“the de facto Martha Stewart of the voluntary simplicity movement.” – O, The Oprah Magazine

“If you feel overwhelmed…watch the series.” – The Washington Post

“…A kind of This Old House for the American Dream.” -  Utne Reader

“Wanda Urbanska is a spokeswoman for the simplicity movement.” -  The New York Times

“If you are looking for a more environmentally responsible way, watch Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska. If you are looking for inspiration to live your life in closer alignment with your values, Simple Living – with its delightful stories and useful tips – is the show for you.  Here’s a show that could not be timelier, both for you and for our planet.” – Ed Begley, Jr.

Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska presents five episodes of the popular public television series designed to teach the viewer about ways for more cost-effective, conscientious, and sustainable living. The first nationally syndicated series of this kind, Simple Living shows ways ordinary people everywhere can be better stewards of the environment and more informed consumers, while promoting a strong, positive message of fiscal responsibility and community involvement. From reducing one’s carbon footprint to doing a “green remodel” of one’s home to enjoying the pastime of gardening, Simple Living with Wanda Urbanska is a wonderful and refreshing show – the frugality and energy-saving tips especially are and more valuable than ever during tough economic times. Highly recommended. Midwest Book Review

“Make the city your city; be kind to yourself; keep it green and simple” are the themes of this serial documentary which ran on American Public Television. Host Wanda Urbanska conducts on site interviews in major American cities about land use, energy conservation and urban efforts towards the “green earth” movement. Projects and site visits by Urbanska include green rooftop gardens, city farms on vacant lots, planning natural protected habitats, green business strategies, and requiring green standards for all public buildings. Urbanska then interviews a young Chicago family with two small children who live the “green” lifestyle.

As people move back to the cities, they are able to walk to work, support local markets and partake in communal gardening. The Lewandowski family in Chicago does just that. They do not own a car but bike, take public transportation or “car share.” Jane Lewandowski picks her own vegetables at the community garden, shops locally, prepares the family meals from scratch, uses canvas shopping bags, cloth diapers and napkins; conserves energy by washing clothes in cold water, and line dries laundry in the apartment bathroom. The public library is a place to share ideas, find books, and community events/classes. – Educational Media Reviews Online

“Picture a mellow, laid-back version of Bill Nye. Now picture him a little older, a little wiser, and a little… bald. Voila! You’ve got Ken Dial, an Associate Professor of Zoology and Biology at the University of Montana, and a very cool, very funny science guy who loves his work, and can’t help but share the news…. Throughout, the camerawork in tracking these tiny birds is excellent, the onscreen species identification is extremely helpful, Dial is a superb host…. Highly recommended. Editor’s Choice. Four Stars.” – Video Librarian

“… this slightly offbeat ode to the joys of bird watching. Hosted by colorful ornithologist Ken Dial, this three-part birdwatching series surveys a wide range of birds in such far flung locales as Costa Rican jungles and Pacific Northwest forests… the informative series is sure to find a comfortable perch in public library collections where bird watching is popular.” -Booklist

“This peppy video is adapted from the All Bird TV series and hosted by Ken Dial, a biology professor at the University of Montana and an associate of Harvard’s Museum of Comparitive Zoology. Dial, in contrast to many saccharin, dull nature-show hosts, is expressive and entertaining, a bit of a wild man but also informed, interesting, and occasionally irreverent. The background music, another nonentity in many of these shows, is varied and delightful. The content is excellent: great photography with super action shots of the birds, accented by their clear vocalizations. Eminently sensible in limiting its subjects, Adventures in Birdwatching offers six segments that do not try to cover too much. There are in-depth looks at wading birds in Florida, spring landbirds in Massachusetts, predators in the Pacific Northwest, and hummingbirds in Arizona and several takes of tropical species in Costa Rica. Interspersed are lessons in ecology, behavior, breeding habits, feeding, and general biological principles. The viewer is also treated to looks at mammals, butterflies, plant life, and varied scenery, including onsite footage and interviews with field biologists at work. Highly recommended.” -Henry T. Armistead, Free Library of Philadelphia