ONE YEAR in to IKEA’s program to reduce bag use at stores by 50%, the results are in - instead of cutting use in half, 92% of customers chose reusable bags over disposable plastic. Last year, IKEA motivated both reluctant and forgetful consumers by both offering a truly affordable reusable bag at checkout (.59) and charging 5 cents for use of traditional plastic bag. All proceeds went to American Forests, to help plant trees to restore forests and reduce CO2 emissions. As of October, 2008, IKEA has upped their call to action - only reusable bags will be available at their stores, eliminating all paper and plastic options.”No More Free Bags (REALLY!)”

Most people agree with the idea, though plastic bags are a long way from disappearing altogether. The disappointed among us are people use retail-produced bags at home for trash and cat litter. The problem? Those plastic bags take up to 1000 years to biodegrade - once again, we reach a crossroads of harsh reality of the conveniences we’ve become accustomed to. Biodegradable trash bags are available - we just have to get used to the higher cost. In my experience, what felt like sticker shock quickly subsided when I realized that with less consumption and more recycling, I’m sending only 1 trash bag to the curb per month. Really.

NY Times recently reported that, “Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced this month that he would push for a 6-cent fee on each plastic bag, both to raise as much as $16million/year for the city and to steer New Yorkers toward greener practices.” With effortful ease, times are changing. Be Here Now and we can reap the rewards to come.

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Last year, I had a long run of animals showing up in my life - and the medicine and wisdom they shared gave me a lot to work with and from during a time of questioning, both personal and in the world. The other day, I came upon a large snake  - it layed directly in my path. Though not living, it’s head was whole, it’s mouth wide open, part of the skeleton showing. This is what I found about my snake message. Not only does it feel appropriate for me in my life right now, but it feels like it’s speaking to the entire world. Read on.

SNAKE

Wisdom, Healing, Initiation

The symbol of eternity

This a powerful totem — it is
the symbol of transformation and healing.
The Snake is wisdom expressed through healing.

It is a protector and guardian totem,
along with its sister totems, the Dragon and the Serpent.

If a snake totem has come into your life, your creative forces are awakening.
Your intuition will sharpen and be more accurate.

Snake energy is the energy of wholeness, cosmic consciousness, and
the ability to experience anything willingly and without resistance.
It is the knowledge that all things are equal in creation.

It also signals a transition in your life.
New opportunities and/or changes.

Snake is fire medicine, the medicine of transmutation.
On a material level, it is vitality; on an emotional level, it is ambition and dreams;
on a mental level, it is intellect and power; on a spiritual level (the highest level),
it is wisdom, understanding and wholeness.

Snake magic is heavy magic.
Become the Magician and transmute the energy and accept the power of the fire.

The Snake is one of the symbols of Thoth.

from linsdomain.com

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Are you feeling it? I’m calling it the Election-Connection - an inexplicable desire to reach out and connect with people - people you know, people you don’t know, people you used to know and on and on. For me, it started on Nov. 5th - I was slowly making my way uphill on a busy road. I heard someone call out to me, “Hello Beautiful!” - I looked back to see Veterinary Clinic employees, taking an outdoor break. I waved and the other said, That’s a beautiful dress!” This sounded so cheerful and sincere, I waved back and noticed the hill suddenly felt a bit less steep.

The next day, I was inching my way into a tight parking spot when a man in a truck, waiting a the adjacent light, rolled down his window, motioning me forward with a big smile, “You got it!” he yelled out encouragingly, waiting until I made the space, even as the light turned green.

I checked messages shortly afterwards, to hear the effusive voice of a friend I hadn’t heard from for 6 months….”OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO! We did it, Tao!!!!! Change is happening!” he yelled into my voicemail.

The next day, my neighbor, normally rather recluse, stopped me, smiling, to ask about yoga lessons, saying he suddenly felt “ready” to try it…

Even John Stewart brought up the anomoulos events, saying something was “different” - people in New York City were actually looking at each other…!!

The magic has endured in the days that have followed - more friends and acqaintenances showing up unexpectedly, and strangers looking up from computers and newspapers more frequently, sometimes with a nod and a smile.

We connected, we elected, we connected some more. I can’t wait for what’s next!

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Maybe it’s the election-connection, or perhaps the position of the planets, but I’m feeling hopefully restless. And, despite my loud heralding of the merits of traveling less and vacationing where you live as the foolproof way to help the environment (tone-down and tune-in) …I admit it… I have travel-itis. My musings reach far and wide - from a familiar yearning for the Northeast, Northwest to across the continents all the way to Europe and Morocco. My heart is open and my eyes feel wide. An offset flight up North won’t do it this time. I’m feeling the pull of the open road and the of mystery that leads. With some, trepidation, I’ve started making plans…

So, it seems, have many independent-minded, free spirits who have made the trade - from homes to RV’s - a downsize and an upgrade to a smaller life in a bigger world. (I lived for a time in an RV - parked in a campsite - because it quickly became obvious that at 8 - 12 mpg, there was no room for eco-comfort in the getting there.) But, a few environmentally-committed RVers are changing all that, retooling motor homes in “green” to live the adventure and to promote eco-awareness as they travel.

Solar panels, water catchment, veggie-oil fuel and recycled materials make up much of what could be considered an almost carbon-neutral way of travel, if not life. The website of one family on a “Living Lightly Tour”, not only documents their innovative systems of living off the grid, but a lifestyle that reaches farther into communities and ideas we are all beginning to acknowledge and share:

Ideas for Living Lightly:

• Smile
• Buy Used
• Live Smaller
• Eat Less Meat
• Share Your Stuff
• Use Natural Cleaners
• Line Dry Your Clothes
• Avoid Disposable Items
• Eat Locally Grown Food
• Use Cloth Shopping Bags
• Reduce Your Consumption
• Use a Reusable Water Bottle
• Conserve Water and Electricity
• Walk / Ride Your Bike / Carpool

Go back to the top of the list - maybe it’s that planet thing again, but I felt something click. It’s about sharing, moving, seeing and growing. And sometimes, Going.

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What’s a PSP? It’s a Personal Sustainability Project  - a step to benefit their health, their local community, or the earth - and it’s an employee initiative making up part of Wal-Mart’s larger campaign towards a more green corporate and retail model. Walmart has a lot of employees and customers, 1.9 million and 10% of all retail spending, to be exact. Although I don’t have any plans to buy from Wal-mart for many long-standing reasons, it makes sense when Charles Fishman, author of “The Wal-Mart Effect” says, “If Wal-Mart is serious about sustainability, it can have an incredible impact on how the economy operates.”

45% of Wal-mart employees in the U.S. have taken on PSP, involving work or home life or both, although there is no financial incentive to do so. The recent article in Mother Jones suggests the seminars which push the pledges are a mix of innovation and greenwashing. I have to agree, although hearing the earnest voices of some employees is both heartening and inspiring. Many are improving their lives as well as fullfilling a sense of purpose. Some are even saving money by following suggestions to shop/spend less on uneccesary things. One employee is growing her own produce, while another feels good about taking bottles and cans out of trash cans to be recycled.

We’ve got a long way to go towards a new kind of more sustainable consumerism and lives, but the road is less rocky and narrow - in fact, when places like Wal-Mart join in, it can turn into a super-highway. However, don’t jump on the Wal-Mart bandwagon too soon - low low prices are a big part of what doomed us in the first place. Look at your own life and needs in an honest way. Make conscious choices and most of all, keep changing.

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The artist, Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada, believes the world needs more heroes, which is why he covered a Barcelona Beach with the likeness of Barack Obama. T.K.V. Krishnamacarya , the late Indian scholar and yoga teacher, also believes that you can overcome the obstacles in your own life by considering and modeling the lives of people you respect and admire.

Movie stars can be heroes, too. Always a slippery slope, the business of becoming, staying - and leaving -  stardom takes more than just talent. Yet, many have risen and are rising to the occassion, following not just fame, but their own hearts, heads and conscience.

Martial Artist and film action hero, Jean-Claude Van Damme plays himself in the recent release of JCVD, portraying the rise and fall of his career. The movie was filmed in Bangkok, where Mr. Van Damme adopted seven stray dogs by the film’s completion - some of them disabled. In fact, he prolonged his stay when one of the dogs had a heart attack, sleeping with him in the clinic every night to help give him the will to live. For another, he built a “wheelchair”. The dogs have been sent to his home in Brussels.

The movie includes a 6-minute monologue in which he reflectives openly and emotionally about his life, career, dreams and failures.

He emphasizes the change in himself and the importance of personal stability. In his next film, will move on to writing, directing and producing, as well as acting. As he reclaims his career he wants to be seen as “an action character hero instead of an action star.”

Good enough for me. See you in the theatre.

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I enjoyed a new one the other day. I didn’t get a photo this time, but here’s what it said:

“JESUS WOULD SLAP THE SHIT OUT OF YOU.”

Ouch. The truth can hurt…

Tao

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Have you broken your bottled water habit yet? Recent numbers regarding bottled water sales indicate that many people are returning to the tap and/or the tap with filters. Tap water contaminant levels are usually more closely regulated, but I agree that filtering is the best bet for health and the environment. New reports show a “surprising array” of contaminants in many brands of bottled water, including those exceeding set standards by the companies themselves. If you are currently relying on bottled water for daily consumption, the monetary cost of any filter is quickly offset by making the switch and the cost to your health is, well, “priceless”.

I miss drinking fountains and still don’t understand why the movement to bring them back is not bigger. It seems that it will decrease litter, pollution, energy use, fuel costs and ensure that the safety of tap water is kept a priority. Most of the time, we want or need just a few gulps to quench our immediate thirst, something the drinking fountain does without waste - I often find discarded water bottles half full or more.

Since bottled water is such a big environmental and health issue, I don’t want to touch the soda industry. EEK - eco-disaster right there, turning a healthy necessity like water into a sugar/chemical-laden mess. It’s not news that it is the most acidic beverage you can drink, it leaches calcium from bones, dissolves the enamel on teeth, and, while diet sodas remove sugar and calories, adds a toxic level of chemicals like methanol. Even Fox News reported in 2007, “Soda May Seriously Harm Health”.

Go stainless steel portable for your water needs out and about. There need be no exceptions. Did you know that you can send an EMPTY water bottle of any kind through security with other carry-ons at the airport? You can then fill it at a fountain before getting airborne.

Break the bottled habit. This one’s a no-brainer. Your world and your health deserves it.

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From the looks of these images, much of the world loves Obama. It’s breathtakingly moving to see the joyous reaction of people from all over the planet. We are filled with more than admiration and hope. Many of us are filled with a need for heroes and a sense of “Expectation”, so confirms artist, Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada (as reported by Daniel E. Slotnik in the NY Times).

Last week, Mr. Rodriguez-Gerada, with the help of some 40 volunteers, completed artwork using hundreds of tons of gravel and sand and covering 2.5 acres of Barcelona beachfront - a portrait of Obama’s face. The Cuban-American from NYC, wanted to demonstrate not just support of the candidate (now Mr. President), but “to reflect on why the world needs heroes and show the nature of hope and heroism. You can see a rendition here on the artist’s site. The portrait will soon be visible on Google Earth.

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