There’s a long list of classic environment and lifestyle titles from past decades on my reading list. Every once in a while I pick one up – The Limits to Growth, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Silent Spring – and see how it has stood the test of time. Usually it confirms the impression I got [...]
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10 myths about simple living
1. Simple living is about retreat, and withdrawing from the world On the contrary, simple living is about engaging more fully in the world, but with a different set of criteria about what matters. People matter, relationships, community, nature, the present moment, and life is full of distractions. Simple living clears the clutter away so [...]
Why Britain needs usury laws
The payday loan company Wonga.com is advertising aggressively at the moment. With the pressure of Christmas, many people might be tempted to bring forward their December paycheck by a few days to get some last-minute spending in. But you pay a high price for that advance: Wonga’s homepage declares a typical APR of 4214% Now, [...]
The cultural impact of advertising
For the last few weeks I’ve been carrying around a report entitled The Advertising Effect, from the Compass think tank. I’ve been meaning to write about it and haven’t got round to it. I’ve been reminded of it this week the publication of a new report from WWF and the Public Interest Research Centre, Think [...]
Brave Old World, by Tom Hodgkinson
For those who still believe The Idler is about laziness, it may come as a surprise to learn that Idler editor and Ecologist columnist Tom Hodgkinson has written a book about his experiences of running a smallholding. All that digging, mucking out animals and chopping wood sounds suspiciously like hard work. But since the Idler [...]
Thanks for asking – measuring Britain’s wellbeing
The limited usefulness of Gross Domestic Product is well known. It counts quantity, not quality, and measures activity without discerning whether it’s useful or not. Nevertheless, GDP remains the baseline measure of success for most nations. Running a health check on economic activity makes sense when countries are recovering from war or depression, or are [...]
How do we reverse the trend in household energy use?
In recent weeks, two of Britain’s biggest energy suppliers announced price rises for gas. The price of gas has risen by 122% since 2004, and in the process pushed one in five households into energy poverty - that is, spending 10% or more of their income on energy. Despite the rising costs of energy, we [...]
Another reason to give up your car
A couple of months ago I listed ten reasons to give up your car. Here’s one I missed: the cost. According to a recent survey, the annual cost of running a car has risen to £3,089. That’s a 21% rise on last year, down to high oil prices and some bizarre shenanigans within the insurance [...]
The Idle Parent, by Tom Hodgkinson
“I am a disaster prone and chaotic layabout and so should warn you not to listen to my advice” says Tom Hodgkinson at the beginning of his book about parenting. This is, of course, a book about parenting from the editor of The Idler. It is fairly clear what direction this will be going in [...]
Action for happiness
I’m going to come back to this when I have a little more time, but a new campaign launched this week. Called Action for Happiness, it’s the brainchild of Richard Layard and it’s a ‘movement to create more happiness’. It has a lot of potential, a lot of enthusiasm, and perhaps more going on than you [...]
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