For centuries, people leaned into the popular (and false) belief that possession鈥攎aterial wealth and stature鈥攚as synonymous with听happiness. But now minimalism is on the rise, and for good reason: it works. With the popular听Netflix film and the massive听bestselling book听 emphasizing the benefits of decluttering, it’s no surprise that more and more people are cleaning out gear closets, streamlining their workouts, and buying less stuff. Because when you do, there’s way more room for adventure. Here鈥檚 how to be happy in 12 simple steps:

1. Purge

The first piece of furniture I ever bought kept me up at night. I was 25 years old, and the offending item was a 60-pound oak听armoire the color of whiskey and the size of a standard refrigerator. It wasn鈥檛 the price听or the quality of its construction that triggered the angst. It was what it represented. I now owned something that couldn鈥檛 fit in my rooftop RocketBox. I saw my adult life beginning, along with a relentless accumulation of more stuff. That armoire was the loss of my freedom.

Looking around my house nearly 20 years later, my vision was prescient. I鈥檝e col颅lected more things than I want, and finding a place to put them all is a daily struggle. My twenty颅something anxiety wasn鈥檛 un颅founded, 颅either. Research has revealed a troubling paradox: not only is , but so is getting rid of things. For some people, the very act of shedding a possession triggers activity in the anterior cingulate cortex and the 颅insula, the same parts of the brain that register physical pain. Which explains why millions of Americans, including me, have plunked down $10 for yet another possession: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, a bestseller by Japanese cleaning consultant 颅Marie Kondo. According to Kondo, dealing with your clutter can improve your well-being. 鈥淎 dramatic reorganization of the home causes correspondingly dra颅matic changes in lifestyle and perspective,鈥� she writes. 鈥淚t is life transforming.鈥�

I bought my copy thinking it would be a needed catalyst for the garage-cleaning project I鈥檇 been putting off for two years. Inside is my gear stash, proof of a lifetime of adventure, and the only possessions I鈥檇 truly mourn in a house fire. Crampons that have felt summits from the Cascades to the Hima颅layas. My first road bike. The BOB stroller that logged hundreds of miles as I trained for ultras and jogged my two small children to sleep. A lot of this stuff hasn鈥檛 been used in years, rendered obsolete by shinier new toys or my shifting passions. It was piling up. The issue came to a head when my fianc茅e moved in, along with her own stockpile. But any hopes that I would realize Kondo鈥檚 magic by confronting the mountains of sentiment in the garage were extinguished within the first few pages of her book. In rigid terms, she describes a 鈥渢idying marathon,鈥� an all in, months-long project that will fail if not completed. If I didn鈥檛 address my entire household inventory鈥斅璫losets, drawers, cabinets, everything鈥擨 would return to a state of unwanted clutter.

The garage would have to wait. I started by moving through Kondo鈥檚 list of categories in the prescribed order: 鈥淐lothes first, then books, papers, miscellany, and lastly, mementos.鈥� The process forced me to confront those myriad places that attract random junk. The kitchen counter always littered with mail and school announcements. Bathroom cabinets stocked with bottles and tinctures. And that damn armoire, in which I discovered an incongruous collection of candleholders, board games, placemats, two puzzles, an extension cord, a New Mexico atlas, and an ancient video camera that records on something called MiniDisc. I took on these hoarding stations armed with a garbage bag (trash it) and a box (give it away). I purged like I was at a peyote ceremony. Over several days, I made four trips to Goodwill, where the staff began to recognize me.

Clothes, books, paper鈥攖hose were easy. My garage came last, for it was filled with the high-end sporting gear that we adventurous types classify as mementos. It was here that my trust in Kondo鈥檚 method was tested. Her advice for deciding on whether or not to keep something: touch it, be aware of the feeling it triggers, and ask yourself, 鈥淒oes it spark joy?鈥� When I thought of my prized quiver of skis, bikes, and camping stoves (six of them!), I pictured Kondo asking the question and me defiantly answering 鈥淗ell yes!鈥� to all of it.

One Sunday morning, I clicked the 颅garage-door opener and confronted nostalgia鈥檚听grip. I started with the camping equipment. After careful consideration, stoves one, two, and three registered no spark. Neither did way too many headlamps, stuff sacks, first-aid kits, and ground pads. My first real trial was the sleeping bag I took on multiple cross-country family road trips as a kid. It was in that bag that I slept soundly in the back of our station wagon as my parents drove all night from the north rim to the south rim of the Grand Canyon to catch the sunrise. Running my hands over its greasy seams, I felt a powerful sentimental joy. I also realized that the memories it evoked were inside my head, not its weathered nylon. I put it in the giveaway box. There were three pairs of cross-country skis, each having carried me through the 40-mile . I鈥檝e always liked seeing them propped against the wall, proof of my feats. But joy? It wasn鈥檛 sparked. I tried to draw the line at my first pair of telemark skis. No matter that they鈥檙e comically skinny, I thought, these babies rip. But now听I was on a roll. I threw them in with the sleeping bag.

I went on like this for several more weekends, pawing flat soccer balls, tired camp chairs, and outdated bike wheels. Eventually, I to my absolute favorites and began reorganizing the space according to Kondo鈥檚 strict instructions鈥攏o piles. Finally, one recent evening, preparing for my first skin up the local ski hill, I felt a little bit of the magic. The real evil of clutter, the one I鈥檇 feared at age 25, was its ability to bog you down. Do I want to go backcountry skiing at 6 a.m. when the process requires an hour of rounding up misplaced necessities? Nope. I鈥檒l just sleep in. But that night I 颅entered the newly overhauled space, and all the items I needed鈥攑oles, skins, helmet, gloves, skis鈥攚ere in exactly the right place.

I鈥檇 be lying if I said my life has been transformed. I haven鈥檛 touched my office yet. And I鈥檝e actually noticed an increase in angst over the places that I鈥檝e yet to tackle. But if tidying is indeed a marathon, I have faith in Kondo鈥檚 metaphor. I know how shedding weight and completing a long-distance 颅trial brings on a curious euphoria. Kondo estimates that her tidying marathons take clients around six months, and I will keep running. But she鈥檒l have to pry my BOB stroller from my cold, dead hands.听鈥擟hristopher Keyes, editor 听

2. Put Down the Phone

“You don’t need to tweet or post during your adventure unless you’re a sponsored athlete whose livelihood depends on it. I promise you that no one really cares. I’ve grown to love it when an expedition starts and the bars on my my phone dwindle down to uselessness. That’s a sure sign that I’m headed in the right direction.” 鈥擥uide Dave Hahn, who has summited Mount Everest 15 times

3. Make It a Liquid Lunch

鈥淪oup is a nutrition life-hack,鈥� says 颅Nicole Centeno, author of the and CEO of the soup-颅delivery company of the same name. 鈥淚t鈥檚 efficient and nourishing and keeps you fueled for hours outside without weighing you down.鈥� It鈥檚 also a foolproof one-pot wonder. Buy a stack of plastic pint containers for single-serving storage in the fridge or freezer, and reheat for lunch as needed. Centeno鈥檚 favorite hearty soup, kale and lentil, is 颅loaded with fiber and protein and made with ingredients you likely already have at home.

Kale and Lentil Soup (Serves 4)

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 1 rib celery, diced
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon Madras curry powder
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 pound dried red lentils, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 pound dried green lentils, rinsed and drained
• 2 quarts water
• 2 cups thinly sliced lacinato kale
• Sea salt to taste

Process

1. 听Warm the oil in a pot over medium heat. Cook the onion, carrots, and celery, stirring frequently, for ten minutes or until tender. Stir in the garlic, pepper, curry, and cinnamon, and cook for one minute.
2. 听Increase the heat to high, add the lentils and water, and bring to a boil. Add the kale, cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes or until the mixture thickens, the lentils are tender, and the kale is wilted.
3. 听Stir in the salt. Serve hot.

4. Lighten Up

“I value celebration, possibly more than I should. You have to relish your accomplishments and take time off. I听also have a terrible sweet tooth, and I don’t care. I will continue to eat Sour Patch Kids. I usually have three two-pound bags in my room. There’s a fine line between being anal retentive and being purposeful. Everything I do, I do with purpose.” 鈥擴ltrarunner Clare Gallagher, who won the 2016 Leadville听Trail 100 Women’s Division by two hours.听

5. Choose a Uniform

Steve Jobs wore a black turtleneck and jeans every day. Mark Zuckerberg lives in a hoodie. Yes, they鈥檙e tech geeks鈥攂ut not having to think about clothing frees up all kinds of mental energy for more important tasks. So what鈥檚 a style-conscious active person supposed to wear? Consider this foundational formula from Peter Buchanan-Smith, founder of Manhattan clothing and gear company .

• Chambray shirt:听“Chambray is far more versatile than flannel鈥攊t can be worn with jeans or trousers. The material is timeless. Once you find the perfect shirt, buy five.”
• Sweater jacket:听“Best Made’s , with super-heavy,听100 percent western wool, is my armor.听I wear it fly-fishing, as a winter jacket听in the city, and under a rain shell.鈥�
• Aviator sunglasses:听鈥� are classic. You can鈥檛听go wrong.鈥�
• High-quality belt:听鈥淚 wear Best Made鈥檚 almost daily.鈥�
• Dark-wash jeans:听鈥溾€檚. You get so much for the price, and they only get better with age. 鈥�
• Good socks:听鈥淲ool blend.听Not too thick, not too thin.鈥�
• Rugged boots:听“I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 overkill to have burly leather ankle boots as your daily staple, even in New York. I鈥檇 pick the . They鈥檙e like the Land Rover Defender of boots.鈥�

6. Skimp on Gym Time

One of the pillars of the modern approach to fitness is the belief that gym-based strength training is essential, even for endurance athletes. Problem is, many of us take things too far. Two-time Olympic skier turned strength coach is part of a growing chorus of fitness professionals who 颅argue that amateur athletes don鈥檛 need to spend more than two hours a week working out between walls. The upshot: you can spend a lot more time playing outside. 鈥淭he danger for a lot of people is over颅exercising,鈥� says Twardokens.

She closely analyzed just how much gym work she needed to continue to perform at a high level. 鈥淚 boiled it down to the essentials and created Minimum Dose, Maximum Effect,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he idea is to do the least amount of training that allows for good body composition and supports the activities in your life without wearing your joints down.鈥� Twardokens, a 颅National Masters Weightlifting champion, explains that her general workout philosophy is to 鈥渕aintain strength and muscle mass through the basics, like squats, deadlifts, pull-ups, and dips. And that includes you endurance athletes!鈥�

The rest of the time? Get outside and enjoy the sports you love.

7. Bring It Back to Life

In 2011, Patagonia launched its program, which allows customers to send in jackets and apparel to be mended. The company has since performed 170,000 repairs. Here鈥檚 a quick guide to fixing your own stuff鈥攁nd taking better care of it in the first place.

• Keep it clean: Before storing technical layers at the end of the season, launder them in cold water with a revitalizing cleaner like and hang them to dry, says Lindsey Stone of Seattle鈥檚 , which fixes, updates, and renews all manner of outdoor fabrics. 鈥淥nce something like is dry to touch, treat it with a DWR spray to revive waterproofing,鈥� she adds. 鈥淭hen stick it in the dryer on low for 10 to 20 minutes.鈥�
• Avoid the common errors: 鈥淲ool is much more difficult to burn than synthetic fabrics, so consider a top layer of wool while you鈥檙e tending the campfire,鈥� Stone says.
• Upgrade your field kit: 鈥� is just as strong as duct tape, but it doesn鈥檛 leave a sticky residue,鈥� Stone says, 鈥渟o later you can properly fix a tear without a mess.鈥�
• Save your sole: Don鈥檛 toss out those worn-down hiking boots if the upper structure is still in good shape. Legendary in Seattle can resole just about anything. He has repaired a pair of 1960s boots six times. Their owner is now in his eighties.

8. Go It Alone

“I always say, if I had to wait for a friend, I’d still be in my cubicle office. It’s easier to travel alone and has become a lot more socially acceptable.” 鈥�, author of the blog Nomadic Matt

9. Just Say No

“Most people overestimate how efficient they are, so we say yes to everything that comes our way. The result is you end up feeling overwhelmed. u. Saying no more often is actually more expansive.” 鈥�, author of

10. Buy Less, Live More

There鈥檚 a joke that we tell around the office: How can you spot an 国产吃瓜黑料 editor at the trailhead? They鈥檙e the one removing tags from their stuff.

It hurts because it鈥檚 true. Some editors鈥� offices are so packed with gear that it鈥檚 tough to find a place to sit. I鈥檓 no exception. When I decided to take up mountain biking a couple of years ago, I bought two bikes: one hardtail and one full suspension, so I had the right ride for any situation. I currently own six fly rods鈥攐ne for throwing dry flies on small streams, another for casting streamers on big rivers, yet another for windy days, and so on.

But when I read a recent story about Pata颅gonia founder Yvon Chouinard that noted how most of his gear was made in the previous century, I began to question my excessive ways. I suffer that disease so common among middle-class Americans: overconsumption. And I鈥檓 not joking when I call it a disease. We鈥檝e long known that buying things releases dopamine in the brain鈥攁 听suggested it鈥檚 even addictive. Partly to blame: the ease of the buy-now button.

It鈥檚 not just a biological pull, either. Magazines, catalogs, and websites鈥�国产吃瓜黑料鈥檚 included鈥攁ssault your inbox, mailbox, and Facebook feed with new gear. I decided to fight back: for one month I would buy nothing but food. (OK, and beer.)

The first week, I felt like an alcoholic standing outside a liquor-store window. I had a strong urge to cheat, to buy something small like a book or a movie ticket. But midway through the month, the compulsive urge to consume relaxed. At home I realized that not only did I have a jacket that would get me through ski season, I actually had two, even if they didn鈥檛 breathe quite as well as I鈥檇 like. I began to look at things I previously considered at the end of their useful life鈥攋eans with holes, a laptop that was a few years old鈥攁s perfectly functional.

I spent less time scrolling through gear blogs fantasizing about smartwatches or fishing reels, which meant that I had more time for things that really mattered: my wife, my friends, my colleagues鈥攑eople, not things.

Late in the month, though, I caved. My wife and I recently bought a home, and we wanted to replace the old smoke detectors. 鈥淚鈥檓 not buying everything for the house this month,鈥� my wife said, with a certain tone in her voice, suspecting that my pledge to swear off consumerism was a ploy to bankrupt her. I immediately went online and ordered two of them. Later that day I got her flowers, just to be safe.

The truth is, not buying stuff doesn鈥檛 feel as instantly good as hitting the buy-now button does, and I can鈥檛 say that I won鈥檛 purchase superfluous stuff in the future. But I realize that I don鈥檛 need it. In fact my life may be richer by not having as much of it. A few weeks after my experiment ended, I reached out to to see if it needed any packs or rods for its youth programs. I rounded up my extra winter hats, coats, and gloves to give to a local shelter. After years of being sick, I鈥檓 starting to feel better. 鈥擩onah Ogles, articles editor

11. Don鈥檛 Get All Epic

I鈥檝e got a bit of Viking in me. Not the raiding and pillaging so much as the deep-seated urge to explore distant lands. For years my M.O. was: save up money, blow it on a far-flung adventure, return broke, repeat. It was fun, but I鈥檝e since wised up. While I still try to pull off big trips whenever I can, I鈥檝e learned that closer-to-home outings can be just as satisfying.

I grew up in southeast Wisconsin and couldn鈥檛 wait to set out for the mountains and rivers of the West, eventu颅ally landing in New Mexico. But when I go back to Wisconsin now, I鈥檓 discovering everything I overlooked. 颅Within 20 miles of my childhood home in Sheboygan, there are sand dunes to explore, waterways to paddle, waves to surf (seriously, Google it), and glacially carved trails to wander.

Having kids has helped shift my perspective, too. In Santa Fe, a lifetime of family microadventures can be had right out the back door. This past fall, we spent a weekend rafting a section of the Rio Grande near town. It might not have been heroic by Instagram standards, but there were rapids, rattlesnakes, hot springs, and pictographs. The kids didn鈥檛 have to miss any school, and I swear I felt my inner Viking stir. 鈥擲am Moulton, content marketing director

12. Use Paper

鈥淚鈥檝e tried all the organizational apps, but I much prefer putting pen to paper,鈥� says legendary alpinist Conrad Anker, known among fellow climbers for both his skill and his preparation. 鈥淚 like using , the lined five-by-eight ones. Every night I use a nice fountain pen to jot down my to-do list for the following day. Then I prioritize it, rewrite it to reflect that 颅order, and think about it. On Sunday I do the same routine, but for the whole week ahead.鈥� 颅

Anker says that bulletproof organizational skills may be in his blood. 鈥淢y sister is a professional organizer, with clients, so we joke that creating structure and having discipline runs in our family. I find myself flipping back though my journals and rereading them. Research shows that writing things down helps you process and remember them better, and I agree. I鈥檝e been doing this since 1998.鈥�

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Last fall, petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to add the iconic Joshua tree鈥攁 spindly, long-living succulent in the Southwest鈥攖o the endangered species list. If the service agrees, it will be the first time a species gets protection as a direct result of the impact of climate change. (In 2008, the FWS agreed to designate the polar bear threatened but not endangered.)听This would mean that factors con颅tributing to climate change, like fossil-fuel extraction, could become highly reg颅ulated near the park. 鈥淚t could听be a game changer,鈥� says WildEarth鈥檚 Tay颅lor Jones.

Most models pre颅dict Joshua tree 颅habitat loss of 90 per颅cent within the next听50 to 100 years due to climate-change-fueled drought. And just because 14 per颅cent of Joshua trees reside in 颅national parks doesn鈥檛 mean听they鈥檙e somehow听less vulnerable. 鈥淐limate change knows no borders, and some听studies found that their habitat might听be some of the hardest hit going 颅forward,鈥� says Jones. Fish and Wildlife is expected to issue an opinion soon, but 颅activ颅ists say that they will continue the fight even if the tree isn鈥檛 designated鈥攖hey鈥檝e also submitted a similar proposal for two cold-颅dependent insects in Glacier National Park.听

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A century ago, when the mission of the National Park Service was spelled out, recreation as we know it didn鈥檛 exist. Since then pack rafts, wingsuits, and Vibram soles have come on the scene, and the increasing variety and pervasiveness of outdoor pursuits have sparked an unlikely battle between recreationists, who want to be free to ride, paddle, and climb, and conservationists, who want to restrict those sorts of activities in the name of protecting the land.

National Parks Centennial

100 reasons to love the parks (and a few things we’d improve)

Until recently, much of the disagreement over what should be allowed in our national parks focused on impact. (Snowshoeing and mountain biking, for instance, both affect the landscape, as does horseback riding, which is commonplace in national parks and wilderness areas.) Skiers, climbers, and others who play outside don鈥檛 want to harm the environment, of course. And the reality is that the impact of human-powered recreation is 鈥渞eally pretty minute,鈥� says Bob Ratcliffe, head of the Park Service鈥檚 recreation and conservation programs. The larger issue is whether an activity fits into what the NPS calls the 鈥渕ission of the park.鈥澨�

鈥淩ecreation is still the redheaded stepchild of the Park Service,鈥� says Luther Propst, chairman of the board for the , a leading advocacy and conservation group. 鈥淎 lot of the hardcore conservation movement is made up of aging baby boomers who think the only legitimate way to experience nature is hiking at a leisurely pace.鈥澨�

The Park Service remains the one land-management agency in the U.S. without its own division of recreation, though many in the service are beginning to recognize that outdoor athletes are getting stronger and more organized鈥攁nd could become powerful allies in the fight to preserve public lands.听

Ratcliffe, a former Colorado River guide and a Bureau of Land Management alum, began his current job in 2012. He works to help park managers shift their thinking and accommodate emerging activities. At in Kentucky, for example, allowing mountain biking would have been 鈥渋nconceivable鈥� only five years ago, Ratcliffe says. 鈥淣ow, sometimes it seems like more people visit the park to ride the trails than to see the cave.鈥澨�

The hope is that those riders鈥攑art of an outdoor industry that generates an annual $646 billion in consumer spending鈥攚ill become conservationists, too.

鈥淪ome environmentalists turned away from recreation, and that left out a lot of users,鈥� says Stacy Bare, of the Sierra Club. 鈥淲e need to get more recreationists involved in the movement, and vice versa.鈥�

Christian Beckwith, a founding editor of magazine, has made that his mission. A Jackson, Wyoming, resident and longtime climber, Beckwith started the SHIFT conference three years ago to rally adventurers, conservationists, and land managers around common goals. 鈥淲hen you take a step back, we鈥檙e all after the same outcome, which is to keep these lands healthy,鈥� he says.听

If climbers are busy fighting falcon defenders, Beckwith argues, then they鈥檙e not banding together to limit mining and other types of development. 鈥淲hat I鈥檓 trying to do is figure out how to leverage recreational interests for conservation gains,鈥� he says. 鈥淥therwise we all lose.鈥�

听

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In the 1930s and 1940s, the Works Projects Administration commissioned iconic posters of 14 national parks. You can鈥檛 afford the originals, but a new generation of artists have been inspired by the classics.听

National Parks Centennial

100 reasons to love the parks (and a few things we’d improve)

Go Retro

Rob Decker studied under Ansel Adams and in 1980 began taking his own composite photography of the parks. He adds WPA-style effects to give a vintage look. $30

Practical, Too!

Jared Prince has been scanning and retouching original USGS maps of 17 parks since 2014. They鈥檙e but have a richer color palette. $59

The New WPA

In 2014, Max Slavkin and Aaron Perry-Zucker partnered with the National Parks Conservation Association to commission new posters via the . $25

Authenticity Is Everything

A company called has been silkscreening reproductions from the original templates since 1993. $40

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The national parks are ideal camera fodder: they鈥檙e inherently dramatic and gorgeous in any light. These three series stand out, whether you want an absorbing narrative, sumptuous visuals, or a little of both.听

National Parks Centennial

100 reasons to love the parks (and a few things we’d improve)

Informative: The National Parks: America鈥檚 Best Idea

Six episodes, 12 hours, 53 parks. is without peer in its scope, cinematography, and research, even if the breathless exaltations get a little repetitive as the hours grind on.

Beautiful: More than Just Parks

. Filmmaker brothers Will and Jim Pattiz intend to capture all 59 parks in this Web series. So far they鈥檝e done six, presented in five-minute time-lapse segments set to a Zen soundtrack.

Informative and Beautiful: Rock the Park

Hosts Colton Smith and Jack Steward (pictured above)听. (Season two is airing now on ABC.) They bumble through backpacking and ice climbing, and end each installment with the exhortation 鈥淚f we can do it, so can you!鈥�

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In 1995, Roberts Rinehart published Death in Yellowstone, a story collection of true tales of demise within the park鈥檚 boundaries. Written like a pulp novel, the book sold more than 150,000 copies.听

National Parks Centennial

100 reasons to love the parks (and a few things we’d improve)

Today there are seven more volumes, each containing breathless-but-real accounts of ends met at a different national park. Here are three of the most cringe-worthy excerpts.听

Grizzly Encounter听

鈥� 鈥楬e鈥檚 ripping my arm!鈥� the girl screamed as the bear bit into her sleeping bag. The bear had the zipper; she could not escape. Seconds later she cried again, 鈥極h my god, I鈥檓 dead!鈥� 鈥�

鈥擣rom听

Dangerous Waters

鈥淪he was standing on top of the falls when she slipped on the mossy rocks and fell. The undertow trapped her between two rocks and kept her deep underwater. Visitors who were at the scene formed a human chain and tried to reach the girl, but the current was too strong.鈥�

鈥擣rom听

Hot Springs Disaster

鈥淜irwan鈥檚 entire body was badly burned, as the skin was peeling off. 鈥楾hat was a stupid thing I did,鈥� Kirwan spoke softly. Another man ran up and began to remove one of Kirwan鈥檚 shoes, and the men watched horrified as the skin came off with it.鈥�

鈥擣rom听

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Plenty of breweries are able to boast of their enviable proximity to national parks. (Coors, for instance, is located 30 miles downstream from Rocky Mountain National Park.) But only Superior Bathhouse Brewery and Distillery in Arkansas can say that its beer is made directly from one.听

National Parks Centennial

See the complete list of 100 reasons to love the parks (and a few things we’d improve)

Hot Springs National Park has several bath-houses, most clustered along two blocks of historic Central Avenue, which runs through the heart of the park. Three years ago, park superintendent Josie Fernandez asked for ideas to help increase tourism. Rose Schweikhart, Superior鈥檚 owner, responded: 鈥淢ake beer with water from the hot springs.鈥� The park鈥檚 water has no taste or odor, and locals have been drinking it for hundreds of years.听

Superior made its first hot-spring-sourced beer in 2015, and today there are 16 varieties on tap. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the only business in the park system that produces a product using the main resource of the park,鈥� says Fernandez. And you鈥檒l have to make the trip to Arkansas to try it. 鈥淭here鈥檚 not enough water to turn it into a big enterprise,鈥� says Schweikhart.听

听

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Peggy Lemaux, a plant biologist at the University of California at Berkeley, was a lab researcher in 1987 when she first heard about genetic engineering. 鈥淚鈥檇 grown up on a farm in northwestern Ohio, and I thought, Wow, this technology has tremendous potential.鈥� While at the lab, she was a member of the team that created the first modified corn seed. 鈥淎t the time, I thought the big problem with GMOs鈥濃€攐r genetically modified organisms鈥斺€渨ould be intellectual property, not consumer acceptance,鈥� she says. 鈥淏oy, was I wrong.鈥�

Today, it鈥檚 rare to visit a farmers鈥� market without seeing anti-GMO signs everywhere. There are good reasons for this. The first big GMO projects, in the 1990s, marketed herbicide-resistant corn and soybeans to farmers and encouraged them to increase use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup. 鈥淎buse of that system led to herbicide-resistant weeds,鈥� says Greg Jaffe, the biotechnology project director at the in Washington, D.C. 鈥淭hat will happen anyway, but this accelerated it.鈥� Now farmers often must deploy more鈥攁nd more toxic鈥攃hemicals. Scientists can鈥檛 predict the full impact of commercial-scale GM crops on bird and insect populations. Add to that a troubling lack of transparency from GMO-producing companies (and the sometimes murky relationships between Big Agriculture and academia) and there鈥檚 plenty to give the public pause.听

Still, most scientists think it鈥檚 a mistake to dismiss the innovations around genetically engineered food outright. For example, barely a third of the American public . Yet there鈥檚 consensus among scientists鈥攊ncluding those at the and the , among others鈥攖hat it鈥檚 as safe for human consumption as any other food.

鈥淲e鈥檝e never been so dependent on science, yet we don鈥檛 accept it when we don鈥檛 like what it has to say,鈥� says Chris Lambe, of Columbia University鈥檚 .

Consumers shouldn鈥檛 confuse the technology with the companies that employ it, says Lambe. That distinction is especially important as the challenge of feeding the planet amid climate change and a surging global population鈥攁 projected 9.7 billion people by the middle of the century鈥攇rows ever more daunting.

To pull it off, says Jaffe, we鈥檒l need to utilize a broad range of practices, including organic farming, conventional methods (sometimes with a mix of mineral fertilizers in depleted soils), and GM crops, especially drought-tolerant varieties in areas with declining rainfall.

鈥淚f we keep going on this trajectory of climate change and conflict, we鈥檒l have to rely on technology,鈥� says Jess Fanzo, a professor of ethics and food at Johns Hopkins University. 鈥淚t鈥檚 incredibly important. We鈥檙e going to need genetic modification.鈥澨�

Lemaux thinks that any environmental concerns can be allayed as the technology advances. For example, a new type of genetic editing, called Crispr, uses a highly targeted method to find and replace specific genes instead of injecting entire strands of DNA. And initiatives like the can help achieve a balance between licensing technology to Big Ag and keeping it available for use in research and to assist developing countries.

Says Lemaux: 鈥淣ow that a lot of the patents on GM technology are expiring, academic researchers could make improvements, make it less expensive, and explore how it could be useful without needing the large agrochemical companies.鈥�

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With almost constant talk about climate change, one could argue that the environmental movement has rarely been stronger. Unfortunately, that鈥檚 not necessarily a good thing. The problem? Many of those same environmentalists protest solar and wind projects because of the land they鈥檇 require and the wildlife they鈥檇 displace. Recall, for example, the project off the coast of Massachusetts, languishing in litigation for more than 15 years and still at risk of falling apart. Or the outcry over the Ivanpah solar project in California, which fried 3,500 birds in its first year of operation. (Not to mention the $56 million spent to relocate desert tortoises to accommodate the project鈥攚ith mixed results.) In fact, nearly half of all blocked energy projects would provide renewable or clean energy, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

鈥淓nvironmentalism has become NIMBYism,鈥� says Michael Shellenberger, co-founder of the , which asserts that technological innovation鈥攏ot relentless protection of nature鈥攊s the only way to confront our carbon crisis. 鈥淩enewables often have massive land footprints, and people don鈥檛 want that kind of development near where they live.鈥� That鈥檚 not to mention that nearly 70 percent of renewable electricity in the U.S. comes from conventional biomass, the energy that comes from plant-derived materials, and hydroelectric dams, two methods many traditional environmental groups still oppose. In short, this is not the environmentalism of the Rachel Carson era, where a call to awareness was hailed as heroic. Nowadays, says Shellenberger, the movement is in a funk, grappling with fractious infighting while exhausting the public鈥檚 patience for its gloom-and-doom scenarios without offering pragmatic solutions.听

But the more significant indictment of the movement comes from within its own ranks. 鈥淓nvironmentalism is fixated on fighting symbolic, short-term battles,鈥� says Peter Kareiva, director of the and chair of the Science Cabinet at the . 鈥淣obody actually wants to end up with a dystopian, Bladerunner world,鈥� he says. In the battle of purity versus pragmatism, the desired outcome is the same: clean, sustainable energy for all. 鈥淲e鈥檙e at this critical moment鈥攃an the environmental movement鈥檚 vision evolve into being for things, instead of against them?鈥� asks Kareiva. 鈥淚t鈥檚 time we all move on from blockades to solutions.鈥澨�

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Chemex Coffeemaker

Unlike automatic-drip machines that direct a focused stream of water over one area of grounds, pour-over brewers like the allow you to saturate the coffee more evenly, resulting in a balanced and flavorful cup. Not only was the Chemex the best looking of the manual drip systems we tested, but because the cone and carafe are a single sheet of glass, it was the easiest to clean.

Bodum French Press

The baristas at Portland, Oregon鈥揵ased Stumptown Roasters obsess over every cup. The hardware they use most? The French press, like 鈥檚 34-ounce Chambord. This is partly due to the press pot鈥檚 simplicity: add water, wait a few minutes, plunge the grounds home. But mainly it鈥檚 because the technique produces a rich, robust cup in less time than drip devices like the Chemex. We like the Chambord best because its double-walled glass keeps your brew warm longer, while the stainless-steel casing helps protect it from inevitable drops.

Rok Espresso Machine

Espresso machines are expensive and require a lot of maintenance. That鈥檚 why Britain鈥檚 ROK, with its heavy steel hand pump, is such a brilliant brewer. The pump forces highly pressurized water through finely ground coffee, but it does so via muscle power, not damage-prone moving parts. It takes some practice to get the pressure right, but for the price, the is the best coffeemaker on the planet.

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