One of Jerry’s favorite inspirational quotes from The Reverend, Martin Luther King, Jr.

If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweep streets even as
Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare
wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and
earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.

–The Reverend, Martin Luther King Jr.

Last night, we attended an event, Hoop Liberation Jam, falling on the eve of this day of remembrance of a great man who changed the course of history for all of us. His words illuminated so many aspects of our lives and values that they will serve us well into all eternity. If only we take time to listen.

We gathered in a circle to set and share intentions. We honored the symbol of the circle (hoop) as a symbol of our interconnectedness and Oneness. We wished for the liberation of all people to be free – to be free to be awake, alive and whole.

Then we danced inside of our hoops. The energy of it has lingered into today. I’m listening. Tao

by Tao Oliveto, Carrboro, NC

Winter has been hard to find lately. Skis, snowboards and ice skates stay stowed away for longer periods of time each year. The mountainous snowbanks that used to still be melting far into a MN spring, now rarely reach a foot or two all year. The shortcut I took across one of the city’s lakes on my x-cross country skis is no longer a safe bet. And now, Winter can’t even seem to find Alaska.

Citing a warming climate and urban sprawl (connection noted), Grist reports that Iditarod officials announced permanent logistical changes in the race course this year, shortening the length and moving the start location 30 miles north – in search of colder temps, less asphalt and more snow.

Other professional Winter sports athletes are having to adjust to warming issues as well. Skiers, skaters and snowboarders are heeding the call to save their careers – and their passion for Winter sport. According to EMagazine, Snowboarders, Gretchen Bleiler, Lindsey Jacobellis joined the cause after experiencing significant and disturbing changes in practice and event conditions all over the world. Five of the original 8 World Cup snowboarding events were canceled last year due to lack of snow and warm temps.

Boston Bruins hockey player, Andrew Ference, wants the entire NHL to go carbon Neutral. He worked with the David Suzuki Foundation, calculating an emissions output of 25 tons of carbon per player during the sports season for flights and accommodations. He and other players now purchase Gold Standard carbon offsets and have made significant changes in their own lives as well – like driving less and recycling more. Similar meetings are happening with 20 other NHL teams while Olympic alpine skier, Kjetil Andre Aamott of Norway, has founded an anti-globalwarming campaign for Olympic athletes.

Lack of snow also has motivated recreational ski resorts to take action and move towards greener – or whiter – mountains. They may have to run snow making machines more, but some are switching to biodiesel fuel while others are purchasing wind power. The Natural Ski Areas Association joined with NRDC’s Keep Winter Cool campaign, supported and promoted by snowboarder, Ross Powers and Alpine ski racer, Picabo Street. Read more about ski areas going green here.

“It’s a lifestyle change.” says Street in EMagazine, who is making changes in her lifestyle on and off the road. “You have to focus on it, and really commit to it.”

Spoken like a true athlete.

by Tao Oliveto, Carrboro, NC

Morgan Freeman says “Our situation, with global warming and air quality and all of that, has gotten to be catastrophic.” Yet, he also tells us he commutes 1,800 miles in his private 7-seater jet to work in movieland of CA. Nicholas Cage owns 13 homes, Tom Cruise uses and abuses a ton ‘o fuel for 4 jets, while John Travolta travels in his own 5 flying machines, including a Boeing 707 airliner.

None of this is too surprising considering the lifestyles of the in-comprehensively rich and disproportionately famous. But, the denial of reason by many celebrities rarely stops there. Attempt to fathom our own Material Girl, revealed to spend approximately $124,000/year on bottles of water for her family – Kabbalah blessed, of course. At $5/bottle That’s 24,000 bottles annually, or 65 bottles disposed of every day. Recycled or not, that’s a whole lotta plastic.

We can’t complain too much – we’ve fueled the celebrity fire. The good news is that even Hollywooders can grow up and many are joining the green ranks – in style, of course. For better or worse, they have the uncanny ability to influence large numbers of the star-struck masses in endless ways. Thank you, Adrian, Ed and Darryl (and others) who are modeling consciousness as only a movie star can.

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.

by Tao Oliveto, Carrboro, NC

In 2008, No Impact Man became the self-professed, “lower impact man”. After admirably, and in my book, heroically, spending a year striving – without exception – to make no negative environmental impact on the planet (forget recycling – this guy created zero waste, washed his clothes by hand and ate healthily without resorting to refrigeration.) His return to a middle path of environmentalism this year is indeed still much lower impact than most of the population. He has and still will inspire many people. He is still a hero.

Today, as I read through his updated list of his new and forever eco-habits, I was relieved and impressed. Although he is returning to refrigeration (still no freezer), a clothes washing machine and electricity for lighting at night, the remainder of changes are staying put. As he has continually expressed, they have detracted little from – and even added to – his happiness quotient.

As I kept reading, it hit me – I’ve been “low impact girl” all along and didn’t even know it! Although I never matched the No Impact Man lifestyle this past year, I realized that I have been doing almost every thing on his current list for years. I’m still far from perfect. I do have a freezer, but I saved up for the most efficient model available and, since I live in NC, I use my a/c when August hits. Since I don’t live with convenient mass transit, I have a hybrid car, but, like NIM, love my bike more. Hey, I even wear Blackspot shoes!

More importantly, all of this has become simple and easy. I don’t feel like a “freak” – even when I take out my own cloth napkin at a restaurant. In fact, all these things now feel completely “NORMAL” to me – I’m not suffering or feeling deprived. In fact, NOT doing the things on this list seems rather freakish to me, considering the stakes.

Am I a hero? Hmm, I don’t think so. Unless you want to go with the definition sited in an English proverb: “A hero is one who is afraid to run away.”

Then you have me pegged.

by Tao Oliveto, Christmas Day

Speaking of holiday contemplation, The NY Times today revealed a strong message from Christmas in Rome. Pope Benedict XVI spent part of last night’s Christmas Mass on environmental concerns – going straight to the source: Us. “What would he (Bishop Gregory of Nyssa) say if he could see the state of the world today, through the abuse of energy and its selfish and reckless exploitation?”

Speaking of this “ill-treated world”, he continued, “Man is so preoccupied with himself, he has such an urgent need for all the space and all the time for his own things, that nothing remains for others – for his neighbor, for the poor, for God. And the richer men become the more they fill up all the space by themselves”

Ouch. The truth hurts.

But, It also heals, helps and lights the way to Change.

Merry Christmas!

by Tao Oliveto, Carrboro, NC

Innovation. I just like the word. The sound of it has flow and the meaning is filled with hope for the future. I wasn’t always keen on the idea of feeding our lives with yet more technology, but connecting with, rather than exploiting, the powerful resources of nature has been the missing link in runaway science of the industrial revolution.

Annette von Jouanne, an electrical engineering professor at Oregon State University, knows the power of the waves. Von Jouanne, an avid surfer, is director of the school’s Wallace Energy Systems and Renewables Facility, heading research on the wave power of the West coast as alternative energy. Wave power has many advantages over solar and wind – providing more power from smaller volume. Wave power is also available 80 – 90 percent of the time, compared to wind and solar, which can measure as low as 45 – 65% in availability.

While wave power is uniquely predictable, current available wave energy systems are complex and vulnerable to the untamed marine environment. Von Jouanne is working on a simpler system, using her expertise and passion for the open water. She is working with O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory, state and federal agencies and private companies, such as Ocean Power Technologies.

The Ocean experts make up one big Think Tank and I’m excited about the possibilities. In some ways, we need to turn back the clock to the simpler, healthier ways of living. But REDUCE, reuse, recycle, CFLs and a return to local farming, will not be enough. We need to reTHINK the way we harvest the power we do need and innovative science will play an important role in getting us there in time to save our lives on this planet. Surf’s Up!

(Sierra Magazine regularly reports on environmental innovators and other heroes of our changing times.)

by Tao Oliveto, Carrboro, NC

Walmart is selling a new set of toy action heroes that go by the names of Jesus, Mary and Moses. These and other “Messengers of Faith” series, from one2believe, has found a quickly expanding market – it’s been picked up by Target and online stores. Their best seller? Jesus of Nazareth. Faith sells, it seems – one2believe will soon offer around 75 products. It’s official, buying plastic stuff has become gospel.

Enter Billy Talen, humorist and political activist whose movie and book, What Would Jesus Buy?, produced and co-written by Morgan Spurlock of Supersize Me fame. While Bill Talen’s evangelism is fake, his activist message is real. Reverend Billy and his “Church of Stop Shopping” regularly goes to rallies and into public spaces to pass on his important message – “We have an emergency here. This is the time of radical America. This is a time when we change things together.”

What Would Jesus Buy? was released in theaters last month. Pass it on.