tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26532053879567348502024-03-04T21:14:37.488-08:00StepNext...The post employment adventures of a curly haired gal....SWIXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08076282580663378414noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653205387956734850.post-63716600348632918932016-11-21T22:35:00.000-08:002016-11-21T22:35:37.607-08:00Pockets of Change: The Hope Blog<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Taking a Stance</span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sometimes when you write a blog, it just spews right out of your fingers and onto...well, the keyboard these days, because no matter how old fashioned I am, paper is somewhat wasteful and I have to type it later anyway. So sometimes it flows easy and sometimes it’s based on a thought that has to sit with you for a while, so that you can decide how you </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">actually</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> feel about it and what you want to say. Brain sauerkraut really, just a bunch of ideas mixed together and made to ferment for a while, ya know, till they’re ready.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I created a fermented blog a while ago and I think it’s time to revisit that thought cabbage. The idea behind the blog was to discuss sustainable thought. For the full story, you can </span><a href="http://stepnextswix.blogspot.com/2012_01_01_archive.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">click here </span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and peruse at your heart’s content. But for those with fewer reading minutes whom I haven’t already lost, one of the pieces I’ve really retained from that blog is this: humans need hope. Simple some might say, and I wouldn’t disagree, but I think this bit goes deeper. Humans need a future, they need to believe that tomorrow could be better, that improvement and accomplishment are attainable aspects and one that will come to fruition. It’s how we feel about jobs, life, relationships… it’s the missing piece in fulfillment and commitment for some...and can relate to everything!</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That job where you’ve hit the glass ceiling, the relationship you know won’t go anywhere, we’ve all been there and the unhappiness and frustration that can well up without a solid reason is quite simply just a lack of hope, a lack of seeing yourself there in the future, and therefore a lack of commitment to personally fixing it, making it better.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I feel this idea is not only appropriate, but important in our current world, no matter which side of the coin you like to land. In many ways, it seems like the walls are crashing in: the environment is degrading around us, the media assures us that nothing but hate and violence occurs each and every day, not only in our country, but all over the world. More people are barely scraping by and the sentiment of blame and frustration is more than palpable in most cities… so how is it that we can be happy, how is it that we can find hope?</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We must create it. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This sounds very abstract and it certainly will stay that way until you make it real! Hope is found in many places...in the everlasting mountains that feel so strong and sturdy, at a little league game with our mini-me future investments actually trying their hardest without a notion of recourse for failure (sorry that one might have hidden undertones), when someone says ‘thank you’ and really means it. Hope can be present at the graduation of your daughter with the thought of her future ...or simply gleaned from learning that other people are doing really good things in the world! </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s amazing how your perception can change when surrounded by little positive things. And if those seemingly insignificant occurrences can change your outlook, just think of what it could do for others! The more good, the more hope that surrounds you, the better you feel. The better you feel, the better you treat others, the more encouraged they are to reach out and make a change as well! It’s all a vicious cycle, but for once in a really helpful sense!</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Some people will say that the doom and gloom are all just too overwhelming. And they’re not wrong. But you have to make a dent. Cliche or not, Ghandi was not wrong when he said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” The little things, those tiny sprinkles of hope that you see throughout the day can easily overwhelm your fated cupcake. Be the sprinkles people!</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now let’s be real, not all of us have the time or the energy to just go and start something new, something that’s never been done, something that could help others...but why not? People around you are doing it every day. Millions of organizations exist that promote health for children in developing nations and here in the US of A, others are striving to save the oceans from our overconsumption of plastics, thousands are volunteering at soup kitchens, schools, community gardens… where do they find the time? They make it. Just like you have to create hope, you must create the space in your life, allow yourself to do good things! Commit. Be the hope.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We all get caught up in ‘priorities’...allll of us. It’s chores, it’s family, it’s work...it will always be something. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I was a kid, I was lucky enough to go to Camp Kitaki every summer (shout out to my camp peeps!). The director would stand up in front of the whole camp with a big glass jar in his hands. On the table in front of him were a few large rocks, some medium ones, and a lot of sand. The big rocks represented the most important things in your life, the medium ones lesser things, and the sand was clearly the small stuff.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The jar… was your life. To cut to the chase, when you attempt to fill the jar with the sand first, or even the medium rocks, you could never seem to maneuver all the big rocks into place. But when you start with the big rocks….</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Make hope a big rock. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When you see goodness and progress and a brighter tomorrow happening around you, be part of it! And when you don’t, start it. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Has the world become an uncertain place to live? F**ck yeah it has. But it is not without hope! And the only way to make that grow is to create it. Be the change. Be the cupcake sprinkles. Turn off your television and make some art.</span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-d726d98e-8abd-9fbd-c47e-b3e8fed8a072"></span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<br /></div>
</div>
SWIXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08076282580663378414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653205387956734850.post-31891727607701500572012-07-25T13:13:00.002-07:002012-07-25T13:19:31.042-07:00Basic 5: Numero Dos: Energy and Fuel<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>TAI BLOG #11: BASIC 5, NUMERO DOS: ENERGY and FUEL<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In the last episode of this ‘As of Yet Unnamed Blog’
(competition to commence soon), we began the <i>‘what can I do’ BIG BASIC 5
discussion</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, listing the below concepts as
typing points of awareness:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
1. Waste and Conservation</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>2. Fuel and Energy<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
3. Water </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
4. Go Local</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
5. HEALTH of SELF</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For an episodic reminder, give a quick scan to the last
blog, which focused on ideas concerning waste and conservation in your every
day life (as opposed to that every other day life you sometimes somehow
inhabit).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But today, oh seekers of information, awareness, and better
living strategies, today we shall run the gamut of fuel and energy. Where does
it all come from, does it matter, do I care, and can it be created or destroyed?
I’ll attempt to answer most of these questions ;)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Energy is a necessity of life. On an elemental level, our
bodies need it. On a grander level, it runs our world. Our cars, our phones,
our lights; our refrigerators, our ovens and stoves, our home heating and
cooling systems; our computers, our construction, our businesses, our military,
our food supply, our communication systems, our government … take that last one
as you will.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So how much do we, as individuals, know about this element
that is so necessary to our lives? Well, Wikipedia I’m sure has pages, but many
of us plug in that cell phone charger without actually knowing from whence that
juice is flowing!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Let’s break it down! Anyone that just conjured up a break
dance move…is my new hero. Energy can be ‘broken down’ into two categories:
renewable and non-renewable. Renewable sources include solar power, wind power,
hydroelectric power, ways of generating energy that can be done again and
again. I know this is a big fat ‘DUH’ for many of you out there, but this
distinction is important!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Non-renewable energy sources are basically fossil fuels,
which include coal, petroleum, and natural gas. Fossil fuels are basically
ancient previously living entities that have been compressed for a gazillion
years and have formed energy sources…just like the name says! These sources of
energy are the ones that release greenhouse gases with use, namely CO2. Booooo,
hissssss! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nuclear energy is also a non-renewable energy source,
however it DOES NOT create greenhouse gases…but can potentially make the whole
world glow colors that we could undoubtedly appreciate with our seven eyes.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So the reality of the situation is that when we consider the
whole shebang: transportation, industry, electricity, heating, etc., we as the
USA get 38% of our total energy from petroleum, 25% of our energy from natural
gas, 21% of our energy from coal, 9% of our energy from nuclear, and the other
8% from renewable resources (solar, wind, hydroelectric, biomass, and
geothermal).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<u>TOTAL ENERGY!!! SOURCES
OF ELECTRICITY!!! <o:p></o:p></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Petroleum 37.33% Coal 44.4%</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Natural Gas 24.73% Natural
Gas 23.3%</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Coal 20.92% Nuclear 20.2%</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Nuclear 8.84% Hydroelectric 6.9%</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Biomass 4.10% Renewable 3.6%</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Hydroelectric 2.83% Petroleum 1.0%</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Wind, Geothermal, 1.25%</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
and
Solar</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*These numbers taken from a 2009 survey from the Energy
Information Administration</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
These two lists tell us a lot! Americans use more petroleum
than any other power source, pointing (with a harsh finger I might add) at our
obsession and total reliance on the automobile.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Also, because fossil fuels make up our top three
(technically four) sources of energy, we are creating greenhouse gases up the
wazzoooo! Additionally, our electricity in this country is primarily generated
from coal. When you plug that computer/cell phone/toaster oven into the nearest
outlet, just remember that somewhere a little piece of coal just let off a
touch of CO2 for you. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i>ON TO THE POSITIVE UPBEAT PORTION!<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ok, so now that we are <i>AWARE</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> (because remember, it’s all about awareness right?), let’s talk about
what we can do! Hurrah!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>First and foremost, one word: </b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><u><b>CONSERVE</b></u></span><b>!<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Before we get into the nitty-gritty, let’s be upfront. We
(Americans) use too much. We require more energy per person than any other nation.
We are surrounded by information that tells us where our energy is coming from
(Middle East and destructive mining techniques), what effect it’s having on our
environment (very bad) and on our national security/political system (also very
bad). And yet, we need need need and use use use use and shun change change
change!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I think that energy is America’s drug addiction. We know
that using it is bad and hurts those around us; we know that it’s expensive and
draining our wallets; we know that there are other options out there, but yet
we just keep using!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So the first step in recovery: CUT BACK! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I’m not suggesting that anyone out there go cold turkey…a
little won’t kill ya…I mean the world ;)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>There are heaps of ways we can all cut down on the amount
of energy we’re using. Let’s take it one fossil fuel at a time. <o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Petroleum!</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> Because
petroleum is used primarily for vehicles of transportation, we need to figure
out how we can make the biggest cuts in or alterations to our transportation
needs. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s a short list of ideas to decrease your personal
transportation energy consumption:<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>*Ride your bike or walk to work/school/the store *Take
public transit<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>*Park your car once a week *Carpool<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>*Map out your errands to decrease distance *Shop
locally<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If you want to get fancy with your petrol-awareness, take it
to the next level! Decrease your own energy consumption <i>AND</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> that of your goods and services. Don’t buy things
that have to be shipped across the country (or the world); get your haircut and
your teeth cleaned somewhere near enough you can walk there; buy your food from
local farmers’ markets or nearby producers when you can! This last bit has a
huge impact as most of our supermarket food is SHIPPED (requiring gasoline)
across the country OR across the oceans, relating greenhouse gas emissions to
seemingly healthy foods! How nutty!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And when you <i>DO</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> need
to fill that tank, purchase your car’s liquid lunch from a gas station that
uses oil drilled </span><i>FROM</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> the US, not
oil </span><i>SHIPPED</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> to a station near
you. Because the US only has 2.4% of the world’s ‘proven’ oil reserves, we
import 9 million barrels of crude oil each day (choke, gag, sputter)! But
here’s the kicker, we actually export 50% </span><i>MORE</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> refined petroleum than we import. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Below is a slightly unreliable list (snagged it off the web)
of gas stations that sell primarily US gasoline.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*Sunoco *Conoco *Sinclair *Valero</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*Murphys *Hess *ARCO *BP/Phillips</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">*That said, BP is a terrible
company who continues to contribute to oil spill problems in the Gulf without
appropriate clean up. So don’t buy from them either.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Natural Gas!</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> Natural
gases are #2 on our list of most used resources, clocking in at nearly
25%. The majority of natural gas
is used in the industrial sector: processing pulp and paper, metals, chemicals,
petroleum, plastics, and food. Natural gas also provides the base ingredients
for products like plastic, fertilizer, anti-freeze, and fabric.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Aside from buying LESS of these products, there’s not much
each individual can do to decrease industrial use. But get ready, 45% of the
country’s total natural gas use can be attributed to a combination of
electricity and household use. Because we will address electricity more
specifically in our Crazy Coal section below, let’s talk about household use! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We use natural gases primarily for heating and cooking in
the US. While I could recommend you eat a raw food diet to decrease the gas
used in cooking (and likely improve your gut’s daily workout), it seems more
practical and effectual to focus on the heating element!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
First and foremost, lack of insulation in the home costs
Americans hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of extra dollars per person each
year. It’s been estimated that most Americans could save 30% on their heating
bills if they insulated their homes! So, in order to cut back on your natural
gas consumption, here’s a few insulating tips:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>*Increase attic insulation *Use
weatherstripping around windows/doors<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>*Insulate your basement *Use
expansion foam for small spaces<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>*Use window curtains and blinds *more
info at: <a href="http://ezinearticles.com/?5-Home-Insulation-Tips-That-Can-Save-You-Lots-of-Money&id=97409">ezinearticles.com</a><o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Additionally, instead of turning up the heat, insulate your
body better! I’m not saying you should put on extra pounds for the winter (that
is, not fleshy ones), but don’t be bashful about wearing your coat in the
house, an extra pair of socks, and a hat! Just think, if insulating your home
includes its top, bottom and sides, why should insulating yourself be much different?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In considering the ‘cost’ of these energy products, we must
also keep in mind just how they are being extracted from the earth and tag that
onto our dollar sign. Natural gas is more and more commonly being sucked from
the layers of our earth by a nasty (there’s my subjective voice coming through)
process called FRACKING. This method pollutes ground water and air, creating
pretty fracking bad health consequences for nearby residents. For more info on
fracking, google it OR watch the movie <i><a href="http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/">GasLand.</a></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Next up on the chopping…I mean cutting back…block: <i>COAL!</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> This black substance of necessity provides us with </span><i>half</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> of all our electricity, making it the largest source
of power in this country and many others. Let’s take just one moment, one
sentence, to address the negative environmental effects of using coal for
electricity, so that we may more appropriately link them to our use of
electricity. Deep breath…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After we’ve polluted land, water, and air to mine coal, it
is shipped (bad word alert) to factories and burned to create electricity, also
making smog, soot, acid rain, and global warming, with byproducts including
ash, sludge and toxic chemicals…not to mention the billions of gallons of fresh
water wasted on cooling. And breathe…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Did I warn you that I love commas and run on sentences? New
perspective: instead of thinking about decreasing your electricity consumption,
think about decreasing your ‘all of the above bad things with coal’
consumption!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Here’s a few simple ones that bring me back to 80’s public
service announcements:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*Turn off lights when you’re not in the room *Unplug
appliances not in use</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*Change light bulbs to energy efficient ones *Hang
your clothes to dry</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*Unplug your computer/phone once it’s charged *Take
short showers</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*Check out this awesome <a href="http://library.thinkquest.org/06aug/00442/homeelectricity.htm">LIST OF
TIPS!</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Another way to decrease how much power you need is to give a
little booster to your already in play appliances. For example, you can <a href="http://ecojaunt.blogspot.com/2011/07/larkin-stentz-of-green-angel-gardens.html">build
a passive solar water heater (click here for more details)</a> out of reused
materials. This will preheat your water before it enters you gas/electric
powered water heater, decreasing the amount of power needed to generate a hot
shower!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As we can so easily see, none of this is rocket science; but
it <i>is</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> creative and changed thinking
patterns! Get yo’self outta plaid and into some paisley! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This wee short little blog has addressed awareness and
conservation most specifically, but keep in mind that, as we’ve seen, not all
energies are created equal. Using renewable resources (like solar and wind) are
becoming more and more accessible, not to mention guilt free! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I have been using solar for the majority of my power needs
over the past year (I feel suddenly like this is a confession) and I love it!
The knowledge that my laptop and phone are running off a renewable energy
source (AKA the SUN) is very freeing. Whether it’s a tiny solar phone charger,
a solar array on your rooftop, or a wind generator in your backyard…it makes a
big difference!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And it’s guilt free. If only they could start making ice
cream out of renewable energy resources…for reduced guilt of course ;)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 10pt;">*If you’d like to consult any
of the resources I used in this blog that are not linked, shoot me an email and
I’d be glad to send them to you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>SWIXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08076282580663378414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653205387956734850.post-74740568233146506112012-05-21T23:03:00.001-07:002012-05-21T23:03:11.185-07:00THE BASIC 5: #1<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<!--StartFragment-->
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>THE BASICS </b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
EcoJaunt has taken us all over the country; from rooftop
farms in Brooklyn to water catchment gurus south of Tucson; we’ve seen a lot.
But no matter where we go, be it downtown Portland, Maine or Earth Day Fest in
Topanga, California… we always get the same comment/question: Yes, that’s very
cool, but what can <i>I </i><span style="font-style: normal;">do, right </span><i>now</i><span style="font-style: normal;">?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So, this blog is dedicated to communicating simple ideas
that we should all be aware of and the associated changes that anyone and
everyone can make on some level to make their life more sustainable and
eco-community-human friendly! Hurrah!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are five basic principles I’d like to address. Why
five? I don’t know, really. Three sounds like not enough and four just doesn’t
have a good ring to it. Plus 5 is one of those amazing magical prime numbers
that can work wonders (or at least it will be once this post is through!).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In no particular order, they are: </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>1. Waste and Conservation</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>2. Go Local</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>3. Water </b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>4. Fuel and Energy</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>5. HEALTH of SELF</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We’re going to take these slow, one at a time, baby
steps…thank you Bill Murray! Today’s winner is….</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>WASTE/CONSERVATION!</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do you ever think about what happened to that granola bar
wrapper, or your disposable coffee cup, or the packaging your i phone came in?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do you ever ponder how many dollars, gallons of gas, and CO2
emissions could be saved if you parked your car one day per week?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do you ever wonder how much less energy you’d consume if you
unplugged your household items and insulated your windows?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is not a rant on waste statistics, though the average
American does create an average of 4 pounds of trash per day (1460 lbs/year)
and uses 544 gallons of petrol each year. But I digress…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This is a rant about awareness! In this wonderful country of
America (and that is not a completely sarcastic comment), we don’t have to look
at our trash… so we forget it exists. The phrase “out of sight, out of mind”
had to come from somewhere! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We are also lucky enough that our energy consumption is
completely unlimited. We are not given a battery for the day or told we have a
certain number of kilowatts for the month. We aren’t FORCED to conserve energy
or be aware of how much we are using because it <i>seems</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> that these things are of unending abundance.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But to become aware of these elements is a whole new realm
of vision, an entirely new piece of the puzzle that helps guide decisions.
Simply to be aware that each piece of waste created will find its way into a
leaky landfill or pollute ground water will help you to identify actions and habits
in your life that can be revised for the better… and that’s what we’re shooting
for, right?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So what can you do, what are the easy starter pieces? Daily
activities are a great place to begin. Anything you do every day will have a
greater cumulative impact over the long haul…and I’m pretty sure that’s what
we’re in for ;)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Most days of the week, a greater majority of people will go
to work, the key word being ‘go.’ How we get there varies entirely, but is
another important choice we can make every day. Will this day include a bike
ride, a walk, the bus, the train, teleportation, or perhaps a trip in the car?
Many of us get stuck in a transportation rut, but we have the choice everyday
and there is always the option to choose differently! Yahooo.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Every morning, most of us caffeine addicts will enjoy a cup
o joe… and believe you-me, there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that. But, for those
enjoying their breakfast brew away from home, there will be a choice to be
made. No, not latte or Americano! The choice will be disposable cup or
self-brought reusable mug. Do you have to remember it every day? Yeah, you do,
but you will save an exorbitant amount of paper cups from being used and
trashed each year simply by providing your own black gold receptacle. Simple,
check!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Later that day, many of us will do work on a laptop, leaving
it plugged in all day and all night, instead of allowing the battery to drain
and then recharging it. Computers, particularly when they are not shut down,
will suck energy as long as they are plugged in. All appliances do this! Just
think of how much energy your toaster has been using all these months that you
haven’t even enjoyed a good crunchy bagel! </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Around noon-ish, many of our bellies will begin to rumble
and make other mysterious noises that incline us towards the all powerful FOOD.
Anyone with a grab and go lunch break may end up with a sandwich, a burrito,
some amazing Indian cart food, or a burger. All these items will come wrapped
in paper, encased in Styrofoam, and include plastic disposable silverware. Lots
of room for improvement there! Waste decreasers, UNITE! How difficult would it
be to bring your own plate, Tupperware, or just a spoon from home to decrease
how many waste products you use each lunch break? Think of how it would be if
you had to live with every piece of food packaging that you used: each drink
cup, every food box, and paper bag. Lame sauce!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After lunch, do you drink a pick-me-up cup of coffee? …but
we’ve been there ;)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After work, you might stop at the store on the way home.
Talk about choices; supermarkets are currently a crazy rainbow of marketed
packaging whose colors one can so easily get lost in! We could spend 5 pages
discussing (do you like how we’re ‘discussing’ now?) the goods and bads of
grocery stores, but how about two examples that will point in the right
directions. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Picture it: you’re in the snacks aisle grabbing some grub to
go in your wee one’s lunch (and perhaps secretly your own). Instead of fruit
snacks, you decide to go for the raisins (healthier) in their tiny red boxes
wrapped 6 to a bunch in plastic. Choice: do you buy a food item that will
create waste each day that a box of raisins is eaten, not to mention to cover
wrap around them? OR do you go to the bulk section, where you will not pay for
packaging and create much less waste; you can even bring your own reused
plastic bag to put your bulk section raisins in for mother earth brownie
points!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The raisins inspired you to go for gold and get some fresh
fruit. As you peruse the apple section, you notice that all the stickers read
‘New Zealand,’ but that the pears are from the states. When you choose the
product from far away, you are basically paying for gasoline and shipping, so
here you have another place that you can make the choice to conserve! Plus
pears are pretty good.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When you return (commute=choice) home, you and the fam
decide what to do about dinner. You’ve made lots of good sustainable choices,
so you treat everyone to a dinner out. There are a handful of places within a
mile from your house, and being the healthy amazing fantastic mother earth star
student that you are, you decide that the family should walk (conserving
gasoline) to the local organic food place (again conserving fuel for shipping)
and have dinner. It’s delicious, but everyone is stuffed and there are
leftovers for days! Instead of accepting the doggie bags of doom, you’ve
brought a few Tupperware storage containers from home, man you are getting good
at this!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After your walk home (conserving gas and improving health
therefore conserving healthcare spending), you stretch out, unplug your already
charged laptop, and have a little play time on FaceBook. Since you’re feeling
keen on your new ideas, you post a short paragraph about awareness of waste and
conservation that your 1300 friends will see and implement in their lives.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Before turning in, you attend to your teeth, shutting the
water off while you’re brushing (conserving agua), look in the mirror and say,
“You’re one swell looking environmentally savvy person, you are. And tomorrow,
you’re going to do even better and get the insulation fixed up so that not so
much heat is wasted next winter.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Everyday is full of opportunities to make better choices and
create less waste; little changes make BIG DIFFERENCES!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
*****sidebar statistic for your viewing pleasure: The
highest point in Hamilton County, Ohio (near Cincinnati) is ‘Mount Rumpke.’ It
is actually a mountain of trash at the Rumpke Sanitary Landfill towering <b>1045
ft.</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> above sea level.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
That is nutty.</div>
<!--EndFragment-->
</div>SWIXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08076282580663378414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653205387956734850.post-27110944232503151012012-01-04T14:39:00.001-08:002012-01-04T14:39:46.215-08:00Sustainable ThoughtTAI Blog # who knows, written from The Green Man in Asheville, NC and also Folly Beach, SC<br />Sustainable Thought: The New New Year’s Resolution<br /> <br />As a preface (see how long my posts are getting, now I have to write prefaces) : If this gets to long and involved for your state of mind, whatever it be, at your time of reading, skip to the last page or so on change and go back later for the tidbits when you’ve got your game face on!<br /> <br />When it comes to sustainability and health, there are so freakin’ many topics to broach! Many have to do with our physical bodies or how our treatment of the world can and does affect us. But this blog began around the idea of thought: what is sustainable healthy thought?<br /> <br />Many things came to mind: positive thought (of course), no long term allowance for repetitive negative thoughts regarding the self, being both open minded and critical towards new ideas, understanding your own general motivations… but when it came down to it, there was one aspect that I felt stood out beyond all the rest in terms of having a healthy attitude.<br /> <br />Drum roll please….!!!!....<br /> <br />Oh geez, now I’ve built it up!<br /> <br />I believe that the more a human acts in congruence with his thoughts, the better he will feel about himself and his life, hence, sustainable thought!<br /> <br />The more you can align your actions with your thoughts, the better you will feel. It is when these things are in conflict that we start to have self doubt and insecurity. When we live in accordance with our ideals, that is when we are confident and comfortable with who and how we are!<br /> <br />Now, you’re saying to yourself, big fat DUH Morgan. And I totally agree! Big fat duh, but then why do so many of us display such hypocrisy on a multitude of levels?!?<br /> <br />This is what my brain and its own self discussion and analysis of the situation set to find out.<br /> <br />***If you’re not on board with me yet, still battling the idea that we all live within some element of hypocrisy between thought and action, let me provide a few simple examples:<br /> <br />Thoughts/Ideals<br /> <br />Ø Oil companies are corrupt and driving pollutes our air<br />Ø We need more jobs here in the USA. Companies should stop sending jobs overseas<br />Ø Eating fast food is unhealthy<br /> <br />Contradictory Actions<br /> <br />Ø Driving to work, the store, or anywhere you need to go<br />Ø Buying things made outside the USA (electronics, clothing, food)<br />Ø Feeding yourself or your family fast food for dinner<br /> <br />(This, of course, assumes you’re not predisposed towards the destruction of yourself and the world at large…just checking! )<br /> <br />Perhaps you don’t fit into any of the above examples (clearly you are angel, but should read on in order to assist your friends who might find this plight applicable).<br /> <br />So pause (insert 60 minutes into your day, magical time travel style) and just think about your actions thus far in the day. If you’re lucky it’s morning and far fewer infractions will have occurred ;)<br /> <br />Now that we acknowledge the existence of these silly mismatches that occur between our thoughts and actions, let us dissect a bit to find some possible sources for this insanity!<br /> <br />Really, we’ve got two possible options to pick apart; it’s either the thought or the action which hold the flaw. Let’s look at the thought aspect first.<br /> <br />Perhaps your thoughts/espoused ideals don’t match your actions because they’re not really your own or you don’t actually believe that they are true. Maybe you have been coerced into thinking you like to dance, but it’s actually the sociality and human contact you crave and so shakin’ your booty at the club has never been your thing. Maybe you think you like vegetables, but only because the government has now deemed pizza a vegetable.<br /> <br />Certainly, we all do some self-convincing at times and often pretend to think in certain ways, but we also have some false perceptions and motivations behind what we are actually saying.<br /> <br />Ok, now for a meatier, tastier, and likely more necessary analysis: Why is it that our ACTIONS don’t match what we think (now, of course, assuming that what we think is what we actually think we think…you think?)<br /> <br />Divin’ in!<br /> <br />I think one of the biggest reasons that humans act in contradictory ways is fear: of change, of judgment, of work/effort. Hold onto your horses, we’re going in.<br /> <br />We humans often recognize that we should be doing things differently, but we hesitate to change. Why this fear of change? I believe that one component is the effort and work involved with changing a habitual occurrence and honestly, we’ve gotten lazy. But just as great is the psychosocial effect people fear. Changing your action to be better or more in cahoots with what you believe naturally insinuates that you’ve been doing it wrong all this time. Additionally, people fear that others will not understand why they are making a change and worry that they will be judged negatively by those around them…and nobody wants that!<br /> <br />It's also possible we just don't know how to change our actions to match our ideals, but this is less likely than the other possibilities.<br /> <br />Because we spend so much time caught up in the day to day, humans rarely take time out of their lives to truly analyze and inspect who and how they are…nor are we taught that we should! So perhaps it is a complete ignorance of our own hypocritical nature and the inability to truly sense that we are not acting in accordance with the ways we 'think' we should that creates our hypocrisy. So many of us act out of sync with the ideals we would vehemently proclaim, but do we even realize?<br /> <br />Be it the golden rule, thoughts about the economy or nutrition, or how you should raise your children, hypocrisy runs rampant in our society. Runs I tell you!<br /> <br />While some of these are likely more obvious (like the examples I gave earlier), many are more discrete… not perhaps so much so that the average American couldn't figure it out given the chance...but perhaps that is a chunk of the problem as well, the lack of thought given to these matters!<br /> <br />I think this lack of self analysis, done to oneself, by oneself, in an objective, non-judgmental fashion plays a huge-mungous role in the hypocrisy of people today. If everyone gave themselves 20 focused minutes each day to sit and go through their day, analyzing each and every action and spoken idea and really thought about just how it is their actions do or don't reflect their words and vice versa, we’d have a different world…or people would just play more video games with their magic 20 minutes and beat Angry Birds Level 27 ;)<br /> <br />So now we are asking the real questions, not only 'AM I HYPOCRITICAL?' and in what way, but also 'WHY AM I HYPOCRITICAL?' This delves deeper than most might care to go, but perhaps that is only because they've never thought that they should ;)<br /> <br />First, (like we said) you must identify in which part of the question your hypocrisy lies: is it the action or the ideal? From there you need to figure out not only where the discrepancy is, but why it exists? Is it a lack of awareness, a feeling of peer pressure to think or act a certain way, laziness or fear of change, a true lack of understanding of what it is you say or how to change your actions?<br /> <br />And how far do you take this?<br /> <br />It is easy to think,<br />“I believe in humane treatment for animals”<br />and feed your dog everyday and give him love.<br /> <br />It is easy to think,<br />”I believe in buying local goods”<br />and shop at the farmer’s market,<br />but then more difficult when you want to save 5 dollars on some unfindable item only available from Amazon.com, where you have to use your credit card and the item travels hundreds or thousands of miles to your doorstep…<br /> <br />It is easy to think,<br />“I believe that all children should have food and shelter”<br />and feed your kids and tuck them in at night,<br />but more difficult to deal mentally and volitionally with the knowledge that there are millions of starving children all over the world that could all easily be provided for if our country would allocate our bank bailout money a bit differently…<br /> <br />It is easy to think,<br />“I believe that saving the environment is important”<br />and donate to Green Peace and recycle,<br />but yet more difficult to avoid buying things individually wrapped in plastics that end up in the great trash gyre in the Pacific Ocean or use paper created from Amazonian rainforests being chopped down each day, increasing greenhouse gases and global warming…<br /> <br />It's easy to say,<br />“I want world peace and no war,”<br />but harder still not to drive or fly anywhere using oil (the only real reason we've been at war for decades)…<br /> <br />It's easy to say,<br />“I think our economy sucks because all of our jobs have been exported” (and you'd be right),<br />but not so easy to buy things only made in the USA, including all clothing, furniture, food, and electronic devices (computers, I-phones, I-pads, cell phones).<br />It’s easy for me to write this blog and think about all these things, and yet harder to encompass it all into my life. It’s hard for all of us!<br /> <br />So how far do you take this? As far as you can without going bankrupt or mentally insane with social responsibility (both could easily happen...ok not that easily, but beware).<br /> <br />So what can be done? Change. Get over your fear. The peers you think will judge you will see your example and perhaps they too will see how easy it can be and RESPECT you for it. Stop being lazy and implement ideas you have that will bring you more in line with your ideals. This might mean riding your bike or walking more instead of driving. This might mean not buying things that YOU KNOW were made with bad practices or bad business standards. This might mean being more respectful of those around you or raising your kids the way you thought you would. This might mean sacrifice, of time or things or convenience or ego, but none will seem that way once you've found sanctity of mind and realized how easy it is to change your ways to fit your principles.<br /> <br />Plus nothing beats habit. Make a habit of saying hello to everyone you pass and making eye contact, of leaving 15 minutes earlier for work and riding your bike or taking the bus, of only buying things made within your home state, of doing things you've always said you 'wish you could.' It will feel good and in 3 weeks it will seem easy…I don’t know why 3 weeks is the magic number, but apparently it gets to be ;)<br /> <br />Because I believe that repetition is learning, I’ll say it again:<br /> <br />The more you can align your actions with your thoughts, the better you will feel about your daily life and who you are. It is when these things are in conflict that we start to have self doubt and insecurity. When we live in accordance with our ideals, that is when we are truly living the good life! And that’s sustainable!<br /> <br />There are many things in life that take a bit of self discipline, awareness, and consistency. Some would tie a ribbon around their finger, others would send themselves text messages, but I like to have a small personal mantra, something I can conjure up at any moment that will remind me what to do and why, something that will give me a touch of strength: an ACRONYM!<br /> <br />I love acronyms :) but I vow not to completely bore the bejeezus out of you listing all the RAD (Rockstar Amazing Demonstrations) of self-reminder acronyms I came up with! But I will share one: ATTA. Applying Thought To Action. In Hebrew, the word 'atta' (pronounced ah-tah) means 'you' and I thought that was appropriate (not to mention easier to remember).<br /> <br />ATTA: Applying Thought To Action: what we all should all do, what I need to do, a reminder in that split second before the reach, the stride, the credit card swipe. Don't just do what you would do, do what you think you SHOULD do! Make it match.<br /> <br />If I think I can change the world, well I better just go and do it!SWIXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08076282580663378414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653205387956734850.post-85144004130166264062011-12-19T14:35:00.000-08:002011-12-19T14:39:37.298-08:00Blog Post #8 :: Sustainable Activity<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDsE39afJN23N7L0bke-FnTT2xeV1yDz-YOmN-kCyWVakD1-MVTPRKQvZlLDHJHsjOfgFf_pR65PGBXLFsFkqx6ukb8rIX9-M-G_OrhhqBMmwlbb4LNbd-7gcPYVX6xTbu_Fu0B5HiklM/s1600/dog+run.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDsE39afJN23N7L0bke-FnTT2xeV1yDz-YOmN-kCyWVakD1-MVTPRKQvZlLDHJHsjOfgFf_pR65PGBXLFsFkqx6ukb8rIX9-M-G_OrhhqBMmwlbb4LNbd-7gcPYVX6xTbu_Fu0B5HiklM/s200/dog+run.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687972795559073474" /></a><br />We don’t all want to be healthy, but most would definitely choose to be happy! It is, of course, our inalienable right to pursue it to all ends of the earth…or at least to those fake lines in the dust we call borders.<br /><br />One of the best ways to assist your happy-level is to maintain good health. It’s hard to be happy when you’re in pain or have a stomach ache or feel tired all the time. It’s difficult to be happy when your plans of fun and productivity in this world seem thwarted by your body. It’s difficult to live your life the way the ‘12-year-old you’ pictured you would…when you’re not healthy.<br /><br />There are HEAPS of different aspects of life that can affect your health: physical, emotional, spiritual, genetic, bad luck, fortune cookie without a fortune inside…just to name a few of the obvious.<br /><br />This blog will address just a smidgeon of the physical and help you figure out if what you’re doing is ‘sustainable activity’ that will benefit your health, and therefore, your happy-level! Since my last three overwritten, poorly edited thought explosions onto the keyboard discussed topics related to food, we’re gonna leave that subject for today. In this blog adventure, I’m going to discuss physical activity, it’s relationship to happiness, and how you can make it a sustainable part of your life (how’s that for an end of paragraph summary sentence, Mrs. Bredfelt would be so proud).<br /><br />Movement is an amazing thing. We’re meant to do it. Every day. It gets our blood pumping, which loosens up our muscles and other tissue. It keeps our joints mobile and it keeps our spines from being in the wrong place for ages upon ages (sitting). Movement decreases tension and stress, causes hormonal releases that make us happy if not ecstatic, and makes us feel alive!<br /><br />So, why do we sit all day long? Perhaps Corporate America, television stations (also corporate America), automotive companies (also corporate America), and Facebook (less corporate America) could answer that one, but I’m just not gonna go there.<br /><br />Because we sit all day and/or have jobs and/or lifestyles that require little to no movement beyond the rise and roll out of bed maneuver, we (this is the collective westernized human race ‘we’) need to actively insert movement into our lives in order to gain or maintain any semblance of health …and therefore happiness.<br /><br />*or we could all quit our desk jobs and join the occupy movement or become physical therapists, both great endeavors.<br /><br />There are many different kinds of movement and activity that can help to promote good health AKA good happiness. There’s aerobic movement (activity that raises your heart rate and keeps weight down), power, speed, and resistance type movement (activity that strengthens your muscles), flexibility type movement (activity that helps your body gain/maintain movement), functional movement (activity that has another purpose aside from health), and random movement (activity that comes out of nowhere, eg. a yawn with stretch, a yahoo with a jump, a head turn when you hear something approaching, or that damn lil’ twitch below your eye that won’t go away).<br /><br />All of these types of movements are important and good and healthy (except maybe that eye twitch thing) and should be given credence and opportunity. They all need balance and ample time. It’s like the yin and yang thing for movement, only there’s way more pieces to this movement puzzle and they all need to fit. Perhaps it’s more like a rubix cube.<br /><br />We all need cardio/aerobic movement. It strengthens our hearts, increases our metabolisms, keeps the pounds off, and makes all other activities feel just a bit easier. But cardio need not be jogging, cycling, or swimming (though those are FANTASTIC types of cardio), it can also be walking or dancing or hard core leaf raking. Have trouble committing your time to the Nordic Trac? Then don’t. But, try some of these tricks to slip cardio into your day:<br /><br />When you walk somewhere, anywhere, walk FAST! Whether to the grocery store, inside from the parking lot, or across your office, move it!<br />Whenever possible, take the stairs, up or down. Take two at a time if you dare! Add an extra floor whenever possible.<br />Every time you go to sit down or stand up, do 60 seconds of mini bum over the chair squats, it’ll get your heart rate up, your quads burning, and your friends trying it too.<br />Whenever you’re doing something repetitive, try to increase the speed (as long as it’s safe and you’re not at an iron foundry)<br />Power, speed, and resistance activity are also key components to the movement…cube, let’s say. These types of movement increase strength and muscle mass, which are important to all functional activity and help prevent osteoporosis and many orthopedic conditions and injuries. Most people attempting to integrate this type of movement into their lives might lift weights at the gym, complete sprints on the track, or buy a Bowflex. But there are other ways of gettin’ yer speed on!<br /><br />Try sprinting distances you already planned on walking (unless you feel like focusing on your cardio . This could be heading into work from your car (plus bonus points for making people sniff the air to rule out a fire), across the lawn to retrieve the trashcan, or up the stairs after grabbing something from the basement. Skipping works great too, but is far more challenging with a backpack or briefcase.<br />Bring jumping back into your life. Jump rope, jump over the cracks in the pavement, jump over your dog (more points if you have a Great Dane). This one is easier if you have kids because people will assume your kid conned you into it when really it’s the converse.<br />Whenever you take the stairs (because you’re thinkin’ now, it’s cardio time) jump up the first flight or do 10 up and back jumps at the first step.<br />If you’re standing and chatting with someone, do heel raises. Body weight is grand resistance! If you’re standing and waiting or on an elevator, do squats, wall push ups…or jump <br />Next up from the Rubik’s cube of balanced movement is flexibility. Flexibility is so freaking important to maintaining healthy joints and preventing injuries of all shapes and sizes. And while yoga class is an epically grand option, there are others (you might have guessed huh?)<br /><br />Every time you take the stairs, before or after your jumps and extra floor-climbing, let your heel hang off the back of the step and stretch your calf OR prop your heel up on the step, lean forward (keeping back straight of course) and stretch out your hamstring.<br />When standing, in an elevator, office building, grocery store line, ATM, whatever… pick any stretch under the sun (calf, front and back of the thigh, side stretch, arm stretching overhead, anything)!<br />When sitting, straighten your legs out in front of you one at a time without allowing your back to slouch, also stretch your arms overhead.<br />Basically, if you’re still or standing or waiting, stretch!<br />Next up on the chopping block: functional movement. Functional movement includes every time you use any muscle or bend any joint in order to complete a task. This includes walking, reaching, lifting, leaning, stairs (who’d have guessed?). This type of activity we don’t normally think about as exercise, but it is movement and when it comes to movement, the more the merrier (hence the happiness). There are oodles of functional movements that can be great movement and activity! Try to sprinkle one or two onto your days, particularly those that don’t have many other kinds of movement!<br /><br />Yard work: raking, shoveling, mowing (extra points for cool designs in the lawn), digging, planting, mulching, pruning, trimming: get outside and move!<br />Gardening: weeding, tending, sewing…the seeds that is. Just watch your posture and check out my blog on tips and stretches for gardening.<br />Unloading the dishwasher, bend your knees to squat down each time you extract a dish and you’ll have done some mini squats!<br />Carry your groceries to the car if you can avoid using a cart. Park far far far away, almost to Neverland, follow the first star to the right and straight on till morning.<br />Ignore office efficiency and integrate standing and moving across the room as frequently as possible, to the printer, fax machine, adorable receptioni…err, shredder.<br />Be aware of how much you move throughout the day, keep your body busy, move to accomplish as much as you can!<br />If you need ideas for functional movement activities, check EcoJaunt.org. There are heaps of productive ideas ready to be undertaken!<br />Last but not least, we have random movement. There are no tips on random movement. Yawning and stretching feels good, turning your head towards a noise is a survival response, and the eye twitch thing we could all live without…<br /><br />and still be healthy AND happy.<br /><br />So remember, if you want to be happy for the rest of your life, you should put some movement into your life, go from my personal point of view, move some more and it will benefit you! (extra points for making this your personal musical mantraSWIXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08076282580663378414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653205387956734850.post-33001553650596285622011-12-19T14:31:00.001-08:002011-12-19T14:35:40.285-08:00Blog Post #7 :: Food For Thought (Part 3)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-h6SXWsrmFIlrVPLfBX3zCMbIuXwCTOBBLYgs0eE-4PmsTr5Gij2hKGl1JCixMxh0VWKRkC7afuAyE5iIk35kwvfvGaJ-OphDiQ_Qe9F5GKtWt3NJ6MAmsflHorWWn_UrcZnHtozaKRI/s1600/10.21.11-013-300x200.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-h6SXWsrmFIlrVPLfBX3zCMbIuXwCTOBBLYgs0eE-4PmsTr5Gij2hKGl1JCixMxh0VWKRkC7afuAyE5iIk35kwvfvGaJ-OphDiQ_Qe9F5GKtWt3NJ6MAmsflHorWWn_UrcZnHtozaKRI/s320/10.21.11-013-300x200.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687971232505922530" /></a><br />Does eating organic really matter?<br /><br />This is a question that should always be asked to the world at large, in an emphatic and thespian style…but not for jest.<br /><br />This is a question whose answer has everything and nothing to do with how these foods will affect your health.<br /><br />In some ways, this question is asking you to pick a way of growing things that benefits your health and does not harm the earth…instead of picking a method that creates massive amounts of soil erosion, pollutes our water with nitrogen creating hypoxic dead zones, increases antibiotic resistance, treats animals inhumanely (is that any oxymoron?), promotes the use of fossil fuels, and uses pesticides on our foods that have been shown to cause neural damage and so much more.<br /><br />So you see, the question of eating organic is one centered around the idea of health, but not specifically yours or mine. Alright, so I know that’s a lot to swallow (watch out, puns on the loose), but if you’re already feeling choked up, you’d better start chewing fast!<br /><br />Let’s play the game: compare and contrast. <br /><br />SOIL and WATER<br /><br />Organic methods use compost (naturally broken down plant matter that has been decomposing) as a fertilizer and soil amendment, increasing the amount of nutrients and humus (stable organic matter which will decompose no further). This creates an environment rich in minerals, nitrogen, and organisms, which allow plants (AKA our food) to put down stable root systems and obtain all the nutrients, water, sustenance, and stability they need.<br /><br />Organic methods also generally use no- or minimal-till methods, allowing the rich topsoil to grow in depth, leaving the microorganisms and mycelia and their homes intact and ready to rumble come the next planting season. Little or no erosion is created with organic methods.<br /><br />Conventional (non organic) methods use pesticides and fertilizers, many of which are toxic to humans (you may remember the days of DDT, which is no longer used). These spray chemicals destroy microbial life in the soil, create an overabundance of nitrogen in the ground, and can be harmful to humans upon consumption or exposure.<br /><br />Conventional methods are based on large amounts of soil tillage, further destroying topsoil and microbial life, disrupting the stability of the soil, and creating precarious conditions for plants to put down roots. Because the soil is so unstable, irrigation and rain create enormous amounts of erosion (literally TONS per acre, check out The Land Institute’s current studies). This does not simply mean our water gets a bit murky. When you’ve over-nitrogenized soil that can’t stand up on its own two feet and then add a deluge of liquid love (that’s water), you end up with creeks, streams, rivers, and oceans (yeah, that’s right, oceans!) full of chemicals (not to mention any topsoil and micronutrients that managed to create a life in this soil).<br /><br />If these fertilizers were simply gummy bears and lemon drops, it might be a different story (perhaps fish would develop diabetes), but water enhanced with nitrogen has created hypoxic (that is, without or with little oxygen) zones, AKA dead zones. These are areas where no flora or fauna can live and thrive (only algae), no voluptuous green leaves, no fishies, no shrimpees, no nuthin! And we’re not talking little pocket ponds here and there.<br /><br />The Gulf of Mexico houses a dead zone that is the size of the state of New Jersey! It’s no Texas, but seriously! All the fertilizer run-off that feeds into the Mississippi River and deposits itself there into the ocean is killing off the aqua inhabitants we’ve come to love in our gumbo and jambalaya, not to mention the more far-reaching effects…but this paragraph is too long already.<br /><br />And it’s not just the Gulf of Mexico; there are dead zones up and down the Atlantic coast of the US, in greater density than anywhere else on earth. And a few on Oregon’s coast as well! Industrial agriculture is responsible not only for 70% of the world’s fresh water usage, but also for 75% of the water quality issues (that stat is in the US).<br /><br />AMINALS (that’s right, you heard me)<br /><br />Organic methods allow livestock to roam around freely, eating the grasses and natural growings of the ground. Additionally, they are fed organic grains and feed and allowed to copulate and procreate the way we all think of it (only with four legs each). Generally, the animals are used for multiple purposes, such as meat, milk, and wool or skins. One day I’ll have an epic goat coat, surely I will.<br /><br />Conventional methods, oy…here we go. Don’t worry, the 7th inning stretch is to follow.<br /><br />So conventional methods utilize non-organic GMO encumbered (not even opening that can of worms for now) corn/soy based feed. Now, it’s not that cows (and chickens and sheep) hate corn or that they are force-fed each kernel and not allowed to chew. However, for ruminants like cows, corn has created a menagerie of problems (I use the word ‘menagerie’ because it lends a nicer hue to the picture I’m about to paint).<br /><br />Cows are supposed to eat grass. When cows eat grass, half digest it in their first stomach, puke it up, chew it some more, swallow again, and then continue to digest it through the rest of their system, they stay healthy. When they are fed corn, their stomachs become acidic and their organs begin to fail. This change in the pH of cows’ stomachs not only harms the cows themselves, but also makes them (and therefore us) more susceptible to e.coli infection. Cows, unlike us, have stomachs that are made to destroy e.coli, how convenient! But, the increased acidic level that corn feed creates in a cow’s stomach is a breeding ground for this dangerous meat monopolizer!<br /><br />Additionally, cows that roamed the grassy hills freely would be unlikely to come across escherichia coli. But, cows that are raised in CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) are in close contact not only with each other, but also with each other’s droppings. That’s right, pooo.<br /><br />As you can imagine, these CAFOs are a breeding ground for bacteria; germs like nothing more than to wallow in shit and be able to jump from host to host with ease. And since the cows are already immune compromised, their job is easy! Except those darn humans have realized that they can use antibiotics to prevent outbreaks among their cattle. Only, waiting until an outbreak occurs means it’s too late and all the cows could be compromised. So, antibiotics are used preventatively. Doesn’t sound so bad, right?<br /><br />Too bad the germs that like to inhabit cows are just as smart as the ones that like humans and will just as easily and readily develop antibiotic resistances, making our miracle drugs potentially worthless. Well, shit.<br /><br />And that’s just the tip of the iceberg in the meat freezer.<br /><br />FOSSIL FUELS<br /><br />This is where it gets a little tricky, but we’ll address that part a touch later.<br /><br />Organic methods use less large farm equipment (all of which runs on gasoline). They may use cars to transport their produce to farmers’ markets and local grocers.<br /><br />Conventional methods dust their fields with fossil fuels. The fertilizers used are made of natural gas and the pesticides are oil derivatives. This was all sparked during the Green Revolution after WWII (ironic title, right?), when the government needed to find a new outlet for its nitrogen production centers (previously used for explosives, now new and improved for plant growth!).<br /><br />Additionally, 1/3 of the gas used in the US is for the transportation of food! I’m sure this applies to both conventional and organic. Though we think of organic as being local, this is no longer a safe assumption (unless you know your farmer). Organic has become a big industry and there are many large scale organic farms out there shipping their lettuce, dairy, and apples across this country and intercontinentally! Check your apples, are they from New Hampshire, New Zealand, Neptune?<br /><br />HEALTH and the actual eating of things<br /><br />Organic produce has been proven in experiments time and again to hold more vitamins, nutrients, antioxidants, polyphenols, flavonols, and other good for you stuff than food from current conventional methods of agriculture. Also, eating organic produce and dairy means exposing yourself and your family to fewer pesticides and chemicals, which are used in conventional agricultural practices. Many of these petrochemicals have been shown to affect, most pronouncedly, the neural structures and development of children. Eating organic meat is less fatty, less likely to harbor e.coli, and won’t be full of antibiotics, nor is it made primarily of corn, as are most food products these days (see Food for Thought Part One).<br /><br />As an added bonus, a cherry atop your organic ice cream sundae, it never hurts that when you eat organic food, you can take heart in the fact that the food you are consuming is not harming the earth. Plus it tastes good.<br /><br />One last tiny tidbit; it’s the bottom of the 9th inning, but don’t leave early to avoid traffic.<br /><br />The label of organic has gotten complicated. Back in the good ole days, it was assumed that organic was small and diversified and composting and local and humane. However, in 1990, the USDA decided it needed to regulate and substantiate these claims in the supermarket. Because the process of becoming certified is expensive and can be complicated, many organic growers have not applied for this official title.<br /><br />Because organic foods have become an increasingly lucrative market, many producers have increased in scale and size, using bigger farm equipment, less diversity, increased tillage, and long distance shipping. Although still using USDA certified organic practices, this shift of bigger farms away from some of the original tenets of organic practice has disenchanted many traditional organic farmers with the term ‘organic.’<br /><br />So unless you really do your research, it’s hard to say exactly how your apple, corn, or cow was raised. This is not to say that the label of ‘organic’ is not to be trusted. You will never find GMOs (genetically modified organisms) or pesticides in your organic food. But add a grain of sea salt to that organic yogurt, for though its milk-maidens may eat organic feed, it may still be corn and they may roam less freely than the pastoral vision conjured in your head.<br /><br />That said (and it was a mouthful), you can see how the question of organic purchase is not one solely based on selfish ideas of health, nutrition, and flavor. It is a choice in supporting practices that are NOT destroying our earth and the possibility of our continued existence on it.<br /><br />Does organic really matter? I vote yes.SWIXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08076282580663378414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653205387956734850.post-23193729430943135312011-12-19T14:29:00.000-08:002011-12-19T14:31:13.225-08:00Blog Post #6 :: Food For Thought (Part 2)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYmpAkTQHR-8O3YUBJj7UwtjhOAYT0t2IJVqLMTnjqTY2L5mBkhBu3Wc_5rrzpu__UM8hj0xYc5NP-DMki8Flpmb4BEvtzWs62BQko4sjVD1l8BVpdM5HN6R9iHZddCwkcJQQJp6octM/s1600/untitled-2820-300x200.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQYmpAkTQHR-8O3YUBJj7UwtjhOAYT0t2IJVqLMTnjqTY2L5mBkhBu3Wc_5rrzpu__UM8hj0xYc5NP-DMki8Flpmb4BEvtzWs62BQko4sjVD1l8BVpdM5HN6R9iHZddCwkcJQQJp6octM/s320/untitled-2820-300x200.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687970641452712386" /></a><br />Green things CAN taste yummy!<br /><br />It has been brought to my attention, after traveling through Utah, Colorado, and Kansas, that although many people have the intention to be healthier and eat more fruits and vegetables, they just don’t know what to do with them!<br /><br />“I would eat more vegetables if they actually tasted good,” has become a commonly heard phrase.<br /><br /><br />It seems we were all taught to cook macaroni, spaghetti, and other noodles, a rite of passage in independent eating (whether you’re 8 or newly in college). Also, most humans over the age of 6 can quite adequately create a sandwich of sorts, whether by stacking on cheese slices or smearing the bread with PB&J. And perhaps I’m lending out more credit than is due, but I postulate that the greater majority of humans can cook an egg in a pan or microwave a potato.<br /><br />But when and where do we learn to cook vegetables, pick a salad from the garden, or create a new meal full of healthy ingredients? Perhaps many of you learned to cook from your parents, an old roomie, or the famous jailchef Martha Stewart. But unless your experience with recipes and chef mentors are dramatically different from those that I have met recently, you learned to cook starches and meats with butter and cheese and the occasional overcooked side of asparagus.<br /><br />So, in lieu of that innate sense of vegetable cheffery that few of us inherited, the purpose of this blog is to provide you with a few easy pointers on how to increase your vegetable intake WITH FLAVOR!<br /><br />All vegetables are not created equal. You will, no doubt, have some you like more than others. But that’s ok, these aren’t you’re children and showing preferential treatment towards certain colorful foods won’t hurt anybody’s feeling, promise! It’s okay to eat more broccoli than cabbage, more sweet potatoes than mushrooms, yet there is a unique and fantastic flavor to each vegetable and eating varying types of yummy things from the earth is a healthy approach. Variety IS the spice of life, as you may recall, and it counts towards eating habits too!<br /><br />Any dish that calls for one vegetable can easily be improved by adding 2…or 3 or 4 or 5 instead! It’s not that you need to start cooking completely different meals in order to get more green goodies, most meals can simply be augmented with these tasty morsels. Try adding broccoli and carrots to your can of soup, red cabbage and green peppers to your premade salad with its wee baggy of croutons and almond slices, cabbage and kale to your casserole (or anything else you bake in the oven…even pizza!). Even if you’re making a potroast or baking chicken a la Papa Smurf, simply throw in some sliced sweet potatoes and you’re good to go! More vegetables mean more vitamins, minerals, health, and flavor! Plus, dishes always look prettier with colorful veggies adorning them… lining them with those little pop up fancy drink umbrellas wouldn’t hurt either <br /><br />Vegetables can be cooked alone, steamed, sautéed, grilled, whatever! And they can easily be spiced up without adding any calories or harmful ingredients. The top 5 spices I keep on hand at all times include (but are certainly not limited to): salt, pepper/cayenne, cumin, garlic, and basil. With these spices, no dish will proceed blandly to the table! Try sprinkling these atop steamed veggies or mixing them right into the pan while stir-frying. Iron chef, here you come!<br /><br />I think that many people believe vegetables taste bad because they cook them till they are limp and the color of death. Death has no flavor… hell might, but not death. The secret to steaming or any other type of cooking involving veggies is to throw them into the pan/pot in their own due time. For example, carrots cook more slowly than kale, so toss them in early and wait till later with the kale so it still has its fresh flavor and has not wilted beyond complete recognition. Below is a list of common veggies, they are in descending order for cooking times (approximately), that is the ones at the top of the list need to go in first.<br /><br />Sweet potatoes/potatoes<br />Beets<br />Carrots<br />Onions<br />Broccoli<br />Green beans<br />Asparagus<br />Bell peppers (cook the red ones longer…no, not really <br />Zucchini and other squash<br />Peas<br />Corn<br />Mushrooms<br />Cabbage<br />Spinach, kale, collard greens, mustard greens<br />*Tomatoes – tricky tricky, it depends whether you’re cooking them down to make a sauce, like them more squishy and stewed-like, or want them all fresh and juicy.<br />One fantastically amazing tasty healthy snack that I have recently run into is kale chips! So easy, so fast, so delicious! Check out EcoJaunt’s video Kale Krunch for the step by step recipe from Laura in Hamilton, MT and prepare to by yummified.<br /><br />Also, grocery stores and ethnic specialty shops are making it easy to add a little flavor to the pan. Sauces and marinades can easily be added to veggie sautés to give it some kick and pizzazz! For example, try a curry sauce or teriyaki atop your onion, broccoli, carrots, and mushrooms, oh delicious! Or even drizzle a touch of BBQ sauce (yeah, I know, full of high fructose corn syrup and sugar, yet tasty) over your skewers of veggies for the grill. Hot diggety, I’m getting hungry!<br /><br />And when there’s just no room on the proverbial supper table for another dish, have fresh raw veggies as an appetizer. This way, no one’s just too stuffed to eat his or her vegetables. And, you can serve them up with hummus (a great dip made from garbanzo beans with good vitamins and protein), a salad dressing of sorts, or a chutney of choice!<br /><br />Another way to add more vegetables to your diet is to invoke the old dinner salad rule. That is to say, dinner always FOLLOWS salad. And we’re not talking iceberg lettuce with a few lonely carrot circles (you know with the jaggedy edges all cute and stuff). We’re talking red lettuce and romaine (small amounts) mixed with cucumber and red bell pepper and celery and carrots and beets and snap peas and…. you get the point. When it comes down to it, just lettuce (especially iceberg) doesn’t do a lot for you in the category of nutrition, so fill your salad with other goodies that do.<br /><br />My particular eating pattern includes a salad for lunch, filled with whatever scrumptious veggies I could scrounge from my fridge (ahem, currently a small cooler). This way I know that come dinner time I’ve already had at least SOME green goodies and if my evening sustenance turns out to be mac and cheese or bread and balsamic vinegar with a glass of red wine and a side of giggling girlfriends…well, then at least I’ve dosed my body with vitamins and minerals once or twice that day and there will be no nutrient melt down to be wary of.<br /><br />Instead of super sizing your less than happy meal, SUPER SALAD it for dinner! This is a great easy way to feed yourself or a hungry hoard that takes little time and is tasty as all get out. Simply chop up heaps of different veggies, open cans of black, kidney, or garbanzo beans and canned corn (real stuff is extra credit) and mix and match as you please. You can also cook up a touch of tofu or meat as a topping. And I’ve forgotten cheese! Don’t forget the cheese (even if it’s the shitty parmesan cheese in the green can that one would have difficulty differentiating from Comet cleaner).<br /><br />And once you’re sick of all these ideas, experiment! Buy new and different veggies, ask the vendors at farmers’ markets what they do with foods you’ve never used or even knew existed. This is how I learned what to do with kohlrabi (which it turns out is kinda like broccoli stalks in my opinion) and is a great way to learn about new and LOCAL foods (this is yet another blog that I will jump to soon enough).<br /><br />So get to cheffing and healthifying all those things that go into your body! Remember, just because it comes from the dirt, doesn’t mean it has to taste like dirt.<br /><br />If you’re having problems coming up with a recipe for certain vegetables or need help strategizing a way to sneak veggies into your life, email me and we’ll spice it up right!<br /><br />ContactUs@EcoJaunt.orgSWIXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08076282580663378414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653205387956734850.post-72735766275152416512011-12-19T14:23:00.000-08:002011-12-19T14:24:47.992-08:00Week 5 :: Food For Thought (Part 1)From: Salt Lake City, UT<br /><br />There had to come a day when I would begin to address the concept of food. Begin, I say, because bookshelves have been published on this topic…and there’s no way TAI will lend me THAT much website space! So this rant will only be the beginning.<br /><br />Gosh golly, where does a gal start? Eureka, I’ve got it!<br /><br />“You are what you eat.” It’s an age old saying that originated in 1826 when Anthelme Brillat-Savarin wrote “Dis-moi ce que tu manges, jet e dirai ce que tu es.” (Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are). Later, this became (auf Deutsch) “Der mensch ist, was er ißt,” which translates to our current understanding of the phrase (only he said, the man is what he eats…thank you high school German class!). This idiom made it into English not long after and even became a British TV show! Likely, it was on the Queen’s list to TiVo during teatime.<br /><br />This saying wasn’t meant to be taken so literally, but implies that we become the types of things we consume, be it violent video games, court talk shows, negative surroundings and people, OR a whopper with fries. By the way, has anyone else seen Burger King’s new signs for the ANGRY WHOPPER? Seriously, what kind of sauce is anger and who wants to consume more of it? Why not the Gandhi Whopper? Or at least name the freakin’ sandwich after a positive angry leader. The Cesar Chavez Burger anyone? …This could be the beginning of a whole new healthy fast food chain: Revolutionary Rations…where you can mini-size your order instead of being coerced into buying enough crap calories to sustain a little league team.<br /><br />Ok, back on topic: You Are What You Eat.<br /><br />Think about it: what exactly do you eat? And beyond that, this statement assumes that to know what we are, we actually know what it is we’re eating. Now geez Morgan, this seems a little far-fetched (…I can hear it now…), I know that my burger is made out of a cow and that my fries are potatoes and that my salad came from a farm and my chips from the store and my frozen entrée from the magic frozen food fairies. But is it that simple?<br /><br />Yes and no are both correct answers to the above proposed question.<br /><br />In 1994, the Food and Drug Administration implemented our current nutrition labeling system. Suddenly, we could see how many calories and grams of fat and oodles of sodium we were consuming. But also, we were given a window into the world of ingredients; we could finally see WHAT our food was made from. Only it seems the FDA forgot to print these long lists in English.<br /><br />When I was 7 or 8, I wanted to be a master speller. Spelling was like a puzzle, a new language, a mystery with enough clues that if you paid attention, you could solve it. I could hold my own in the school’s spelling bee and I could even define most of the words that the 6th graders couldn’t spell (ok, now I’m just bragging). But among the multitudinus vocalizeable utterantces that I ackwired in my effemeral inkwerie into the Inglesh language, I never once saw words like ‘xanthum gum,’ ‘maltodextrin,’ ‘monosodium glutamate,’ or ‘lactic acid.’ I mean, isn’t lactic acid that shtuff that builds up in your muscles when you work hard and are feelin’ the burn? What is this doing in our food? Perhaps it’s helping the internal digestive smooth muscles of our stomachs and small intestines to feel the burn. Jane Fonda would be so proud.<br /><br />So what exactly is this stuff with high falutin long confusing chemistry names? Mostly, it’s corn. All of the above listed ingredients are additives derived from corn. And there are many more. These kernel extracted bits and pieces are used as sweeteners, thickeners, preservatives, and binders. They are in your processed foods (aka almost anything you buy in a box, bag, jug, jar, or can), used as a coating on your fresh fruits and veggies for extra bling, in your shampoo and toothpaste for thickness (which hopefully you’re not eating), and even in some over the counter medications as a binding agent.<br /><br />For a more full list of multisyllabic corn derived food additives, check out the Live Corn Free website, they’ve got a good list rolling. For those with organic chemistry interest, Wikipedia does a decent job breaking down most of these compounds into their cellular structural differences and showing the necessary steps and processes. Don’t worry all you closet chemists out there, nobody’s taking a head count.<br /><br />For now, I’m not even going to start on high fructose corn syrup. That’s a whole other bookshelf.<br /><br />Right now, some of you are shocked, some of you are nodding your heads emphatically, and some of you are thinking you may be exempt from this overconsumption of corn because you eat more meat, dairy, and veggies than processed foods. First of all, let me congratulate you. This is a fairly wise choice and generally healthier than eating foods that have gone through more steps in the food chain than there are in the Empire State Building.<br /><br />But just so you know, the majority of cows and chickens and turkeys and lambs and even our beloved fishes are now being fed Number 2 corn diets. No. 2 corn is the type of corn grown in the majority of fields in this country. It is used for animal feed, ethanol production, and the creation of xanthum gum etc., but certainly not for human consumption. There are heaps of other evils behind CAFOs (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations) that detract from the nutritional value of meat…but again, that’s another bookshelf.<br /><br />Now the real question of the day: Is all this corn bad for us?<br /><br />The simple answer is Yes. The longer answer is on yet another bookshelf.<br /><br />The human body is amazing and can process a lot of crap, but in the end it needs nutritional substance and variety to thrive. Remember the food pyramid from 2nd grade? Well forget about it, it’s been abolished! About 1½ months ago, the Nutritional Plate was instated by the USDA and Michelle Obama, encouraging more fruits and veggies and creating a more evenly balanced plate. Check it out! <br /><br />But the take home message is the same: variety. If everything you’re eating is derived from corn in one way or another: soda, chips, meat, crackers, breads, chicken nuggets (don’t even get me started on these), cereal, applesauce, candy, etc… then you’ve lost all the variety of substance that you’re body craves!<br /><br />The best thing that any human, who has the power of literacy and will power, can do is to eat as many fresh fruits and veggies as possible. (The whole organic thing, you guessed it, another bookshelf) Beyond that, pay attention to what those nutrition labels list. If there are more than a handful of ingredients or many that you couldn’t identify with or without the periodic table, than perhaps it belongs on the shelf and not in your tummy!<br /><br />And remember, small changes will grow bigger over time. Start by adding something green to each plate you serve up or substitute a piece of fruit instead of fruit snacks (corn) next time you need a nibble.<br /><br />Plato and many other Greek sages have popularized the phrase “Know Thyself.” If you are what you eat, at least know what it is you really are!SWIXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08076282580663378414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653205387956734850.post-21018599926421666462011-12-19T14:21:00.000-08:002011-12-19T14:28:33.174-08:00Week 4: Sustainable Activities on the Road!Consistent exercise for EcoJaunters is a must!<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2z635VKpPsk17AQH_lnVJ4VkhWES6Pf6VJ8oG3hfh1CEPqUCcNSVEKLHzI7oYWzEum3skIOUEd5Nn7DGI53d_Pn6JF9Aw8LnLPFaoJz9UxCYGk469v0UoAoxofgId3FZK8sYw41cPnEs/s1600/lake-kachess.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2z635VKpPsk17AQH_lnVJ4VkhWES6Pf6VJ8oG3hfh1CEPqUCcNSVEKLHzI7oYWzEum3skIOUEd5Nn7DGI53d_Pn6JF9Aw8LnLPFaoJz9UxCYGk469v0UoAoxofgId3FZK8sYw41cPnEs/s320/lake-kachess.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687969454017968370" /></a>SWIXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08076282580663378414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653205387956734850.post-8799097933202113772011-12-19T14:18:00.000-08:002011-12-19T14:20:58.508-08:00Week 3 :: Commute By Bike – Tips To Get You Rollin’From: Long Beach, WA<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://www.therapeuticassociates.com/wp-content/uploads/routine3.pdf">Download Cycling Stretches (PDF): Click here</a><br /><br />In last week’s episode of Morgan gets on her rant, I talked about alternative forms of transportation (though I did forget to mention teleportation…darn!). And while many of us have terribly good intentions about walking or riding our bikes, it has been brought to my attention that many people just don’t feel safe getting around the city without a huge metal bubble barrier.<br /><br />So, this post is devoted to safety tips, planning strategies, and awareness elements that will keep you safe and confident while riding your bike or pedestrianizing (it’s totally a word, I double dog dare you to look it up).<br /><br />The main elements we need to address are: visibility, comfort, and respect for the road and all those who use it.<br /><br />VISIBILITY!<br /><br />There is no better way to be safe on the walk or on wheels than by being seen. This doesn’t mean you have to sing opera with wild hand gesticulations or wear only neon colors head to toe, though neither would hurt. ☺ It does mean that you should avoid wearing dark blue or black at night. It also means using appropriate lighting (one white headlight for the front and one or more red flashy lights for the rear on a bike). Additionally, a light on your wheel spokes, so that you are visible from the side, is quite helpful. And while you can also wear reflective vests, a cheaper and more creative thing you can do is to decorate the back of your jacket, pants, or bag with reflective tape. This cannot be underestimated, reflectors are magic in car headlights!<br /><br />Another aspect of visibility is awareness of whether or not you are seen (this one gloms on a little with the whole respect element). Attempt to always make eye contact with drivers, other cyclists, and pedestrians before proceeding to turn or make your way through 4-way stops. It’s amazing how much difference making eye contact can make. It’s as if once you’ve made eye contact, you’ve been recognized as another human being, and therefore given the respect you oh so clearly deserve!<br /><br />COMFORT<br /><br />Many times I have heard people say, I would like to ride my bike, but it’s uncomfortable and the weather isn’t always great. Numero Uno: Welcome to the Pacific Northwest.<br /><br />But moving beyond the fact that Oregon (and many other states) does not provide windless sunny days with the consistency some might hope for, there are heaps of ways and strategies that will keep you comfy on your bike, no matter what the circumstances!<br /><br />First of all, if your bike is uncomfortable, you may simply need to have changes made to your bike’s set up. It could be as simple as moving your seat, changing the angle of your handlebars, or learning the correct position on your bike. Luckily, skilled physical therapists (and you might know a few. Ahem, Therapeutic Associates Downtown Portland J) are trained to do cycle fits and can make changes to your bike to appropriately fit your anatomy.<br /><br />Preparing appropriately for the weather, or the possibility of weather, is another key factor in being comfy cozy on your bike! First and foremost, dress in layers! Nothing beats the elements of hot and cold like variety. It may be 10 degrees cooler in the hills than it is in the valley and you should plan accordingly.<br /><br />Secondly, purchase, borrow, or find in a free box some good rain gear. It’s truly amazing how impervious to wet Gortex can be; and how much easier it is to get your pedal on in the rain when you know you’ll still be dry once you strip off your waterproof layer upon arrival. Additionally, you can bring extra clothes with you to change into or leave a spare set at your common destinations. For example, I used to leave “a few pairs” of shoes under my desk at work just in case I happened to get wet feet on my commute…never mind that half the time I opted for barefoot status…but that’s another story. ☺<br /><br />Being comfortable on your bike also includes an amount of confidence in yourself on the road. If you feel hesitant to ride your bike amidst cars, there are simple steps you can take to be sure you have a comfortable and safe route. For one thing, improving your visibility to cars (see above) will give you confidence that everyone knows you’re there. Also, take bike routes or side streets anytime it’s possible. If you live in lovely Ptown, you’ll find no shortage of preferred marked bike routes and bike lanes and most outdoor or bike shops sell maps that specifically detail these. Mapping your routes accordingly will dramatically decrease the number of cars you even get remotely close to while pedaling away.<br /><br />If you don’t feel confident about your balance on a bike, particularly at intersections when a stop is required, try these tips:<br /><br />When you stop at an intersection, DO NOT try to continue sitting on your seat with both your feet touching the ground on either side. This is a precarious position full of terrible teeter totter possibilities. INSTEAD, bring your seat off your saddle (giddyup riders) and place one foot (or both) on the ground. Lean your bike slightly down towards the foot you have placed on the ground (the other may be on the pedal still). This will give you a more stable gravitationally affected triangle AND it will have you in the ready position to push down on your pedal and restart when that light turns green!<br />Practice your starts and stops around your neighborhood (that’s right, where everyone can see you, and then you can educate them on bike safety!). This will help you gain confidence in going at different speeds, stopping appropriately, and restarting…without any other cyclists or cars to worry about.<br />R. E. S. P. E. C. T.<br /><br />find out what it means …for you…sing with me now!<br /><br />No matter where you’re going or what kind of bike you’re riding, you should always always ALWAYS respect the road. Remember that it is very hard and unforgiving to your amazing flesh covered body. I could rant about wearing a helmet, but I figure that if you’re smart enough to be reading this blog, you likely R.E.S.P.E.C.T your brain and the way it currently functions, so I don’t even need to go there. ☺<br /><br />Respecting the road also means adhering to the rules. Stop at signs and lights that involve the color red, use appropriate signals for turning and indicating a change in direction, and just say no to agro! Some of these tips go back to visibility and communication; just because you’re wearing that superstar helmet with antenna, does not mean that cars or other cyclists can read your mind. Tell us what you’re going to do before you do it! Biking on the street is like having a relationship, the more open and forthright you are, the less likely that anyone will get hurt…you can also catch me on my other blog, Dr. Luv Tells It Like It Is…<br /><br />Riding a bike is one of the funnest, bestest, most awesomest ways to get around. Making every pedal a comfy cozy happy safe ride can only help! More power to the pedal!<br /><br />Oh yeah, and also these stretches are handy dandy for anyone who’s putting some miles on the bike ☺SWIXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08076282580663378414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653205387956734850.post-68229935800500263382011-12-19T14:14:00.000-08:002011-12-19T14:15:23.371-08:00Week 2 :: Get On The Bus GusWeek 2 :: Get On The Bus Gus<br /><br />From Roslyn, WA<br /><br />Let me just begin with one simple and truthful statement to overarch everything you will read in the following lines:<br /><br />There is no guilt in these words, only information for action.<br /><br />Alright, now that that’s settled, let the good times roll!<br /><br />Who gets out of their car and says, “Man, do I feel great now!”<br /><br />and whose low back and neck feel better after a long road trip? If you are answering those questions in the affirmative, you are either a rarity or you are being driven around in a comfortable R.V.<br /><br />One of the least healthy positions for your body is sitting; and one of the least healthy things for the planet is humans’ use and overuse of fossil fuels (aka driving cars). Could there be a connection to be noted? Perhaps!<br /><br />Sitting is the position that creates the greatest amount of stress on your low back and driving is no exception. In fact, most cars employ bucket seats (every physical therapist’s sworn enemy) and low ceilings, basically forcing you to slouch in order to see over the wheel (even before you’re 97 years old). Additionally, driving is one of the most static types of sitting, allowing for little to no fidgeting (since you are a safety superstar and wearing your seatbelt) and therefore does not promote flexibility or good circulation through movement.<br /><br />Fossil fuels (and the machines powered by them…ahem…automobiles) cause damage to many facets of our society. Some of the more obvious and dramatic include, but are certainly not limited to, our air quality, which affects our health on a daily basis and the ozone, two important parts of our continued life on this planet, both in the immediate present and the future.<br /><br />So, why don’t we all make choices that are healthier for our bodies and our planet? I believe the answer to this question encompasses many factors, but two of the big ones are our increasing reliance on convenience and our perceived lack of options.<br /><br />Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting we all quit cars cold turkey or become enforced hermits in order to decrease our reliance on gasoline. But I AM suggesting that we all start taking responsibility for our modes of transit and put some planning and forethought into how we get around. Errands can be completed together taking an efficient route, carpooling can be prioritized, mass transit can be used, and walking or cycling can replace driving whenever possible!<br /><br />There are two elements that will be instrumental to changing how dependent you are on your car: planning and commitment. If you can commit to changing your transportation habits, you will! But make your goals achievable, here are some ideas to get the mental balls bouncing….boing!<br /><br />Ride your bike or walk to work 3 times a week. Perhaps this means you only drive half way or split your time half and half with the bus.<br />Park your car 2 days a week. Commit not to drive on Tuesday and Saturday (for example, nothing real special about Tuesday…) No matter what, on those days you get around another way.<br />Check out carpools in your area: to work, for your kids to school or daycare, to the gym, for long commutes to different cities, etc. Any activities you do on a regular or semi regular basis can involve carpooling. How often do you see the same people at the gym or your neighbors at the grocery store? How fantastic if we could split gas costs in half, decrease the CO2 in our air, and have a socially enjoyable ride at the same time! This is a great excuse to get to know your ‘hot’ neighbor, co-worker, or fellow rowing machine user.<br />Pick locations within a few miles of your house that you visit relatively frequently and commit not to drive there. Ever. Create an understanding with yourself that every time you go to that nearby pub, video arcade, Quiki Mart (never!), park, friend’s house, or favorite eatery, you will walk, bike, skip, bus, crawl, or levitate…just not drive.<br />Create a locational boundary for car usage. Declare that anything within a mile of your home will never justify using your car, no matter what the weather. Buy mittens and a raincoat, the good kind. These items will cost you less than petrol and are better for making you feel warm and snuggly.<br />These ideas are but a small drop in the proverbial oil bucket and are by no means impossible! If you can only commit to one day a week without wheels, that’s a great start! Every small step you take will build over time and you may be surprised to find how easy it is to stay free from your small prison on wheels.<br /><br />Just remember, every choice you make will affect both your body and your environment. So get out into the world and stay committed to your sustainable plan!<br /><br />Morgan Denny PT, DPT<br />Orthopedic Physical Therapist<br />Sustainable Practices AdvocateSWIXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08076282580663378414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653205387956734850.post-79763348242539592742011-12-19T14:09:00.000-08:002011-12-19T14:13:46.892-08:00Week 1 :: Sustain Your Garden AND Your BodyFrom: Chico, CA<br /><br />The sun is on its way (wait for it, WAIT FOR IT) and it’s time to be in the garden planting some yummy veggies! If you’re like most people, you’ve had one or two injuries from time spent weeding, mowing, pruning, or gardening. The most common sites are your lower back, neck, shoulders, and knees. Not fun!!!<br /><br />Instead of suffering and feeling punished for your work with your hands in the dirt, think about some of these tips and stretches to decrease your post gardening predicament!<br /><br />If you’re an intense gardener, getting into zen mode while plucking those water sucking weeds, you may not switch positions until some little voice comes from your knees or your back that says, “Move!” But changing positions is key to keeping joints happy while gardening. Aim to change how you’re sitting, standing, or bending at least once every 5 minutes. If you’ve been sitting on the ground, switch to a half kneeling position; if you’ve been bent over pruning, change you position to sitting on a stool. For extra credit points, do some light stretching every time you change how you’re working. This will prevent your body’s joints from becoming overtaxed. Instead of moving when you have pain, preemptively move to prevent pain.<br /><br />One of the worst things about gardening is that the ground is so much darn lower than we are! Drat. But wait, there’s hope! Try using appropriate tools and stools to help decrease the strain on your spine. Be sure these tools are the correct size and length for you; too short and you’ll be hunched over, too big and you’ll feel like you’re wielding a sword from medieval times….and then you’ll need matching chain mail (as in the armor).<br /><br />As you’re gardening, it’s also important to maintain as much of a neutral spine position as possible. This means no hunched shoulders or overly bent low back. Instead of hunching over, bend those knees! Instead of reaching too far, move your whole body! Awareness of these simple mechanical ideas can save you a lot of grief in the gardening aftermath.<br /><br />Additionally, going through some light stretches and warm up activities before you start gardening and throughout your time with the plants will help to decrease your level of soreness. Just think, you could even garden two days in a row…which could be necessary once the sunshine decides it lives in Ptown.<br /><br />So just remember: move, stretch, neutral spine. Simple, effective; simply effective <br /><br />Now go play in the dirt and give those wonderful green beings some life!<br /><br /><br />Morgan Denny PT, DPT<br />Orthopedic Physical Therapist<br />Sustainable Practices AdvocateSWIXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08076282580663378414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653205387956734850.post-37663772558791243132011-12-14T17:42:00.000-08:002011-12-14T17:47:48.885-08:00I think I will post my Health Blogs HereSince my partner and I have been working on our project ECOJAUNT, I have been writing a health blog for the physical therapy clinic I used to work at, the topics ranging from absolutely PT related to sustainability meets health to sustainable education. They are currently posted on Downtown Ptown's Therapeutic Associates website, but i figure they might benefit from another hiding place ;) So here we go! Copy and paste y'all! <br /><br />All my best from Asheville, NC ;)SWIXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08076282580663378414noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653205387956734850.post-87172804041678009252010-12-17T18:31:00.000-08:002010-12-17T18:43:47.394-08:00Back in ActionJust back from India late in October, I have been chillin and chasin' the wind, both to equal degrees. Decompressing from India travel was both interesting and entertaining. While the air in America had a cleanliness even the planes at Chicago's airport couldn't squelch, there were different kinds of dirt upon reentry. So many brilliant things about the US that i now appreciate much MUCH more; the lack of mountainous trash in the streets, the seemingly universal and normal standards of cleanliness of the health care system, humidity less than 107%... the list goes on.<br />But also, there are things that were brilliant in India that i miss, many of which are simply awesome elements of travelling (anywhere) but that i currently attribute to India specifically.<br /><br />This post to be continued as I am headed to Coalition Brewery for drinks and deliciousness with my work (previous ;) peeps. Cheers y'all!SWIXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08076282580663378414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653205387956734850.post-15027486745454334582010-10-17T10:00:00.000-07:002010-10-17T10:19:36.268-07:00From DelhiSo Varanasi and the Ganges River were super rad! Full of crazy tiny small alleys built to confuse you and put you into a directional spin (much like Ikea), the city is full of history and amazing architecture! And flooding. Only weeks before the city had one of its worst floods and we saw mud 5 foot deep hedges practically manicured along the steps leading to the water, insanity. But nothing this city has not seem before.<div>We roamed the streets, getting lost almost everytime (yeehaw!), saw the Burning Ghat where people are cremated in fires turned by people of the lower caste (how well your body is burned depends on how much wood your family can afford). It was a serious and yet not somber vibe, here (in Hinduism) death is a part of the cycle of reincarnation and to have died in Varanasi and your body given to the Ganges is a step in the right direction when it comes to how you're gonna come back.</div><div>We also met with a man who has been trying to clean up the Ganges for over 40 years! We went to his hood, not really expecting to find him and ended up speaking with him for over an hour, more about relationships in his life and philosophies than the Ganges; he had a most amazing light in his eyes when spoke about close friends and their experiences together.</div><div>Let's see, we went on a sunrise boatride along the Ganges viewing 'The Ghats', a collection of tall buildings , mosques and temples from the river in the sunrise's light...gorgeious! Also our oarsman was a small little kid with some gumption which we adore of course!</div><div>There were also many beers drank at our favorite rooftop bar, located conveniently on the top floor of the hostel we stayed at as we talked with other travellers from Israel, Scotland, Germany and watched the monkeys play and reek havok upon the neighboring rooftops...and sometimes ours!</div><div>One of the most fun things we did in Varanasi (vs all the ridiculous hilarious things that just HAPPENED in Varanasi) was go to visit the Monkey Temple. Yeah yeah, just another Hindu temple you think, with gods and orange bhindi paint along the pillars and walls, but NO! It is a large open area temple and hundreds, seriously hundreds of free range monkeys (not to be later eaten), run free and play and glide and attack each other all around you! The best part of this scene was watching tourists in large groups walk through areas of monkeys, because when the women all get scared and scream, the monkeys totally attack, grabbing playfully but hard at their beautiful brightly colored sarees...which continued to crack us up over and over again! really it never gets old ;) and we got to feed the monkeys too, polite lil' buggers when they know you respect but do not fear them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyhow, so we took a long train ride, battled the metro (like ptown's MAX) and are now staying with a lovely family we met in Kanyakumari. Today we toured the Red Fort and nearby enormous mosque, during which i got to wear a lovely stunning orange moo moo to cover my arms...pictures to follow.</div>SWIXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08076282580663378414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653205387956734850.post-28187102518836690912010-10-10T23:32:00.000-07:002010-10-10T23:41:48.797-07:00from the Holy (shit) City of Varanasiwellll, lots has happened ;)<br />currently we are in Varanasi, one of the holiest cities in india, located along the Ganga (Ganges) River where 45,000 dead bodies (some cremated, some 'partially cremated'??? says my book) are dumped into the river to move on through the stages of reincarnation. also, people flock to the city to bathe and become more holy, the pilgrimage is crazy right now due to a major festival going on and people from all over the country have made their way to this crazy town!<br />The sunrise here is gorgeous and made amazingly easy to stare at because the pollution levels are so high that the bright pink orb maintains enough UV protection high into the sky to allow for direct visualization (don't worry mom, the sunspots only last for about 3 minutes ;)<br />The rickshaws, both motorized and foot pedal are insane here and there is honking beyond all beleif with the occasional WHACK noise as careening vehicles clip one another, if but briefly.<br />We saw many temples yesterday and were lucky enough to be led around by a local who had the day off from school....who of course asked us to come back to his local silk shop and buy stuff when done. Lessons in india: everybody loves you, because you might have money (more on that later)<br />For now, i must back to the world of web search for helpful info regarding reinstatement of passports in india...<br />on the last night of our 40 hour train ride to Varanasi, someone sneakily stole my passport, money, credit cards, and camera...funny how it seemed keeping everything iimportant and in one place near to me was a good idea at the time...<br />but no worries! koichinta nahin in hindi!<br />more adventure and india exploration awaits, just with a new twist (lime please!)SWIXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08076282580663378414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653205387956734850.post-46465896283824817002010-09-24T07:17:00.000-07:002010-09-24T07:24:02.534-07:00OH INDIA!i have been 6 days without a vegetable.<br />and there's so much more ;)<br />my apologies more not much blogging but interent is scarce and the timing has not been right. however! there will be detailed accounts and happenings posted upon the finding of good interent connection, promise!<br /><br />so here's a snapshot:<br />flew into kochi on the southwestern edge of india, the flight itself was a adventure but damn it hardly compares to what has followed. we headed south to alleppey, went on a backwaters tour and walked the beach, met locals,, got stared at by everyone...oh that's still happening...;)<br />then headed south to kanyakumari the southern tip of india where 3 oceans collide! it's freaking fantastically beautiful and people flock to the spot to watch the sunrise and attend the sacred temple. we've been here, sorta...for over a week...because (insert drum roll here) Travis got typhoid! turns out immunizations are not 100%. go figure ;) SO, we spent a good chunk of days in the most fantastic hospital (Dr. Kumaraswami Health Center) that isthe most amazing place (not for its facilities or cleanliness, but for its staff) and now T is all healed up and we're heading north tomorrow to kodaikannal to meet a farmer starting some progresive ideas in the country. hope all are doing well and NOT having typhoid ;)<br />more soon, pinky swear!SWIXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08076282580663378414noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653205387956734850.post-62344763832596091872010-08-25T09:14:00.000-07:002010-08-25T09:18:04.310-07:00Day three of freedom begins beneath a persimmon tree, checkin things off my GSD list as the sun begins to meet the cool breeze for it's daily battleSWIXhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08076282580663378414noreply@blogger.com0