sustainability – art, design and social practice

This semester I wanted to do something that I could see some results  from. I am really interested in our relationship with food: where it comes from, how it gets to us, how we eat it. So, I decided to try to have a little more of a closed circuit then the industural monoculture farm to supermarket to fridge to landfill model. I aimed to make a garden-dinner plate-garden version.

I built a compost bin first. It was relatively easy. All you need is a 55 gallon drum, a board about as big as the drum, a miter saw, drill, 4 non pivot wheels, four bricks, two hinges, two locks, and some bolts and screws. I got my barrel for free and the rest was about 30 bucks.

To assemble it, just cut a hole as big as you want in the barrel (has to be big enough to get the compost in and out). Attach it back with the hinges at the bottom and a lock on either side. Dill a few holes in bin so your compost can vent. Attach the wheels to the board evenly spaced, and make sure they run on the outside of where you made your door. The board gets set on the bricks to keep it elevated off the ground and the bin itself gets placed on the wheels.

Wallah! You have a compost bin. To make some compost you need green stuff: fruit and vegetable remains, grass clippings, fresh leaves, stuff like that and brown stuff: dead leaves, shredded paper (no magazines). Make sure you add equal amounts of green and brown stuff otherwise the green stuff will smell and attract bugs. All you have to do is roll the bin once a day if possible and you should have nutrient rich compost in a few months! Put in your garden.

I also built a raised bed to grow produce. For this you need 4 equal sized boards (mine are 6ft long by 12in wide) and four posts (2 foot sections of 2×4). I cut points into the posts and drove them into the ground with a hammer. I also made a little trench for the boards to sit in and hammered them in as well. Then just screw the pieces together. That’s it, fill it with a mixture of topsoil and compost and you are ready to start planting.

I also found this weird organization fridgewatcher.com while I was doing research. It is just a collection of peoples fridges from around the world. I am going to post a before and after of my parents fridge (its their land that the garden is built on) to see if it has any effect on what their diet looks like.

-Michelle

After indulging in a weeks worth of movie watching at Arundell Mill’s Movico 24 Egyptian theatre, I am now fairly confident to say that I feel aware of what a typical American person would choose to experience when they buy a ticket stub at the movies. Though my week of movie watching only portrays a glimpse of what other films the rest of the year has to offer, I still feel like I managed to become familiar with a cross section of what pop culture is playing a roll in today’s cinema. By viewing each movie I saw through a sensitive lens, I was able to understand what was present and what wasn’t present in each. Throughout the presentation of this limited, yet dynamic variety of movies, I was able to understand what each featured as a whole. This whole was ultimately lacking in the material I was looking for.

I was looking for an adequate representation of what it meant to “Think Green” in today’s cinematic realm, surrounded by a world constantly being infiltrated by a conscious effort to be more environmentally aware. In today’s world, everyone is ready to jump onto the “Green” bandwagon. Being “Green” is a marketable thing to many people, and now many individuals are responding to this new fad. Whether its conscious or unconscious, people are tending to respond to today’s major issue: the world’s ever heating climate and growing efforts to live more sustainable lives in order to combat this dire issue. It is true that companies and franchises are doing the best they can to market themselves after this model. With the help of a graphic designer or an advertiser, what wasn’t “Green” to begin with will magically become earth friendly because of a green type setting or an illustrated leaf. This is our trend in marketing and pop culture today. By attending screenings at Movico 24 I have been attempting to discover whether or not this same popular phenomenon has graced today’s movie screens as well.

After watching a total of ten movies in a week, I can safely say that I feel surprised by my findings. More movies than I anticipated featured a sort of “Green” mentality, though none of them conveyed a very dire need to make an effort to change the way we live and function as Americans. Through the means of popular American cinema messages and stories were told and plots unraveled, but I can’t say that much of an effort was made to explain today’s global warming battle, or what we have to do to stop it. The movies I saw either casually mentioned “Green” issues without providing an answer to their problems, or didn’t reference anything sustainable or “Green” at all. True today’s movie industry is tending to respond to what is marketable and trendy, but why not use the magic of a moving image in a movie to make a creative narrative as an attempt to use film to make a difference on a larger scale.

Efforts were made, but none were as successful as I would have hoped. At least four out of ten movies had a direct or indirect reference to something being “Green” within the context of the film. Frankly, I found that there was a higher count of movies referencing “Green” culture than what I was expecting to find, but none of the movies took it the step further to confront the viewer about what can be done in today’s world to stop wasting as much energy.

Even within the context of the movie theatre energy was wasted. To complete this project affordably, I often had to sneak into movies after I had purchased a ticket for the previous film. Many times I was the only person in the theatre and I hadn’t purchased a ticket. Even if no one was in the theatre, they would have wasted the energy to play each film regardless of whether or not each movie had an audience to view it at all. Avoiding screening each movie if there wasn’t an audience would be an obvious first step towards making the movie theatre itself more energy efficient. In terms of each movie’s content, it was obvious to see that many movies had jumped onto the “Green” bandwagon, some refrecinces being subtler than others.

The first movie I saw was Alien VS Monsters in 3D. I was given a pair of glasses when I purchased my ticket and then made my way into the theatre. I was the only person there, sitting in a huge stadium seated theatre. Before the movie began and after the previews I was pleasantly reminded to “Please Think Green” and recycle my glasses after I wore them when I exited the theater so that they could be reused. This was a refreshing change from being reminded to turn off my cell phone. This was a great beginning to my project, but as I continued to watch the movie I found that for the most part there wasn’t anything else sustainable featured in this digitally animated children’s movie. There was one surprise in the movie though. In one scene a character resembling a fish-like lock ness monster finally puts his feet on ground for the first time in decades after having been locked up in a monster prison. His first comment after walking on the pavement is, “ Is it true that the earth is getting warmer? That would be a very convenient truth.” An attempt was made to be “Green” by referencing the 2006 documentary An Inconvenient Truth, a documentary on Al Gore’s campaign to make the issue of global warming a recognized problem worldwide. This reference probably wasn’t understood by children watching the movie and probably only some parents picked up on the nod to Al Gore, so even thought this was a “Green” reference, it wasn’t successful in teaching children or parents alike to be more conscious of the way we live to combat the crisis of today’s global warming.

The next movie I saw was called 17 Again, which starred today’s most popular preteen hunk Zac Affron. The movie began on the court of a high school basket ball game in 1984. The main character stops playing ball because he realizes that his girlfriend is pregnant. This speeds up to the future and shows himself working a hard job with a wife and two kids in the middle of a divorce. He wants nothing more than to retrace his steps and keep playing basketball. Eventually Zac Affron’s character is then again transformed to what he looked like when he was in high school because the school’s janitor granted his wish. This movie had nothing sustainable or green minded featured in the movie whatsoever. There was a mild example of a need to grow and plant in the earth because the mother in the movie was striving to become a landscape designer. Throughout the movie she was shown planting a showroom in her backyard complete with a new fishpond and new gazebo. There wasn’t a vegetable garden in her suburban back yard, only flowering shrubs colored lights.

The movie State of Play was about a reporter for the Washington Post, played by Russell Crow, trying to find the answer to a mystery. After researching some deaths, he finds himself involved in a larger story. He is a true to life reporter, totally obsessed with finding the truth. He lives alone and doesn’t seem to care about material objects. He only has a 15-year-old computer and drives an old beaten up car. He lives for the story and doesn’t have a family to call his own. His friend in the film, played by Matt Damon, is a political man is attempting to make corruption less challenging, but at the same time is connected to the outcome of the killings at the beginning of the movie. This movie is a tangle of events all driving off of a single plot story of a conspiracy theory about the American Defense system and Homeland Security. This movie had absolutely nothing to do with sustainable issues.

Obsessed, Haunting in Connecticut and Observe and Report also had nothing to do with climate change or sustainability. These were the two movies furthest away from being even vaguely related to being “Green”. Obsessed was about a deceiving temp hired to serve as a man’s secretary. She becomes fanatically obsessed with the man she works for and does everything in her power to make her boss love her. She is unsuccessful with her efforts and by the end of the movie she has to deal with her boss’s wife, who is played by Beyonce. There is only one mild example of “Green” culture in this movie. When Beyonce’s husband eats lunch at work he takes a boxed salad and Whole Foods Brand soda out of the refrigerator.

Haunting in Connecticut was a typical horror movie about a family that moved into a haunted house, which previously served as a funeral home. The house’s curse puts the family’s lives in danger and nearly kills a boy with cancer living in the house. Eventually throughout the movie the boy with cancer finds a way to free the spirits living in the house and without surprise, all ends well.

Observe and Report was a dark comedy directed by Rud Apatow. This was critique about how many people live and work in America today, ultimately unhappy and conflicted by the need for material culture. This followed the trials and tribulations in the troubled life of a mall security guard, trying to find some sort of meaning in his life. After a streaker is caught tormenting the ladies of the mall, he believes that his ultimate calling is to find and hunt down this individual and stop him from exposing himself. In the mean time he drives a two-seater security car and when he’s not working he drives a motorcycle. This was a bad movie and it had no examples of anything “Green” except for the way he used transportation.

The next movie I saw was I Love You Man. This movie was the best example of a group of people who would probably like to have done something better to fight the efforts of climate change but who are forced to live within the confines of traditional Los Angeles ways of life. This movie was infiltrated by today’s vague notion of what it means to be a person attempting to be better for the earth. This movie documented today’s convoluted notion of what it means to be a good person using less energy while still living a normal life. The movie starred a couple of typical 28-36 year olds, and though the movie wasn’t actually trying to focus on portraing semi-environmentally conscious people, in my mind it successfully did so.

This was also another Rud Apatow movie primarily about a man who didn’t have a best man to be at his wedding. He didn’t have a friend to call his own besides his wife to be. In order to find the perfect “man friend,” his family hooks him up on dates attempting to find him a guy for him to be buddies with. His brother makes him try hanging out with a weird man from his gym, and his mom makes him have dinner with a family friend’s son, who ends up being gay and awkwardly kisses him passionately after they eat a casual dinner. When he returns home he explains the situation to his fiancée and she politely suggests that he use some “TOMS” in the medicine cabinet. He responds saying that he feels like he has to use chemicals this time, and then proceeds to brush his teeth to get rid of the taste of the man’s kiss. Not often in a mainstream movie to you have reference to the use of naturally made toothpaste. Paul Rudd’s character even takes a thermos to his office to drink coffee out of. Though the movie doesn’t actually state these things for a fact, these are small examples of conscious efforts to live a better way of life, by effectively attempting to help the earth little by little. These are the efforts made by a normal person like myself.

When he finally meets the man of his dreams he finds a person who is even more earth conscious than himself. His new friend drives a Vespa and lives in a house that appears as though it wouldn’t actually use much energy. In casual conversation when they are getting to know each other they quickly mention the idea of hybrid cars and say how great they are. Later on he also claims that his dog’s poop is good for the earth, so he never picks it up. This causes comedic relief throughout the movie because people often step in his dog’s poop when they walk by it. Later, once they have become better friends, they go on a long day hike in woods in the county on Los Angeles. These are the kinds things that people do who want to do more things “Green” but don’t have the ability or means to do so. Though they didn’t vocalize this need to be green in the movie, it was obvious that if their characters carried on in real life without being on film, they would have shown more examples of them vaguely following this issue. These characters reminded me of my friends and my own attempts at “being green.” Depending on our situations, there are only certain things that people can do to change our lives into sustainable ones, while living the lives that we all live now. For Jason Segal and Paul Rudd’s characters, they had to live in Los Angeles, the driving capitol of America. Jason Segal’s character combated this by driving a Vespa, but like any other typical young 30 year old, Raul Rudd’s character drove a Volkswagen station wagon. There is only so much a person can do, especially living in Los Angeles in today’s vaguely “Green” conscious world.

Fast and Furious is about exotic cars racing across Los Angeles and through the Mexican desert. Staring Vin Diesel and Paul Walker, this movie is about avenging a notorious drug lord ruling a heroin trade in Los Angeles and Mexico. With the use of tricked out high speed cars, it is their job to out drive the traffickers and beat them at their own game. The beginning of the movie features a successful run at hijacking three full fuel tanks on the highways of the Dominican Republic. Dominic Toretto Vin, Diesel’s character, who was also considered to be an international criminal, refers to the fuel they stole as “liquid gold” in the film. This is the only consideration the movie has to the way that it supplies it’s cars with such expendable amounts of energy. It was the most extravagant movie I saw in terms of the energy waste depicted in the film. The cars featured were some of the most indulgent cars I’ve seen in real life, but also in film. Obviously it wasn’t the movies aim to promote the use of hybrid vehicles, it was promoting gas guzzling high speed machines, the complete opposite of an eco-friendly engine that turns off when it stops. This movie was complete with explosions, guns, chase scenes and tricked out machines bulging out from under the hoods of pimped out cars. Fast and Furious predictably was a car man’s racing dream and nothing else.

Knowing is a movie based around conspiracy theory of a page of supposed random numbers written by a seemingly mental disorder/mentally disturbed girl from 1959 who could predict all of the national disasters of the future. After her page of numbers is recovered from a time capsule, the little girl’s curse is given to another little boy who’s father is a professor at MIT, a man played by Nicolas Cage. Nicolas Cage’s character is able to decode the page of numbers and is then able to realize that the numbers are a list containing the dates and death tolls of every major disaster, natural and man made, that has happened over the past 50 years, with three that have not yet occurred.

Eventually he realizes that the third and final sequence of numbers is an attempt to give a warning of the end of the world. He realizes that a large solar flare from the sun is going to sweep up and incinerate all of the planet, piercing the ozone layer by the over productivity of the sun’s violent damaging heat rays. This fact is eventually spread across the world and in a scene depicting a news flash broadcasting the Nation’s president, he explains in a live video feed that, “The heat that we are experiencing is getting worse and solar damage has become more of an issue than the world had realized.” He advises everyone to be with his or her families and remain underground, capturing on the way people react to today’s very vauge interest in the sun’s damaging capabilities. In the mean time, following the movies Sci-Fi routs, a group referred to as the whisper people has chosen Nicolas Cage’s son. They ask him leave Earth on their ship in order to start a new world. Eventually his son boards a ship, which departs from Earth. As anarchy reigns in New York City and Boston, Nicolas Cage’s character arrives to be with his parents and sister just as the solar flare strikes Earth and incinerates all life on the planet leaving it a fiery star. Though it was fanaticized, this allowed the audience to believe for a minute that maybe people do need to tend to the earth more considerately; otherwise the sun’s powerful beams could actually destroy life on earth forever.

What I thought was going to be a horror mystery about numbers, actually became a dramatic suspense filled movie about the power controlled by rays of the sun. This fanaticized narrative made a real life reference to the sun’s inevitable desecrating power and turned the movie into something more realistic than a typical Sci-Fi mystery drama.

The final movie I will talk about also made many references to the power that the sun possesses and was obviously the most “Green.” This movie was called Earth. Earth is a feature-length version of the documentary award-winning BBC series Planet Earth, following the migration paths of four animal families across the world. The first U.S. release from Disney was Earth, which debuted on April 22, 2009 – Earth Day. The Walt Disney Co. made the movie after launching a new film production unit called Disneynature, the latest entertainment company to hop on corporate America’s green bandwagon. From 1948 through 1960, the Disney studio produced a 13-film series “True-Life Adventures,” eight of which won Academy Awards, which displayed the active lives of animals around the world. Disneynature is now a striving to attempt to market a way to connect its self to its “Green” routs, which Walt Disney began at the company’s foundation.

The American version of this movie is narrated by James Earl Jones, who gracefully adapts his voice to explain the lives and tribulations of animals and their families living on our planet; the opening quote of the movie being, ”There is no better time than now to show animals trials on the big screen.” “In a world that is ever changing, we follow animals and it’s young.” The film opens with a story about a family of polar bears. Right off the bat the movie explains the danger of the sun’s growing power and how it threatens the lives of the polar bears and cubs it’s documenting. The movie explains that the sea ice is the only place where the bears can find food and if the ice melts prematurely, then the family of bears could starve and die. The movie even goes into detail describing how glacial run off mixing with salt water speeds up the melting process. Throughout the whole film the lives of the bears are sensitively documented, but specifically of the father polar bear whose job it was to retrieve food for his wife and cubs. This polar bear fails his attempt and doesn’t make it back home to his family. He starves due to a lack of food and becomes physically exhausted because the ice floor melts underneath him melted while he tried to gather food, forcing him to be lost at sea. He is forced to swim to a new part of land and when he does finally find potential prey he is too physically strained and much to exhausted to kill anything. During this moment it is stated, “Our planet is warming and is becoming an increasingly dangerous new world. With each year as our planet grows warmer, this becomes more and more of a disaster for polar bears. It will be a surprise if he survives.” The polar bear falls to the ground and is shown dying next to a flock of sea lions. This tender moment sheds light onto our current state of being on this earth. At the end of the movie a very real and true fact is stated, “This is the circle of life that most of us in our urban lives have lost touch with.”

According to the Disneynature website, the effort made to feature a more real world film is an issue in tune with our time today, “Stories that are more than stories. There was a time when most people viewed nature as something apart from themselves. In the 21^st century, there is an increasing awareness that we are all a part of nature…a fact we ignore at our peril. DISNEYNATURE will reinforce an understanding of the interrelatedness of all life on earth. Working closely with conservation organizations on each film, Disneynature will not only tell the stories of nature but will let people know how, through their actions, they can affect the story’s ending.”

True this movie was an obvious attempt to get people and young children more aware of today’s dire need to focus on the issues of climate change, however the film failed to show how a person could potentially help to change the way we live in order to use less energy, effectively or indirectly, helping the conditions in which polar bears and other animals a like live on this earth. It didn’t straight up mention that something needed to be done on a personal human basis. The movie only talked about the sun’s heat as if it was only something that happened regardless of our actions as human beings. Though this movie was the most commercially “Green,” it did just as much as the others did in terms of educating the public about sustainable issues. True the other movies didn’t actually have a means to talk about the issue within the context of their plot, but Earth was directly related to the issue and failed to mention that there are ways that people can try to help the dangerous impact the sun has on our existence and the world, animals and humans included. An amazing three out of ten movies made references to the growing heat of the sun, but none of them attempted to address how to change this fact.

Like I Love You Man, Earth casually addressed today’s “Green” mentality without actually supplying an answer. Though it is a hard answer to achieve, people’s knowledge of the issue is still perpetually vague. I was amazed to see that so many moves incorporated “Green” issues into their films, but I was sadly reminded that in today’s culture typically it is only a topic of discussion and not one of action or responsibility. I am looking forward to a day when the needs and wants of the earth are appropriately voiced to the public in a straight forward, yet casual way as it could effectively do so in the setting of the silver screen.

For my final project, my goal was to work with kids and teach them some of what I have learned this semester about our environmental crisis. My second goal was to observe which parts of my interaction with them get them excited and forced them to be most engaged. I visited my sister’s third grade class last week, and this was my experience….

After we talked together about the dangers of wasting energy and emitting carbon into our atmosphere, we made a list of ways that they are already working to lower their carbon footprint and what they might do in the future.

Next we completed an art activity together. Each student was given his or her own paper light switch cover with the message “Save our planet” and “Please turn me off!” As a class, we discussed what we might draw on our light switches. Most of the kids decided to portray parts of the environment we don’t want to hurt such as trees. Others chose convey pollution and ways that wasting energy is bad. Here are some of their final results:

I have done a great deal of reflecting since my classroom visit, and my sister and I came up with a number of ways the students can lower their classroom energy waste.

1) List of Internet resources for teachers (my sister will share the list with her colleagues)

Teacher Internet Resources:
• Glacier -Information on ice, Antarctica and the Arctic.

• The Everglades -Grades 4-8 – This site from the Discovery Channel presents a highly visual treatment of the Everglades ecosystem, why it is important, and how it is deteriorating.

• Friends of the Earth -Learn what you can do to be a better citizen of our earth

• Global Response -an education and activist oriented non-profit organization dedicated to disseminating detailed case information to students, teachers, and Eco-clubs about the most impending environmental crises. Also organizes international student letter-writing campaigns in response to these environmental emergencies. Classroom packets are available for teachers

• Green -Global Rivers Environmental Education Network

• Water Science for Kids -Everything you need to know about water. Activity Center, Glossary of Terms, Earth’s Water, Water Use Information, Picture Gallery, etc. Brought to you by the US Geological Survey

2) Kid-oriented environmental website list posted next to the classroom computer. When student behave well, they can earn computer time. This now makes caring up about the environment associated with positivity and reward.

Kid Websites
• EekoWorld -PBS website where kids can create their own “EekoCreature” and help overcome environmental problems (age 6-9)

• Nature Challenge for Kids -David Suzuki Foundation offers simples ways kids can protect nature and provides links to other kids websites

• Kids Planet -Species fact sheet, web of life chart, wildlife adoption center

• Eco-Kids -Earth Day Canada’s environmental education program. Helps kids understand the impact of their actions and encourages kids to make decisions and form their own opinions

• The Green Squad -NRDC website. Focuses on how to save energy in the classroom

• The Big Blue Bus -A place kids can learn about the world’s water sources. Kids age 7-16 can sign up to be “water wizards”

• Global Warming Kids Site -EPA site explains global warming and its causes on a kid friendly level

• I buy different -Teaches kids about how the things they buy (or their parents buy them) impact the environment

3) Tracking the energy waste of the fluorescent lighting in the classroom: Next to the light switch at the front of the classroom, there will be a chart where the class will keep track of the amount of time they keep the light on and turn them off. The goal is for the students to decrease the amount they leave the lights on as time progresses. The weekly totals will be graphed, and the goal for the class is to watch that line go down over the last six weeks of school. This ties into the students’ math unit this year because they have learned about simple graphs.

4) Scrap Paper Bin: The students will keep a bin in the classroom where they will keep any old hand outs of written on paper that has one clean side. This is one step better than recycling!

5) Environmental Awareness Section in Reading Corner: My sister keeps her books organized into sections such as “science books” and “history books.” She is starting to collect books for a “Green” section.

6) Wasted Styrofoam trays: My calculations show that my sisters class of 20 students use about 6,660 lunch trays in just one school year. To me, this number is frightening. Although it would be ideal of the trays to be plastic and reusable, that is a longer term goal. In the mean time, my sister’s class will attempt to reuse the Styrofoam trays for as many different meals and days as they can. After each meal, it will be a student’s job to collect the trays from his or her classmates and the stack will be kept in the classroom ready for the next meal. At minimum, the number of trays used yearly could be cut in half.

Those are just a few of the solutions I came up with for my sister to implement in her classroom. I plan to visit her students again later in the year and take our energy discussion a step further, and see what progress they have made as a class to lower their carbon emissions. I had an incredibly fun time working on this project and I learned a lot in the process.

Carbon Footprint Calculations

My carbon footprint numbers ranged from 16 to 24. The amount of energy I use in heating and cooling was drastically higher in comparison to the use of my truck, lights and household/studio appliances. I believe that this is due to my living in a warehouse with 4 to 5 other folks who all use space heaters despite our gas fueled heating system. The warehouse is a wide-open space with many big windows and brick walls. The vents are all at the top of the very high ceilings, preventing us from even feeling the heat, for it rises up to the loft space above. We all pay about $200 to BGE during the winter months due to the extra use of space heaters and the constant blasting of the 70 degree wasted heat. During the summer we each pay about $30 to $40.

We are all very good about recycling and not making many purchases of plastics and packaged foods/goods. My roommates and I are all vegan/vegetarian. Some of us go to the farmer’s market or to Whole Foods to buy groceries. I personally, buy vegetables and fruits locally and buy packaged goods and snacks at Ok Natural or Whole Foods.

Only one of my roommates and I drive vehicles, but I am the one who drives my truck the most. Everyone else walks or rides the bus or their bikes based upon the weather. I depend upon my truck more during the winter and while in school, due to my always having to bring a great deal of materials to class. During the spring/summer I drive less and ride my bike more.

My Approach to Reducing my co2 Output

I insulated the windows with plastic and begged everyone to either turn off their space heaters or turn the heat off, proposing that we instead layer up with more clothing. We decided to layer up more, refrain from using our space heaters and to only turn the heat on at night. I also asked everyone to unplug every appliance while not in use or to invest in power strips, keeping them turned off when not needed. We all agreed and also became more aware in our turning off lights when leaving our rooms. Our individual BGE bills dropped to $124 this month. It’s a start, but I feel that it could be lower.

I would like to start growing my own food and composting. It bothers me that we all throw away so much scrap foods and when we juice, all of the meat and flesh of our fruits and vegetables gets thrown out. I am beginning to do research on composting and my roommates and I are interested in planting a garden on the roof this summer.

I am apart of a creative alliance group and I approached them with ideas of lowering our Carbon Dioxide output individually and collectively. We are making plans to start a vegetable garden this summer. We are going to give the food away to people in our neighborhoods and reach out to kids and encourage them to come and learn how to maintain a garden and the importance of developing a relationship with nature. We have been brainstorming ways to approach folks in our communities to become more health conscious and aware of ways that they can be eco-friendly in their consummation of household appliances and trash output.

Some of the ideas we came up with so far:

-Offering free workshops where folks can come and learn about the importance
of buying foods locally and recycling, how to start and maintain community
gardens and teaching ways of living more energy and cost efficient.

-Development of community sidewalk free stores, establishing bartering/trade
systems of skill/service and clothing and old appliance exchange amongst one
another within their communities and neighborhoods.

-Coming up with creative projects to do with kids, using recycled plastics and
other materials. Teaching them different ways of approaching art and at the
same time teaching them about how they can take part in preserving the planet.

As an artist, I have been thinking of ways to express my concerns with the state of our planet and the direction we are headed towards due to the way we live. I desire to visually send out messages that encourage folks to become more aware and responsible in their preservation of the earth. I feel that is important to start with learning about the materials I use: wood, paper and glue. I have decided to stop buying wood panels from Home Depot and rely solely on working on/with found wood/objects. I am now searching on Craigslist for materials to use in my art. I would also like to figure out how I can create my own archival glue and learn how to make papers. I am now consciously going to the wood shops and fiber classrooms to collect scrap materials.

I personally believe that there is a spiritual approach that can be taken in the healing of our earth. By consciously sending out love, thanks and praises to the earth for all of its beauty and natural resources, we can heal the earth. When we begin to apply creative visualizations of a healthy and abundant earth we can collectively and energetically bring forth healing. There are earth mantras and chants that I listen to and eternalize during my meditations that have been very helpful in my maintaining a positive outlook on the shifts that are taking place on earth. I have been listening to artist and healer, Jennifer Berezan, a great deal. Her album, Praises For The World, is a collaborative project produced with the intention of sending out love and healing energy to the earth. While listening, I think about how the earth functions naturally, sending thanks to the earth. I also visualize some of the many powerful and resourceful elements, thinking of how important they are and as a collective people using them properly and respectfully. I find it very inspirational, for it helps me maintain a healthy relationship with the earth spiritually. I have made copies for my friends, encouraging them to share it with others along with the knowledge of living in accordance with the earth and its needs, of which we are all continuously acquiring and applying daily.
Each one teach one…

02-praises-for-the-world-chant2

Lorna Williams

My approach to healing the Earth:

The nature of healing is rooted in our relationship with all of life. When we wake up to our authentic selves, our thoughts, actions and life reflect the innate compassion and creative change of the natural world. To be healthy, we need to be ‘in tune’ with the natural frequency of the planet, in tune with Nature. Today’s hectic lifestyle has robbed us of this healing connection. The effect of this “anchoring” ourselves in this natural frequency is, apart from improved immune function, a feeling of inner calm and a deep spiritual sense of oneness.

This Oneness with everything around us, which so often has been described in ancient teachings, the peak experience most of us are striving for, is quite simply “Harmonic Resonance” with the frequency of our planet, which has also been shown to be the frequency of our heart and brainwave rhythms when we experience “unconditional Love”.

Love is a Frequency – Love is the Healer.

It is we, the humanity of this world, that make our planet what it is. Without humanity the planet would be missing so much of its character, life and vitality. When we have learned to share, to integrate our lives with what nature has given us on the planet, then we will know that the time of awakening is here. Unless we raise our vibrations through forgiveness, tolerance and understanding, and bring union to all life, we will not be compatible with the changing planet as it rises to a higher vibration.

The circle is considered to be a sacred symbol representing unity, power, global oneness, harmony, balance, protection, healing and is also the symbol for eternity (with no beginning and no end).

Anyone who lives a life from the heart and in love is a light worker who helps to spread light here on earth. Co-operation in groups has a greater effect, for the effect is the square rather than the sum of the number of participants. The combined energy field allows higher and stronger energies and inspiration to be given. As the dynamic of group co-operation is released, the people who meet strengthen and inspire each other, striking the key note of group work. This allows powerful new energies to flow in and prepare the new civilization.

By joining together in groups and forming a group, we participate in the growing network within humanity which will merge with the positive light forces that help us from the inner planes. Our hearts and inner bodies will then be transformed into living cells within the consciousness of humanity which help to heal, illuminate and sanctify humanity from within.
Humanity’s function on the planet is to respond to the higher creative and cosmic impulses which are sent to us through inspiration, and to transform them into action on the a physical level.

The magnificent work of great artists, musicians, architects, engineers etc. amongst humanity clearly shows this potential within humanity, but the New Age, and ages to come, will show more fully humanity’s divine potential, for as we know, we more from lesser to higher degrees of perfection, year by year, incarnation by incarnation and cycle by cycle, driven by the cosmic forces of evolution.

The news we are being bombarded with of disasters and wars need not be real for us in our individual consciousness if we do not allow it to affect us. If our focus is on love and compassion we can stay centered in these times. Love is the ultimate tool for changing the world, and love can bring miracles of a kind that has never been seen upon this planet for millions of years. This is humanity’s choice. We can choose which reality we want to live in.

There is a great transformation that is happening in the earth plane. Awareness is not belief. Awareness is the experience embodied. Awareness is what belongs to you. It is not belief only that you have read or learned from another, it is your experience. That you can share directly with any soul at any time.

Allow the out-flowing of your light. Most people are truly happy to realize that they have what they need within them, that it is essentially boundless, and that they derive satisfaction from sharing it. Mediation allows for focusing on what is within.

Meditation is a direct link to your inner self. Affirmations of wellness during meditation are effective mind control and body control tools for health. Meditation will alter your mind state. This is a physical fact. You can actually slow down your brain wave pattern and move from the active beta state to the alpha state. This will relax both your body and your mind.

For creative visualization. you can talk with yourself and creatively visualize something you seek. It could be a new relationship, a happier state of mind, improved health, or whatever you desire. You can then see yourself accomplishing your goal. Such affirmations are powerful programmers of the human mind.

To add depth to your meditation and healing practices, visualize yourself connected to a field of love and light within, above and about our earth.

The solution to world problems lies directly inside of us. Just by simply BEING (rather than DOING) we can connect with the infinite universe inside of us and help to heal not just ourselves but the whole planet. This knowledge comes from an ancient tradition that is thousands of years old.

Scientific studies have revealed that when only one percent of the population meditates, this is enough to eliminate stress in the surrounding community and to improve the quality of life for all. By raising world consciousness, we bring about world peace.

At some point you will do outer work as well, because the inner cannot remain inner without becoming outer. As within, so without. You have been learning to take things into yourself in order to learn from them. At some point you have wisdom and it must come out of you as well. Then you will find yourself acting with wisdom, speaking with integrity, standing with great strength and foundation in awareness, and being a force to be reckoned with.

The Law of Attraction states that your thoughts together with your feelings and belief systems act like a powerful magnet towards creating your reality. This is not always obvious because it takes a while for thoughts to manifest in the physical realm.

There is a buffer of time. So if whatever your are thinking or doing is causing you to feel bad, it is essential that you change your thoughts to something more pleasant. Gratitude for what you already have will help to attract more of what you want.

The same is true with regard to healing Planet Earth. We must focus on what we want and not what we do not want. For example, instead of dwelling on negative news such as war
and planetary destruction, we should instead use visualization techniques such as the ones given and focus our attention on imagining that our earth is a peaceful place to live, cleansed and healed, or whateverit is that we wish to create.

Another useful tool for self and earth healing is Reiki.

Reiki is “universal” energy. Therefore, it is safely used at any time – any place. It expresses the quality of “unconditional” rather than “conditional.”

Rei means “universal” and refers to the spiritual dimension and the soul. Ki means the “the vital life force energy” which flows through all that is alive. When these Japanese characters are combined they present the concept of “universal life-force energy.”

Reiki practitioners channel energy in a particular pattern to heal and harmonize. Unlike other healing therapies based on the premise of a human energy field, reiki seeks to restore order to the body whose vital energy has become unbalanced. Reiki energy has several basic effects: it brings about deep relaxation, destroys energy blockages, detoxifies the system, provides new vitality in the form of healing universal life energy, and increases the vibrational frequency of the body.

Reiki is not a religion. It beholds no doctrines, creeds or contraindications to the Universal Laws of Consciousness and Love. No matter where the person may be at a certain point in their life, Reiki will harmonize and embrace their philosophical center point, adding to it the Divine Presence.

The Reiki Master (or practitioner) simply places her hands on the client and allows the energy to flow through the individual. It fills the practitioner’s body first and then flows out the heart through the practitioner’s hands into the client.

It is an extremely powerful healing energy and is one of the few forms of healing that can be used to heal oneself.Reiki will either give to, or take away, the proper amount of energy to balance the Mind, Body, and Spirit. It has been known to affect the chemical structure of the body, helping to rebuild muscles, nerves, bone structure, and regenerating organs. It has also provided energy to balance and strengthen the spine. In fact, it is believed that it can change anything that needs to be changed within the physical and etheric organism, as long as it is for the Highest Good of the individual.

Crystals used during Reiki Healing will help the healing and energy balancing. They will speed up the healing process.

LAYING ON OF STONES

The purpose of a laying on of stones is to release emotional, mental or spiritual blocks to well-being. The healer’s role is to be comforting, supportive and non-judgmental, giving the client safety to release these emotions and talk. This is part of the healing process.
If the stone does not feel uncomfortable during the Reiki healing with crystals it should be moved or removed. A stone that feels good when first placed on the body can change when its energy has been absorbed. The practitioner and the client work together closely in this manner.

MEDITATION WITH CRYSTALS

Meditation with crystals is a two-step process. First you must find the crystal that has the Universal Life Force energy that is appropriate to your intentions. Then you must either hold the crystal or place it in front of you where you can focus on it during your meditation.

Selecting the right crystal takes a bit of work. Each crystal has a crystal energy lattice, a color ray of influence, and an earth power derived from its chemical makeup. Choose one that has the appropriate energy for your need.

Once you have the crystal with the right energy to facilitate your meditation, either place it in front of you or hold it in your hand. You don’t have to sit in the lotus position to meditate. Rather sit comfortably.

Recommended Meditations:

Relax. Take a few deep breaths. Now starting with your toes, focus on each part of your body in turn willing it to completely relax. Take your time. Do just this. Focus on each part until you get to your mind. Then very slowly count from ten to one. Now see a cord tied to the center of the earth extending all the way through the earth to your backbone, up your backbone and connected to your mind. Think about getting up. You should not be able to. You are now grounded and in a meditative state. You are ready to begin. If you are trying to simply relax, see the energy start to engulf you in a protective cocoon. If you are seeking understanding, see the energy flow into the deep recesses of your mind. You are connected to yourself, and the energy of the Universal Life Force, through your crystal and your mental state.

Meditate on the state of our Earth. See not only the beautiful places, but also the pollution, bad vibes constantly attacking her, and desecration of her sacred forests, mountains and streams. See the big and the small. The fine and the ugly, for it all makes up our picture of the Earth as a whole. Next, see the Earth floating silent, in space. Wonder at how so much can be on Earth, and so little is seen from space. See the aura (if you can) from space. Use your intuition here (sometimes when you are using your sixth sense, your 3rd eye — the spot between your eyebrows and up a bit — will throb, like a light has been lit there. A good trick to do is –keeping your eyes closed- focus on this point by ‘looking’ at it, physically moving your eyes to concentrate on it. This is hard to keep up, though.) Odds are, there won’t be a central colour. Your goal here is to heal either a part of the Earth, or the whole thing. You need to collect your energy somewhere — once again in your cupped hands, or directly at your third eye, glowing outside, fuelled from within. You need to be calm, breathe in and out slowly, and just relax. Slowly collect this good energy. Think about how you want to heal the Earth as a whole, or just a certain portion. You want to neutralize the acts of hurt, and then push the scales towards love, harmony and peace. There may be others. Just breathe, and keep running these things through your mind, through symbolism. If your focus drifts, just imagine those things detaching from your ball of light and floating up and away, turning white as they go. Then when you have amassed enough energy, tilt your head upwards and feel the energy disengage from your third eye, or offer your cupped hands to the Goddess and God, visualizing the energy shooting up and over the earth’s surface, to cover it or focus on the particular section you were aiming for. Sometimes you may not feel like going this route. This is fine — you may wish to dance, and when you stop feel the energy of dancing (in the room and in yourself) flow into the earth. You may feel it come on spontaneously, and shiver — the energy going down into the Earth/Sea/Up into the air this happens to me a lot — sometimes my 3rd eye has a buzzing feeling and gives off energy that I send into the Earth unconsciously). Or maybe you are in a tree and use that closeness to send off some healing magick (weather you realize it or not. A beautiful scenery such as a sunset or sunrise, a view from a mountain top, or the majesty of an underground cave will set this off). The possibilities are endless.

When it is Time to Return

Slow down the energy flow. See the crystal dim. Set it down. Now start from the top of your head and mentally shake each part of your body. When you get to your toes, wiggle them and then imagine the rope connecting you to the center of the earth has disappeared. Now get up. Put your hands up over your head as high as you can, stand on tiptoes if you can and stretch your body. Put the crystal away.

Quartz Crystals
There is no question that quartz crystals are very special. They have been revered throughout the ages as symbols of beauty, health and often power . . . More recently quartz crystals have been associated within New Age circles and applications to holistic health, meditation and personal growth.

There are many types of natural quartz crystals. The most common ones are amethyst, citrine, rose, smoky and clear.

Amethyst Quartz Citrine Quartz Clear Quartz Rose Quartz Smokey Quartz

Quartz is an excellent receptor and emitter of electromagnetic waves. This is why quartz is commonly used in radios, watches, and numerous electronic technologies. One interesting characteristic of quartz crystal can be observed when electricity is applied to it. The quartz will begin to vibrate which in turn causes the quartz to produce its own weak electric current. This is taken advantage of in the workings of a typical quartz watch.

Quartz crystals are not just found in alternative bookstores and new age circles. In truth, the humble quartz crystal is a major element in today’s technological revolution. The conversion of quartz crystals into silicon chips has transformed the world. Quartz has made the digital age possible. It has given us computers, mobile phones and communication breakthroughs. Vast pieces of information can be brought together in a precisely organized way with the silicon chips of a computer.

Throughout the ages, the healing properties of gemstones, their beauty, and magic have been recognized and harnessed. As far back as the Stone Age, men and women wore crystal jewelry. They had a protective, as well as a decorative function, guarding their wearer against harm. The ancients employed gemstones for protection, adornment, healing and for seeing into the future. Gemstones were frequently worn and carried by ancient Egyptians as amulets and charms. Greek mythology frequently refers to gemstones, and many have been discovered in the tombs of Chinese rulers. Gemstones were used extensively in ceremonies and initiations by the Native Americans, the Mayans and Aztecs. The breastplate of the Jewish High Priest was set with precious stones; it conveyed power to the wearer.

Gemstones today carry the same power and jewelry can be selected, not just on the basis of its beauty. wearing gemstones is a highly effective way to promote health and healing. They can boost your energy; clean your space; attract wealth; enhance your intuition; increase mental abilities; boost your confidence; bring abundance; or even attract love.

Crystals for Balance and Harmony

Gemstones and crystals have traditionally been used in a variety of ways to restore balance and harmony to both the physical and spiritual elements of our lives. The practices of meditation and crystal healing all seek to correct imbalances and restore natural harmony. Understanding each of these practices will help you find your path.

Due to human economic activity, the physical being of the earth is suffering. Given that there are many realms of possible healing activity from political lobbying to conscious consumption to lightwork or prayer.

What human focus of earth healing energy or earth healing activity would lend the earth the most leverage to her shift at this time?