I want more on this too. Amazon’s monopoly has made it so hard to find alternative online stores to buy a lot of stuff, particularly if I don’t already know the name of a trusted manufacturer off the top of my head. Even competitor companies like Target and Walmart often offer less selection with higher prices and slower shipping. Also why is it that online retailers seem so scammy these days? Most brands seem to be new/disposable Chinese company names I’ve never heard of and reviews seem inflated/bot generated.

It seems like my local thrift store has the best quality to price for a lot of stuff, but they don’t always have something I’m looking for

I replaced my gas water heater with a heat pump water heater. It’s great! I live in a humid climate and having the extra cooling/dehumidifying in the summer is a great bonus. It does make the basement noticably colder all year round though. The energy/financial savings are essentially, I get free hot water in the summer, and a little extra demand for heating the house in the winter.

Recovery time is not really noticeable unless we have company staying with us. My Rheem unit has a “High Demand” mode that kicks on both the heat pump and resistive elements to provide recovery comparable to a gas heater.

The old heater was end of life and the local incentives made it cheaper to install a heat pump water heater than any other type. 15-20 years is considered end of life, most warranties only go to 10 years.

Most tank water heaters have a sacrificial rod or two regardless of heat source

Tankless water heaters are really only practical with burning either oil or gas, the main benefit being you’ll never run out of hot water.

Undecided with Matt Ferrell has a good video on heat pump water heaters Technology Connections has a good video on home electrification

Edit: find a contractor(s) who know how to work with local incentives. Federal tax credits were ended by the “Big Beautiful Bill” last year.

Two of the worst sustainability issues with US agriculture practice is that we use too much land to feed livestock and inefficiently fuel cars. Growing plant-based protein sources uses about 90% fewer resources and land compared to say beef. A good 25-30% of our corn is also used inefficiently to create fuel for cars, relevant Technology Connections video. So reducing meat consumption and replacing a fraction of the corn fields with solar panels would free up a lot more land that could be used to directly feed humans and more efficiently power electric vehicles.

Dave Brandt is his name, he has some good educational seminars

No till farming significantly reduces the need for fertilizer, while reducing costs for farmers and reducing water pollution.

It was a cause championed by honest work farmer guy meme too:

They argue that they are preventing waste and fraud by holding doctors accountable. Like “oh if we didn’t have this power then doctors would order so many unnecessary tests and prescriptions”

(Not defending them, just sharing what they say)

Commenting, so sophisticated

Others.have already mentioned art. I also see fashion as a way to make me feel more confident about myself. If I feel like I look good, it adds to the messages I’m sharing with the people I interact with

Agreed.

There’s several examples of >2min speeches that hit super hard: Luthen’s “I need all the heros I can get”, Karis’ “random acts of rebellion”, the “one way out” speech, Mon Mothma’s final speech.

There’s huge character growth and complexity for most of the main characters. Although I guess Syril never had much character growth, but that was kinda the point of his obsessive character. And they really showed how the rebellion grew from basically nothing

Nicotine addiction isn’t a habit, it’s an addiction. If you smoke, quitting is the number one thing you can do to improve your health. In the US you can call 1-800-QUIT-NOW or visit Lung.org for free evidence-based resources to help with quitting.

Nicotine addiction isn’t a willful habit, it’s an addiction. If you smoke, quitting is the number one thing you can do to improve your health. In the US you can call 1-800-QUIT-NOW or visit Lung.org for free evidence-based resources to help with quitting.

Your local public transit card

I disagree , electricity transportation is superior to fossil fuel transportation. 40% of all oceanic shipping traffic is for fossil fuels, which consumes more energy. Plus all of the land based fossil fuel shipping. Investing in grid infrastructure makes the grid more resilient to disasters and distributes energy more directly and efficiently than by vehicle or pipeline. Plus the benefits of less congested shipping, rail, and road routes, less air pollution, and less noise pollution for sea life.

Find a supportive and fulfilling community that is trying to make things better locally. I’ve found this at my Unitarian Universalist (UU) church. UU’s don’t believe in a shared religious text, instead they have a core set of shared values. My church has people who identify as atheist, Christian, several types of pagan, Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim, etc. We celebrate religious holidays from all of them as well as secular holidays like Trans Day of Visibility and Earth day. The focus is on being together and trying to make the world a better place. There’s active volunteer groups for hunger relief, housing support, the environment, and LGBTQ support. I also really like the music program. There’s a handy website to find a congregation near you, many stream services on Zoom so you can test them out before going in person. They can vary a lot based on the members of each congregation.

They give fine grain details on the Chance For Hope Foundation page. There are some pieces of info the charity posts transparently, but they’re missing critical items like any financial statements. The Charity Navigator rating system basically only recommends donating to charities with a perfect 4 star rating.

There are many great organizations out there doing awesome work. The website Charity Navigator does a good job rating different organizations for their transparency and how much of their funds are actually spent on their mission. They gave the “charity” mentioned in the article a 2 star rating.

Flood insurance largely is only government run, it’s far too costly for private companies. The flood insurance program started paying for people to not rebuild

Live recordings/performances of the Revivalists have this vibe! Their music that makes it to the radio is so sanitized.

https://youtu.be/3-_llE-CiNs

https://on.soundcloud.com/Y0n5bdhKJPyfcPsrY5

At least for me, I’m in the water snorkeling, scuba diving, or boogey boarding

Idk about the people who just simply lounge on the beach though, sounds boring

Not strictly about boundaries, but I think you’d like the Evolving Self by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. It goes a lot into how to consider your priorities in life and what you want to spend your time on