The Building a Better World Podcast Shawn Klassen-Koop

The world's problems are massive and overwhelming. Fortunately, for nearly every global problem there are solutions we can implement in our backyard that, at the same time, save us money and help provide more luxuriant lives.

In this introductory episode, Shawn Klassen-Koop discusses his preferred approaches to solving the world's problems from his book "Building a Better World in Your Backyard - Instead of Being Angry at Bad Guys." He talks about what inspired him to work on the book and shares the unique story of how he got together with Paul Wheaton, owner of permies.com, to co-write the book that Paul had been wanting to write for years.

This will be a fixed-length series of 26 short episodes that will introduce some of the ideas and solutions presented in the book. 

For more about the book, visit buildingabetterworldbook.com.

The list of global problems is huge. But a lot of them are related. This episode covers 5 problems that are holding us back from living a happy, healthy, life on a sustainable planet. And since Shawn doesn't enjoy talking about the problems, he'll also start introducing some solutions for each of them.

The five biggest environmental problems are:

1. Environmentalist vs. Environmentalist: Greenwashing and infighting are holding us back from making massive progress.

2. The Wicked Lies About Light Bulbs: Lighting is such a trivial part of our environmental impact and yet it seems to be the only thing that a lot of people want to talk about.

3. Carbon Footprint: A changing climate has significant impacts on the Earth's ecosystem, which we rely on for our food, our shelter, our air, and so much more.

4. Petroleum Footprint: Very much related to #3 but focused on separately because it's also a limited resource. We need to learn to live with way less of it eventually. Might as well start now.

5. Toxic Footprint: People are getting sick at an alarming rate. Nearly everyone seems to be taking some thing for some problem.

For each of these problems, there are things we can do at home to make a significant difference. Things that can save money and provide us a more luxuriant life! 

To learn more, visit buildingabetterworldbook.com.

The most effective way to make your voice heard is not writing letters, signing petitions, or going to a protest. It's making the right choices each and every day.

Angry about the impacts of fracking? Vote with your wallet.

Want a food system that heals the planet instead of destroying it? Vote with your wallet.

Want to make big change happen? Vote with your wallet.

And remember, voting with your wallet doesn't always have to mean spending more. It can mean spending less and saving a bunch of money to put towards something else that you are passionate about. 

To learn more visit buildingabetterworldbook.com.

Having conversations with others about environmentalism can be extremely frustrating - even with other environmentalists.

It's important to remember that life is a journey, and different people are at different places on their journey. And the things they want to talk about where they are on their journey might be much different from what we want to talk about from where we are on our journey. Being aware of this is an important first step in understanding how to help each other move forward together to increase our positive impact in building a better world.

For more about the book, visit buildingabetterworldbook.com.

Most of us heat our homes by heating all of the air in the whole house and then blowing it around in the hopes that it will eventually heat some people. Why not just heat the people instead?

By focusing on heating the person instead of heating the space, it is possible to save up to 90% of the money you spend on heat! In a cold climate this can be hundreds of dollars per year!

Each person will have their own comfort level with these techniques. Maybe some will actually save 90% while others will only save 50%. Still, 50% is a big deal! That could reduce your carbon footprint by many tons!

For more about Building a Better World in Your Backyard - Instead of Being Angry at Bad Guys, visit buildingabetterworldbook.com.

In a cold climate, heat is almost 2/3 of home energy use.

Rocket mass heaters are super efficient wood-fired heaters that are pretty much smokeless and use one tenth of the wood of a conventional wood stove. They can be built for as little as a few hundred dollars and a weekend's worth of time.

Using sustainably harvested wood as fuel, or even junk mail, the burn on a well-built rocket mass heater is so clean that installing one could potentially cut 27 tons off your carbon footprint and save many hundreds of dollars per year!

buildingabetterworldbook.com