“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in,
where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul” ~John Muir
Earth Day is April 22nd – Get Outisde!
by Colleen Cannon
I was recently in Hawaii with Women’s Quest swimming with wild dolphins, surfing and playing with Alison Teal. Alison travels the world filming environmental and cultural phenomena, sharing it through her blog, photo and film series Alison’s Adventures. She is a great example of how you can take your passion for saving the planet AND PUT IT INTO ACTION!
I LOVE THE IDEA OF: REDUCE, REUSE AND RECYCLE BUT ALISON’S NEW IDEA IS TO REFUSE!!
We are at a critical time on earth today to be able to put our hearts and minds towards saving our amazing planet. Our opinions and buying power matter so instead of trying to reuse the plastic bottles, let’s start refusing to buy them.
I for one REFUSE TO BUY A PLASTIC BOTTLE AGAIN. PLEASE JOIN ME IN THIS PLEDGE!
CHECK OUT ALISON’S YouTube ABOUT THE PLASTIC ISLAND: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62q9GE-_8oM
Other Earthly ideas:
1) Plant Goodness, ALWAYS
Plant a tree, veggie, herb or idea
Plant an intention on Earth day to restore you own Heart’s Desire garden or set an intention to plant goodness all around you
2) Pick up trash and re-cycle ALWAYS
Remember also not to trash yourself with bad thoughts
3) BUY ORGANIC AND NON-GMO, ALWAYS
I always hear from women that Organic is too expensive
Some ideas:
* Buy beans and rice in bulk,
* Buy frozen berries or veggies that are picked at their ripest and most nutritious state and frozen.
* Make soups with friends
*Plant your own mini garden
I found it very helpful in knowing which veggies and fruits are hardest hit by pesticides.
* The Environmental Working Group puts out a list of the Dirty Dozen—the fruits and veggies with the most pesticides, and the Clean 15—the ones that have the least pesticides. My friend Dr Beas says, “If you can’t afford to buy everything organic, start with the Dirty Dozen and don’t sweat the Clean 15”.
4) HUG a tree or a HUMAN, ALWAYS
Earth day is a special day where you could institute a daily practice of hugging for a year,
Wake up and give yourself a hug and say “You are the BEST”!
Then hug the things closest to you (even if it is your coffee mug) and say “You are the BEST”!
If no one is around you.. do it in your mind. Send the earth a big hug (She will feel it and hug you back)
5) Put blessing pads on your feet, Always
I call the earth Pachamama, which is a goddess revered by the indigenous people of the Andes.
This Earth day blessing idea (which I actually do every day) came to me many years ago. I was out on a hike one winter day with my friend Ray Browning who had these cool Salomon boots on. With every step he would leave an angel print because on the bottom of his boots there was an angel carved out in the sole. I thought this was the coolest thing EVER. I wanted to put them on the bottom of my shoes but I could not figure it out or draw that well so I decided that I would “Infuse my Shoes”
I imagined that on the bottom of my shoes were these blessing pads and everywhere that I ran the earth would feel blessed and loved. (like giving the earth a massage). I did this 8 mile loop everyday and did not think much about it until there was a fire in our neighborhood. The fire did not cross over where I had run with my “Blessing Pad” shoes. So this intention of love from the bottom of my shoes (and the bottom of my heart) that I had set in motion really did help.
So try it!!! Let’s all make time to honor our planet this year, if not publicly, than in a personal appreciation for all our earth gives to us.
My water bottle recommendations: