Sustainable Wellbeing addresses both the personal and collective as well as ecological wellbeing. I like to define it as: caring for our personal wellbeing while we care for others and planet.Sustainable Wellbeing means that we acknowle...