This post is our contribution to sustainablog’s Pedal-a-Watt Powered Blogathon this weekend. The long-running green blog (and new green shopping site) is publishing for 24 hours straight to raise funds for the Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage in Northeastern Missouri. Go join the fun: read post contributions from around the green blogosphere, leave a comment to be entered in a drawing for some great green prizes, and join in the Tweetchat at #susbppb.

Our daily habits seem smaller than they actually are, because (by definition), they are something we do not give as much thought to. They are things we often do without thinking about why we do them, if we should do something else, or what their true effect is.

The truth is, our eating habits, transportation habits, recreational habits, and even simple flip-the-switch habits probably have a bigger impact on our lives, our health, the environment, the economy, and so on than anything else.

Nonetheless, if we ever do think about changing a habit, it is still a very difficult thing to do… or is it?

Changing a habit feels so hard, because we feel comfort in what we are used to. Most people, and maybe even everyone (even people who love new things, adventure, etc.), crave comfort and naturally feel more comfortable with what they are familiar with.

But if we give it some deep thought, we can look beyond comfort and look beyond what we are used to and can identify ways that we can make a huge, beneficial impact on ourselves, on our society and on our planet by changing at least some of our habits.

I think if we get into the habit of reflecting on our lives, on life in general, on our habits, it can become easier and easier to make wiser and wiser changes to our lives. It can become easier an easier to achieve the ideals that we only dream of when we are trapped in habits that do not lead to those ideals.

I suggest, make a habit of reflection & see how it changes your life.

In addition, surrounding yourself with people who will continually give you new ideas and encourage you to improve your life is probably a good idea as well.

image credit: dhammza via flickr under a CC license

It seems rather common these days for anti-environmentalists to claim that environmentalists treat environmentalism (or, in many cases, climate change activism) like a religion. Environmentalism can infiltrate many aspects of a person’s life and may affect many of their thoughts, feelings and actions. However, calling it a religion is a little off the mark. There are clear differences between environmentalism, or climate change action, and religion.

Where Are the Similarities?

Similarities people might have identified between environmentalism and religion are that:

1) people deeply involved in environmentalism, like religion, might be very zealous about it, (but people deeply involved in anything get very zealous about it — sports, food, their work, making money, etc.);

2) environmentalists, like followers of a certain religion, might believe very firmly in one perspective or one argument and not give the slightest concession to an argument that goes against that, (but with a firm scientific consensus and a clear understanding of how things work in this world, what is the difference between firm environmentalist beliefs of certain subject matters and the firm beliefs of most of the world that the world is round, gravity pulls objects down, and the sun is larger than the Earth?);

3) environmentalists have formed a strong community, similar, perhaps, to various religious communities, (but, again, anyone who spends a lot of time in one field often ends up entrenched in a community focused around that issue — active members of nearly any professional association or community, social media enthusiasts, sports fans, etc.);

4) environmentalism and religion both concern ideas of what is morally right, (but there are numerous topics — probably every major sector of life and society — that touch on the broad topic of morality in one way or another).

Where Are the Differences?

I think the key difference between environmentalism and religion is much more striking, I think. No matter what the religion is, it is connected to the idea that the “soul” — something that is at one’s essence and is related to the source of all life (i.e. God, Tao, the Source, Allah, Nam) — can merge back into that source again and thus achieve a greater, heightened consciousness or life.

Environmentalism doesn’t contain this critical aspect of religion. That is why environmentalists can come from all religions — Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Taoism, and so on — and why, I think, they do not connect to environmentalism as something opposed to religion, in general. You might argue that environmentalists believe we all come from the environment and we will all go back to the environment, but this does not entail achieving a “greater, heightened consciousness or life”. This is basically about a physical matter, not a spiritual matter.

A Similar Opportunity for Environmentalists and Religious Followers

An opportunity that environmentalists and religious followers do both share, that might supply a unique bond between them, however, is that they both can develop much greater care for others through these otherwise rather different interests. Believing that we need to care for the environment facilitates greater care for all life and others (or it can do so, at least). Similarly, belief that all life comes from the same source, and honoring that source, religion should make us more likely to honor all other life and beings. It can, at the least, encourage us to care more for others.

This is one unique similarity between environmentalism and religion, but it does not make environmentalism a religion. It just connects the two through this bridge of potentially greater care for others. Whether we take advantage of this opportunity is another story altogether, of course.

Related Stories:
1) Christianity and the Environment
2) Environmentalism as a Step in Individual Evolution
3) Personal Happiness and Equity: A Sustainability Link

Image Credit: Toni Blay via flickr under a CC license

Caring about the environment is a good thing. However, sometimes the concern can get overwhelming. How do we deal with the great environmental collapse humans are creating? How do we deal with the oncoming global tidal wave of climate change, especially when the mainstream media continues to portray the science as questionable when it is not?

Here are a few thoughts.

I think the first thing to remember is that you are only one individual. Sure, one individual can do a lot. But you are not responsible for the world. You are responsible for yourself, that is all (and perhaps your kids as well, if you have them).

Don’t take too much of the responsibility on yourself. Realize the limits of your responsibility. Realize the limits of your personal duties.

Ironically, realizing your own limits allows you to do more, I think. It is when we get overwhelmed with the problems that we become most helpless or turn off to the issues the most. Some of us feel so overwhelmed with the problems, we even try to avoid acknowledging them as being true.

Realize the problems, be aware of them, but take a step back and look at what your own responsibility in the matter actually is — don’t bear the weight of the whole world on your shoulders.

Secondly, I think one has to develop faith in something bigger than oneself. Humans are a big part of the world, a big part of the universe as we know it, and we have creative and destructive powers. But we are a part of Nature, and one species of Life. And the origin of life is still a mystery to human science.

It is a personal subject, but I think a big part of finding relief from environmental concern is finding faith in something larger than all of these environmental issues, finding faith in life and the source of life. It can be a bigger challenge than developing concern for and taking care of the environment, but I think it is a challenge worth putting time and attention and hard work into.

Find something bigger than all of the environmental challenges, and keep in mind what you yourself are actually responsible for.

Related Stories:
1) Care and the Environment: A Proposition for Further Personal Growth
2) Fear’s Role in Climate Change Issues
3) Environmentalism as a Step in Individual Evolution

Image Credit 1: *Zara via flickr under a CC license
Image Credit 2: davebluedevil via flickr under a CC license

also, it is easier to go to the site now! new address — lightngreen.com!

Originially posted on EcoWorldly on December 4, 2009.

Fear. It is a simple emotion. It is a feeling. But it can also create something complicated — in what it makes us think and do. Fear drives many decisions in the world, and may often cause us to make the wrong decision.

The important thing is realizing the difference between thoughtful awareness of negative ramifications and the actual feeling of fear.

On the following pages, I delve into the relationship between fear and the climate change decisions we are making everyday on individual and larger systematic levels. Additionally, I delve a little more into the issue of fear itself.

A close friend of mine who I hadn’t seen for a very long time said something to me last year which I think is very profound.

He said, “Never make a decision based on fear.”

I took that and made one of the biggest decisions of my life, one that I had been hesitating to make due to fear. The things I had been fearful of ended up dissolving within a few weeks of making the decision. The path cleared for me, but only after I cleared out fear from my decision-making.

This is an individual example, but it is something that has triggered more and more thought within me around this issue.

Recently (or within the past couple months), a few things have brought this issue (fear) into my mind yet again.

continued on page 2

Originally posted on EcoWorldly on December 6, 2009 (hence, the Copenhagen focus).

There is so much complexity in the politics of climate change right now, but as the Copenhagen climate negotiations heat up, I think there are a few simple childhood lessons to review or keep in mind.

Of course, action to stop climate change is not only about the politicians and international treaties. It is also largely about the individual actions, needs and demands of each person these politicians represent.

So, given that you are not likely to be directly involved in the discussions in Copenhagen, these are also for you on an individual level, in all of your individual decisions and purchases. Of course, you can send messages to your politicians asking them to stop climate change, too!

1) Share — we are taught as children that we need to share. As rich countries and poor countries sit together at the tables in Copenhagen, rich countries should keep this inherent life lesson in their minds and use it to make their decisions. If we are going to prevent global climate change, we need to share with poor countries in order for them to develop sustainably and use cutting edge technology. On an individual level, you can also consider donating $20 to a rainforest fund or other worthy cause rather than going to see a film in the theater or buying another shirt or pair of jeans once in awhile. Make the trade.

2) Don’t Be Greedy — again, we have to realize, at some level, that we have more than we need. We, people of the 21st century in developed countries, have FAR more than we need, yet we continue to assume that we need more. Politicians in Copenhagen, and you at home, may need to focus more on finding contentment with less, rather than assuming that individual countries can consume more resources than the world can create — no technology solution is going to solve the problems of greed.

3) Be Kind to Others — as a child, don’t hit, don’t bite, don’t call each other names. As politicians and adults, stop killing (livestock production may cause 51% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide), don’t fight over energy and fuel resources (i.e. develop energy independence rather than fighting wars in the Middle East), and don’t call each other names (this one stays the same). On the individual level, if you don’t use and demand animal products, livestock emissions WILL shrink (and not eating meat is good for you). If you put solar panels on your house, or bike or use transit instead of driving, you automatically help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions — no international treaty is needed for that.

4) Think About the Future — if a child does not want to go to school, it has to understand and a parent may have to explain to her or him that it is for their best interest in the long-run that they go to school. Politically, and individually, we have to realize now that we may have to make some “sacrifices” in the present in order to have a bright and healthy and safe life in the future. We need to do things we may not be inclined to do economically (although many of these things are actually good for the economy) — we need to cut the fossil fuels habit. We need to do things we might never have considered — we need to cut the meat habit. And we need to change our attitude as much as anything — we need to live more positive lives.

They may be simple childhood lessons, but they go a long way, and there is a reason parents around the world have to teach their children these things.

In a similar manner, around the world, we need to start living these teachings in our adult lives more in order to protect our world from climate change catastrophe.

Politicians need to remember these points at their discussions about climate change; we need to remind them about these lessons; and we need to incorporate them into our lives as well.

Related Stories on GO Media:
1) What is a Global Citizen? Are You One?
2) Five Indicators of Success at Copenhagen
3) 10 Sustainable Lifestyle Tips: #1-5
4) Green Economy = More Jobs
5) Personal Happiness and the Environment: A Sustainability Connection
6) Personal Happiness and Equity: A Sustainability Link

Image Credit 1: Kuzeytac via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: e³°°° via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: alicepopkorn via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Originally posted on EcoWorldly on December 9, 2009.

Topping yet another bicycle list, Amsterdam is #1 here because of the great bicycle photos to follow along with the fact that 40% of traffic is bicycle traffic in Amsterdam and the city is full of bicycle facilities, including a 10,000-bicycle parking garage at its train station.

Amsterdam may not have as high a percentage of bicycle commuters as its Dutch neighbor to the north, Groningen, or as much bike-crazy counter-culture as Portland (Oregon), or the largest bicycle sharing program in the world like in Paris, or naked bicycle rides like in Barcelona and Portland, but compared to these and other world cities I think it is pretty well established now that it and Copenhagen are in a tight competition for the top position. Amsterdam tops this list because of the great photos to follow.

The photos here show love and kisses on bikes, tons of bike parking, creative family bikes, flower bikes, and various cargo bikes, among other things.

Everyone rides a bike in the Netherlands, even Santa Clause (or Sinterklaas). Riding a bike doesn’t take away from women’s fashion at all either, but adds to it here. Biking is a part of normal life — perhaps that is why the Dutch are so calm.

As the capital and largest city in the Netherlands, a major global city, and a major transportation hub, Amsterdam is the most well-known bicycle city in the Netherlands. But it is really a representation of the country as a whole — the country is filled with wide, colored bike lanes (I think it is a requirement in every municipality and you even see them in the countryside), bike garages and bridges, bicycle short-cuts, and very high percentages of trips being made by bicycle in cities large and small. As the capital of the Netherlands, Amsterdam represents its country well.

“Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride.” ~John F. Kennedy

“Cycle tracks will abound in Utopia.” ~H.G. Wells

The pages to follow cover:

Page #2 Tons of Bike Parking in Amsterdam
Page #3 Bicycle? (known as a Penny-Farthing, High Wheeler or Ordinary Bicycle)
Page #4 Tons of Bike Minivans and Family Bikes
Page #5 Bikes, Rain, and Canals
Page #6 Bike Taxis
Page #7 Women’s Fashion and Bikes
Page #8 Creative Bikes and Flowers
Page #9 Interesting Cargo Bikes
Page #10 Love & Kisses & Bikes

The final top ten list of great bicycle city photo tours is:

#1 Amsterdam, (the Netherlands)
#2 Beijing (China)
#3 Portland, Oregon (USA)
#4 Copenhagen (Denmark)
#5 Paris (France)
#6 Groningen (the Netherlands)
#7 Berlin (Germany)
#8 Barcelona (Spain)
#9 Bogota (Columbia)
#10 Basel (Switzerland)

Full article continued on EcoWorldly (or click the links above).

Image Credit 1: Baptiste Pons via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 2: Baptiste Pons via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 3: * mario * via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 4: Vitorio Benedetti via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 5: PjotrP via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 6: aloxe via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 7: ansik via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 8: Zachary Shahan
Image Credit 9: Zachary Shahan
Image Credit 10: mandiberg via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 11: joto25 via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 12: dibaer via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 13: FaceMePLS via flickr under a Creative Commons license
Image Credit 14: joiseyshowaa via flickr under a Creative Commons license

Originally posted on EcoWorldly on December 29, 2009.

Ecovillages are great habitats and support systems for people who want to live environmentally friendlier, happier, healthier lives. One of the most famous modern ecovillages, Findhorn Ecovillage, starts this ecovillage spotlight series.

Ecovillages often combine ecological planning and design with innovative social, political and/or economic systems. Additionally, they often include certain cultural or spiritual goals.

The Global Ecovillage Network (GEN) states, “Ecovillages are urban or rural communities of people, who strive to integrate a supportive social environment with a low-impact way of life. To achieve this, they integrate various aspects of ecological design, permaculture, ecological building, green production, alternative energy, community building practices, and much more.”

Due to their great features but still rather obscure existence, I decided to do this “Ecovillage Spotlight” series to highlight some of the great ecovillages that exist around the world.

The ecovillages that follow show some of the great possibilities that are out there for ecologically friendly, community living.

GEN says that ecovillages are generally based on some combination of three dimensions — Social/Community, Ecological, Cultural/Spiritual.

Findhorn Ecovillage contains aspects of all three dimensions.

Findhorn Ecovillage (aka Findhorn Community) was started in 1962. It is situated in the Findhorn Bay of Moray in Scotland. Its ecological footprint is half the UK’s national average and a 2007 study found that it had the lowest recorded ecological footprint of any community in the industrialised world.

Findhorn includes 61 ecological buildings (including its unique whisky barrel houses — see the two pictures below), 4 wind turbines, a biological Living Machine ® sewage treatment system, the UK’s oldest and largest Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) system, its own bank and community currency, over 60 community businesses, and much more.

The community uses a democratic process of government and involves “diverse organisations and people associated with the community within a 50 mile radius” in its New Findhorn Association. The community has an elected voluntary Council, but, in the end, the community’s affairs really lie within the control of its 360 individual and 32 organisation members.

Findhorn also holds trainings for green buildings, ecovillage design and living, and other sustainability issues. It is used as an education center by universities, schools and professional organisations and hosts over 14,000 visitors a year from 50 different countries (picture of the Findhorn Foundation’s Cluny Hill College campus below).

Additionally, the ecovillage includes a spiritual component as it “grew out of the spiritual practice of the 3 founders, particularly the co-creation with nature work of Dorothy Maclean,” Carin Bolles of the Communications Department says. The inhabitants there often describe the community as a ’spiritual community’, ‘education centre’, or ecovillage. Carin and others also descirbe the community as an ‘experiential learning center’ because it not only hosts ecovillage trainings but also practical spirituality, dance, and many other types of trainings, workshops and programs.

The various workshops and events the community offers are decribed on its Essential Findhorn page and its very full workshops and events calendar.

A great model of ecological living, community governance and business, and social and environmental education, Findhorn is a world leading community or ecovillage.

For more information on the community, visit the Findhorn Foundation website or visit the community during Experience Week — “it’s seven days that can change your life and your world.”

All images via Findhorn Foundation (special thanks to Carin Bolles).

Originally posted on EcoWorldly on December 21, 2009.

If we could all just get along like these three unusual friends, we would live in a much different world.

In human society, people often do not like others simply because they are different. Humans kill over this matter. In more normal and everyday life, people may not kill each other but may not be as friendly or open to those from a different background, with a different color, with different views, or even with a different style.

In the animal kingdom, dangerous predators are not generally friends — they keep their distance. But in some cases (i.e. when being raised together), animals and humans alike can learn to be caring friends with those they might not have ever said hello to.

In the short story below, you can see how a lion, a tiger and a bear (Shere Khan, Baloo and Leo) became true friends, in the real world not a Disney story.

Eight years ago, a lion, a tiger and a bear were rescued during a police drug raid in Atlanta, Georgia (USA). The cubs, 2 months old at the time, were reportedly status symbols to their owners.

The young cubs were brought to the Noah’s Ark animal rescue center in Locust Grove, Georgia. They were kept together by the staff there. Diane Smith, assistant director of the Noah’s Ark zoo, said: “We could have separated them, but since they came as a kind of family, the zoo decided to keep them together.”

The three, named Shere Khan, Baloo and Leo, lived with the zookeepers at Noah’s Ark for 8 years, but have just been moved to a special facility just for them.

They are being kept together because now they would have great difficulty being separated and it is also such a touching example of what friendships can be formed if we look past our differences. In fact, part of the impetus for the move was to make them more accessible to the public, to show people what has been created among such unlikely candidates.

Diane says:

“[I]t is possible to see Baloo, who is a 1,000 pound bear, Shere Khan, a 350 pound tiger and Leo, who is also 350 pounds messing around like brothers.

“They are totally oblivious to the fact that in any other circumstance they would not be friends.

“Baloo and Shere Khan are very close.

“That is because they rise early, as Leo being a lion likes to spend most of the day sleeping.

“It is wonderful and magical to see a giant American Black Bear put his arm around a Bengal tiger and then to see the tiger nuzzle up to the bear like a domestic cat.

“When Leo wakes up the three of them mess around for most of the day before they settle down to some food.”

The animals do everything together, Jama Hedgecoth, founder of Noah’s Ark zoo, says:

“They eat, sleep and play together.

“As they treat each other as siblings they will lie on top of each other for heat and simply for affection.

“At the moment they are getting used to their new habitat.

“Shere Khan is being quite reticent about the move, but Baloo, the bear, is very good at leading him on and making him feel comfortable and safe.”

For Shere Khan, Leo and Baloo, the differences between them may not be so clear. However, isn’t that the point? In becoming more familiar with someone, we can see more of what we have in common than what is different between us.

Black or white, Indian or American, environmentalist or not, are we not all human? Tiger, lion, bear, or human, are we not all living animals?

As the old saying goes, “Why can’t we all just get along?” If we could all just get past our differences, and respect each other as a brother or sister on this planet, what a more harmonious world we could live in.

More commentary on the relationship between Shere Khan, Leo and Baloo and their new home (plus a video on the Today Show) available on the Noah’s Ark website itself, where you can also donate to help them!

via Telegraph

image credit 1: lemur baby via flickr
image credit 2: lemur baby via flickr
image credit 3: lemur baby via flickr

First part of a beautiful essay by Isha Judd on Care2.

“The idea that we need something that we don’t have right now is the root of discontent. We are never completely satisfied with this moment. Even when we get everything we thought we always wanted, it feels like there is something missing. Why? Because we have become so accustomed to waiting for something more, that nothing is ever enough. The habit of feeling dissatisfied has become commonplace in our lives. This is true for the rich and the poor, for the loners and the social butterflies among us.”

continued on Care…

image credit: ViaMoi via flickr under a Creative Commons license