home sweet home

i got to play with my new circle this week and wanted to do a quick update and do resource list so everyone can take advantage of what happened in group :D

we played with some questions:
*how do you currently use your home? would you like to change this in any way?
*use descriptive words to describe your home? are there any negatives in the list? if so is there a simple action you could take to transform that.
*if your home could tell a story about it's life what would it be?
*do you feel safe in your home? why or why not? is there any action you could take that would make you feel safer?
*imagine your favorite room in your home? feel how the energy is different here? is there anyway to take this energy through your entire home and would you want to?
*have you thought about ways to make your home more sustainable? what is one or more of the blocks keeping you from doing these actions? would a group or resources help?

we did a journey
start in your favorite room of your home. connect with the energy here. slowly imagine this room filling with golden light. when all the space of this room is filled with golden light walk around the rest of your home filling every nook and cranny with golden light. notice if there are any areas that are harder to do. do not judge just notice. when your entire home is filled with light extend this out into the surrounding area, take it only as far as you'd like one home over or several miles. now extend this energy up towards the sky and connect to divine energy allowing this to enter your home and continuously recharge and protect it. finally extend the energy down into the earth. noticing the condition of the earth surrounding your home and filling it with golden light, notice if there are any areas that need extra attention. gently work to connect heaven and earth with your home in the center of this divine golden light.

we did another journey
take 5 minutes to dream the big dream of your perfect home. explore color, texture, sound, plants, furniture, space, features and more. allow yourself to get carried away with all of the impossible and impractical things. get in touch with the small child that lives inside you and allow then to have a say in plotting your dream home.

now take another 5 minutes and write down and or draw all of these ideas.

are there any ways in which you can incorporate your dreams into your physical space? maybe a picture or a plant or a bit of cloth. ideally we want to begin to live each day and be reminded by the things that delight us and this will begin to change our reality so we can create and finance the bigger dreams.

for protection
this is a spell that works to protect your home from negative events and people, you can use this in a free standing house or in a condo/apartment.

in a jar with a screw on lid collect
dirt from the surrounding area, this anchors your home
something shiny, this attracts light
rusty bent nail, this repels negativity
assorted herbs of your choice, depending on the herbs these are for blessing, purifying or other qualities of your desire
new penny or coin, for abundance

bury all the above in the jar on your property. if you live in a condo or apartment bury the jar in a potted plant

resources:
one of the women in our group suggested this website as a tool to help you become more sustainable in your home. you can also register to be a Good Neighbor and let others know you care about the environment.

people just keep saving the planet

thankfully we don't stop when met with resistance, we just go underground or utilize the amazing power of the internet to change things.

get smarter and feed someone or save a rain forest
http://www.onesquarefoot.org/
http://www.freerice.com/

local shopping program that helps local people
http://www.interraproject.org/

a 20 minute video to educate you of the life and death cycle of all your possessions
http://www.storyofstuff.com/

beauty with a beautiful impact
http://www.iamapeacekeeper.com/aboutpeacekeeper.htm?

monks save trees by making them monks, does anyone else think that is the best thing ever
http://ecoworldly.com/2008/01/19/thai-monks-combat-deforestation/

Tips for a Healthier Home

Since it's Breast Cancer awareness month I thought I'd share some healthful tips to reduce your exposure to toxins. These tips are modified from ones that printed in Body and Soul magazine.

1) Inspect all products you put on your skin. Shampoo, lotion, cleaners, dish soap, bath, cosmetics, etc. Your skin is your most absorbent organ, everything you put on it goes through it. Check labels and reduce your exposure to petrochemicals, talc, and other harmful poisons. Here's a list of companies that have gone toxin free.

2)Assess your clothing. Where does it come from? What is it made of? What is it dyed with? Choose to educate yourself on where clothing is made and the fabric that are best for the earth. Yes you may spend a bit more for organic clothes, however you will save a ton on the impact of the earth. Reduce your carbon foot print even further by buying used clothing at thrift stores, vintage shops and consignment spaces. Better yet host a party with all your friends and trade.

3)Food. READ INGREDIENTS. I know it's a chore but sneaky marketing laws allow nasty stuff to get through the organic label. Buy things with ingredients you can pronounce and save a bundle by visiting local farmer's markets for fresh produce, herbs, cheese, breads, and flowers.

4) Assess you home. The big surfaces in your home affect air quality the most. Consider using hardwood, ceramic or stone flooring instead of chemically derived carpet. If painting consider paints low in VOCs (volatile organic compounds) better yet try a natural plaster finish tinted with earth based dye.

5) Sleep. Since you spend roughly a third of your life here "green" this area first. Invest in a mattress of latex foam, cotton, or wool batting. Replace synthetic pillows with wool or cotton, and look for unbleached untreated linens. I can attest since we bought out organic bed a year ago I sleep much better. We bought ours at Soaring Heart and the best thing the latex mattress will last minimum 20 years and we can replace the cotton futon (get it re stuffed every 3-5 years) for cheap!

6) Car. make sure you aren't leaching car fumes into your home. Obviously if you need a car it'd be best to have an electric on, if you can't afford that buy one that's less hard on the environment. If you own a car, participate in bike to work, riding the bus or walking anytime it's possible. If you work from home consider why you need a car and play with the idea of finding a flex car. There are 298 flex cars in Seattle, 11 in west Seattle, 4 within walking distance to my house. My goal by the end of 2008 is to get rid of one or both of our cars. It's a waste of money, time and frustration. Always keep a window cracked in the car as the inside of a car is the most toxic place you come in contact with on a daily basis.

7) Keep informed. My favorite sites are Tree Hugger, GreenOptions
and this amazing woman has committed to 365 days of finding solutions to live a greener life...

8) Evaluate how you cook and store food. Plastic is handy but evil... limit your usage. Non-stick pans kill birds and small dogs with their toxic fumes, should you be eating out of that? (I still use mine too) When you buy new things take these thins into consideration, store foods in glass and cook in stainless steel.

9)Dump the "magic" cleaning products. If you have to call the poison control center after ingesting it you shouldn't expose it to your skin or lungs or eyes. I used Method products, my friend uses Seventh Generation. both you could ingest and only end up with a tummy ache, yet they kill germs, clean well, and smell amazing.

10)Look to your pets, garden and outdoor spaces. Do you use pesticides, herbicides, weed block, super lawn enhancers, etc. Do you then let your pet and/or child and/or self go out in that? Once again skin is the most absorbent organ and you/your pet/your child is taking it all in. Not to mention it's running off in the rain and creating havoc in local water systems and killing fish/birds/good bugs. Try natural alternatives, companion planting and build a bird house for day bugs and a bat house for night bugs. Look at what you feed your pets. With all the scars earlier in the year people are switching to natural pet foods. again read the ingredients. Also look to pet products and search out natural alternates to poisoning them. (and then let me know cause i still use that nasty flea meds on them)

politics, population, and planting

This is not the happiest of posts, some political stuff in front and more inspiring things below.

The axis of evil might lie closer to home:
Gas increases and the Bush AdministrationOne girl documents "What I learned from Bush"


Now how to fix our cities
Carl Sagan on Population and Poverty

The lighter, happier stuff:
Planting trees, start young
21 things you didn't know you could recycle
Yay Seattle! now when do you think they will build it?

Bottled Water

Lots of new information coming out on this. I find it funny that people think tap water is not very healthy when it is monitored several times a day and the bottled stuff from coke and pepsi has lower standards and testing results are kept classified. Unfortunately good bottled water is often shipped from far away places, loosing it's environmental and health benefits by the fuel consumed during travel. High end restaurants in San Fransisco and New York are embracing the low environment impact and are cutting imported water from their menu's.

Here's the article
Top 5 reasons to avoid bottled water

SierraClub fact sheet

So raise your glass high, drink up and refill from the tap.

Upcoming retreat

Linked here is a description of the upcoming retreat I am co-facilitating June 8th-10th on Whidbey Island. It will be a wonderful weekend of giving to the Earth and receiving for yourself. I will post more as details make themselves more known.

Right now there will be work around our current environmental chaos and easy, small steps you can take to help. There will be sweat time in a Finnish sauna, gardening, labyrinth walking, shamanic journeying and much more. Plus we are staying in the cutest farm house ever and eating delicious local foods prepared by me and the catering staff at the Whidbey Institute. It will be a weekend full of magic!

I hope to see you there!

http://ravensongretreats.com/index.html

new climate change group

http://www.2people.org/

Their goal seems to be to get politicians to commit to making global warming, climate change, and carbon emissions are on the ticket in the 2008 elections. They have some simple tips for everyday life; small changes that can create great positive change when done by many. Check it out, join if you feel so inclined !

Remember:

"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little."
~Edmund Burke

eco-footprint

Happy New Year everyone! Here's a good way to see your impact on the environment and maybe make some changes in the new year! More updates soon.

I'm a Conservation International Eco-ally. What are you? Measure your ecological impact at www.conservation.org/ecofootprint

the giant list of ethical food sources

Here are some resources for healthy food alternatives. Sorry this is such a long post but I did not want to loose this information. This list is part of one from the book The Ethical Gourmet by Jay Weinstein, I have omitted the very large meat section because it is 3 pages long and some of the websites below will get you that information.


Fair Trade Certified
www.transfairusa.org
www.ifat.org

Listings
www.globalexchange.org
www.fairtradefederation.com

Chocolate
www.dagobachocolate.com
www.newmansownorganics.com

Coffee
www.cafecanopy.com
www.cafelasemeuse.com
www.mountainviewcoffee.com
www.adamsorganiccoffees.com
www.cafeman.com
www.deansbeans.com
www.elanorganic.com
www.greenmountaincoffee.com
www.groundsforchange.com
www.kalanicoffee.com
www.saltspringcoffee.com
www.urthcaffe.com

wine
www.astorwines.com
www.ecowines.com
www.feywine.com

Organic Groceries
www.arrowheadmills.com
www.beanbag.net
www.celtic-seasalt.com
www.diamondorganics.com
www.edenfoods.com
www.garlicgourmet.com
www.greatgrainsmilling.com
www.greenmountainmills.com
www.lotusfoods.com
www.organic-planet.com
www.publix.com
www.sunorganicfarm.com
www.truefoodsonline.com or www.truefoodsmarket.com
www.villageorganics.com
www.woodprairie.com
www.worldofrice.com
www.yatatex.com

Rainforest Friendly
www.tradesfairusa.org
www.rainforset-alliance.org
www.chiquita.com

Ethnic and Specialty
www.deliciousorganics.com
www.agferri.com
www.asianfoodgrocer.com
www.cybercucina.com
www.ethnicgrocer.com
www.farawayfoods.com
www.goya.com
www.harvestsensations.com
www.importfoods.com
www.kalustyans.com
www.kitchenmarket.com
www.livingtreecommunity.com
www.mexgrocer.com
www.mustaphas.com
www.orientalpantry.com
www.pointshop.com

Sugar and Alternative Sugar
www.lasiembra.com
www.levelground.com
www.marquisproject.com
www.wholesomesweeteners.com

Organic Info
www.eatwellguide.org
www.iatp.org
www.lohas.com
www.foodnews.org (pesticide info)

Political/ Socially Responsible
www.lcv.org
www.sierraclub.org
www.chefscollaborative.org
www.greenpages.org
www.workingassets.com

Garden Seeds
www.seedsavers.org

Sustainablity

I'm moving to Ireland... sorry everyone but these people are on top of it! The people of Kinsale Ireland are determined to become energy independent by the year 2021 and have created this amazing proposal on how they are going to achieve it.

It is inspiring and also bring home how serious the issue is an how ignorant we are all being about this. For the most part this is not our fault, we don't decide where our food comes from, and or the price of an electric car, or for the most part where our president spends our taxes, but we can begin to be educated and try to make better choices that are less impacting to the earth.

So this all came about because I had place about 300 books on hold at the library, and 4 of them came in 3 on how to create a better environment, which lead me to again pick up the above article and begin to read it in ernest. I am floored at how little is being said or done. This is a crisis of epic proportions, the entire world economy is at risk, not to mention the health of the planet. And what are we worried about? I can't even begin to say how trivial it is.

The following is the website if you want to see a brief outline, you can download the longer version 55 pages and they ask a contribution to do it. Take a gander, be impressed by your fellow humans and start looking around you for solutions.

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/005135.html