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Efficiency 101

At a time when extravagant energy use is often mistaken for our patriotic duty, the advice to ease up a bit can sound downright subversive. As a new TV series sets out to show, nothing could be less true. Hosted by Wanda Urbanska and slated to be available on numerous PBS affiliates this summer, Simple Living aims to be a kind of This Old House for the American dream. Each half-hour episode is a how-to guide to stripping away the excess that lies like bad shag carpet over our true (and frugal) national character.

Urbanska and her husband, the writer Frank Levering, called upon their hometown of Mount Airy, North Carolina, to help them get the series off the ground. The locals pitched in with money, materials, and a lot of goodwill. The result is a gentle tribute to older American values, including a few surprises, like challenging us to become social "joiners" and to explore the Quaker practice of quiet meditation. A regular segment called "the thing that refused to die" features in one episode a toaster from a 1970s garage sale that's still running. Such sturdy relics remind us that we once at least tried to make things that lasted forever -- in working order, that is, not broken at the dump.

Simple Living is no Frontline exposé on our runaway bad habits. It's a friendly reminder that if we "do the math," we'll discover that our little acts of wastefulness at home turn into cultural trends with global consequences. The good news is that changing course can be surprisingly easy and even fun. Whether it's riding a bike or switching to more efficient light bulbs, the message of Simple Living is clear: "Nothing's too small to make a difference."

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