Fresh Loaf

The Center for the New American Dream has created an online guide on how to save money and improve your quality of life at the same time. It basically puts an emphasis on economically buying quality products (those that last and work well), and at the same time has a lot of PC stuff like helping the environment, etc.

I interviewed Lisa Wise, the center’s director, for this story on the particular challenges Atlanta faces with this economic downturn. She also sent me this column about the prospects for good things coming out of a recession. So she sent me the link.

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How’s this for a silver lining? The coming bad times could help a lot of us get over our addiction to “things” and at the same time move us toward solving the environmental crisis. That’s basically what Lisa Wise, executive director of the Center for a New American Dream in Washington, told me as I researched an article last week about how hard times are hitting Atlanta.

It’s provocative even to suggest that bad economic times could be good for your psyche and for nature. People think you’re living in a dream world, or that you want to punish them.

But I think there’s something to the idea that we don’t all need to wear the latest fashions, drive late-model cars and live in 3,000-square-foot houses. (This coming from a guy who’s trying to get going on a big addition to my house.) (more…)

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