energy

I was in London last week and found a spare hour to visit the Sir John Soane Museum in Holborn. I loved it just as much as I had as a student, and wondered if I had been unconsciously influenced by the memory of its rich red walls when I chose the paint for our offices--and in fact the color we now call "Berkshire red" for my company's logo and stationery. I wish I could decorate my home with pieces of Roman ruins, as Soane did. But I did get [...]

I've always thought a lot of the US magazine (and now online information service) Consumer Reports, but only just heard about their Greener Choice website--available free (Consumer Reports itself is a subscription service--it's the equivalent of the UK Which?). Greener choices are vital, given the challenges we face if what James Howard Kunstler calls "the long emergency" comes to pass. Put down the papers and read this article: "The End of Oil" from April's Rolling Stone (thanks, Margaux, for giving this to me!).

Winter's here, and it's cold in the Berkshires. We have a big Victorian house and the only reason our oil bills are fairly low is that we keep it so damned cold. When we first got an adjustable thermostat (something I definitely recommend) I set the temperature to 60