Living Tiny, Finding Community (256)

When we met Logan Smith and Tammy Strobel in A Young Couple Find Freedom in Simple Living, they'd already gotten out of debt and simplified their lives. (Tammy's book You Can Buy Happiness (and It's Cheap) recounts how they did it.) Fulfilling a long-held dream, they're now … [Read more...]

Simple Living Enables Dreams – A Tiny House Tour

July 29, 2013: Chico, California. After visiting with our friend Mary Nelson, we biked to the Tiny House where Logan Smith and Tammy Strobel are now living. Their dedication to simple living has enabled them to achieve several dreams since we taped Young Couple Find Freedom … [Read more...]

An Eco-Sense House – Natural Building, Natural Living (230)

The Eco-Sense House is alive! From dream (see episode 103) to reality. Its curving cob walls embrace Ann and Gord Baird's three-generation family. A living roof offers summer cooling and filters winter rains stored for garden water. The composting toilet provides rich soil … [Read more...]

Simplicity, Joy and Social Change (220)

When Cecile Andrews asked herself, "What matters?" the answer popped up: "Having time to do the things you want to do." She simplified her life, quit her full-time job, and started simplicity circles to support others in savoring life. Now she has expanded into neighborhood … [Read more...]

An Earthen House Built by Hand (215)

"I think it's very very important to know you can provide things for yourself… build your own house… grow your own food… make your own medicine." Walking his talk, Greg Crawford shows the magical wattle-and-cob house he built with hand tools using local materials: alder … [Read more...]

Practice Collapse Now and Avoid the Rush

 I piled the laundry basket into the wheelbarrow and headed towards the Lone Bobcat Woods house. We'd agreed with our renter to share the washing machine. As I pushed the 'barrow about a quarter mile to the house in the warm sun, I thought of John Michael Greer's recent … [Read more...]

Two Households, One Car (213)

At first Judy Alexander was reluctant to share a car with neighbors Richard and Sue Dandridge. But their invitation intrigued her, especially since her aging car felt unsafe for long trips. After a trial year, she found the arrangement freeing and sold her car. Judy and … [Read more...]

Young Lawyers Lower the Bar to a Sharing Economy (210)

"Sharing really is going to save the world!" declares Janelle Orsi, author of The Sharing Solution, noting that it's fun, doesn't require special skills — and we can start now. She and Jennifer Kassan co-founded the Sustainable Economies Law Center to help people formalize … [Read more...]

Growing Up in the First Great Depression (209)

Janaia's mother Rowena grew up in a blue collar family during the 1930s. The kids helped their mom in her own pie delivery business while their dad did construction odd jobs. In this cash-only society, they lived on what they could pay for. She recalls losing her only pair … [Read more...]

Best of 2011 – Pushing the Boundaries (vol 1)

Our top choices from the 2011 Peak Moment TV conversations (volume 1 of 2). The Vegetarian Myth, Lierre Keith How the West Has Won, Derrick Jensen Awakening the Village Heart and Mind, Brandy McPherson Portable House, Simple Life, Dee Williams Four conversations, … [Read more...]