Change The World Wednesday (#CTWW) - Discovering Nature

Welcome to Change The World Wednesday (#CTWW)!

Wondering how to live greener? You've come to the right place. Each week we challenge ourselves to try a new task ... or "amp up" something we're already doing. We raise our awareness, learn from each other and develop Eco-friendly skills which will improve our lives and protect our planet. Doing so together gives us power ... the power to Change The World!

If this is your first visit, please click HERE for information and a complete list of all the challenges we've taken on so far.

This post contains great information and I encourage you to read through it at your leisure ... however, if you are short on time, you might find the following quick links helpful:

• The #CTWW Gang
• The Honor Society
• My Final Thoughts on Our Last Challenge
• This Week's Challenge

Were you able to find creative uses for grey water last week? I learned something important. Some communities regulate the use of grey water. In my area, for example, systems must be installed and approved by environmental inspectors in our county's planning department. I'm happy that our local government is concerned about what we release into the earth and our waterways. It is also a reminder that we must always use safe and Eco-friendly cleaning solutions, soaps, and detergents so that grey water doesn't contaminate our environment.

The Honor Society are those people who help us spread the "green" word by writing an article about our challenges and/or leaving pertinent comments.

Lisa left a great comment on our "Reuse" challenge: "Scrap paper is an easy one for most people to try. Rather than recycling paper right away, keep any sheets that are single-sided (flyers, handouts the kids get from school, no-longer needed printouts, etc.) . Use the back side of the paper as scrap paper. We keep ours in a drawer in the kitchen so it's available for writing down phone messages, shopping lists, etc."

Argentum Vulgaris (AV) offers several tips for using grey water in Change the World Wednesday – 18th Jun. One of my favorites is his new method for washing dishes. We might also say that AV is an opportunistic grey water user ... he made good use, recently, of water from a leaky roof.

Deborah joined us and shared this: "Re: Change The World Wednesday (#CTWW) - Grey Water -- It is so important to find ways to conserve and reuse our precious resources especially water. I am looking forward to paying more attention to this issue of grey water and identifying effective reduce & reuse ideas."

EcoGrrl always offers us interesting comments, like this one: "I like to save my big pots of canning water to use in the garden! I had tried the bucket-in-shower thing but my shower is just so teensy that it kept getting kicked :( But hey I only take 2 showers a week so I think it evens out. Our rain cistern in front and barrel in back are worth their weight in gold - we just want more of them!!"

Alicia accepted the challenge and said, "This is an area in which we could improve so I will look for new ways to accomplish this. We collect rainwater and then use it to water our plants which I know isn't a lot but I will be very aware of this and try to accomplish getting better in this area!" Can't wait to learn what improvements you make, Alicia!

Do you keep emergency water on hand? Katie does and her comment includes a great reminder: "I have fallen by the wayside with grey water reuse, so I look forward to reading the tips from other greenies. I recently refreshed the emergency potable water, using the old water to water indoor and outdoor plants. I also wash vegetables in a big bowl and then reuse the water for plants."

Our Twitter friends joined the conversation and shared the following:

From @AndreaPtak (aka @GreenQueenofMod )
- #Greywater Action has all the scoop on collection and use: greywateraction.org #water #conservation #environment
- MENews tells how to "Tap into #Greywater" ow.ly/y3KSU #water #conservation #environment

From @GiveTreeGifts
- About greywater reuse | Greywater Action ow.ly/yb5r5 #CTWW
- From Laundry to Landscape: Tap Into Greywater - MOTHER EARTH NEWS ow.ly/yb5vZ #CTWW
- Greywater Reuse, Grey Water Reuse ow.ly/yb5EG #CTWW
- Greywater Recycling ow.ly/yb5T5 #CTWW
- Green irrigation: How to use a greywater system ow.ly/yb63E #CTWW
- Using Gray Water" ow.ly/yb698 #CTWW
- Graywater for Gardens ow.ly/yb6i4 #CTWW
- Save Money by Reusing Greywater ow.ly/yb6oT #CTWW
- Common Greywater Mistakes and Preferred Practices ow.ly/yb6xG #CTWW
- Gray Water for Residential Use - YouTube ow.ly/yb6BV #CTWW

The #CTWW Gang are those folks who tweet our challenges using the hashtag #CTWW. If you're a Twitter member, I recommend following them ... they share great things. Let's meet them:

@2kidsandacoupon	@@laalicia	@a_kiasi
@andreaptak	@animalrightsrev	@beatepdx
@becks543	@bethsegreen	@biggreenpen
@bstoneblog	@cannyhighlander	@catertomyman
@climately	@climately_news	@climatelycheryl
@compingcrazzy	@counselorholley	@crazykids6
@dear_missmayle	@debsmikdav1	@dehelen
@dieselelephants	@disssnippets	@eco_novice
@ecocountrytable	@ecoexpert1	@ecothrifty
@eloiseart	@environmentguru	@erbaviva
@estefaniacrespo	@factorydpromos	@floralplantgrow
@freshgriller	@giftmeapp	@gioassassin
@givetreegifts	@green_vibes	@greenqueenofmod
@greentim	@groovygreenlivi	@hashtracking
@healthyvoyager	@herbgir1972	@hismerecry
@hobbyberries	@homesustainable	@iamgreenbean
@indiapaleale35	@jnaquins	@justanotherhat
@kaitlingarder	@kayelleallen	@kiser_krafts
@kriswetherbee	@krmbalclothing	@laalicia
@ladyjcmuses	@legsetobicoke	@leslieveg
@looseseal27	@marikokoloco	@marjoriemcatee
@memoahmad14	@mimibarbour	@momfindsout
@mostelegantlady	@nebulousmooch	@newage_author
@nicmanuel	@nonhomogenized	@officialcwerner
@pamela_o_plays	@pberk	@rckweddings
@rmpusa	@rulesofgreen	@ruralmoms
@sensuouspromos	@sfcouncil	@shannongrissom
@shionnomusumeta	@solaradvocate69	@spafloating
@superbsolutions	@susanheaney	@tamlanding
@thispeg	@treesgroup	@vanbordelon
@vegtoday	@violetsbuds	@wencdj
@whopaysthepiper	@women4earth

My Final Thoughts:

Grey water is an under-utilized, often-wasted resource. If we use non-toxic, environmentally-friendly detergents and soaps, it can be used for watering our gardens, cleaning, etc. During our daily activities, a lot of water goes down the drain. Imagine if we were able to use it more than once. Whether we use bath water to flush a toilet or install approved systems for our yards, reusing water reduces our overall consumption. That saves us money and helps the earth.

Thanks, everyone! If you wrote an article, I Stumbled, Tweeted, Facebooked and posted it on Google +. You can help spread the "green" word by using the share features located below this post.

This Week's Challenge:

The natural world is full of amazing critters!

When was the last time that you went outdoors and simply experienced nature?

In our busy lives, we often rush, here and there, missing the beauty which surrounds us. Life is everywhere!

I think it's time to slow down ... to look with new eyes.

Here's your challenge ...

This week, go outside and spend some time. Perhaps take a leisurely stroll down a hiking trail or sit in a park. If you have a yard, find a comfortable spot and look at the world around you. Take your time and relish the experience. The idea, here, is to discover and appreciate the natural world around us ... to see what we usually miss ... to marvel at earth's inhabitants.

I wonder what you'll see?

Are you up for this challenge? I know that you are!

Until next time ...

WE'RE CHANGING THE WORLD ... ONE CHALLENGE AT A TIME!

This post is shared at Healthy, Happy, Green & Natural Party Hop and Share Your Stuff Tuesday

Finding Tongues in Trees: Poetry as the Voice of Nature

Those of you who have followed Reduce Footprints for some time might remember Elizabeth Barrette who was a regular participant in the Change The World Wednesday challenges. We haven't seen Elizabeth in awhile because she's been busy writing. She's recently published two wonderful books: From Nature's Patient Hands: A Collection of Poetry and Prismatica: Science Fiction Poetry Spanning the Spectrum. I have had the pleasure of reading both books and I can tell you that they are beautiful. Elizabeth has the ability to paint pictures with her words. She has graciously agreed to talk to us today about our connection to nature and how she chooses to share nature's voice.


Finding Tongues in Trees:
Poetry as the Voice of Nature


And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.
-- William Shakespeare, As You Like It, 1599


Whenever I go outside, the world speaks to me. Its voice is there in the rattle of wind through autumn cornfields, in the crackle of flames crawling over logs, in the bright trill of birdsong. Nostalgia is the lazy drone of a cicada on a summer afternoon; humor is the gurgling chuckle of a stream. Patience is the sound of silence: Be still. Wait. There is more to come.

I have spent my life learning to listen to nature. I know the sound of toads calling for their mates, of coyotes singing to mark their territory. I know how the alarm-call of birds when a predator moves by differs from the calls they make when I go to refill the bird feeders. The sounds tell me what's going on around me, in what they say and do not say.

Beneath the sounds there lies a deeper voice. This planet is alive and alert, although it does not think the same way we do. In a sense, humans are the part of the Earth that thinks consciously, that reasons, that plans ahead. Yet the living planet has a mind of its own, and it speaks; and because we belong to it, we can hear it, if we learn to listen. The messages are there for anyone who attends to the tongues of trees, the brook-written books, and the slow sermons of stone.

These are the voices in my nature poetry. I give you the sounds of the wilderness, the same way I describe the sights and the smells and the other details, to anchor you in a particular place. I give you the clues to reveal what happens, so that you can put it together just as you would if you stood in the place I described. The joy of language is there -- simile and metaphor, rhythm and rhyme -- drawn out of the human brain's gift for linguistics. The last voice lies between the lines, rarely overt, the deep meaning of what nature really is and why it's important. Because of that, it is flexible; it can shift to say something new to each reader, just as each hiker in a forest may discover something different. My nature poems are not just about nature but of nature. Within them lie the patterns that science and life have made over millennia.

I write these poems to put the voices into language, to give words to the wordless world. I create them because I am a part of the Earth that can speak with lips and write with fingers. I send them out into the world to show people the beauty, fragility, power, and wonder of the world around us. It is my talent, my profession, and my vocation.

As a scholar, I deal in facts. As an activist, I deal in issues. As a poet, I deal in feelings. And I can attest that feelings move people far more than facts or issues. Many more people make their decisions based on emotions than on logic. So if you want to convince them of something, you need to make them feel it, not just think it. If you want them to save something, make them love it, not just value it.

Poetry is the language of the heart. It fills us with words that soar and fly like dragonflies above a pond in spring. It spins emotions like spider silk, sticky and shimmering. Even after a poem has been read and put away, something of it slumbers within the reader, snug as a bear in its winter cave.

Every poem I write is a message of hope, of possibility, of potential. Even the dark ones are warnings of disasters that we could avoid if we choose with care. I take what the world shows me and I frame it in a way that others can easily enjoy. I send out poems like pollen on the wind, or coconuts on the ocean waves. Some of them will always find fertile ground and sprout. And the ideas that grow from them, however diverse because of the minds that bear them, will always be rooted in nature.


Elizabeth Barrette lives in Illinois. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Rhetoric and works as a writer and editor. For more information, including how to purchase Elizabeth's books, please visit PenUltimate Productions.

Take a moment ...

One leaf drifted to the river ... and floated, peacefully, along. No other human in the world witnessed that particular leaf release itself from the tree and float off ... that thought filled me with awe. As the sun slowly dipped behind the mountains, birds sang their "good night" song ... some chattered and chirped to each other ... maybe discussing their day. A small snake lay on the path, not ready to leave the warmth of the spot ... he didn't like our presence and preferred to be left alone.

We are encouraged to get ready for the holidays ... to spend our money ... to shop now and avoid the crowds. Posts are showing up everywhere about how to deal with holiday stress and people are anxious ... will there be enough time to do everything.

So I invite you today to step outside. Breathe deeply and feel the sun on your skin. Close your eyes and listen to the sounds around you ... can you hear nature? Take a moment to watch the spider building a web or a squirrel burying it's fall harvest.

Breathe.

Take a moment ...

ONE HUNDRED POSTS

Wow ... I can't believe it!!!

This is Reduce Footprint's 100th post. :)

It has been so much fun ... and I thank you all for participating in this wonderful green journey we're on. I can't wait to see what happens next! Until then ... here's a gift for you ... and some of the reasons why we walk gently ...

Somthing for you ...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!

To your health ...

It used to be that we could take a cool drink from a stream or river ... now they tell us that the water is contaminated.

We used to be able to eat the produce from a grocery store without worry ... now they tell us to know where it came from and wash it thoroughly before eating. Sometimes they tell us not to eat it at all.

When I was a child, I used to hunt for mushrooms with my Grandfather ... now they tell us to not only be aware of poisonous varieties but to know what the soil, in which edible mushrooms grow in, was previously used for. If it was used, for example, as an apple orchard which employed pesticides and chemicals (a common practice in apple orchards), the mushrooms are ... and will be ... highly toxic long after any evidence of the orchard remains.

I recently read an article which said that people exposed to chemical toxins have a significantly higher risk of breast cancer. And how does one get exposed to these chemical toxins? Through beauty products, household cleaners, pesticides on our food and in our water, and pollution in the air we breathe. It was once believed that a small amount of these toxins wouldn't hurt people. Now they know that small amounts of toxins join together to create big problems in the human body.

This is dire!

But is it hopeless? I don't think so.

While reading articles in Delphi Forums (Living Green and Natural), I chatted with a woman who has improved the quality of her own, as well as her family's, health through adopting a green lifestyle. Here, in her words, is her story:

"I have two kids with autoimmune problems and find that "green and natural" means that they can live active lives. Both of them were diagnosed with asthma very early. Dd was diagnosed with a classic case of fibromyalgia at the age of 10. We treated with traditional doctors until she was 16 and the answers just weren't there and she was getting worse. Meanwhile, my son's asthma was getting worse and he was having emotional meltdowns at the slightest provocation.

At 16 we started down the path of alternative medicine, starting with a holistic D.O. who diagnosed both of them with severe food allergies. Dd's biggest was corn and Ds' was soy. The got some better, but were still on tons of meds. Dd for sleep, and Ds was taking 5 things for his asthma with still a very low peak flow.

At 18, after researching, I took a shot with an applied kinesiologist in town. Dr. B. did a complete AK work up, including testing for allergies. We started taking her regularly for AK treatments, following the diet plans, supplements and environmental changes that were given. A few months later, we added my son to the protocols. Both have steadily gotten better, but it has been the hardest for dd. For her, we added Neuro-Emotional Technique and Emotional Freedom Technique. Slowly, but surely, this year, after over 3 years, she has gotten a lot better. Ds is on occasional albuterol for rare flares. Both stay on the diet because they both feel so much better.

1 1/2 years ago, dh went out of curiosity and it changed his life. Suffering from depression for years, it has given him a quality of life that I could have only dreamed of. Shortly after that, I had a severe gall bladder attack and was scheduled for surgery. Our AK doctor told me that she would do a work up on me for free if I would delay the surgery. Long story short, I dropped almost 70 pounds and still have my gall bladder. My Hashimoto's thyroiditis is no more! I feel much better than I have in a very long time.

Not an easy solution, AK, but one that all of us can live with. Even my skeptical husband tows the line on the green living! Never thot I'd see that!

You can check out AK at www.icak.com and www.appliedkinesiology.com/. As my husband says, looks like voodoo, works like magic!"

At this point, I wanted to know more and asked what specific "green living" things she incorporated into her life.

"Most of my family is allergic to many chemicals and especially artificial fragrances, so they are gone, along with many "normal" products--most cosmetics, cleaning products, bath and body products, laundry products--you get the idea! As I studied what to replace the "normal" products with, I learned that those kinds of products are generally not good for the environment. We now use a lot of vinegar, baking soda and the like for cleaning here. I even got allergic to 7th Generation cleaners and had to stop. My make up is from www.signatureminerals.com and very clean. I use Avalon shampoos and conditioners. I use Trader Joe's hand soap. All without harsh chemicals and fragrances. It's harder and more expensive, but so worth it. We all feel better.

Foodwise, we just don't eat processed products because of the allergies and when I learned about how "nutritious" the processed stuff was, I didn't want it anymore. We buy most of our stuff organic in bulk and use it. We use reusable grocery bags most of the time. My husband noted that our recycle pile is a lot bigger and the outgoing trash is a lot smaller!

So, for us, doing what we had to started us down a path of cleaner living. We don't use chemicals on the lawn (I'm sure the neighbors are complaining at our natural turf! lol) or pesticides other than boric acid when we get infested. It happens a lot less than one might think!

It has been a very long, hard road! Worth it, tho when you consider where my kids would have been if we'd stayed where we were!

Now that I think about it--living green makes good sense and is contagious to all areas of life. Once you see that one thing is "out of whack" and causing your health to go, it spreads to other areas that are also "out of whack" and everything gets better. It seems to be the way God really designed us to live and that the consequences of not living clean are becoming more apparent in the peoples of the world."

So ... every time we reduce our use of chemicals, recycle, buy organic or "go green" ... we not only help the earth ... we help ourselves.

Here's to your health!

A Perfect Whole!

Reducing our footprint on the earth means more to me than just recycling or using less energy. To me, it's also about considering one's actions and ensuring that those actions don't have a negative impact on the earth or anything that lives on it.

History is full of examples where actions were taken without thought about negative impact. In the early 1930's, much of our country's forests were decimated through logging. This wasn't the responsible, replant the forest, kind of logging ... this was clear cutting ... period. This left the land vulnerable to wind and rain and the result was severe erosion. Luckily, President Roosevelt and the CCC implemented a reforestation program which is considered responsible for the lush, beautiful forests that we enjoy today throughout much of the country.

In the mid 1920's, wolves were exterminated from Yellowstone National Park. The result was an overpopulation of animals normally on a wolf's "menu". This lead to other imbalances in both plant and animal life. In 1995 wolves were reintroduced to the park. Within two years, the project was considered a success. If you would like to read more about this, click here.

These examples are big and aren't the kinds of decisions that we, as individuals, normally have to make. But even small actions have consequences.

Recently I happened to be in a campground located in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The campground was surrounded by a beautiful forest and located near a river. The setting was lovely. On my way to the bathroom, I noticed something hanging off the trash dumpster. It was a bee trap. Inside, hundreds of dead bees were stacked up and towards the top, two bees were struggling to escape. They never would. I have great compassion for all living creatures so the site broke my heart. Why, in the forest, would someone find it necessary to exterminate insects? The answer amazed me. A short distance from the dumpster, several hummingbird feeders were placed in a tree by the camp host and evidently they wanted to ensure that only hummingbirds were fed. OK ... but what is the result of this decision? Hundreds of bees lay dead in a container instead of flying around the forest, pollinating as they go. And that means that plant life suffers. And when plant life suffers ... we're not far behind. One may argue that it was just one trap. But what if a lot of traps are put out ... what happens to our pollinators?

We seem to believe that it's OK to kill anything that bothers us. But there is always a consequence to those actions.

So here's what I'm suggesting. Start with the belief that everything works together to create a perfect whole. Labels such as "pest" are just that ... a label ... not necessarily a fact. Instead of killing a critter, try dissuading it or just move it out of the way. I do that with spiders all the time ... they seem to love my house so I just pick them up and move them outside. And when putting out any type of feeder, be tolerant of all critters that come to eat. After all, nature doesn't discriminate ... why should we. Basically I'm saying, live and let live.

As always, I'd love to hear your comments on this subject.