As I was clicking through my email this morning I came across an email from our Vice President, Joe Biden. He entitled his email “A Reason To Smile” and wrote about his excitement and support for President Obama’s decision in choosing Elena Kagan to serve on the Supreme Court. As one who began boycotting most of “the news” a few years ago, I have to admit, I don’t know anything about Elena Kagan.

When I received the Vice President’s email I thought to myself, “I don’t know anything about Eleana Kagan. I will just have to trust the President’s decision.” With my statement to myself came a hint of doubt. The doubt I have for most politicians. But in that instant of doubt came the answer; the only answer worth listening to and the only answer upon which the American people can act.

The answer: The only way America will experience real change is if The People change. We have come to depend too much on our government to solve all of our problems. It is like there is a blazing fire and The People stand in watch while a few elected officials work diligently passing bucket after bucket of water in their under-manned bucket brigade. It is up to each person to grab a bucket and work with one another to put out the fires of discontent and disillusionment.

How can I, one simple American, make a difference in a system that seems so corrupt and ineffective? I think I have to change my question first, to: “How can I, one simple person, make a difference?” I think we have to make our difference outside the system, and instead make the difference in our way of life, our daily living, and our daily choices.

Do I want to see global warming end? I have to make a decision every day to use greener transportation, eat greener foods and buy products from green companies.

Do I want to see a real solution for the “healthcare crisis”? I must make a decision to eat healthy foods, exercise daily and de-stress, while ending unhealthy habits. If the pharmaceutical companies have taught us anything, it’s that good health does not come in the form of yet another pill. We must take our health back into our own hands, while realizing that it is not in the best interest of the pharmaceutical companies for Americans to be healthy. We must look at the ties between agencies like The Food and Drug Administration and the pharmaceutical and hospital industries.

Do I want to see an end to war and violence? I must pledge to be non-violent in deed and in word. I must choose which emotions are worthy of my focus. We all experience both positive and negative emotion. That is part of life. But we do have a choice on which of those emotions to stew in. If we stew in negative emotion we send out negative vibrations in a sort of ripple effect to those around us, even those in far off lands. We create a negative climate in our world. But if we stew on our positive emotions we send out sweet and healing ripples of peace. Not to mention, we just feel better.

Do I want to see an end to joblessness? I need to stop supporting businesses that don’t pay a living wage, have a history of layoffs or accept bailouts from our government. I need to start supporting small businesses and possibly start a small business of my own. Small businesses were the root of the American economy when our country was founded and small businesses are they way for The People to take our economy back from the big players who only use us as pawns in their financial games.

I am certain I am not alone in experiencing frustration and disappointment in the close-minded politics that occurs in the extreme ends of political ideals. But whatever grievance I may suffer, it is met with the relief that positive change is occurring in our country and even in our government. I know, it may be hard to see the positive change in government when so many of our politicians continue to use their positions for personal agendas. But if we look beyond our sensationalizing media and start having conversations directly with our Representatives and Senators, we might just find that there are a few elected officials that are really making a difference, or at least making an effort to do so. I find I get much more accurate and straight information when I go directly to the source, when I write or talk to my elected officials rather than counting on biased media sources that are really out to sell advertising.

What issues do you have with our government and our society? Take a moment to identify your grievances and then take all of your days being the change you want to see. You make a difference and You are a reason to smile!

Enough of the bad news. The good news is that there are a number of safe and natural ways to repel Mosquitoes, some of which have proven to be more effective than DEET. Here are a few ways to avoid those nasty bites without going toxic:

I watched a video a few minutes ago that got me rethinking my cell phone usage.  I don’t use it for extended periods of time like I once did, because when I did, my head hurt. It wasn’t the typical headache, but felt like a dull ache and a sense of something I am having a difficult time coming up with words to describe.  It just felt like my head was being poisoned.  This was about 5 years ago.  Despite the cell phone companies’ claims that cell phones aren’t cooking our brains, I know my head feels better since I stopped using my cell phone for long calls. 

That said, now click on the popcorn link below and decide for yourself. 

Popcorn

Mitchell Joachim of Terreform, a non-profit, sustainable architectural design organization,  discusses how we can manipulate the growth of trees to make a sustainable living home of the future.   The idea for the technology has been around for 2500 years and he offers video of examples of controlled tree growth.  Living tree houses would eliminate wasted energy used in harvesting wood for lumber, hauling and cutting lumber, and they would be carbon neutral. 

The idea that these are futuristic homes stems from bureaucracy really.  Will one be able to get a building permit for a living treehouse?  Will insurance companies insure a living treehouse?  I hope insurance companies and city planners will at least approve a test home.  Why wait for the future when we have now?  I don’t know that we can get much greener than living in treehouses.  Take a look at the video and decide for yourself. 

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/1097293/mitchell_joachim_of_terraform_on_sustainable_architecture/

Other helpful links about the “Fab Tree Hab”, Mitchell Joachim and Terreform:

http://www.archinode.com/bienal.html

http://terreform.blogspot.com/

http://www.blogger.com/profile/11839742033660255237

As I grow wiser and more compassionate, I am leaning more and more towards a vegetarian diet. For now, vegan is not for me, however I will not be surprised if one day I jump off the fence and jump into the vegan life. Meanwhile, I continue to try to purchase humane non-vegan foods.

I started buying “Cage Free” eggs a few years ago after I learned of the horrible living conditions of caged hens. Caged hens are crammed into small cages, their beaks are removed and they live in cold, dark indoor pens. The hens cry in misery and live only about ¼ as long as pastured hens. Their feed is far from their natural diet. Instead they are fed a mixture of the cheapest grains that are lacking in nutrients. So cage free sounded great to me. Well, that is what the marketers of “cage free” eggs would like us to think. The truth is, that cage free hens lives are just as miserable as the caged hens. While it is true, they are not in cages, they are still kept in cramped, dark, cold, cement floored, indoor conditions. They are just as sickly and miserable, and have no better diet than caged hens.

On a postive note pastured eggs are eggs from hens that truly live outdoors or have daily access to the outdoors. They are usually kept in a coop at night to protect them from predators. They have not been debeaked and live in a natural environment allowing them to eat their natural diet of insects, worms, seeds, and green plants along with a supplement of grains or laying mash (a specialized feed rich in calcium, protein, fat, fiber, amino acids and phosphorous). These are truly happy hens!

If this doesn’t sell you on pastured eggs take a look at this! The Mother Earth News 2007 Egg Testing Project found that compared to supermarket eggs, pastured eggs contain:

½ less cholesterol

¼ less saturated fat

2/3 more vitamin A

2 times more omega-3 fatty acids

3 times more vitamin E

7 times more beta carotene

This is truly good news for both egg eating humans and egg laying hens!

Finding pastured eggs is not as hard as one would think in our google connected world. Google pastured eggs with the name of your geographical area and you are sure to find your source for pastured eggs. Sure, it may not be quite as convenient as picking up a dozen at your supermarket, but you may find the spirit of adventure in you that has been waiting to burst out and experience something new!

 Sources:

 http://www.motherearthnews.com/Real-Food/2007-10-01/Tests-Reveal-Healthier-Eggs.aspx

http://www.cheeseslave.com/2009/02/20/how-to-buy-organic-eggs-pastured-vs-free-range-eggs/

http://www.care2.com/causes/animal-welfare/blog/behind-the-cage-free-label/

I am excited to report that my hometown is going green! The Huntington Beach city government is implementing changes to reduce the amount of electricity it uses and developing a green building program among other efforts. “Energy consumption, transportation needs, urban development, and health and safety are just a few municipal issues that are connected to our ability to create a sustainable future.” states Mayor Keith Bohr.

You may have heard that many red lipsticks contain lead.  Well can you imagine that the foundation that you apply to your face every day may be toxic?  I have found a great source that will allow you to search the cosmetic products you use to see how safe they really are.  http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/splash.php?URI=%2Findex.php

I hope yours are all safe!

Did you know that some fruits and vegetables have higher concentrations of pesticides than others?  I found an enlightening guide to purchasing produce. 

Produce one should always buy organic due to the high concentration of pesticides in the non-organic include: Peach, apple, bell pepper, celery, nectarine, strawberries, cherries, kale, lettuce, grapes (imported), carrot and pear.

Non-organic produce that has minimal pesticides and are deemed safe to eat  include:  Onion, avacado, sweet corn, pineapple, mango, asparagus, sweet peas, kiwi, cabbage, eggplant, papaya, watermelon, broccoli, tomato and sweet potato.

This and other helpful information can be found at http://www.foodnews.org/ .

I always buy organic when it is available, but this information will help me make the right buying decisions and rest at east when some organic produce is not available.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics recently reported that many of our children’s bath products have cancer causing ingredients and other contaminants in them, even though the manufacturers are not reporting it on their labels.  The study took random unopened children’s bath products from different places in the country and sent them to an independent laboratory.  The laboratory found contaminents in a large percentage of the products that were not listed on the manufacturers labels.  For more information and to take action click on this link.   http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5500/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=1090

Sustainable living is a work in progress for me.  Whether it’s recycling, reusing or conserving, I have found that I have so much more to learn about our environment and the impact humanity and all our things have on it.  I hope members of Learn Share Act will share with me their knowledge so that I can more positively impact our planet. 

The best example of my good intentions gone wrong is in the area of recycling.  In my heartful intention to relieve our landfills, I started putting everything plastic in my recycle bin including plastic wrap and any and all types of plastic containers.  Thankfully, in my online research, I came across a few articles that informed me how toxic some plastics are.  In fact, some are so toxic that if they are mixed in with a batch of recyclable plastics, they contaminate the whole batch and it all must be discarded.  But discarded where?  We have all seen the little triangle that encompasses a number on plastic containers.  These numbers are important.  The number three means it is PVC and the number six polystyrene, both of which are toxic.  Number 7 is the big unknown.  It could contain any kind of plastic, therefore it should not be recylced as it may contain toxins.   I now pay attention to what I throw in my recycle bins and am looking for a way to avoid non-recyclable containers altogether. 

I have noticed that restaurants tend to use polystyrene for their take-out containers.  Most of us are aware of styrofoam, but recently many restaurants have started using black polystyrene plastic.   Polystyrene is toxic and contaminates our food, especially if the food is hot.  It also contaminates our earth as it cannot be recycled and does not biodegrade.  I plan on contacting the restaurants I frequent to help get them on the road to a healthier way to package their customers’ meals (especially mine).

We are making great strides in becoming nurturers of our planet, but most of us, like me, have much to learn.  I commit to sharing with you what I am learning and I hope you will share with me what you learn.  Together we can do anything!