YurtTrash

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This is a video I posted on 12seconds, which is a brilliant new online video platform. What could you say in 12seconds?

What a crazy mess of a day…Phoenix is a bit better, so we spent some time this morning outside. I have sooooo much that needs to be done in the yard it is truly INSANE! It was great to let Charlie run and Phoenix soak up the sun. It’s a rough time when one of your children is sick and the other does not understand what this means. Charlie has spent A LOT of time in his room these past weeks. It’s as if Charlie has taken it upon himself to make up for his brother’s “low energy”. Energy can not be created or destroyed just transfered to the other child.
I also became aware of the new Seesmic wordpress plugin.

What the hell are we doing ALLOWING Disney to build an amusement park in Baghdad!!! Money Money Money, that’s all it is, when are we going to stand up and say NO!! ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!! If you think making people more like “US” is going to make the world a better place, well, you probably sleep better than I do. But, wait…we are giving the poor Iraqis jobs, and tourism…do some people really believe this shit?! Okay, that was my day so far…

An eco-village is where I want to be. I don’t want to convert people. I just want to live with the peace of knowing that I am doing the best I can. Modeling my vision of the future! Teaching my children how to live in a peaceful way. To be conscious of what we do and say. To do this I must accept that I am not perfect and I slip everyday. Forgiveness and no judgement.

Like so many other people, I struggle with where to begin. On my quest, I have found some great links helping Real people address the Real issues. It’s inspiring to know people ARE out there making a difference! They are consciously trying to find their way in this world. With this in mind, I must direct your attention to WhitScott.com. He asks “Am I sustainable? Are you?”, which is a question we ALL need to ask. I adore the idea of listing ways that we are “Killing the earth/Saving the earth”.

Ways I am killing the earth
• I drive a car.
• I buy food from the Super Market…not so super.
• We burn wood for heat.
• We have 3 computers that are always ON.

Ways I am saving the earth
• I don’t use plastic bags.
• I very rarely buy new clothes.
• I am a recycling NUT.
• Raising consciousness…I sure hope:)
• I grow my own medicines:)

Ways I WILL be saving the earth
• I am joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).
• I am going to start riding my bike to work.
• I WILL Compost!

I watched this GREAT movie about reducing our consumption…WATCH THIS!!

So here are some ways I am going to reduce my consumption by 10%
• Stop buying plastic bottles.
• Capture and use rain water.
• Hang dry our laundry

With all this in mind, I know that the only way we can make a difference is to have the strength to stand up and be counted. I write to be counted as one who gives a shit!

Everyday is a practice. Everyday is another try. Wake up in the morning with excitement for what is ahead of me instead of the dread that surrounds me. To enjoy is the secret. Find love within the smallest crumb. It is magic…all of it.

Just Because:)
The Sustainable Table
Mother Earth News
Eco Child’s Play- Green Parenting

The more I know, the more I know I DON’T know!!

I like vegetables, which might be explained by my fond memories of eating snow peas straight out of my mother’s garden. They were sweet and crisp and what fun it is to see a plant become food…I realize that somethings have always been. As I walk through the Super Food Plus and wonder what’s so “super” about this new way of feeding ourselves, I let out a deep sigh and long for days of old. We all just accept or even welcome the packaging of these “food-like substances” as our saviour. Mothers, from coast to coast, fall prey to the “high in calcium”, dye injected, plastic-like food that is easy to prepare but difficult to digest. The cartoon character on the box is all that seems to matter these days. We don’t stop to connect the dots between the weekly visits to the pediatrician and the food on our tables. Blame the manufacturers, the marketeers, the executives or even the grocers themselves, but THEY are not responsible for our health, for our well being. Yes, I AM talking about more than just excess calories; it’s empty calories! Just because it’s on the shelves does not mean that we MUST buy it…come on, let’s show some restraint. Of course, I am talking to myself as well as you!

I find it impossible to pinpoint what is truly healthy as I walk down these aisles. I read ingredients, but that often requires a magnifying glass and some sort of degree in nutrition. There’s an internal struggle between my love for whole food and a busy schedule, which compels me to buy “quick” food just to make it through the week. I feel stuck in the middle of knowing what I should do and not being able to do it. Falling short only tugs on my already tattered spirit. I believe in organic food. I also believe in local food. My wallet gasps at the price of both of these, so I do the best my conscious will allow. I dream of the day that all my food is grown or raised within a 30 mile radius…Dreaming is what gets me through the day! If one cuts meat out of a few meals per week, they have a greater impact on our oil dependence than buying a hybrid…A fun and nauseating fact I feel required to include. Natural gas is used to produce fertilizers that are used to grow the feed, and energy is also consumed to process and transport this beloved meat. For the record, I do eat meat, but that’s a topic for another day.

There are so many things to think about when buying food, that usually all I am able to do is focus on which brand is on sale this week. I will sometimes look for the origin of a product, but there is little information in regards to how many miles or gallons of gas it took to get this jar of peanut butter to my local store. Since nearly everything is packaged in plastic, shouldn’t we know how much petroleum was consumed to produce this pretty little package that creates an impulse to choice this rice over the other 50 varieties. Is it too much to ask for the TRUE cost of the food I have to choose from?…Does this matter to you?

We have too many choices, which leads to “Store Daze”. I wonder around with my two kids in tow, trying to stay clear of the danger zones. As if the rows of brightly colored packages of sugar-coated sugar wasn’t bad enough, there is now a toy aisle! I can’t seem to make a trip to the grocery store without a, “No, We are NOT buying candy!”. It seems that where some think “More is Better”, I find it wasteful and exhausting of time and resources. For instance, why are there 30 check-out stands, when only 5 are ever used?

Whole food is WHOLE nourishment, which is essential to our starving world. It’s more than WHAT we put into our mouths, but the pathway of the food to our tables. Food absorbs the energy used to produce it, to move it and to prepare it. We still have the all-mightly power of purchase. If we do not buy it, they will not produce it. I encourage you to use your power wisely, as I will work to do the same.

P.S. I strongly suggest checking out sustainabletable.org for more information on food and energy.

I have spent a good part of my life looking through other people’s eyes searching for answers. What’s right? What’s wrong?..I begged them to tell me. At some point I began trusting in my own eyes. This didn’t happen over night and honestly I still waiver from time to time. Yet it still infuriates me when someone says, “Well, look at it from my perspective” in an attempt to make me “see the truth”. Little do they know I just got back from “their perspective”, and well, I’m glad I don’t live there. Actually, I have no problem with their view, but should it change how I see things? In fear of disappointment, I am quite relieved I do NOT see my life and my choices through other’s eyes. My focus is often on the people in my life as opposed to the dirty dishes in the sink. Damn those dishes that keep getting themselves dirty and expecting me to wash them. I find it very easy to get distracted by the little things in life, and well, as it should be. It’s these small details that are usually the most important.

I think how terribly boring and tragic it would be if we all saw the same thing… or for that matter believed the same thing. The reason we all have our OWN eyes and don’t just share a set of cosmic eyes is so we can have different points of view. These multiple views create layers of truth. It is within these truths I now search for answers. Such a fine line between listening to other perspectives and compromising yourself. It becomes too easy to think that our unique view is somehow superior to anyone else’s. On this one point, I am sure My view is useless without YOURS!

Being arrogant…what does it say about a person? What is ego anyway? A player on a stage merely acting out the script in front of them. Can you see the inner god of a person that is arrogant? I am no better than you, and no worse. I am just trying to be conscious of my contribution, of OUR footprint upon this land. Don’t be fooled; We DO walk together.

Inspire not alienate…my mantra these days. I want to bridge the gap between the established norm and consciousness. It starts with a conversation, a question, an idea. A seed is a thought or vise versa. It takes time, attention and nature to turn a seed into a tree of consciousness. I want to arouse people to think about where their food comes from…What happens to all those plastic bags once the trash man picks them up?…Why is the United States the only country that allows Rx drug ads on television?…Are we free, and if so from what? The food doesn’t start at the store and the trash does NOT just go away. So, what are we to do?

What happens when an average American family turns green? Is it even possible to go pollution-free within a world of technology? What happens when the kids lose what they have grown attached to such as the big tv, the dvd player, mounds of toys, their own bedroom, beds, yard and the beloved easy access computers? Is more better or will they simply be excited about the adventure. What will they have instead? What will their friends say? What will the school say? Will the fact that we have kids limit our ability to go off the grid? How do you talk to your child about a move of this sort?

So, I have all these questions that I wish someone would just answer for me, but what’s the fun in that. I am certain that if it’s not this it would be that, and I pledge to keep moving even if it’s in circles. Some days it’s just like that…more questions than answers.

Have you ever had a passion that you embraced even before you knew exactly why it was so important? As is often the case with me, I find I know things before I truly understand them….Well, I am a bag lady, that is, I use cloth bags instead of single-use plastic bags. I have always been heavy on the reuse, recycle end of life, so you would think this came easily. In actuality it has taken me years of reprogramming to establish a solid habit of ALWAYS having cloth bags on hand. Well, to be perfectly honest, I STILL forget sometimes, but now I just pile my groceries into the basket or even a box if one’s available. I’ve simply learned that I can JUST SAY NO to plastic bags!

With a mind for science and math, I started college majoring in engineering, but my soul quickly pulled me toward my true passion. The result was a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences from the School of Natural Resources. Looking at me today you may say well of course, but I was much more a conservative in appearance and action back then. I actually thought Reagan was a good president…yah we all make mistakes! Of course my mom would remind me, as moms should, that I was always picking up trash along the way, and producing hysterical rants whenever litter crossed my path. As I look back I realize that I was always an activist, it just took me a while to find my voice. So now that I’m a parent, I find that it’s even more important to simply do my part and BE MINDFUL. I believe that everyone must find their own motivation for change.

Let’s start with some history and facts. Single-use plastic bags were introduce in the late 1970’s. Thank god for the brilliant marketeer that sold us the idea to use disposable bags for EVERYTHING. Baahh Baahh, this grass is great! Of course not so great if you are a sea or land animal that mistakes a plastic bag for food and DIES. Now wait a minute let’s assume ALL plastic bags make it into landfills. For 1,000 year these plastic bags continue to break down, contaminating both water and soil. After soaking up any other toxins in these landfills, little bits of plastic bag can then be consumed by some unfortunate animal. Of course our convenience is more important than a stupid animal, I mean, we are man, right?. This makes me wonder…what do plastic bags cost, and of course I mean the TRUE cost? I started by doing a google search on “cost of plastic bags”, which I highly recommend because God knows I won’t find everything that’s out there. Be curious…start there. One more suggestion ALWAYS remember to ask “where is the money?”. So I started at the top…reusablebags.com. Lots of facts on consumption, which were so appalling I thought I might have to go throw up. The United States alone consumes 100 BILLION plastic shopping bags annually, which is approximately 4 MILLION dollars spent by retailers. There is between 500 BILLION and 1 TRILLION plastic bag consumed each year throughout the world. My head can’t even fathom these numbers, let alone imagine the impact we could have if we simply stopped producing these bags. Of course people would lose their jobs, and business would go out of business, but wouldn’t it be worth it. The US plastic industry says NO, and they are fighting like hell to avoid the legislation that is sweeping the globe. In 2002 Ireland started charging a tax for every plastic bag used by consumers and used the money to fund environmental clean up. Nearly immediately Ireland’s consumption went down by 90%. The result was 1 BILLION fewer bags used each year. Money motivates people!!
Here in the United States we are VERY set in our ways of disposibility. We also have VERY powerful companies that have a lot to lose if we follow the rest of the world with a plastic bag tax or the like. We are talking money. We are ALWAYS talking money.

Remember NOTHING is ever free! I hope you are wondering how this all effects the money in YOUR wallet? It does, but you have been convinced that these terribly convenient bags are FREE. Stop to think about a company giving away something for free. THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN! For a long time I felt good about simply taking my used bags back to the store to be recycled, until they stopped taking them back. So I wondered why it’s so hard to recycle these single-use plastic bags. Well, it costs $4000 to recycle one ton of these plastic bags. At which point they can sell this recycled material for a whopping $32. There is absolutely no motivation for companies to recycle these bags. The making of these bags supports our dependence on oil and in this day and age that alone should require people to care. Whatever the reason that tugs at your soul, be empowered to do something. Okay, I don’t want to portray myself as a martyr. And just so we’re clear, I STILL find myself accepting a plastic bag from time to time when I’m in a hurry. Sometimes I’m out of the store and look down and curse under my breath because I didn’t even realize they had given me a plastic bag. I also am not judging you if I see you with a cart full of groceries in single-use plastic bags because I know the problem is bigger than you or me. I also know that it starts with you and me. The only answer I see is to STOP USING THEM. If we, the consumers say NO, the bags will not be made. So when someone asks “But what can I do?”, please tell them to BYOB. Bring Your Own Bag! Thank You:)

I have too many closets. In my opinion most people have too many closets. Now I don’t mean I have empty closets. Actually the opposite is true; they’re overflowing with random stuff. This is an analogy of our so called “modern life”. We need more closet space for all the things that we might need someday. That chafing dish you use every third Christmas when it’s your turn to host the family dinner. Really, I have nothing against the “right tool for the job”, but is it worth the space it takes up in your life? It was only a few years ago that we were given a really nice sofa. We were thrilled because prior to this we used fold-up camping chairs as living room furniture. What a luxury! Please do not misunderstand me. I like new things. I like shiny things. And I really like technology and the opportunity it has to connect the world, more importantly people. I adore having access to people across the globe. All that being said, when is it ever going to be enough. I’m not against the modern world, but why when we have something that works are we driven to make it better. Obsessed to the degree that it sucks so much time and energy that we miss out on the beauty that surrounds us everyday. Beauty that can not be found in your local mall!!
I feel my background gives me a special perspective on this. Growing up the youngest of 4 children, my parents divorced when I was 5 leaving me without any memories of a family together. My dad moved away, as I entered junior high ,to start what is now a very successful business. We all make sacrifices never knowing for sure what we have given up. I remained with my mom, who worked multiple jobs just to pay the bills. As many people I know, I received little to no guidance on how to balance money and happiness. Factoring in that I ALWAYS had to learn things the hard way, there may have been more attempts than my memory will allow. This being said, I truly believe that my family always did the best they could, and I am TRULY grateful for the love and support that I did get. I know many that were not so lucky. I have often been misunderstood by those around me. This certainly laid the foundation for much self exploration and FINALLY discovery of who I truly am. It’s a wonderful thing to be comfortable in one’s beliefs, and yet have faith in the unknown.
My family includes some amazingly intelligent as well as fanatically driven individuals. This in itself is not bad, but we have lost sight of the importance of family and what we could be together if only we took the time to engage one another. Okay, how does this connect with having two many closets and too much stuff in each one. We live in a consumer driven society. Well, actually a MARKETING driven society!! We have allowed big corporations to convince us that what is in our closets is more important that who is in our family. Maybe you don’t see this in yourself, and maybe you have escaped their trap. Congratulations. Move to the head of the class. All I am saying is by taking a good look at your closets one can get a glimpse of what you see as important. Do you have 20 shirts or 200 shirts? What do you really need? You may see me as a minimalist, but I see it as keeping it simple in a world of endless complexity.
Today is a perfect day to reduce my clothes by half! Yes, I figure less clothes less laundry. Stay with me… Do you have a constant pile of clothes that never seems to get washed? I mean you keep doing laundry, but the pile seems to stay the same. Do you have clothes that you don’t really wear, but they keep ending up in the laundry basket. Of course I do have children and they like to “help” with the laundry, but I don’t think that explains it all. I’ll let you know how this works because like everything in life this is an experiment. Stuff does not make one happy, so it’s out with the stuff and in with the happy. I encourage you to search out places to recycle unwanted items. Here on Cape Cod we have “Swap Shops” at our local dumps. This is brilliant. It’s an all in one stop….need crap…need to get rid of crap….come on down it’s FREE.
I am declaring this a year to embrace all that I am. For years I have been lulled into accepting others’ reality as my own. I will stand my ground, and be an example of who, why, when, where, how and of course how much. I am giving myself permission to let go and see where it takes me. I invite you to look at your closets and create some space for what ever you value most. Space is a very powerful and magical thing to bring back into your life.

I am 34 year old, mother of two fiercely independent young boys, wife of a wonderfully supportive man and finding it increasingly hard to live in a world that makes less and less sense. We moved to Cape Cod to invest in a house that would allow us to “get out of debt” and achieve the “American dream” of having our own home. We were desperately trying to build a solid foundation for our future, so we bought into the idea of “you need to spend money to make money”. My advice regarding this is ALWAYS FOLLOW YOUR INSTINCT! You are responsible for your own decisions and YOU must live with them! When you’re young it’s easy to look to others for guidance instead of standing up for what you know is right.

That was 3 years ago and there have been many bumps and bruises along the way. Of course that’s to be expected, but I was not prepared for the endless battles over simple things. In preparation of the eventual sale of the house we had mapped out a remodeling plan, even going so far as to sign a contract between all parties involved. And even though things did not go according to contract, I am still thankful we started out that way. We have had an extremely hard time with the remodeling of this house mostly because of constant disagreements between us and my in-laws, who are also heavily invested in this house. Oh, did I fail to mention we went into this investment with FAMILY! I know better than to mix family, business and money! First we argued about the maintenance of the lawn, than the installation of a whole house fan as opposed to individual ceiling fans in each room and the list goes on and on. Each time something needed to be done, it was an 8 course meal (not literally!) of talking about who, what, when, where, how oh and of course how much. We never agreed with them and they never agreed with us, so it was always 2 against 2 without a tie breaker. With much disappointment, Chris and I finally decided to stop believing that they actually wanted to hear our opinion even though that was what was being said. Oh, and did I mention that Chris is a professional full-service carpenter and has been doing high-end remodels for almost 15 years now. Obviously, he’s still not qualified to pick out a countertop or be trusted with any sort of decision of the sort. If Chris got little recognition, I got even less. After two years of working on the landscaping without any support financially, mentally or physically, “professional” landscapers were brought in by guess who to focus on curb appeal. Oddly enough when I said that the irrigation system was not adequate the first summer, no one listened, but when the “professional” said it 6 months before the property was to be put on the market, well I’m sure you can guess where I’m going with this.

As we prepare to sell our investment, we struggle with so much more than moving boxes. When I look at the past 3 years, it’s not hard for me to look at the events from a multitude of perspectives. And even though I still think we got the short end of the stick, I also think that we were given an opportunity that I’m glad we didn’t turn down. I love were we live, and am thankful for so much. That being said, I am ready for a new direction. One that we make. One that is not based on the decisions and outcomes of our parents and their generation. It is strikingly clear to me that what worked for them, has not and will not work for us. This debt driven society must end. I want more time and less stuff. I want to find a way to be happy without all the things we are told we must own to be happy. So now we are just trying to get out of this house and accept it as a big, fat learning experience. So I guess this blog is going to be about what I have learned and where I hope it will take me. Deep Breath and I’m on my way….