Ever walked into your house on a summer afternoon and felt like you’ve just entered a pizza oven? That’s me—sweaty, sunburnt, and furious at my walls for storing heat like it’s gold. Meanwhile, my mom in the Rocky Mountains is toasty in winter with no heating bill. Her secret? A design trick called passive solar. Turns out, working with the sun (instead of fighting it) can make your home way more comfortable—and a lot cheaper to run.

I didn’t expect a dead sheep to be the turning point. But standing over an offal pit on a quiet Sunday, gutting a 80-kilo ewe with a kitchen knife, I realized: I was in way over my head. My dream of living sustainably had turned into a reality I wasn’t prepared for. That moment sparked a new idea—a “30-kilometre rule”—that changed how I shop, eat, and see my place in the world. This is a story about dead sheep, local peaches, plastic-free shampoo, and the power we hold in every purchase.