My blogosphere colleague Brandt Smith of Wealth and Wisdom commented on yesterday’s post on hybrids and electric cars in a way that intrigued me. He was responding to my belief that electric cars and hybrids are the only cars that have a future in our carbon-constrained world.
“Ahh, a topic for the engineer in me. . [...]
Entries Tagged as 'happiness'
Rethinking the Entitlement of Travel
July 1st, 2008 · 6 Comments · carbon footprint, climate change, energy conservation, green living, lifestyle, simplicity, sustainability, transportation
Tags: cars·culture·electric cars·engineering·happiness·hybrids·hydrogen fuel cells·petroleum·technology·travel
How To Change Things For The Greener, Anywhere
June 23rd, 2008 · No Comments · 97215, community, culture, development, economics, environment, sustainability, transportation
The following is a guest post by Jim Meyer. Diamond-Cut Life welcomes your topical submissions. If you would like to write a guest post, please contact us.
Let’s get frank about the current pressures on the US lifestyle and environment as it’s been constructed up to now: A lot of people are getting [...]
Tags: best picture·bicycle·car-free·cars·climate change·convenience·early adopters·food·grassroots·green lifestyle·green living·happiness·health·Infrastructure·lifestyle·neighborhood·parks·public transit·social change·sprawl·sustainability
The Peak Of Happiness
March 12th, 2008 · 2 Comments · economics, happiness, simplicity, sustainability
I recently asked a good friend how happy he was on a scale of 0 to 10. He only had to think for a few seconds. “A five,” he said. “You?”
“I’m at 9 or 10,” I replied. Interestingly, he makes about twice as much money as I do, and even likes his job (as do I). The social sciences have studied happiness quite thoroughly, so what have they
Tags: consumption·happiness·history·Juliet Schor·relationships·Robert Putnam·social justice
Unclothing The Horse and Juliet Schorr
February 29th, 2008 · No Comments · Uncategorized, culture, economics, environment, life, simplicity, sustainability
My husband Thor and I went to the Illahee lecture last night here in Portland. Juliet Schor spoke, a sociologist and economist from Harvard University. She was excellent, and one of the most salient takeaways for me was on clothes. (It’s only fair to report Thor has sometimes termed me ‘a bit of a clothes horse’.)
Ms. Schor reported that in 1991 we in the U.S. bought an average of 34
Tags: clothes horse·clothing·consumption·fashion·garments·happiness·Illahee·Juliet Schorr
Biodiesel, Carpooling and Happiness
February 28th, 2008 · 1 Comment · Uncategorized, carbon footprint, climate change, culture, environment
In my ongoing quest for the diamond-cut life of happiness without excess consumption, I notice a couple of things.
Many non-mainstream choices I make, like carpooling, increase my happiness. (This gang of public-interest attorneys I’ve gotten mixed up with is turning out to be a hoot. So-o-o-o much more fun than driving alone.) Other choices my household makes, like heating our house with biodiesel, has a fairly neutral daily impact on
Tags: biodiesel·carpooling·consumption·driving alone·emissions·fun·happiness
