TREASURE AND TRASH

When I was growing up on the island of Borneo one of the sheer delights of living right on the beach was searching for shell treasures at low tide. We would walk right out on the exposed reef and pluck the beauty right from it's home. It is amazing how intricate and colorful these shells can be, and they are made by tiny creatures! I have never made anything that incredible. You should see the bowl I made in high school that my Mom still has. I have a very different view now of these treasures from the sea. Makes me shudder to think of what we did as kids, but we didn't know that coral is a living creature and it dies when you walk on it and crush it. We also killed animals by the hundreds just to get their shells for our "collections". Now I pick them up only if they wash up on shore and have no creatures still alive inside them. The beach that I am growing up on all over again here on Kauai has fantastic shells that wash up because the reef just offshore is still so alive. Every day there are people there combing the sand for their daily treasure. And every day I am there combing the sand for the daily trash that has washed up. The ocean gives us beauty and we give her garbage.

It drives me NUTS that people are taking treasure from the ocean but they won't help her out by picking up the trash that has washed up RIGHT NEXT TO THE SHELL THEY ARE PICKING UP! I always hope that teaching by example really works, but I must say it doesn't seem to in this case. The shell pickers often ask me to show them what I am picking up because they assume I am also gleaning treasure. When I show them the trash some just walk away without saying anything, some say "good for you" or some such thing, and a few say "oh I pick up trash too". The voice in my head that doesn't come out my throat says "then why is it all still here???? Oh you mean you pick up every third Monday of the month." I can't say it out loud because how can that possibly go well? But guess what? We create trash every single day. The Earth doesn't get a day off from our onslaught. People take gifts from her every single day, but they don't HELP her every single day. So damaging her 30 days in a month and helping her 1 day a month?

Now take a moment with this picture.
This is what we as humans have done. This used to be a river that gave treasure to the people that live along its banks. We have given it trash in return. When I first saw the picture I thought well that right there is why there is so much washing up from the ocean when rivers like this empty into her. Then a more sobering thought: the U.S. is the largest polluter in the entire world. Some of you reading this are also in this country. This river is NOT in the U.S., so we are polluting MORE than what is in this picture. WOW. Are we willing to choose different habits? Are we willing to create less trash so we change this contribution to the world, no matter where we live?

When was the last time you went through an entire day without throwing away anything? Not one piece of trash for an entire day. Just try it. No, I don't mean store it somewhere and then throw it out the next day! It is astounding what happens when you try this. You become conscious really fast! I live a fairly simple life and I found so many things in my hand about to be thrown out in just one day. If you can go for one day without generating one speck of trash then try for two. Then more.

The other day there was a HUGE pile that washed up in one particular spot on the beach. I began piling it up in the trees so it wouldn't wash back out and I could come back and get it later. There was way too much to carry in my usual grocery sized bag. It eventually filled one of those giant barrel liner bags, and all from one day's high tide. There was a woman who stood watching me for about 20 minutes as I made trip after trip to get it all up past the high tide line. She is someone I have chatted with before so I know she believes that God created all this beauty around us. I got brave and went up and asked her if she would come help me care for God's creation. Are you ready for this? Her reply: "I would if I lived here"!!!!!!!!!! WHAT? I am stunned. I don't know how to reply. She is one of these people who comes for several months in the winter but her primary residence is on the mainland. Well guess what? WE ALL LIVE HERE. We ALL live on this planet. We ALL create trash. We ALL can help deal with it wherever we are. It's not someone else's mess to clean up. It is our mess. Those little kids floating in that river don't deserve an Earth that is even going to be WORSE than that when they grow up.

So let's change what we are doing. Don't ever take a day off from helping. Don't ever just take treasure and leave trash. We've GOT to make different choices before that picture above is the picture of every river and ocean on the planet. So...how much did you throw out today? I'd love to hear what you discover as you try to go through a day or week without creating a single piece of trash.
Thanks for listening.

MEMORY OR FANTASY

The most amazing thing happened today. In a year and a half of swimming at Larsens I have never seen a monk seal in the water, which is quite surprising since I see them there on the beach quite regularly. Well today, the GIFT! I was just about to get out of the water when suddenly there was this beautiful creature, and thank goodness the water was clear today so we didn't bump face to face before we saw each other! They are like liquid, breathing, incense, wafting and swirling through the water. I stopped swimming just to see what he would do, and he swam a big U around me and then just sat for a moment between 2 coral heads looking at me before he swam off. A big adult male that I knew from my seal watches. They are HUGE in the water! They look much bigger than on the sand. Maybe because what I am used to seeing in the water is nothing larger than a sea turtle. It was pure magic. These creatures are GORGEOUS! What a gift. I was so EXCITED I felt like a 4 year old. The rush of adrenaline needs to be bottled for use at a time when I feel low on energy!

For a long time I've had a fantasy about what it would be like to encounter a seal in the water on my daily swim, and now it will be a beautiful memory to cherish. Which brought to mind a wonderful quote I just heard from Jack Kornfield: "The only place you can really love is in the present. Love in the past is a memory, and love in the future is a fantasy." So today I got love in the present. Neither a memory or a fantasy.

Then I came home to an email about 25 uses for coffee filters because you can get 1000 at the dollar store for almost nothing! WOW. And 17 of those 25 were for single use and throw things. Like using a coffee filter as a spoon rest while you cook and then you can just throw it out. Again, WOW. Our throw away society is throwing away Creation. I just read that the amount of paper used just in junk mail in the U.S. is the equivalent of clear cutting the ENTIRE Rocky Mountain National Park every 4 months!!!!! That's not all. The emissions created are the equivalent of 9.4 MILLION cars. And here comes someone urging us to use and throw more paper every single day like that is a good thing. How can this be? Can people really not know that they are destroying forests and poisoning air with these choices? There is SO much information now about "going green" everywhere, it seems like it would be impossible to not know.

But then comes the most difficult thought of all. The email came from people who would say they love God with all their heart. Being Christian, they would also say they believe God created this Earth. So how do you get from all that love, to thinking it is o.k. to promote destroying what God created? Urging people to use and throw more paper every day. I just don't get it. God is not loved when we destroy what He made. The love of God they feel is not in the PRESENT in a decision like that. Maybe they did something to help save God's Creation last week like taking in the recycling, and maybe they have a plan to do something in the future like join a trash clean-up day. So one is a memory and the other a fantasy. But what about love RIGHT NOW? What about Creation in this present moment? (Yes, I'm using my computer right now, I know. So I'm doing harm while I'm trying to help. Crazy. I haven't yet found a computer that does no harm. But I'm looking.)

Whatever your religious or spiritual beliefs I ask you to bring the LOVE of Creation into the present moment. Not just a memory of what you did for the Earth a few days ago or what you plan to do tomorrow. What about THIS moment? Can you get up and go turn off a light or something? I read an article by "No Impact Man" (picture the cape blowing in the breeze), who suggested a period every day where you do NO impact to the Earth. You don't use electricity, drive a car, or use any resources, for a few hours each day. He calls it an "Eco-Sabbath". Beautiful. He has tried for an ENTIRE day of no damage to Creation. My new hero. I wonder if he has super powers to save the Earth. I sure hope so.

So what can you do to be kind to Creation in THIS moment? Not a memory of what you did do, or a fantasy of what you will do. Now go do it.
Thanks for listening, and acting.

MY FAVORITE THINGS

Raindrops on oceans and whiskers on monk seals, bright copper coral and how warm the sand feels, these are a few of my favorite things! (Where is Julie Andrews when you need her?)

In talking with friends and family about enviro things I have been asked a lot of questions about what to buy when trying to be kind to the Earth. So here are some of my favorite products I have discovered, and perhaps this can inspire you to do some sleuthing of your own and try different things. Because I am Mr. Frugal these are all very cheap! There is more and more out there as companies start to step up and offer options that do no harm. Let's keep that momentum going by more people buying these products so companies keep moving in that direction. My dream is that one day ALL things on the shelves will do no harm. Can you imagine if we don't even have a choice to damage the Earth because there ARE no products that do damage???? Hold that thought. Right now the majority of people still choose products that harm, so that is what you see the most of on shelves. Be part of the change. Be someone that demands things that are made with the Earth in mind.

Bar Soap. There are so many delicious options now both in health food stores and "regular" stores and I keep trying different ones (I shop the sales!), but the one I love the best so far is called Chandrika. It is Ayurvedic from India, it's really inexpensive, and smells DELICIOUS! I've seen it at all the health stores here.

Dish/Hand Soap. This was a discovery for me: these 2 are marketed differently but are the same thing! And dish soap is sold for much less. So now I buy a huge dish soap and refill all my hand soap containers. (then you don't keep buying and tossing those hand soap containers either. Win, win.) I've never found a big difference in all the liquid soaps I've tried, but for those of you who shop at Costco they now have their own Kirkland label of dish soap that is 100% biodegradable! YAY! It comes in a HUGE bottle of course, but soap doesn't go bad so it might last me a year. That would be hilarious to buy soap once a year!

Laundry Detergent. I've tried many and again I haven't found a difference in them, but I don't have little kids rolling in mud puddles to contend with, so stains are not something I have to test them on. My favorite right now is Eco because it smells so yummy and Costco sells it as well as their own Kirkland biodegradable brand. Although I don't use bleach, I know there are biodegradable bleaches as well, and PLEASE use them. Bleach is one of the most horrific things you can pour down a drain. Might as well dump pure acid on the creatures on the reef and see if they survive.

Shampoo. For some reason I haven't experimented much with this. From time to time I've received gifts of shampoo and have never liked them enough to go buy them. So for AGES I've used Suave, which is available everywhere. But you have to READ the label. There are only a few of their entire line that are biodegradable. Their "Naturals" line is NOT all biodegradable, but some are. I love the lavender best.

Toothpaste. My all time top of the list is Jason PowerSmile! Funny name, pure peppermint oil that will knock your socks off if you like that sort of zing, and organic.

Hand/Face Lotion. I don't buy separate lotions for different body parts. I think the chemical ones use milder ingredients for face, but when there are no chemicals, what works for one place on your body works everywhere. At least that is my experience. I like Nature's Gate Herbal.

Deodorant. This was a hard one for me. For most of my life I was in a profession where I was SWEATING profusely every minute I was at work, and I am one of those people who STINKS! I know some people smell like roses when they sweat. Not me. Even before I became conscious of chemicals that harm I only found one "regular" deodorant that actually worked for me. Then when I started trying eco ones the whole process began again, and I spent a lot of smelly days before I discovered a roll-on called Crystal. No I'm not just rubbing a big clear rock on my armpit, although I've heard some people do! Here in Hawaii they even sell it at Longs Drug Stores. If you don't have body odor but like to smell good there are many delicious options in health food stores that have no harsh chemicals.

Household Cleansers. I've gone back to the "old days". Baking soda and vinegar do just about any job around the house. With toilets and bathtubs you can sprinkle some soda in (start with a wet bathtub), walk away for hours and let it do its thing, and then come back and scrub it away. Yes you do have to scrub a bit on the bottom of the tub, because it doesn't just burn things away like chemicals do. But it's saving you from breathing in all those toxins as well as them not going into the water where you live. Better for everyone. I've also heard lemon juice is wonderful, but haven't experimented with that yet. There are of course bottled cleansers at the health stores, but the only one I've tried is Simple Green and I don't notice a difference from baking soda in terms of cleaning, and it has a strong smell I don't enjoy.

Sunscreen. I've never tried out "safe" ones because I prefer to be outside when the sun is not really strong or wear protective clothing, but I have seen sunscreens in the health stores that do not put chemicals into your own blood stream (absorbed through your skin) or leach off into the water if you go swimming. Chemical sunscreens coat the reefs where people swim and literally choke the organisms that live there. Thought I should mention it since I live in a sunscreen State!

When the dog bites, when the bee stings, when I'm feeling sad...I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don't feeeeeeeeel SO BAD. (big finish) If you don't know the Sound of Music, then you probably think I am totally whacko right now!

If you have favorite Earth-loving products leave a comment so others can try out your favorites too!
Thanks for listening and caring for our Earth in All your choices.