Why I Never Moved to Portland

My advice for young adults everywhere is this: pick an issue you’re passionate about and volunteer. You’ll meet people who care about the same things, and more importantly, you’ll be DOING SOMETHING to make the world a better place.

10 Stories of Transition in the US: Local 20/20’s Local Investing Opportunities Network

Inspired by Willits Economic Localization in Northern California, Local 20/20 in East Jefferson County, Washington formed in 2006 as an all-volunteer organization dedicated to promoting community-based self-reliance, sustainability, and resiliency.

Brewing, Local Economies and the Imagination

One of the most fascinating craft breweries in the UK can be found nestled in a series of arches beneath a railway bridge in Bermondsey in London. For the last 9 years, The Kernel, under the guidance of its founder Evin O’Riordan, have pioneered not just amazing and distinctive beers, but also an approach rooted in connection to place, to a different way of doing business.

3 Lessons for Building a Great Community: From a Very Small Town

Millbrook is located 15 miles northeast of Poughkeepsie in upstate New York. As of 2016, the population stood at 1,413. It’s a small village, but offers some big ideas when it comes to building a great community. Here are three important, scalable lessons offered by the small community…

The Good Life or the Ballot? Both you Say? I Say the Good Life First, the Ballot Second.

But there is hope. It is (as it has always been) in living the good life. Though such a course may fail, until it does so, it remains a source of happiness. It is now the only productive course we have to mitigate the worst of climate change. By all means speak to the powers – you never know – and this writer is frequently wrong – but without rapid and then hopefully fashionable personal change, there’s not a realistic hope in hell…

Stop the Buzz Killing Beer Barons!

Next time you reach for a cold beer on a hot summer day, you’ll have some uninvited drinking buddies: the beer barons. Two conglomerates now control 90 percent of U.S. beer production. They use their power to raise prices, squeeze out small brewers, and limit your choices at the corner store. This comes despite a thriving craft brewery culture.

We Did It: Sailing Cargo in the Aegean

We are proud to have resurrected sailing cargo in the Mediterranean after a global hiatus of several decades. Our SAIL MED organization has been working on this and related projects since 2013. We’re part of a global trend of moving cargo with clean, truly renewable energy. And it’s fun helping to advance timeless Greek culture, which I know sounds grandiose.

Sacramento Nonprofit Sol Collective Uplifts Communities Through Art and Activism

Sol Collective brings both the artist and activist communities together to collaborate on ideas and projects. In the past year, the space has hosted a wide array of concerts, films, poetry readings, open mic events, activism classes, health workshops, art exhibitions, social fundraisers, religious and cultural ceremonies, music performances, showcases, and theater performances.