by Tao Oliveto

Now that I have this death and dying thing on my mind, it brings me back, of course, to the earth and the environment. There’s something frightening about embalming bodies with chemicals and placing them in elaborate caskets, made of non-biodegradable and even toxic materials, to be buried underground. Although there is an important place and purpose behind rituals and ceremony for honoring life and death, we’re polluting the earth and contaminating large amounts of land in this outdated process.

I had already told my entire family that I insist on being cremated when I go - no wasted casket, gravestone, plot or polluting hearse for me. If it fits into your personal and/or spiritual story, cremation seems to make eco-sense. Right?

That was then. This is what I know now. Although technology has improved, the cremation process turns our bodies into air pollutants. In fact, incinerating bodies emits at least 7 toxins and contributes .2% of global emissions of dioxins and furans. It is also a large source of airborne mercury.

So what if you are dying to be green?

“The Green Burial Council (GBC) is an independent, nonprofit organization founded to encourage ethical and environmentally sustainable deathcare practices, and to use the burial process as a means of facilitating the acquisition, restoration and stewardship of natural areas. In a natural burial, the body is prepared for burial without chemical preservatives and is buried in a simple shroud or biodegradable casket that might be made from locally harvested wood, wicker or even recycled paper, perhaps even decorated with good-bye messages from friends.”

Land sites used for natural burials are maintained naturally, without irrigation or pesticides. The grave markers are made from natural parts of the landscape, creating a natural and native landscape that invites wildlife and people alike.

The council is creating a certification system for deathcare providers, education opportunities for consumers and an endowment fund to help create approved “Conservation Burial Grounds”. For more on traditional funeral services, cremation and natural burial, visit here.

Rest in Peace.

This product showed up at Whole Foods Market last week and I almost squealed with joy. You see, in my naive way, I thought we could save billions of gallons of water by simply learning to love our dirty little cars. Waking up is hard to do, but I’ve seen the error of my wishful ways. For the time-being, it seems we like our cars and we like ‘em clean.

Enter the environmentally safe, water-saving, super-effective and easy to use waterless car wash formula. Not a moment too soon. Just spray and wipe. If you don’t believe me, visit the websites, read the testimonials or just check in “down under” - it seems they’ve been using this similar formula there for years.

Now available in the U.S.. In fact, the clean car lover is covered coast to coast by two companies who are in it for all the right reasons. Eco Touch, based in the Northeast, was launched by James Dudra after spending a college semester abroad in drought-sick Australia while the Lucky Earth folks, Jeff and Lisa Peri, on the West Coast, set their sights on eliminating the chemicals used in conventional car washing.

Missions accomplished on both fronts. Now we just have to get it out there. Home washing wastes hundreds of gallons compared to pressurized commercial sprayers, so tell your neighbors, families and friends. Then get the word out to your full-service detailers, car dealerships and municipalities fast. And please, oh please, someone enlighten the well-meaning school-kids, raising money with hoses and buckets at parking lots all over America this Summer!

by Tao Oliveto, Carrboro, NC

Although our ponds, creeks and trees have been helped by some showers this Winter, our reservoirs are still at extremely low levels. The recent hard rain is a blessing, but one that is only the bare beginning of drought recovery for NC.There has been hopeful movement towards change in our water consumption habits, but I’m afraid we have not completely changed our mindset and will become complacent once again. I’m afraid we have not learned what we need to know.

As we are reminded by history, there was once a time when we knew we were related to Water. There has always been drought, but there has never been excessive use by an unsustainable population as there is today. Rainfall or not, our days of abundant water supplies is gone.

We need to understand, without hesitation, that Water is sacred, the origin of life. Eliot Cowan, Shaman and author of Plant Spirit Medicine, hears it this way: “Look at the way people squander water. They don’t realize they are utterly dependent on rainfall, that water is the very blood in their veins.”

We need to mend our water ways and attitudes now and for the future. We cannot prevent drought but we can be better prepared for it when we honor nature and water day to day in a way that respects our dependence on it. It’s time to reestablish our connection to the source of life and give water the attention it deserves, both for our dwindling water supply and for our own wholeness.

by Tao Oliveto, Carrboro, NC

Eco-acting blogger, Green as a Thistle has so far taken 330 eco-steps and is still g[r]o[w]ing and moving towards a complete calendar year of increasing greenness. This recent post announced her willingness to give up hot tap water and use only the first cold water from the tap to wash up - including hands, face and dishes. She’ll be saving water and energy in the process. Namaste to that, Vanessa.

I shudder to remember the days of long ago when I would let the faucet run to warm before washing my hands and face. Being subjected to similar up-North weather, I’m sure I did so at least during those freezing months - I must be repressing the shocking memory. I do know that it’s now plenty comfortable to splash myself with cold for a few seconds before soaping up. In fact, it’s darn refreshing - any time of year.

As for the dishes, If I’m in the mood for warm, I’ll occasionally heat up a teakettle on the stove to add to my bowl or soapy dishwater instead of watching the precious stuff go down the drain until reaching a warm enough temperature.

Keep in mind that studies show it is the “friction” of rubbing the hands (or dishes) that gets rid or germs, not the temperature of the water - or even the type of soap being used. Water would have to be at boiling temps to kill more germs, so it’s past time to give up that fantasy. Washing or showering too often (especially taking hot baths) depletes the skin or natural oils - one of the body’s natural defenses against invading germs.

I admit that showering before the water reaches warm is not a goal I’ve reached - something I consider one of my eco-failures, despite the fact that I collect the excess in a bucket for flushing (anyone else managing it out there??). Fortunately, the water heater to my current shower was installed just behind the bathroom wall - allowing it to run warm in just a few seconds. Hmm, if this was not pre-planned during construction, it should have been!

Be free to choose a sustainable life. Keep perspective. We don’t have to cater to perceived expectations or luxuries. There’s nothing to lose and a lot to gain with every step.

by Tao Oliveto, Carrboro, NC

“More than 40% of the water available for domestic purposes is used for transporting shit.” This from Madhu Suri Prakash (Yes magazine), author and professor at Pennsylvania State University. Ouch. That’s a lot. There has been and still is a better way, but are “civilized” nations ready to embrace it? Instinctively being uncomfortable with the sound and sight of any amount of water rushing down a drain, I’ve readily accepted my one flush/day rule at home and composting alternatives. We will all have to make radical changes in this area sooner or later, so we may as well get started.

As part of her extensive grassroots initiatives, Madu heralds the ecological toilet (composting) as a celebration of science, simplicity and sensibility - one way to return the power of autonomy to the people. She has authored two books celebrating cultural activism, Grassroots Postmodernism and Escaping Education.

Not only water-wasteful, flush toilets take 3 “marvelous” substances - water, urine and shit, make a toxic mess, then use countless chemicals in an attempt to clean it up - placing our water and our health at the mercy of the industrialized technology of treatment plants. Consider instead, a town in Sweden who, a few years ago, made flush toilets illegal allowing them to quit making waste and reclaim traditional practices of waste composting, nourishing the soil and food supply - the nurture of nature.

Like many large and looming ecological issues facing societies today, ending our addiction to flush toilets gets little press and is continually pushed to the periphery, even as the water wars have begun. Procrastinating on tough problems only negates our other sincere efforts towards change. It’s time to face the the shit that has hit the fan, so to speak.

As the Japanese say, “Shi Do Fu Ji” - The soil and body are one. Maybe it’s time start acting that way.