Go-Getter Gets Governments Going on Sustainability (120)

Energetic Kris Holstrom is the first Sustainability Coordinator for Telluride and a smart Colorado county. The action plan she developed encompasses energy efficiency and renewables, green building, food and water security, economy, and recycling/resource recovery. She … [Read more...]

Little House on a Small Planet (119)

Builder and author Shay Salomon finds that the happiest home builders are often the ones with the smallest houses. They're less costly to build and maintain, more likely to be finished, use fewer resources and help people simplify their lives. One version of "smaller" is to … [Read more...]

Protecting Your Money in a Declining Economy (118)

Are we in the perfect financial storm? Marc Cuniberti, a market analyst and host of "Money Matters" on our local community radio station KVMR, thinks so. Marc talks about the cause of inflation (rising prices are just a symptom) and how you can stop it with a candy bar! He … [Read more...]

The Bicycling Horticulturalist (117)

Ryan Nassichuk builds food gardens for people. His bicycle and trailer are the sole transport for himself, tools, and materials - including soil and plants! This horticulturist also builds container gardens and composters. Tour a backyard garden in which a 6-week class of … [Read more...]

Looking at The Big Moral Question (116)

"What's going to happen to our kids?" When Bruce Anderson read "The Limits to Growth' in the 1970s, he learned that nothing in nature grows forever -- including the human economy. As we rapidly use everything up, we're now reaching those limits and entering a crisis of … [Read more...]

Calm Before the Storm (115)

Richard Heinberg, author of "Peak Everything", reviews the accelerating events since mid-2007, including the credit crunch and fossil fuel price volatility, noting that we've missed most of the best opportunities to manage collapse. He asks, "how far down the staircase of … [Read more...]

“Team Fate” – Under the Hood of a Next-Gen Plug-in Hybrid (114)

Take a tour of a plug-in electric hybrid modification of a 1996 Mercury Sable, with UC Davis graduate students Patrick Kaufman and Bryan Jungers. Under the hood you'll see modifications and some interesting new components. Unlike commercial hybrids — primarily combustion … [Read more...]

“Team Fate” – Designing the Next Generation Hybrid (113)

Students at UC Davis Hybrid Vehicle Research Center have been creating plug-in hybrids for national competitions for some time. "Team Fate" members Bryan Jungers and Patrick Kaufman describe how they "gut" the drive train of a standard vehicle, replacing it with an electric … [Read more...]

Learning From the Collapse of Earlier Societies (112)

According to Professor Guy Prouty, every civilization rises, evolves, and then collapses to a simpler structure -- and this will include our own. Comparing America with the Western Roman Empire, Prouty notes the over-reach of our military, the unsustainability of capitalism, … [Read more...]

We Make the Road by Walking – White Oak Farm CSA

Amidst cob-wall plastering in the background, co-director Stacey Denton relays the story of the first years at White Oak Farm and Educational Center in Oregon: Acquiring the 62 acres of food and pasture and protecting it through conservation easements, and creating a … [Read more...]

...