This Sustainable Life

Tim Smit is the co-founder and Vice Chairman of the Eden Project in Cornwall, in the southwest of England.He turned a lifeless, poisoned abandoned mine into a bountiful green world-class garden people love to visit. Eden has attracted millions of visitors and billions of pounds. Tim is a consummate doer---not complainer or blamer---and an environmental campaign and entrepreneur, Tim tells how he met challenges he couldn't have foreseen. I love that Tim has no special skills. He did what needed doing to finish the project, then to take it to the next level each time. How did he learn what needed doing? By doing the steps before it.(Are you not starting because you don't know how to do some later stage? Start with what you can, get as far as you can, and solve each thing when you reach it. That's what Tim did. That's what everyone successful did to become successful.)Tim's wisdom is useful for anyone looking to make a difference. You just have to start.(Bonus points if you can tell what Tim Smit has in common with Anuta Catuna, winner of the New York City Marathon.) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris Bailey shares how to focus and create intention---how to become more productive on the outside and live with more meaning and purpose on the inside by focusing on what is important to you.Focus isn't necessarily easy, but Chris shares from personal experience that anyone can improve theirs.He shares to slow down and focus on less in order to make a larger impact. Modern society motivates the opposite, with marketers and advertisers learning and practicing more effective ways to attract and distract you. They tell you they want to help you achieve and enjoy more, but they distract you from what Chris lives and shares.People judge us as leaders by our behavior. Focus affects how we perceive the world and how people perceive us. It's essential to being effective at leadership or any performance-based activity. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I want to differentiate between telling people facts and what to do or what they should do on one side, and leading them on the other.I see a lot of people telling others what to do. Not a lot of people leading. Martin Luther King led people to choose and want to go to jail to create freedom. That's leadership. He had no authority over them. He didn't convince them to do it. He didn't change their values. He gave them a way to achieve their goals of equality and justice.Well, we moved on that path since we haven't achieved it, but he led them.While he also went to jail, I'm talking about more than leading by example. Even without going to jail, King led people. Eisenhower led D-Day though he didn't fight in it. In neither case did they just tell people what to do or just model what to do.I'm talking about connecting with people's values -- what they care about -- and motivating people by their motivations, leading them to a better life, not just compliance.Almost nobody is leading like that today. As a result, nobody is being led and we, at least in the United States and most of the world polluting the most, are keeping doing what created the problem, choosing not to act productively.Of course, many people are acting productively, but it seems to me they would have anyway. They weren't led. The overwhelming majority of people won't budge from comfort and convenience without leadership. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many people think if you just reason enough, you'll get to what's right and wrong in a way everyone will believe.This happens in the environment and many other places in life. In the environment, you may believe we should pass a law limiting emissions. When you hear another person suggest that that law might hurt jobs, you might think if you convince the other person through reason, they'll come to agree with you.Experience has shown me, and probably you, that trying to convince people tends to provoke debate. I'll show you why trying to convince others and change their behavior through reasoning usually backfires. Convincing and logical debate often leads people to reinforce their positions and dislike you.They think emotion gets in the way and confuses us from seeing clearly what's right and wrong.They don't understand reason, nor emotion, nor how the human mind works regarding judgment. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How do we elect people, including a United States President, who act on and steward the environment?I'm going to present a plan that I believe can win the next election that transcends the usual divisions that led to today's political situation, political misery, feelings of futility, and filth that we live in in air, land, and water, as well as our bodies.The links and images I referred to:'Disgusting' piles of trash a fixture outside NYC's first 'green' school, residents sayNew York City stops sewage train to Alabama after residents complain of ‘horrific’ smellSan Francisco’s crisis looks like New York’s futureNew York City's 1895 trash and sewage transformation   Buzzfeed videos on getting fithttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm7OtVr7yCEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wXbPghYuRshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okM3OYaBQGgMy electric bill My electric Martha Graham's quoteHere is the quote:The dancer is realistic. His craft teaches him to be. Either the foot is pointed or it is not. No amount of dreaming will point it for you. This requires discipline, not drill, not something imposed from without, but discipline imposed by you yourself upon yourself.Your goal is freedom. But freedom may only be achieved through discipline. In the studio you learn to conform, to submit yourself to the demands of your craft, so that you may finally be free.Here it is in her voice:[archiveorg MarthaGrahamFree width=640 height=480 frameborder=0 webkitallowfullscreen=true mozallowfullscreen=true]Over a year to fill one bag of garbagehttps://youtu.be/L0Ud7gqcIMgFeeding 50 people with no packaging at under $3 per personSee the pictures of the event here. Note everyone enjoying themselves. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

First world people pollute hundreds of times more than third world people yet the material prosperity doesn't translate to greater happiness.We could reduce our waste by 75% while improving our quality of life, yet we claim we can't do it.Yet we travel to the third world to change them!Leaders are more effective when humble than proud. Paternalism rarely helps any relationships.In this post I explore how we in the first world act with paternalism and pride to justify our extravagant, wasteful behavior, missing how we could learn from others. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People ask if I think we can make it out of our environmental mess.I don't know, but I act on my values.Many examples of cultural change suggest we can make it, includingSmokingDrunk drivingSeat beltsLeaded gas and paintThe ozone layerBike lanes in New York CityMy podcast guestsMy podcastStarting a sustainability committeeand more Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How we treat our bodies is how we are treating our environment.How we treat the environment is how we are treating our bodies.The fat and CO2 concentrations aren't the cause of the problem. The are the effects.The cause is our behavior. Our behavior is rooted in our beliefs, emotions, and behaviors.If we want to change the effects, we have to change the causes, which is our behavior and changing behavior is the realm of leadership.Our environmental and obesity-related behaviors, beliefs, emotions, and motivations are more similar than different, they come from similar cultural trends, they have documented problems of disease and death no matter how people change standards to accept them, there's just no changing standards on suffering and death, and the way out is through leadership. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Evelina Utterdahl travels more than most. She writes travel columns. She loves travel as much as anyone, maybe more.Yet she chooses not to fly, as she wrote in Why I have chosen to travel the world without flying.If you've had trouble aligning your life with your values, you may learn from her. Part of a growing number of people who think before they fly, she chooses not to fly not out of ignorance or guilt butExperienceSelf-awarenessDesire to learn and growStewardship of her environment and communityFunin other words, the important skills of leadership, teamwork, and business success.She's practicing in living by her values what many wish we could do but don't have the courage to."Wait," you might say. "Isn't she missing out on the best parts of life? What about family and making a living? I have work. She must not. Probably a trust fund kid."On the contrary. She has the same obligations as anyone else. As you'll see, she has learned to get the value and experience of travel without the environmental costs.Fun, joy, discoverySince I avoid flying too, I finally found someone I could share our mutual fun, joy, and discovery, not the usual arguments everyone gives about how flying is necessary.This conversation shows two people sharing joy about something people considered impossible. Prepare for your beliefs to be challenged. Prepare to grow. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bea has become a role model, maybe even a hero to me.People keep saying they're impressed with my waste. It's easy to allow your standards to slide.One problem: my fellow Americans waste more than nearly anyone in human history. I don't want to relax my cleanliness and integrity.Bea has reduced waste for longer and has spoken more about it. She knows what works, what doesn't, how to express it, and more.Most of all, she enjoys it. Like anyone, she started with doubt and incredulity. She worked through the challenges, which shows that you can too.In our conversation she shares what works, how to start, how to face and overcome challenges, and, most of all, how to enjoy living by your values. As with everyone who takes on the difficult challenge of choosing between a deep value and comfort and convenience, the choice improved her life.You will find your life improves the same.Listening to Bea will get you started.For tips and insights on her waste-free lifestyle, join her on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (@zerowastehome).And watch her videos, including her multiple TEDx talks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.