 | Thisbiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Jim Merkel" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(October 2019) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Jim Merkel (born 1957) is an American author and engineer, who moved from involvement in the military industry to advocatingsimple living. Since 1989, Merkel has dedicated himself to trying to reduce his personal impact on the environment and to encourage others to do the same.
Initially trained as an electrical engineer, Merkel spent twelve years designing industrial and military systems. After witnessing the devastation following the1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, however, he concluded that global problems had become so urgent as to require immediate action. He consequently quit his job and began a new career as an environmental activist and spokesman.
He claims to have lived on $5,000 a year (close to the global median income) for 16 years (ca. 1989 – 2005), later increasing to $10,000 per year. He founded the Alternative Transportation Task Force inSan Luis Obispo, California and served briefly as an elected officer of theSierra Club; he conducts approximately 60 workshops each year onsustainable living and "radical simplicity" in the United States, Canada, and Spain.
In 1994 he received anEarthwatchGaia Fellowship, allowing him to visitKerala,India, and parts of theHimalayas to research sustainable living. In 1995, he founded the Global Living Project and continues to serve as its co-director.
In April 2005,Dartmouth College appointed him its first Sustainability Director. He lives inBelfast, Maine.
 | Thissustainability-related article is astub. You can help Wikipedia byexpanding it. |