The Low Density Lifestyle Out at Sea, Part 1

This is the last week for this series on sustainable/green living, and for this last week I have one last 3-part interview.

During this series, I’ve interviewed the actor and environmental activist Ed Begley Jr., and the author of the best-selling book No Impact Man, Colin Beavan.

This week I have an interview with people, although not famous, that have something really great to discuss.

They are Andrea and Karl Matson-Dekay, they are old friends of mine, and I thought it would be cool to hear from them because of the life they are living.

They are living a Low Density Lifestyle out at sea.

Andrea and Karl, along with their two boys, Casey, age 16, and Patrick, age 11, have been living on their sailboat for the last 5 years.

They hail from Southern CA, and one day 5 years ago they sold their house, bought a sailboat and set off to sail. For the first 1 1/2 years they actually stayed in California, living in Northern CA.

But for the last 3 1/2 years they’ve been out to sea and primarily living in Mexico.

They live a simple lifestyle and a sustainable one. It’s fascinating to hear of how they do it, and how they got away from the rat race to live, not an alternative lifestyle, but a sane lifestyle.

So listen today to part 1 of the interview, and come back this week for the next two parts. You will be thoroughly inspired to take stock of your life and wonder how you too can live a simple life, a sustainable life, a happy life, and ultimately, a Low Density Life.

You may not do it by setting sail and heading out to sea, but in your way you too can do it.

An Exclusive Interview with Ed Begley, Jr. – Part 2

Today I continue with the exclusive interview I recently did with the actor and environmental activist Ed Begley, Jr.

If you missed the first part of the interview, here is Part 1 of the exclusive interview with Ed Begley, Jr.

Ed Begley, Jr. has been an environmentalist longer than he has been an actor, so his ideas are well-thought out, and his actions follow from there.

Here then is the second part of the interview:

Michael Wayne: Do you think if our country and economy moved in the direction of becoming a more green economy, that it would cause an economic renaissance? And if so, why do you think this would be? And what is holding us back from moving in that direction?

Ed Begley, Jr.: I’m not an economist, but the U.S. does need to continue to be a leader in the technologies of the future.  I think there are good jobs making solar panels, wind turbines, electric cars, hybrid cars.  I hope these industries grown in the U.S. and I hope they do contribute to an economic recovery.  Our government can continue to encourage growth in these areas as well.

M.W.: What do you think of lawns?

E.B.: As a residential décor, I’m not a huge fan.  I think we can do better things with our water and still have beautiful landscaping that can include native, drought tolerant plants and fresh, organic fruits / vegetables to eat.

M.W.: What made you decide to become a vegetarian?

E.B.: It made me feel healthier, and allowed me to contribute to a lower personal carbon footprint as well.

M.W.: The United Nations issued a report a few years back stating that meat consumption did more to affect climate change than all cars, trucks and planes combined. This lead Paul McCartney to start the Meat Free Monday campaign, urging people to not eat meat one day a week. Do you think not eating meat one day a week is enough to help halt global warming?

E.B.: No, but it’s a step in the right direction.  I always encourage people to expand their green diet.  It’s a good choice for the environment and for your health.

M.W.: What’s your opinion on organic and sustainable foods?

E.B.: I think it’s an important part of our future, and something that people can get involved with right away.

M.W.: What type of vehicle do you drive?

E.B.: My transportation hierarchy goes like this:  1) walking, 2) biking, 3) public transportation, 4) electric car, 5) hybrid car.  When I have to drive, I currently use a Toyota Rav4 EV.  I hope to replace it with an American electric soon.  When I have to drive long distances, I borrow my wife’s Prius.

M.W.: You ride a hybrid electric bike. How does that work?

E.B.: It’s a regular bike that also has an electric motor and battery to assist you.  I don’t use it too often any more, as I’ve made a conscious effort to get back on my bike every day. I’m in good bike shape again and using my road and mountain bikes almost exclusively now.

M.W.: You have a new book coming out in August. What is the name of it, and what do you hope to accomplish with the book?

E.B.: Actually it came out last August – it’s called Ed Begley, Jr’s. Guide to Sustainable Living. It was the follow up to my first book Living Like Ed.  Living Like Ed was sort of a summary of my 40 year journey.  The new book is a more advance treatise for people that really want to get into this stuff.  The purpose of the new book was to give people a roadmap on how to approach sustainability and in what order.  The first section of the book is about home energy audits – that is the place where everyone should start.  I wanted to make sure people were thinking about efficiency and saving money first, and not getting hung up with the sexy shiny objects like solar panels and wind turbines.

M.W.: With all the people who use gyms to work out, can equipment in gyms be retrofitted to generate electricity?

E.B.: There are a few gyms outfitted with bikes that generate 12V power.  Why not?

M.W.: Are you satisfied with the Obama administration’s environmental and energy policies so far?

E.B.: They’ve done some good things – but they can do more.

M.W.: When Dick Cheney was VP, he held secret talks with oil companies to help set energy policy. If you were at that meeting, what would you have told them?

E.B.: I would have told them the same thing I tell people now.  Oil comes at greater and greater cost with each passing year.  Let’s decide it’s getting too expensive and too dangerous and look elsewhere for energy.  We need oil, but we need a transition plan away from it.

M.W.: Dick Cheney also said, when he was VP, that conservation was not a viable part of an energy policy. Do you agree or disagree with that?

E.B.: Strongly disagree.  Energy efficiency should be the cornerstone of our policy.

M.W.: Any last words?

E.B.: Just thank you for the time.

An Exclusive Interview with Ed Begley, Jr. – Part 1

Ed Begley, Jr. is both a well-known actor and well-known environmental activist, and in this exclusive interview with us, he talks candidly about his environmental activism.

He first became prominent when he starred in the 1980’s TV show, St. Elsewhere. And he’s been busy working ever since, acting in TV shows such as Arrested Development, Scrubs, and The West Wing, and in such movies as This is Spinal Tap, A Mighty Wind, and Recount.

His most recent movie acting roles are in Woody Allen’s Whatever Works, and the Judd Apatow film, Pineapple Express.

Currently, he is seen in two TV shows: the network show Gary Unmarried, and the cable reality show, Living with Ed.

Living with Ed, seen on Planet Green, allows Ed to talk about his favorite subject, green and sustainable living. He knows his stuff about the environment, as he has been involved in environmentalism a long time.

After all, how many people do you know use a bicycle to power their toast?

Truly, Ed Begley, Jr. lives a Low Density Lifestyle. To learn more about him and his work, go to his website at www.edbegley.com.

So today, I give you the first part of the exclusive interview I did with Ed. I’ll continue with the interview tomorrow.

Michael Wayne: How do you use a bicycle to power your toaster?
Ed Begley, Jr.: The original system I had was made by a friend of mine. It was a simple stationary bike with a generator on the back that fed 12V power down into my solar battery array where it could then be used as stored power. A few years ago another company built me one out of a bike trainer – so I could hook any normal bike to it and make power that way. It doesn’t power the toaster directly – it simply puts power into my batteries that power the entire house. What I figured out was that 15 minutes of hard riding essentially generated enough power to toast two slices of bread.

M.W.: What got you interested in living in a more sustainable way?
E.B.: It was several things. It was the first Earth Day in April 1970, and I wanted to get involved. I had grown up in smoggy Los Angeles and had really had it with the horrible, choking smog. My father Ed Begley Sr., a wonderful actor, had just passed away and I wanted to do something to honor him. Even though we didn’t call him one, he was an environmentalist. He was the son of Irish immigrants and a ‘conservative that liked to conserve’. He had lived through the great depression and had saved string and tin foil and turned out the lights and did those things you did back then to save money. He had always told me “Eddie, don’t tell people what you are going to do, show them by doing it.” And so, to honor him, and to get involved with Earth Day and to try and do something about the horrible smog problem in L.A., I started taking public transportation, riding my bike, walking, recycling, composting, using biodegradable soaps and detergents, eating a vegetarian diet and so on. I even bought an electric car.

M.W.: What are some of the things people can do to live a more sustainable lifestyle?
E.B.: They can Live Simply so that Others Can Simply Live. Less is more. I encourage everyone to slow down and simplify. Start with what you can afford and work your way up the ladder. That’s the way I did it starting back in 1970. You do what you can, save money, and do more. Start with the cheap and easy stuff – energy efficient lighting, weather stripping, recycling, composting, home gardening, bike riding, public transportation etc. A kilowatt SAVED is far cheaper than a kilowatt PRODUCED. I encourage everyone to start with a home energy audit – and work towards a more energy efficient home through insulation, windows, lighting etc.

M.W.: What do you use to power your home, and approximately what does it cost you a year?
E.B.: My electricity comes almost entirely from solar. I use between $300 and $600 a year in grid electric – mostly off peak power to charge my electric car which I use about 10,000 miles a year. I also use between $20 and $40 a month in natural gas. The natural gas is for heating the home using hot water – some of the work is done via solar thermal, the rest with a high efficiency AO Smith Vertex 100 gas water heater hooked into a FirstCo AquaTherm water-based forced air furnace. Both the solar thermal and solar PV are fully paid back and I’m into profit on all of them. Solar thermal was first put in in 1985, and PV in 1990. I also get to claim a carbon negative footprint, as I invested in a 75kw wind turbine in the California desert back in 1985 and its still putting out about 10 homes worth of power.

M.W.: What do you say to people who state that climate change isn’t real?
E.B.: I say let’s agree to disagree on that – and instead focus on what we can agree on. Do we agree that $3+ a gallon gas is a problem? Do we agree that we have a dependency problem on Mid-East oil, and that we are sending billions of dollars to countries that don’t like us very much and impact our national security? Do we agree that we want to clean up the air and water in our cities? Do we agree that we want to save money? If we can agree on those things, then a sustainable lifestyle can make a difference.

M.W.: What lessons should we emphatically learn from the Gulf Coast Oil Spill?
E.B.: That although there is still quite a bit of oil available to find, it is getting harder, more dangerous and more expensive to get. At some point we have to decide if getting to that oil is more expensive and dangerous than the alternative which is to spend the money on other forms of more renewable energy. I think that time is now.

M.W.: I understand that California has four times the amount of cars since the 1970’s, yet half the ozone. How was that accomplished? Didn’t the skeptics say it would bankrupt the state?
E.B.: It was accomplished through good policy and good technological efforts. Unleaded fuels, catalytic converters, combined cycle gas turbines, spray paint booths, natural gas busses, expanded public transportation – all things that contributed to California’s clean air efforts. There were many businessmen and economists that felt smog and pollution were signs of progress and that our economy would struggle. But throughout these changes in the 70s, 80s and 90s the economy thrived. We can do this.

M.W.: What can people do to be more energy conscious if they don’t have a lot of money?
E.B.: As we talked about above, they can pick the low hanging fruit – lighting, thermostat programming, weather stripping, biking, public transit, energy star devices, unplugging phantom power etc. etc. These are things people can do today on any budget and immediately start saving energy and saving money.

Part 2 will appear tomorrow…