Leaves not Logos

November 30, 2009 at 3:32 am (Earth Action, Green Living)
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A few weeks ago I attended an Evolver Atlanta meeting where we discussed our nation’s food security and alternatives to eating food that has been transported an average of 1,500 miles from farm to plate. The options highlighted included farmers’ markets, organic gardening, permaculture, aquaponics, and wild edible plants.

As Duane talked about his organic farm and Rob showed us the abundance of edible plants that can be found in the area, I was captivated and felt a sense of recognition ignite from deep within – ancestral knowledge bubbling up from my DNA. Yet I also felt despair, wondering how was it possible that so much of this ancient wisdom eludes us. What was once commonplace is now only known by a handful of people. This is especially poignant to think about during the largest shopping weekend of the year.

Studies have shown that the average child is exposed to 20,000, 30-second TV commercials in a year. From these, children learn to recognize hundreds of logos, but I wonder how many plants and trees they can identify?

Senegalese poet and naturalist Baba Dioum wrote, “’In the end, we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught.” Maybe this is why the majority of Americans seem to strive for material possessions and defend our consumer culture – it is what we are taught every time we turn on the TV, flip through a magazine, surf the internet, drive on the highway, or open a newspaper full of circulars.  Advertising messages have even invaded bathroom stalls! We have been taught that it is our right and privilege as Americans to have access to these vast quantities of consumer products – that in is in fact “The American way of life.”

However, the voices that cry, “That is not my way of life, or how I want my life to be” are gathering and growing louder. Organizations like the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, are forming to teach us their ancestral ways of prayer, peacemaking, and healing with plant medicines which are vitally needed today.

In the book The Absence of Soil, Imani writes “Teaching our children to respect and appreciate nature, her cycles and rhythms, where food comes from, how to garden and identify plants, how prepare and preserve food establishes a foundation that they will return to. So many youth of today are unable to perform the most basic life skills. Let us teach them what we know so as to remember what needs not be forgotten. Let us pass on vital life lessons to our children.”

This Christmas, along with a few toys, my children will find Audubon Guides in their stockings, so that I may be able to help them to understand our interconnectedness, fall in love with the majesty and wonder in the world, and embrace Permaculture instead of consumer culture.

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Listen to Your Mother

October 15, 2009 at 12:10 pm (Climate Change)
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Compared to other countries around the world, America, at 233 years of age, is relatively young.  The contentious debate over climate change, and even the fact that we are debating the issue, makes us look like ungrateful, selfish little children. To the world, the US must appear like a child stomping his feet on the floor, with his fists in the air, arguing with his mother about the toys strewn all over the floor.  “They are not mine! I didn’t do it! It’s not even a mess! What about Tommy? You should see his room! Mine is clean compared to what his looks like! I shouldn’t have to do anything until he cleans up his mess first!” Sound familiar?

Climate statistics and figures aside – can’t we all agree that there are consequences to our actions? If you start the day off arguing with people doesn’t that negativity usually come back to you one way or another? If you eat a few hundred more calories a day then you burn off, doesn’t that start to add up? How can we possibly think that blowing off the tops of mountains, polluting our water sources with toxic chemicals, and belching smoke into the sky has few or no repercussions for our health or the environment?

One of the most recent examples of environmental karma is the H1N1, or swine flu. Swine flu is suspected to have originated in a type of fly that reproduces in pig waste. The outbreak was linked to pig farms that polluted the atmosphere and local water bodies, which in turn led to the disease outbreak.

What if the scientists are wrong and the unprecedented rates of global climate change and their ramifications are incorrect? So what?!  Doesn’t the concept of peak oil sound probable? And if we don’t think it will happen in our lifetime, do we really want to be beholden indefinitely on the Middle East for our oil? Why not rely on the sun when the amount of sunlight that hits the Earth’s surface in one hour is enough to power the entire world for a year?

Investing in green technology will cost money, but it doesn’t mean that taxes or the deficit will increase; rather it is a matter of realigning our priorities. We could stop giving billions of dollars in tax breaks to oil companies for exploration and CEO salaries, and instead invest those dollars into new technologies. Those dollars could stimulate previous manufacturing hubs, like Detroit who has people with technical and manufacturing experience, and train them to build and install solar panels. Instead of spending money on unemployment benefits, we could employ American citizens to create cleaner, less expensive, alternative energy solutions. The $80+ million spent on crashing a spacecraft into the moon, could have bought a lot of solar panels!

I think we need to look to our own mothers for advice on where to go from here. In homes all across America, you can probably find these golden rules, posted on the refrigerator, stitched on a canvas, or painted on a kitschy decoration.

Golden Rules for Living

If you open it, close it.

If you turn it on, turn it off.

If you unlock it, lock it up.

If you break it, admit it.

If you can’t fix it, call in someone who can.

If you borrow it, return it.

If you value it, take care of it.

If you make a mess clean it up.

We should also adhere to the ultimate Golden Rule, of which there are versions in at least 21 world religions, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

Like many of our own mothers, Mother Nature has been incredibly patient, kind, and generous to us over the years.  It is time to say we are sorry and make our amends before it is too late.

We need to stop debating this issue, treat each other and the earth with compassion, take responsibility, and clean up our mess!

To see what others are saying about climate change, visit www.blogactionday.org.

 

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Turtle Crossing

August 24, 2009 at 3:51 am (Animals, Earth Action)
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I bought the book, Broken Open, for a good friend who just turned forty and is going through some major life changes. Before I passed it on I read a few pages and was intrigued. I was pulled in by the honesty, courage, wisdom, and beautiful prose of author Elizabeth Lesser, cofounder of Omega Institute.

I picked up the book a week later for myself and quickly became immersed in Lesser’s story of her phoenix process and how others have been transformed by life-altering events. I think that many threads from this rich tapestry of experience and insight will stay with me for years to come, but there was one passage that particularly resonated with me.

In the section on Birth and Dying, Elizabeth (after reading this book, it feels like we should be on a first name basis), writes, “As I drive the bends of Slate Quary Road, I search the top of the tree canopy for signs of die-off. The death of trees offends me; it stirs up rage, and then grief…Twisting along the curves with my eyes shifting to the tops of the trees, I sense a large shape in the road ahead of me. Before I can slam on the brakes, I come upon a huge snapping turtle…I am preoccupied by the death of the trees in particular and the loss of nature in general. I run over the turtle.” She goes on to describe how she searched for meaning in this, and then found a snapping turtle nesting in her back yard the following day. After consulting with her husband and author/environmentalist Gary Snyder, she realizes that in her worry she missed the life in front of her, yet was also given the chance to witness regeneration, the beautiful, mysterious cycle of beauty and loss.   

I was not moved by this story because I have a sick sense of humor, but rather because something similar happened to me two years ago. It was a rainy September afternoon, and I picked up a shipment of organic cotton t-shirts with the saying “find the good” from the printer, named Turtle Crossing. I received the t-shirts just in time for the test launch of my new company Zola: The Art of Living Green- my own version of breaking open. The party was in just a few days, and my mission was to educate and empower people to be conscious consumers and help them to make more environmentally-friendly choices. As I turned into my driveway, I heard a sickening crunch under my tire.

When I got out to investigate, I was horrified to see that I had run over a turtle. I really didn’t think that the Universe would sacrifice one of her own to mock me, but it did feel like a cruel joke.  Did I mention the printer’s name was Turtle Crossing? I too implored Gaia for an answer and after analyzing the symbolism and discussing it with a good friend trained in Peruvian Shamanism, the best I could surmise was that this was an example of opposing forces in nature, or possibly a message to keep me humble, encourage me to move a little faster, or a warning to stay grounded and to protect myself- or maybe all of the above.

I love Elizabeth’s lesson from her experience, “I can transform my worry into trust, and my despair over dying trees and dead turtles into a bright vision of eternal rebirth.” For me, it taught me that while it is important to see the big picture, it is just as crucial to be present in the moment, and tend to the life that is in front of me.

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Do You Need to Update Your Operating System?

August 16, 2009 at 11:22 pm (Earth Action, Spirit)
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The signs were all there; slow to get started in the morning, sluggish throughout the day, limited memory, could not multi-task with as much efficiency, intermittent error messages. I noticed these ailments, but was comfortable with the known, and saw them more as inconveniences, rather than indicators of a serious problem.

And then the inevitable happened.  A few hours before going to the airport for a week-long trip, I plugged in my ipod to download the latest episodes of Eco Trip, and after numerous failed connection attempts the screen flashed blue, then black, and then all fell silent.  Attempts to reboot only resulted in a retro command page that indicated a problem with the operating system. There was not even time to ask, “Why now, of all times, does it have to break?” I rushed it over to the Geek Squad to work on it while I was gone and hopefully return home to a running computer with data left intact.

I’m not sure if it was the fact that I was getting on an airplane that afternoon, or the knowledge that I had a lot of things backed up on an external hard drive, that allowed me to immediately surrender to the situation, accept the predicament, and move forward to repair the problem. In the past my M.O. would have been to resist the situation by asking all of the why questions, allowing the cortisol to course though my veins, and indulging the temptation to be snappy and irrational, knowing full well it would not help the situation, but giving into it all the same.

Instead, I embarked on the plane knowing that one way or another everything would work out.  I’m not sure that I would say I had a sense of inner peace – in part because my husband and I also had our 3- and 7-year-old in tow- but at the very least I had a bit of detachment from the situation, a sliver of space and breathing room between the what ifs and the what is.

While we were visiting family that week, I spent part of my time talking to very a helpful special agent, and researching possible replacements as the old computer was beyond repair. Within days of our return home, I had a much more stable and efficient system, and was gratefully able to recover all of my data. Like many transitions in life, I had to make some decisions about what was important to keep and what I was able to let go of (especially when it came to the extensive number of songs, playlists, and podcasts on iTunes). There are also still some kinks to work out, and there is a learning curve with new operating system. But this experience gave me the chance to update my internal operating system and realize that I can act to resolve an issue without getting tangled up in the emotions surrounding the issue.

Of course, I should have upgraded to a better system when I saw the signs that the old system was not as effective or reliable as it had once been. Being proactive would have saved me the hassle of dealing with the problem while on vacation and taking time away from family. I wouldn’t have had to worry about the fate of all the files and contacts on my hard drive, and would have more time to research better, less costly replacements. But I didn’t take action earlier- fearing the unknown, worrying about losing something in the process, dreading the cost of a new system. In many ways my experience with my computer was a microcosm of how we are all handling problems in our society – and maybe even our lives – from the economy, to the environment, to health care, to our own health or relationships. We ignore the signs, and put off fixing something until it falls apart, leaving us to scramble to pick up the pieces, trying to fit them back into the old puzzle which has now lost its’ form. 

My dear friend and amazing speaker and author, Carla Rabb DeRosa, encourages people to avoid breakdowns by doing regular maintenance on their personal computers. She advises, “The technology that will absolutely make or break your career and success in life is the programming that is running your personal computer.  Your own personal computer that is located in our heads and our hearts is made up most by our thoughts, beliefs, emotions and feelings. With 90% of our actions driven by our subconscious mind and the 50,000 to 80,000 thoughts a day that run through our mind, it behooves us to invest in upgrading our personal computers regularly.  The top three tips to avoid a crash are:

  1. Know your PC – Explore the unconscious thoughts behind the actions that are blocking your success, such as procrastination, anger or forgetfulness.
  2. Analyze your wiring – Personality Assessments such as the Myers- Briggs help us determine our natural born instincts and preferences.  This type of in-depth analysis lets us design a career and life around our strengths and our passions.
  3. Get help from a professional – You would not trust the repair and maintenance of your computer to someone who is inexperienced, so why do we ask career and business advice from those who do not have the answers? Locate coaches, teachers and mentors who are knowledgeable, committed to helping people, and are succeeding in their own lives.”

Let us envision the future that we want – for ourselves and for the world. We can’t wait until we broken by pain, or until the rivers have run dry to look for a solution. If we slide to the bottom of Maslow’s pyramid, we will be consumed with survival and fulfilling our most basic needs. We will not have the luxury of pondering – much less directing - our fate.  This is the time for us to be proactive, stabilize systems before they crash, and lead the way to a more sustainable future. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

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Step by Step

July 28, 2009 at 3:44 am (Uncategorized)

This summer, two of my best friends finished Ironman competitions. They each swam for 2.4 miles, rode their bike for 112 miles and then ran a marathon – 26.2 miles. An absolutely incredible feat! The key to their success was having the goal, but then breaking down how to reach it into small, incremental steps, and training diligently to meet the milestones along the way.

As studies have showed time and time again, it is the small changes to daily habits that end up having the most lasting impact. Also, these acts tend to reinforce each other. An exercise plan that starts out with a daily walk, may over time turn into a run around the neighborhood. When you realize how many hours it will take on the treadmill to burn off that piece of cake, your eating habits start to shift as well.

In much the same way, I find that changes to our daily consumption habits start to shift when we become more aware of the impact. When someone unplugs their cell phone charger, they may look around to see what other appliances need to be unplugged. As these actions start to increase awareness, the next steps may be to turn off lights, replace light bulbs, and look for energy star appliances. Then the electric bill arrives and the lower cost is a positive reinforcement.

Maybe some people stop here, but many others then look for ways to save water around the house. Or maybe they start to bring their own bags to the grocery store, and start to scrutinize what they put in their shopping cart.

It is also important to recognize the connection between physical actions and their impact on the mind. These simple, physical, tangible acts help people to feel empowered and they reinforce their sense of responsibility and understanding that their behavior does make a difference.

For the people who are already environmentally fit, this is your chance to lead the way by creating innovative technologies, sources for alternative energy, sustainable food systems, and ways to conserve and purify water. The possibilities are endless – and needed – if we are going to create a healthier future for the earth and her inhabitants.

Envision what you want to accomplish, make a plan for how you are going to reach your goal, and then take action.

“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Lao Tzu

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The Best Birthday Ever!

July 23, 2009 at 3:19 am (Animals, Green Living)

For her seventh birthday my daughter wanted to have a birthday party for all of her friends. Like her mother, she has the gene that always wants to include everyone, so the guest list was growing by the day. I was resisting the party idea mainly because I did not want any more plastic toys – or stuff in general – to enter the house. So, inspired by an idea from one of my friends a few years ago, I decided to see if she was really in it for her friends – or for the gifts. I told her that we could have a party with all of her friends, but that instead of gifts, she would have to pick a charity and ask people to bring items or money for that cause. Without a moment’s hesitation, she said, “Sure. I want to help animals.”

I asked our favorite vet, Dr. Tyler at The Village Vets  if there was a shelter she could recommend as a beneficiary and she put us in touch with Lindy Barrett-Grove at Hightower Farm and Animal Sanctuary.

Lindy, who started bringing home lost and injured animals when she was a child, rescues pets that are commonly labeled “unadoptable,” such as senior dogs, cats and horses as well as pets with life-threatening diseases and/or permanent disabilities. Every animal that comes to Hightower has a home for life, even if it does not get adopted.  We had the privilege of meeting Lindy and her motley – yet adorable crew of critters this week when we dropped off the proceeds from the party totaling over $260! Later that night, my daughter exclaimed that it was the best birthday ever! I could tell that she genuinely felt that it is more fulfilling to give than to receive. jumping for joy

If you are planning to add a pet to your family, please consider adopting one of the many animals in shelters across the country that is in need of a loving home.

May we strive to embrace Hightower’s vision, “To create a sanctuary where animals are well fed, well loved, and unafraid. To promote understanding and compassion between humans and animals…In short, to create a better world from our little corner of [the world].”

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Time as Currency

July 16, 2009 at 4:39 am (Uncategorized)
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I just returned home from an enlightening Evolver Spore meeting at the funky, dog-friendly, ParkGrounds Coffee House in Atlanta.

To back track a bit, Evolver is a new social network for conscious collaboration. It provides a platform for individuals, communities, and organizations to discover and share the new tools, initiatives, and ideas that will improve our lives and change the world. In addition to being an on-line network, they also have monthly spore meetings on the third Wednesday of the month in various cities across the country, so that people can actually meet each other face to face.

The topic this month was “Beyond Money.” We looked a bit at the problems in our financial system and then explored some local grass-roots initiatives for complementary currencies. I have come across some other bartering systems recently, but it seemed confusing to assign values and points to various tasks, and the inherent issues with our current value structure still exist in these systems. So for example in our current system, if you look at the hourly pay scale, childcare and gardening are valued much less than legal expertise. It is a system based more on scarcity of talent than on what is necessary for our health and well-being.

This is why I love Time Banking! It takes away the professional echelon and values people and their time equally.  For every hour you spend doing something for someone in your community, you earn one Time Dollar. Then you have a Time Dollar to spend on having someone do something for you. In addition to not having to spend money on these projects, you also get to know your neighbors and share your expertise.

Obviously this is not a new concept, people have been trading time and talents around the world for thousands of years. But in recent decades, as we pull our car into our garage, walk hurriedly into our air-conditioned home, and turn on the tv, we have become disconnected from our community. When we lose this sense of place, it becomes easy for us to also lose our sense of responsibility to the land and caring for the people around us.

It is time to step back out onto our porches and exchange the most valuable commodity of all – our time.

 If you live in the Candler Park/Lake Claire area and want to be a part of Atlanta’s first time bank, please visit: https://www.atlantatimebank.org/

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What it Really Means to be Green

July 14, 2009 at 2:49 am (Green Living)

It seems that these days, “green” is right up there with “thin” and “anti-aging” as top advertising buzz words. However, the true essence of green is not a marketing ploy; it is about conservation, sustainability, and ultimately peace.

One of the best things you can do to be green is to live a bit more simply. It’s not to say that we should not be grateful and accepting of abundance in our lives. But maybe we need to change our sense of abundance. Rather than a house filled with the latest electronic gadgets or closets full of designer clothes (and the accompanying bills), imagine your life overflowing with good friends, healthy, fresh food, wonderful books and leisure time.

A second component of being green is to ask oneself, “Will this last, and if so what are the impacts?” As the Great Law of the Iroquois wisely states, “In every deliberation we must consider the impact on the seventh generation.” This is the mindset of sustainability. Certainly this is true for environmental issues, such as water use and pollution, but it can also be applied to all areas of your life. Our country would not be in the mortgage and financial crisis that we are in today if borrowers and lenders asked themselves these questions.

Third, and most important, the green movement is rooted in peace. It is about being in harmony with the earth and with each other. If you look around the world, most of the time conflict is due to a lack of resources.

Ultimately, being green is about finding the good that you can do each day to heal the planet. By finding the good in ourselves, in others, and in the daily choices that we make, we play a vital role in creating a more healthy, peaceful and sustainable future.

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Fierce Light

July 12, 2009 at 3:01 am (Movies, Spirit)
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fiercelight

Fierce Light illuminates stories of spiritual activism – from well known activists such as American Civil Rights Leader, Congressman John Lewis and Buddhist peace activist and monk Thich Nhat Hanh, to lesser known causes like the movement to save South Central Farm, led in part by one of my personal sheroes, Julia Butterfly Hill.

The strand that weaves these stories together is that the protestors are committed to non-violence and are compelled to action by what Gandhi called “soul force.” While watching Fierce Light, I was reminded of the quote by Mother Teresa: “I was once asked why I don’t participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I’ll be there.”

When I was in college in the early 90s I went to Philadelphia for an Earth Day summit, which concluded in a march to sign an Environmental Bill of Rights. I’m not sure what ever came from that weekend in terms of legislation, but I learned that it is not my nature to be the one shouting chants at a protest. I was happily assigned to the peace brigade along the perimeter of the march. I’m not sure if it is because my dissident spirit also bristles to the barely harnessed energy of a group mentality or because it makes me feel like I am in a subordinate position, like a child who pumps a fist and yells at an unyielding parent – or maybe a bit of both. But either way, while I believe that protests are absolutely necessary, and am so grateful for our right to be able to demonstrate, I do not usually feel comfortable in this environment.

However, watching Fierce Light gave me hope, and reminded me that when coming from Spirit, that place of stillness and love inside each one of us, protests can become a demonstration of what Martin Luther King called “love in action.” If we can react to injustice– whether gathered in a large scale demonstration – or to personal confrontation in everyday life – from a place of love, peace, and compassion as demonstrated by the activists in this movie, imagine what our world would look like!

Not yet available on DVD, Fierce Light is accessible to all U.S households or mobile devices with a high-speed Internet connection. Go to: http://myfilmblog.com/req.phpreq=static.php&page=static090427-085443

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Food Inc.

July 9, 2009 at 6:50 pm (Food, Movies)
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On Monday night I went to the movie theater to see Food Inc.  Many of us think of a trip to the movies as an escape from reality, but this movie pulls back the curtain on our food system to show us the truth behind what it takes to get food from the “farm” to the “table,” or sadly, in most cases, from the CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) to our front seat.

Walking in, I was nervous about the inevitable images of slaughterhouses. There were a few of these scenes, and yes, my eyes were closed, but it was not gratuitous. I think the film makers gave us just enough information to get a sense of what goes on in a food processing center, but I think they probably spared us from the worst of it. So don’t let this be the reason that you don’t go to see the movie.

I thought for sure that my strongest reaction would have been to the way animals are treated, which is awful and disturbing. But I was surprised to find that I was most moved by the stories of the people – from the heartbroken mother, to the farmer being destroyed by Monsanto, to the exploited Hispanic workers and the parents who can’t afford to let their daughter buy fresh pears because dollar for dollar, calorie for calorie the fast food hamburger is a better buy – and easier to eat when you are working long hours and don’t have time to eat at home together as a family.

I was also hopeful – seeing (and feeling) the pain and subsequent epiphany of chicken farmer Carole Morison, and hearing the brilliant, infectious logic of Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms, known to many from the pages of An Omnivore’s Dilemma.  Gary Hirshberg, Founder of Stonyfield Farms is also a shining example of how we can create substantial and lasting change in the marketplace – from our purchasing dollars, to dropping the “us v. them” mentality and working with large corporations to create more sustainable – and profitable – practices.

I have read a number of books about our food system, and this movie is an excellent primer to help the viewer understand the main issues. I really hope that many, many people will see this movie and then ask, what I can I do about it?

If you are asking this question, here are some ideas:

Robert Kenner, Director of Food Inc, says on the June 27th, Sierra Club Radio Podcast, “When I was a kid we spent something like 18% of our paycheck on food. Today we spend something like 9%. But when I was a kid we spent something like 5% of our paycheck on healthcare costs. Today we spent like 18% on healthcare. So in aggregate our costs have gone up.” But there is also the environmental cost. Ultimately the system we use to grow our food…is really not sustainable.”

Take a look at your budget. Is there an area where you can shift money so that you have a little bit extra for organic dairy or organic fruits and vegetables at the store? Maybe you could try turning your thermostat up or down by a few degrees and saving on your energy costs, or drink tap water rather than buying bottled water?

Check out localharvest.org to find out about farmers’ markets, and CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) programs.

Look at your menu for the week. Can you cut out red-meat or meat all together from one meal a week, or one day a week, or more?

Many times our meal choices come down to an issue of time (or lack of). Can you prepare some meals at the beginning of the week, or say no to something so that you have more time at home to relax and enjoy mealtime with your family?

Were you inspired by the bravery of Barbara Kowalcyk and/or Carole Morison? Can you turn tragedy into activism? If you spoke up, what would you say? If you took a stand, what would you do?

Please feel free to answer these questions or add suggestions of your own.

For other related links please visit: http://www.zolagoods.com/links.php?page=home&catid=6

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