Reconnecting with our Environment

by Stephanie Rudeen, Grant Writing Intern

One of Plant With Purpose’s missions that impassions me the most is their desire to strengthen the relationship between people and their environment. This mission might seem especially relevant for the rural farmers Plant With Purpose works with, since much of their work and daily life is centered on the environment. Many rural farmers completely depend on the environment for survival; they may farm for money, as well as to produce sustenance for their family.

For those of us who are not rural farmers, I feel as if our relationship with the environment can become fuzzy. In order to help protect the environment, some may drive a Prius, others may have banned paper towels and other wasteful products in their homes, and those who are a bit more extreme may dumpster dive in order not to waste food. Now, I am definitely not an expert on being green or sustainable, but I try and do my small part for the environment. But I find I often become so caught up in trying to find the newest eco-friendly gadget, or cruising through the Toyota website to look at their newest hybrid, that I begin to lose sight of improving my own relationship with the environment.

It is easy for me to focus in on the importance of the relationship between rural farmers and their environment in one of the countries where Plant With Purpose works. It is easy for me to think how important this relationship is for people that have to work and live with the land everyday, as I use my recycled toilet paper and bug my parents to install solar panels on their roof. But how often do I question the strength of my own relationship with the environment?

So much of our cultural and social traditions rely on the environment. With continuing climate change, traditions such as sharing stories around an open fire or sipping hot chocolate may become just distant memories when winter starts to become a time to wear shorts and sip iced tea. The traditional Swedish food my grandfather eats is reflective of the seasons as well, pickled herring or dairy products that have been curdled or boiled, reflect the need to store foods for cold seasons. I personally remember kayaking one early morning and watching the sun rise and reflect off a perfectly calm and silent ocean. That memory plays back in my mind as a constant reminder of the importance of the environment in my life.

I think it is important to be reminded of our own relationship to the environment, not just through products, but also through memories and our own social and cultural traditions.

While it may be easy to tell a rural farmer of the importance of strengthening his or her relationship with the environment, it is harder for us to criticize ourselves, especially when so many of our interactions with the environment have become filtered through so many layers. I am proud to work with an organization that pursues this mission to strengthen the relationship between people and their environment, not just by handing rural farmers some green and eco-friendly products, but by teaching them, as well as learning from them, the importance of the environment and how to work with it to improve lives. I must constantly remind myself to take a step back, recall those moments when the environment made me feel alive or more connected with my loved ones, and then look ahead, and see what I can do to make the environment better for tomorrow.

Balboa Park Goes Green(er)!

by Mackenzie Miller I can’t believe it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet, and I am already looking forward to Christmas. Poor Thanksgiving. Shoved between Halloween and Christmas. Store displays are already red and green, with candy canes, mistletoe and lights springing up all over San Diego. Balboa Park is no exception. Sunday, November 22 is the annual tree lighting on the Old Globe Plaza, which includes performances by the cast of The Grinch! The tree lighting kicks off the season, immediately followed by “Balboa Park December Nights,” the largest free community festival in San Diego. December Nights is expected to attract more than 300,000 visitors between December 4th and 5th alone. In the spirit of the holidays, participating Balboa Park museums open their doors free of charge from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. both evenings. I know what you’re thinking. Crowds. Trash. LIGHTS. Christmas festivities – traditional as they may be –

CAN be a little wasteful at times, can’t they? That’s why I was SO happy to find that Balboa Park is going GREEN for December Nights this year! San Diego Gas & Electric is covering the center of the Plaza de Panama with an energy efficient canopy of LED holiday lights, illuminating the Park for the entire holiday season. SDG&E is also offering to trade free LED holiday lights for old incandescent ones! As if that weren’t enough, guests will receive a free Home Energy & Water Savings Kit and a reusable shopping bag. The Balboa Park website gives great tips for San Diego Public Transportation, too. Who knew that the holiday season could be so energy-efficient? Thanks for looking out for the environment, San Diego! For more information on Balboa Park December Nights, and the Tree Lighting ceremony, visit: http://www.balboapark.org/

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Go Green, Save Green

We at Plant With Purpose would like to share a great new book written by our friend Nancy Sleeth of Blessed Earth. Go Green, Save Green will help you go green even when the economy is black.

The following book review by Alyce Gilligan was published on Relevantmagazine.com. Happy reading and happy greening!

Go Green, Save Green

by Alyce Gilligan

The new book by Nancy Sleeth contains practical and thoughtful solutions for saving the earth—and money.

If ever the content of a book is a fulfillment of its cover description, it is Go Green, Save Green. This “simple guide to saving time, money, and God’s green earth” was written by Nancy Sleeth, co-director of the environmental nonprofit Blessed Earth, and she leaves no stone unturned, no paper unrecycled.

What’s most inspiring about this reference book is the fact that the author and her family really live the green life espoused within its pages. After some dramatic spiritual and personal events, the Sleeths took their “ecological footprinting,” and weren’t convinced that they were using their resources properly or respectfully. Nancy soon found herself residing happily in a home the size of their old garage, living on nine-tenths of the electricity they were accustomed to using. But it was apparent that a simpler and quieter life was actually more full than they could have ever imagined.

In Go Green, Save Green, Sleeth shares a wealth of eco-friendly knowledge collected over the years of living it out within her own home. The book is set up in chapters relating to each aspect of life that could merit an environmental makeover: Work, Transportation, Church, Food, Entertainment, Community, Lawn and Garden, etc. Within these chapters, Sleeth breaks down nearly every associated task, habit or hobby, introducing concepts such as “vermicomposting” and “xeriscaping”. (Yea. Google it.) Challenging factoids appear in brief lists and charts throughout the book, as well as related “Go Green” and “Save Green” tip boxes. The end of each chapter includes a checklist to get you started, as well as a chart showing just how much money you can save in that area of your life, and how you can be considerate and share some of this extra cash. (Planning on borrowing books and movies from your local library from now on? Give that $160 you save per year to a Boys & Girls Club.)

Sleeth adds a refreshingly human touch to this intimidating 406-page to-do list by sprinkling personal anecdotes here and there, as well as detailed prayers. After all, the point of this book is not only to help you consume less and save more, but to “change wasteful practices and bring our lifestyles more in line with our values … Sacrificing a bit of comfort to honor God’s creation will bring joy to your family while drawing you closer to him."

At times, Sleeth’s writing is sugary sweet, oozing maternal affection and discipline, which perhaps makes this green pill easier to swallow. So often, organizations or individuals can shame you into feeling you should take better care of the environment, but Sleeth neither pleads nor guilt-trips—she encourages. And occasionally gives you a good slap in the face. For example: “One-third of the tap water used for drinking in North America is used for brewing coffee. If each of us avoided wasting just one cup of coffee a day at work, we could save enough water over the course of a year to provide 2 gallons to the more than 1.1 billion people who don’t have access to fresh water at all.”

Wow. Let’s leave Mr. Coffee alone today, shall we?

Nearly every other page contains another mind-blowing and convicting fact. Switching to a low-flow showerhead saves 350 gallons of water a week and $73 a year. If everybody hung curtains for extra insulation, we’d conserve the amount of energy used by Japan. Using a hybrid car for five years as opposed to a conventional car saves up to $5,460. Three billion batteries are purchased in the United States annually, with almost the same amount being thrown away.

By the time I’d given the book a good read, I saw nearly every step of my day with new eyes—from my shower, to my lunch, to my morning commute. And let me tell you … what a waste. But the book points out that everyone is capable of making improvements, wherever they are at, and that this is a journey we are on together. Actually, community is key to living green. From pot lucks, to sharing tools, to carpooling, to buying local goods, many of Sleeth’s tips require reaching out to our neighbors and caring for the planet and our resources with a united effort. Go Green, Save Green is intended to be a guide book, not a quick or interesting read. But it is a vital resource. Keep it on your nightstand or in your kitchen. Use the checklists, fill out the energy audit work sheet. Look up BlessedEarth.org. Get inspired. If you were ever going to go green, this is the book you should refer to. Oh, Kermit, you were wrong. It’s not so difficult after all.