Book Review: Deep Economy by Bill McKibben

Wed, 11 Apr 2007 15:59:01 GMT

Drive alone into a gated community in the suburbs, to park in a private, 2-car garage and hole up in a secret internet room. This is what our wealth has bought us, according to activist and author Bill McKibben: Ways to better seclude ourselves. In America, it's lonely being rich. Yet McKibben isn't preaching a simple "money won't bring you happiness" message (though that's a part of it). In his new book, Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future, McKibben is most concerned about our sense of self in a "hyper-individualized world," a world in which we've been conditioned to deprioritize personal connections with other human beings in the pursuit of individual success, monetary or otherwise. That's not to say we should all live in communes, in cramped, shared quarters. In fact, McKibben quickly points out that for some, money DOES buy happiness -- "right up to about $10,000 per capita income." If you're so poor that you're sleeping five to a tiny room, more money and the personal space that can buy may be just the thing to strive for. However, most of us reading TreeHugger (and those who can afford a copy of Deep Economy) face very much the opposite problem. We've bought ourselves too much personal space, too much individual time, too much loneliness. In fact, we've been conditioned to often think of others as "interruptions," impeding on our private space, time, and lofty ambitions.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

The Real Dirt on Farmer John

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 11:09:51 GMT

What do orange feather boas have to do with farming? For Midwestern farmer John Peterson, bright, glammy outfits work just fine for his 80-90 hour weeks on the Angelic Organics farm. "I love glitz, I love glitter, I love glamour," says Farmer John while driving a tractor through his farm in rural Illinois, in The Real Dirt on Farmer John, a documentary about his tempestuous relationship with the farming life. In The Real Dirt, Farmer John often goes about his work dressed to the campy nines, despite the fact that his neighbors have called him everything from a murderer to a devil-worshipper to a drug dealer for his unconventional, un-typically-Midwestern lifestyle. The story begins with Farmer John's childhood, which ends prematurely with the early death of his father. John turns his family farm into an artistic commune of sorts while a college student in the 70s, then faces major financial problems in the 80s when - 30 years old and a half million dollars in debt - he's forced to sell the bulk of his family land, bringing the 350-acre farm down to a 22-acre one. Depressed, Farmer John goes to Mexico for a few years, and discovers writing, penning a play and a number of short stories.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Siel's 100-Mile Diet Adventures Finale

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 09:39:07 GMT

[Missed out on previous 100-mile adventure posts? Here are part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5] Coffee's the first thing I have in the morning, as anyone who knows me or reads my blog knows. And most who drink coffee know that those beans doesn't grow within 100 miles of Los Angeles, where I live. This, I realize, must seem a contradiction of sorts for some readers. How can I say I'm doing the 100-mile diet when I drink coffee -- several cups of it -- every day? Well. I should also add that I also eat chocolate and bananas, also stuff that's grown far, far away. The way I eat, in fact, stands in sharp contrast to the way J.B. MacKinnon and Alisa Smith, the two people who started the 100-mile diet craze, went about things. Those kids seriously took things to the limit, losing 15 lbs and all. In fact, they gave up their near-vegan lifestyles to support their new local one (cue tears from vegan readers)... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Book Review: Fermenting Revolution

Tue, 27 Feb 2007 15:17:01 GMT

Want to save the world? Drink beer! Okay -- It's not as simple as that, but Christopher Mark O'Brien's beer book -- Fermenting Revolution: How to Drink Beer and Save the World -- clearly shows how your drinking habits can affect the world around you. Open this book while drinking your favorite local, organic beer, and you'll start to feel like you really ARE changing the world while getting tipsy -- and more informed. Fermenting Revolution covers a lot of ground. We get the history of beer, including its ties to major religions and its principal figures. We see what beer's made of and how it's brewed. We find out how brewing went from being a woman-led, home-based craft to a corporatized consumer item. Chris sees a huge gender imbalance in the making, marketing, and drinking of beer -- and calls for more female beer makers and drinkers! In fact, if you're a girl reading Chris's book, you're likely to at least consider brewing your own beer -- or even starting your own brewery -- at least for a few seconds. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

100-Mile Diet: Liquid Dinner

Mon, 12 Feb 2007 11:23:49 GMT

[Missed out on previous 100-mile adventure posts? Here are part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4] 100-mile dieters in Californians are lucky, because if a locally-grown meal somehow goes wrong, they can always buy a nice bottle of Californian wine to get their dinner guests tipsy pre-meal -- so the limitations of the meal go unnoticed. Of course, if the cooking still gets panned, then cooks have a nice local wine with which to drown their eco-sorrows -- This Californian privilege is something I've been excited about for a long, long time -- excited enough to put together a somewhat comprehensive list of yummy, organic wines made from California-grown grapes. After all, if we can pick and choose, why go with conventional, pesticide-sprayed grapes? 100-mile dieting wine aficionados can pick from organic, sulfite-free, and biodynamic wines! Of course, price plays a big role too, for a graduate student like me -- though perhaps that'll become less of an issue, as Californian wines are expected to become cheaper. But for now, Five Hills Blue tops my wines-to-buy list. These organic wines are an amazing bargain at just $5.99 a bottle.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

100-Mile Diet: Bread!

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 10:28:35 GMT

[Previous 100-mile adventure posts are here, here, and here] For would-be 100-mile-dieters with a life, sandwiches are de rigeur. But sandwiches are made of bread, and most people don't bake their own loaves. So -- How does one locate 100-mile-friendly bread? After reading Alisa Smith and James MacKinnon's romantic story about finding a local, under-the-radar, passionate wheat farmer on Vancouver Island, I was determined to do the same. Then I read a bunch of farm bill related stuff -- which made it clear that California was growing a lot of wheat that its residents weren't eating -- and I started getting a bit depressed. This is what I've found out: While California's a state that produces a good amount of wheat, finding bread made with Cali-grown wheat is no easy task. Why? Most Californian wheat appears to be designated for cattle. This wheat is not going to be yummy for bread-eating humans.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

100 Mile Diet: Grass-Fed Bison, Anyone?

Wed, 27 Dec 2006 00:22:41 GMT

[Previous 100-mile adventure posts: Part I and Part II] A secret of the Santa Monica farmers' market: It's heaven for ethical carnivores (If you believe that phrase to be an oxymoron, skip to paragraph 3). Looking for free range, organic, grass-fed beef or pork? Stop at the Rocky Canyon Produce booth, which delivers its eco-meats from Atascadero, Calif. Can't live without Grass-fed bison? Lindner Bison, from Northern Calif., is there for you! There's fish too -- but the booth was too crowded for me to elbow in for more info.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

100 Mile Diet: Insta-Garden, Insta-Meal

Mon, 04 Dec 2006 10:48:11 GMT

[Previous 100-mile adventure post] Do you ever get eco-overwhelmed? Let me explain what I mean. I'll think: I should do the 100-mile diet. Then, I'll think: I should start a porch garden for my 100-mile-diet. Then, I'll think: I should start a compost for the porch garden for my 100-mile diet. Then, I'll think: I should take a composting class so I can start a compost for the porch garden for my 100-mile diet. Ad infinitum. Luckily, I managed to stop my brain-whirl long enough to actually take some 100-mile-diet action. I set up a recurring alarm on my celly for Wednesday morning, so I'd get to the farmers' market before it closed. This one little step not only got me some yummy, local food, but it also gave me my own little herb garden.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Faernyn's Grove: Wedding Gowns and Fetish Wear, Eco-Style

Fri, 24 Nov 2006 16:22:07 GMT

Rene Geneva's Faernyn's Grove is bringing sexy back to Treehuggers with a line of couture fashion -- from corsets to wedding dresses to goth costumes -- made with sustainable materials using fair labor practices. These funky, eclectic pieces, all designed by Rene herself, are created with formaldehyde-free silk, recycled textiles and organic cotton, hemp, and bamboo fabrics. All of these are sourced, says Rene, "directly from weavers who live in the villages where the cotton is grown, where the silk is gathered, and where the money is needed most" whenever possible.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Black Gold: A Coffee Film That Has Starbucks Scared

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 06:02:22 GMT

Treehuggers have probably heard about fair trade coffee, but many aren't familiar with it - and even more don't quite know what fair trade means, or why it's necessary. Despite the fact that a coffee crisis has been financially devastating coffee growers around the world, even as western corporations make a lot of money from coffee sales, the problem still doesn't get much coverage in the mainstream media. Luckily, Black Gold's hit the theaters. This documentary puts the paradoxes of coffee trade under a glaring, illuminating light. The film juxtaposes how the coffee drinkers of the western world gladly pay $3-$5 for our high-priced espresso drinks, fattening the bottom lines of our corporations - while the crushingly poor farmers producing those yummy espresso beans barely make ends meet.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

100 Mile Diet: I Never Promised You a Tomato Garden

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 11:57:10 GMT

When I joined the 100-mile diet, I felt psyched, energized, inspired. I felt greener than green. For a second. Then all those serious, life-altering questions began to cloud my green mind. You know - the really important ones, like, "Will I have to give up vodka?" Clearly, this is the question that makes most would-be 100-mile dieters give up. But let me back up a bit. What's a 100-mile diet, you ask? The premise is simple: Only eat things produced within 100 miles from you.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

TreeHugger Welcomes Writer Siel

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 00:29:55 GMT

Siel is a graduate student and writer in sunny Southern California. She's out to revamp green consumer culture, one fair trade cup of coffee at a time. In addition to writing for Treehugger, she blogs regularly at Green LA Girl and edits WorldChanging Los Angeles.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Recent Posts by TreeHugger's Siel, Los Angeles