After the devastating Camp Fire in Butte County, I went to visit Paradise City to see how the people were doing. I discovered a city utterly transformed. A fictional post from the future.
Visiting New Paradise
Sustainability
After the Camp Fire
What do we do when a whole city has gone up in flames and half the state is smothered by toxic smoke? Maybe, we start imagining a better future.
Unprecedented positivity
Are we doomed by climate change, or is there still hope? Christiana Figueres shows us how our attitudes make a big difference in deciding our fates on this planet. In a short and inspirational TEDTalk, Christiana Figueres shares how she has injected positivity into every possible aspect of her work in the UN to fight … Continue reading Unprecedented positivity
ReGen Villages: sustainable housing of the (near) future
Imagine living in a luxurious home where your carbon footprint was minimal, your groceries grew down the way in smart hot houses, and everything was designed to be beautiful and sustainable Take a look at this talk with James Ehrlich, founder of ReGen Villages. Ehrlich and his team are bringing to life a vision of … Continue reading ReGen Villages: sustainable housing of the (near) future
Tiny home, big ideas
Affordable housing is hard to find in the San Francisco Bay Area. I knew this before we moved back here, but it still hit me hard when I began to approach the market, especially coming from the very reasonable and lovely Sacramento region. One recent afternoon, my toddler asleep in my arms and thoughts of … Continue reading Tiny home, big ideas
Yisrael Family Farm: disrupting a food desert
In a stretch of Sacramento with hardly a grocery store in sight, Chanowk and Judith Yisrael broke the yoke of corporate life and are bringing about change for themselves and their community by growing their own produce and teaching their neighbors to do the same. It started in 2008 when Chanowk realized the economic downturn … Continue reading Yisrael Family Farm: disrupting a food desert
Seasteading, the new frontier
What a cool concept- the global community of sea-steaders are dreaming up a whole new way of life that could dramatically improve the way we interact with the environment, update how we define local governance, and upend the concept of borders. Today on KQED's Forum, Michael Krasny interviewed Patri Friedman (chairman of the board and co-founder … Continue reading Seasteading, the new frontier
Great Minds: Bill McDonough’s riveting insight on sustainable design
William (Bill) McDonough is a brilliant architect and designer focused on making sustainable buildings and products that plan for the well-being of "all children, all species, for all time." In this Ted Talk, McDonough shares some inspiring examples of his work, including the awesome, closed-system, sustainable cities he helped design in China. Take a look: … Continue reading Great Minds: Bill McDonough’s riveting insight on sustainable design
The Feedback Loop of a Circular Economy
I love the concepts and ideas in this post on Greenbiz.com about how to reduce waste in our consumer-based society: In the linear economy, achieving zero waste is impossible: Raw materials constantly are extracted to feed the production line, and those materials end up in landfills when they break down. With a system for material reincarnation, however, manufacturers … Continue reading The Feedback Loop of a Circular Economy
Minds in the Matter 