Green Space Increases City-Dwellers’ Wellbeing

As much as humanity tries to separate itself from “nature” –paving over city streets with concrete and erecting large, unnatural structures that block out natural elements and creatures– we can not escape the fact that we too are animals.  Humans are connected to every part of the natural world, and as such, we are nature-philic.  We […]

Remember Your Roots: Yosemite HD and the Pale Blue Dot

In an increasingly marketized, built, and technological world, it is easy to think of ‘nature’ as being something ‘out there’; something we build society away from, constructing large structures and technologies that will shelter us from natural elements that ‘threaten’ comfortable human lives.  In fact, we can’t talk about environmental change that is not socio-environmental […]

Mimicking Fireflies to Make LED Lights More Efficient

Scientists have figured out how to make LED lights 55% more efficient by taking a closer look at the natural world.  In a time when energy efficiency is paramount to the survival of our ecosystems, what better teacher is there than nature? Both fireflies and lightbulbs have an external membrane around the light source that […]

The Noble Truths

Buddhism offers a simple and straightforward way of looking at the world and what it means to live a moral and humble life.  It is not based on any sort of almighty God, as Buddha never claimed to be a God or a prophet of any kind.  Rather, Buddhist teachings help us to understand our […]

A Real Life Hobbit House! Sustainable and Cheap Living

This real life ‘Hobbit house’ is astounding.  The owner, Simon Dale, built it in 4 months and spent under $5,000 in total.  It is built with all natural and reclaimed materials, and generates its own electricity through solar panels.  There is a naturally cooled refrigerator in the house, and the residents enjoy fresh spring water […]

Conserving Your Inner Nature

Buddhism is not selective; it is not a typical religion.  It’s not about converting or not converting to Buddhism, but rather what can you take and learn from Buddhist thought? How can your life be improved by any aspect of Buddhist philosophy or practice? If you benefit in any way from conducting yourself in line […]

The ‘Land Ethic’

“A land ethic changes the role of Homo sapiens from conqueror of the land community to plain member and citizen of it…it implies respect for his fellow-members, and also respect for the community as such.” –Aldo Leopold Aldo Leopold is a well-known American author, scientist, ecologist, and environmentalist.  In his most famous work, A Sand […]