Category Intro: Low-Footprint Living

This whole site is dedicated to low-footprint living, so “low-footprint living” is my default main category that applies to pretty much all posts on this blog. Even when I’m writing about (for example) some childhood memory or current personal issue, it will be connected somehow to low-footprint living.

welcome to DEEP GREEN blog!

Greetings! This blog is dedicated to helping you reduce your eco-footprint for personal and planetary benefit.

Although a low-footprint lifestyle is fun and rewarding, it is not always easy, even if you are doing it for your own benefit (for example, to attain financial freedom; to free up your time; to radically simplify your life so you can focus on what really matters to you.) The dominant mainstream culture has waste and hyper-consumerism baked into every layer of life. A person setting out to live light on the earth encounters many obstacles both physical and cultural. (Car-dependent housing developments; unavoidable single-use plastics; buildings designed to require climate control 24-7 … to name just a few.)

That’s where this blog comes in. I’m here to offer you tips, resources, and moral support. The posts aren’t in any particular order; I write about things as they pop into my mind. If you’re new here, you might find it helpful to start by reading these posts:

Cultural Roots of the Eco Crisis

Footprint Isn’t Everything

You could also start by reading my book DEEP GREEN, a concise orderly guide to crafting your own ultra-low-footprint lifestyle. You can read it for free here on this blog; and you can order your own print copy as well. Also, since the book was published way back in 2017, I have added a 2023 preface (which is currently available only here online since I didn’t get it done before deciding to make a mini print run of 50 copies for the FRESH Book Festival).

A final note: I don’t post here every day. I might even go weeks or months without posting. Important as writing is to my mission, it’s only one of my channels for actualizing the “Grassroots Green Mobilization.” Whether or not you see new posts on this blog, I am always active and always here for you. You can engage with me on Facebook or Twitter; you can email or call me; you can book me to give a talk, presentation, or workshop for your group.

Enjoy this blog, and thanks for helping me create a kinder, saner, greener world!

Greening the Desert

“Most deserts are manmade.” — One of my favorite quotes from rainwater harvesting expert Brad Lancaster. The flipside good news is, deserts can be transformed back into lush fertile land by the same species that created them! Check out #GreeningTheDesert Geoff Lawton; #HarvestingRainwater Brad Lancaster; #GreywaterOasis Art Ludwig.

The photo at the top shows an example of human-induced desertification in my city (where we get about 49 inches of rainfall annually!). Fortunately it’s easy to fix this. Add mulch, and plants. Notice in the second photo, the lush belt of tall grasses and other plants in the background behind the mowed area. The plants pictured here are naturally occurring and drought-tolerant. My name for dense belts, clumps, and borders of low-maintenance vegetation is “puffy landscaping.” Not only is puffy landscaping pretty; it’s also good for drought-resistance, flood control, heat-island mitigation, and erosion control among other things.

If you really love and use your lawn, that’s fine, but consider letting the grass grow a bit more between cuttings. Just a block away from the dismal over-mowed lot where I took the first picture, my neighbor’s lawn grows lush and green with no fertilizer and minimal irrigation, simply because she lets it grow about 4″ high instead of scalping it.

The steps we take to address desertification can also mitigate the negative consequences of urban sprawl and development. If you’re a person who loves trees and wildlife, it’s all too easy to sink into despair in the face of development’s relentless march. Big-box stores; multi-lane roads; vast parking lots. But (in addition to getting organized and vocal) there’s something else that you and I as everyday citizens can do to help mitigate the impacts of over-pavement. We can nurture more of a forest or prairie environment in our yards. Natives, edibles, trees, tall grasses. Reverse the de-vegetation trend! Start a grass-roots urban re-forestation movement! Another term I’ve coined, along with “puffy landscaping,” is “infill forestation.”