Over the past 7 years, I have attended many Green Festivals in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and more recently, New York City. I love going to shows, festivals, events that focus on sustainable, mindful and less wasteful living. There are always new things to learn and wonderful likeminded people to meet and teach you new sustainable practices.

In New York City, I stopped by the Green Festival that was held there last month and since I am particularly fond of recycling, repurposing and reusing in order to reduce waste, and also innovative ideas thrill me, I was excited about these businesses in particular. One is a small business and the other, an established iconic company that is making changes in the materials they use, putting them at the forefront of sustainable car design.

Ford Motors has redesigned the doors of their Fusion Energi, Focus Electric and C-Max Hybrid cars, outfitting them with eco materials such as wheat straw, for the door panel:

Soy was used to make the upper armrest panel

Corn was used to make the armrest handle

Sweet potato was used to make the map product

Sugar cane was used to make the crash block

And even more surprising is the use of… dandelions.  The perennial weed, the bane of so many gardeners, can be used to make rubber! Regular rubber is synthetic and petroleum based which isn’t a sustainable resource. This is the kind of story I love where a big corporation like Ford, has the resources to finance the research into something that we can all benefit from, including our planet. Dandelions are easily grown and the plan is  they will serve as a natural alternative to synthetic rubber in Ford products.

The small business I discovered is called ReFleece, www.refleece.com They create products from recycled fleece jackets, sweaters and fleece scraps, which are manufactured locally using low energy processes to build Ipad and Kindle sleeves, giving fleece a new form and a new life. ReFleece was founded by the nicest couple, Sam Palmer and his wife Jennifer Feller who met when they both worked at Patagonia, a company that prides itself on being environmentally responsible. ReFleece reduces the amount of waste going out to our overfilled landfills. You can even send your old fleece jacket to ReFleece and they will make you an Ipad case from it! Watch their Kickstarter campaign: http://www.refleece.com/pages/kickstarter

* Coincidentally, my Person of the Month in my May almanac is the founder of Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard!

Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth

Preamble

We, the peoples and nations of Earth:

Considering that we are all part of Mother Earth, an indivisible, living community of interrelated and interdependent beings with a common destiny;

gratefully acknowledging that Mother Earth is the source of life, nourishment and learning and provides everything we need to live well;

recognizing that the capitalist system and all forms of depredation, exploitation, abuse and contamination have caused great destruction, degradation and disruption of Mother Earth, putting life as we know it today at risk through phenomena such as climate change;

convinced that in an interdependent living community it is not possible to recognize the rights of only human beings without causing an imbalance within Mother Earth;

affirming that to guarantee human rights it is necessary to recognize and defend the rights of Mother Earth and all beings in her and that there are existing cultures, practices and laws that do so;

conscious of the urgency of taking decisive, collective action to transform structures and systems that cause climate change and other threats to Mother Earth;

proclaim this Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth, and call on the General Assembly of the United Nation to adopt it, as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations of the world, and to the end that every individual and institution takes responsibility for promoting through teaching, education, and consciousness raising, respect for the rights recognized in this Declaration and ensure through prompt and progressive measures and mechanisms, national and international, their universal and effective recognition and observance among all peoples and States in the world.

Article 1. Mother Earth

(1) Mother Earth is a living being.

(2) Mother Earth is a unique, indivisible, self-regulating community of interrelated beings that sustains, contains and reproduces all beings.

(3) Each being is defined by its relationships as an integral part of Mother Earth.

(4) The inherent rights of Mother Earth are inalienable in that they arise from the same source as existence.

(5) Mother Earth and all beings are entitled to all the inherent rights recognized in this Declaration without distinction of any kind, such as may be made between organic and inorganic beings, species, origin, use to human beings, or any other status.

(6) Just as human beings have human rights, all other beings also have rights, which are specific to their species or kind, and appropriate for their role and function within the communities within which they exist.

(7) The rights of each being are limited by the rights of other beings and any conflict between their rights must be resolved in a way that maintains the integrity, balance and health of Mother Earth.

Article 2. Inherent Rights of Mother Earth

(1) Mother Earth and all beings of which she is composed have the following inherent rights:

(a) The right to life and to exist;

(b) The right to be respected;

(c) The right to regenerate its bio-capacity and to continue its vital cycles and processes free from human disruptions;

(d) The right to maintain its identity and integrity as a distinct, self-regulating and interrelated being;

(e) The right to water as a source of life;

(f) The right to clean air;

(g) The right to integral health;

(h) The right to be free from contamination, pollution and toxic or radioactive waste;

(i) The right to not have its genetic structure modified or disrupted in a manner that threatens it integrity or vital and healthy functioning;

(j) The right to full and prompt restoration the violation of the rights recognized in this Declaration caused by human activities;

(2) Each being has the right to a place and to play its role in Mother Earth for her harmonious functioning.

(3) Every being has the right to wellbeing and to live free from torture or cruel treatment by human beings.

Article 3. Obligations of human beings to Mother Earth

(1) Every human being is responsible for respecting and living in harmony with Mother Earth.

(2) Human beings, all States, and all public and private institutions must:

(a) Act in accordance with the rights and obligations recognized in this Declaration;

(b) Recognize and promote the full implementation and enforcement of the rights and obligations recognized in this Declaration;

(c) Promote and participate in learning, analysis, interpretation and communication about how to live in harmony with Mother Earth in accordance with this Declaration;

(d) Ensure that the pursuit of human wellbeing contributes to the wellbeing of Mother Earth, now and in the future;

(e) Establish and apply effective norms and laws for the defence, protection and conservation of the rights of Mother Earth;

(f) Respect, protect, conserve and where necessary, restore the integrity, of the vital ecological cycles, processes and balances of Mother Earth;

(g) Guarantee that the damages caused by human violations of the inherent rights recognized in this Declaration are rectified and that those responsible are held accountable for restoring the integrity and health of Mother Earth;

(h) Empower human beings and institutions to defend the rights of Mother Earth and of all beings;

(i) Establish precautionary and restrictive measures to prevent human activities from causing species extinction, the destruction of ecosystems or the disruption of ecological cycles;

(j) Guarantee peace and eliminate nuclear, chemical and biological weapons;

(k) Promote and support practices of respect for Mother Earth and all beings, in accordance with their own cultures, traditions and customs;

(l) Promote economic systems that are in harmony with Mother Earth and in accordance with the rights recognized in this Declaration.

Article 4. Definitions

(1) The term “being” includes ecosystems, natural communities, species and all other natural entities, which exist as part of Mother Earth.

(2) Nothing in this Declaration restricts the recognition of other inherent rights of all beings or specified beings.

The Natural History Museum in NYC has a show on till August 11th, 2013:

Our Global Kitchen

Food Nature Culture

The topic of food interests me a great deal and especially the future of food. Which foods will be the best to grow in 20 years? Which are the most nutritious for us and can be grown successfully? Which ones help the environment rather than deplete it?

Our Global Kitchen was full of facts beginning with vertical farming, an innovative indoor farming model that will allow for food to be grown within closer proximity to cities where 70% of people are expected to be living in the future. It will be able to produce fresh, healthy food year round, protect food from weather extremes, bring food closer to the city or be right in it therefore reducing transportation from farm to city and will recycle the water and nutrients therefore reducing waste. Vertical farming will be joining urban farms that can be found today in yards, roofs and balconies! I love urban farms and urban farmers.

About the dreaded waste… of which each of us is producing and adding to our overfilled landfills: discarded food is the #1 source of waste reaching landfills, and methane from decaying food is a significant cause of global warming. Composting your kitchen scraps is one solution but also being evermore mindful about the amount of food you buy.  In fact, buying less could help… Buy only what you really need. Our consumer society should  turn into a ‘mindful” consumer society.

The future of food

Our population is expanding, while standards of living are also changing and our environment is increasingly strained. How will future food production meet the growing demand? Will our diets change?

Which foods will become fashionable in the future is impossible to predict. Most likely, some exist now and are underutilized. About 2,500 plant species have been domesticated for food. But today, almost half our food calories come from just three grains: wheat, maize and rice.

These following 8 food resources could provide solutions to problems of meeting the growing demand of producing more food without depleting natural resources:

Peach palm ( Bactris gasipaes) grows well in Central and South America and produces a large, nutritious fruit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bactris_gasipaes

Emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum), a neglected crop that is being grown in Turkey, requires less fertilizer and fewer pesticides than the breeds that are currently being grown.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmer

Insects, of which there are 2,000 species already eaten worldwide, including mopane worms (Gonimbrasia belina) in South Africa. Insects are high in protein and require much less land, water and food than animals raised for meat. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonimbrasia_belina

Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) is a grain from the Andes, which contains all the essential amino acids the human body needs for protein and has no gluten. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinoa

Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) uses nitrogen from the air as fertilizer because of specialized bacteria in its roots, which are dense and help prevent soil erosion in China.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippophae

Minor millets are cereals that have been grown in Asia for 6,500 years. Many farmers in India and Nepal are now switching from growing crops like maize and rice back to traditional varieties bred to grow on local mountainsides.

http://agritech.tnau.ac.in/postharvest/pht_millets_littlemillets.html

Algae and seaweed, which are already popular in Japan, are highly nutritious and can be grown in both fresh water and salt water. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algae

Giant swamp taro ( Cyrtosperma chamissonis), which grows well in the salty, sandy soils of many Pacific islands, is rich in vitamins and minerals. Yellow varieties are high in beta carotene, which can help prevent blindness. http://blogs.worldwatch.org/nourishingtheplanet/tag/giant-swamp-taro/

What to eat all this delicious and nutritious food with?

A history of forks:

Forks arrived in Western Europe shortly after AD 1000, when a Byzantine princess from Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey) married a nobleman in Venice, Italy. Instead of eating with her fingers, the princess cut up her food into small pieces and ate with little golden forks with two prongs.

Americans adopted forks sometime in the mid 1800′s, much later than Europeans. Before then, Americans often used either their fingers or stabbed food with knives, to the horror of their European visitors.

A history of knives:

Our early ancestors began using stone cutting tools some 2.5 million years ago. Hundreds of years ago, European hosts didn’t provide utensils, so people had to carry their own, which was usually just a sharp knife.

By the 1500′s, most knives were made of steel, which reacted to acidic foods, affecting flavor. By the 1900′s, stainless steel arrived and revolutionized mass-produced utensils.

Note: I took loads of notes at the show, and quoted directly from the material that was posted as I found it to be just perfect. I extend many thanks to the unknown writers and researchers who put this wonderful show together.

A whole room of beeswax—a smooth skin

inviting you in, tiles in tones of butterscotch

and amber, humming gold and warmth

a skin molded, embossed with lotus

luring caramel and sweet moan,

love makings in the afternoon

breathing fragrance in the scented air

tempting you to linger in that room

not wanting to get out of bed

staying on in the morning

under the drowsy covers

just a little longer

the scented time says ambrosia

you can’t be drunk enough

I am the jewel at the heart of the lotus

breath in the sweetness

open like the flower for the bee

who came on heavy wings to drink

honeycomb, my soul’s home

here I can stay, a place to say round

to say O, to say gold

to say hold

Wendy Wilder Larsen

• This poem was written after seeing a whole room of beeswax installed at Lotusland, a botanic garden in Santa Barbara by the artist Penelope Stewart

in honor of the bees which we are losing from our planet.

I just spent a couple of wonderful days exploring Death Valley, California. It’s immense and awesome. The scale of it is hard to capture in photos. Best time of year to go is February to May, when the temperature is mild and the wildflowers are blooming at different elevations.

Bring a hat

and water

Stop by China Ranch’s Date Farm

Young Date Palm frond

From a Date Palm

It’s sounds nuts but it’s 178 feet below sea level in Death Valley…

Natural treasures seen in Devil’s Golfcourse

Naturally occurring at the Devil’s Golfcourse

Got up at 5:30 am to photograph the sun coming up at Artist Palette. So worth it!

Treasures seen at Artist Palette

Honey Mesquite beans are part of the history of Death Valley and the Native Americans who lived here for thousands of years. Mesquite grows along the valley floor and along springs. The bean from the Honey Mesquite tree ripen in May, and the Indians would gather them from the thorny branches. A portion of the beans would be stored for future use in excavated pits, lined with grass and then covered with stones to protect from rodents. Now the Indians were ready to move up into the Panamint Mountains to escape summer’s scorching valley temperature.

Mesquite beans are very brittle when dried, so they can be ground into meal. The pods have a high sugar content-25% to 30%- and the meal can be mixed with water to make a cereal, or baked into bread. The seeds can be soaked in water to yield a sweet, lemon-flavored drink. Native Americans have ground Mesquite beans and another nuts and seeds for thousands of years with a mano (pestle) and a metate (mortar).

The word for Mesquite in Shoshone is “o’phi”, and this plant is also a valuable source of wood for fuel in the desert.

Death Valley gorgeously located: Amaragosa Hotel and Opera house. It’s crying for an angel to come and rescue it.

Complete awesome-ness: Zabriskie Point. Stunning. Immense. Jaw dropping.

Meditative hiker @ Zabriskie Point

Rocking in my hiking gear while taking photos of Zabriskie Point with my daughter Lucie.

Back home with my treasures from China Ranch:  Date Palm part and Sage

Native Americans in Death Valley

Indians had been living in Death Valley for thousands of years before the first pioneers struggled through in 1849. The Indian name for  Death Valley was Tomesha meaning “ground afire.” The Indians had learned that the best way to live in this area was to leave the valley during the summer. As the hot weather arrived, they followed the lines of ripening vegetation upward into the surrounding mountains where they would gather seeds and Pine nuts. In the fall, they would return to the valley where the climate would remain mild during the winter.

The Indians of Death Valley are descendants of the Southern Shoshone tribeseman who wandered westward a thousand years ago from the Great Plains and Rocky Mountains.

Note: All the information about Native Americans in Death Valley I learned at the museum located in The Furnace Creek Ranch.

1-Turn off lights in rooms you aren’t using and teach your children to do the same. 2- Bring your own reusable bags when you do any shopping. 3-When you wash your vegetables, save the water in a bucket and reuse it in the garden.

All you need are:

2 lemons (chose the heavier the better)

1/2 cucumber

10-12 mint leaves

3 quarts water

Prep Time: 5 minutes

To prepare it:

1. Slice cucumber and lemons.  Place in the bottom of the pitcher.   Add mint leaves and the water

2. Chill overnight or for at least 8 hours.

Following are my notes from a recent panel discussion between a climate scientist, an environmental reporter, and an environmental historian about what we all can do to adapt to climate change.

-We have to adapt because we have no choice.

-As we know, there is no chance we’ll return to a pre-industrial environment, so we need to think long term about how we can create a solid foundation for efficient and accessible renewable energy that will benefit our descendants in the future.

-Knowing our neighbors and investing in building and caring for a strong community will become ever more important, as sustainable living will increasingly come to be localized.

-By planning smartly, we can adapt and continue to prosper.

-These three things will all benefit your community and the environment in general: Plant more trees + Ride more Bicycles + Conserve water. Planting trees along streets create shade and help make our towns and cities cooler.

-We have to cut demand for oil, by riding our bikes more, and not using plastic bags. It takes 430,000 gallons of oil to produce 100 million plastic bags -fooddemocracy (http://fooddemocracy.wordpress.com/2008/07/16/plastic-bags-and-oil-consumption/)

-We can green the planet by eating what is grown locally and in season, rather then choosing items that are flown or shipped here from faraway climates.

-We can learn about how to be more resilient and self sufficient from other people around the world. We all need to share solutions and Twitter is an effective world connecting resource. Go to #agchat and immerse yourself in the global discussion on the future of agriculture.

“Basically, we all need to know more about the reality we are living in so give it to us straight.”

To watch the whole discussion: http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/category/events/video-archive/?postId=45318

I also wrote out my Mission and Goals at the same time. I see it every day because it’s pinned to my vision board behind my desktop. Here it is word for word:

1-To provide alternatives to plastic bags through reusable market bags, produce bags, biodegradable bags and reusable sandwich wraps ( I don’t like most biodegradable bags anymore since they pollute the environment, unless they are made with 100% natural materials like corn or natural starches. I do believe in composting all my vegan kitchen scraps and turning them into nutrient rich material for my garden).

2- To provide support to cooperatives around the world, as well as connecting to their cultures, and raise awareness of their struggle to overcome many challenges to survive.
(I still feel this way and look to support women’s cooperatives in my store and when I go shopping).

3-To provide products that provide shelter and care to our animal friends, with birdhouses, bee houses, and non-toxic shampoo for dogs, a scratch pad for cats and several books celebrating animals. (Sadly, I didn’t succeed at having a section devoted to pets since I found it difficult to find products I wanted to carry. I donated the dog shampoos since then to an animal shelter).

4- To provide a selection of non toxic home care products to teach and encourage people to rid chemicals from their home environment with natural alternatives, such as Bon Ami cleaners, natural sponges and non toxic dryer sheets. (I have stopped carrying many of the cleaning supplies because they are now widely available in most supermarkets, including the classic and wonderful Bon Ami line. I have also learned how to make my own cleaning products for a fraction of the cost of buying them in the store).

5-To provide sensible educational materials, games and books for parents to share with their children. (I still feel the same).

6-To provide inexpensive products that help you save money and energy through using less water and electricity.( I still carry these products and have learned new ways to waste less water).

7-To provide support to businesses that are making useful products using recycled materials.( I still believe this very much so and have always shown my support to small businesses that have come up with a wonderful and healthy alternative to a conventional product and especially when they use innovative and creative ideas in reusing, recycling and repurposing materials).

Clearly, seven years ago I didn’t know about how laden with toxins women’s beauty products are or I would have offered a non-toxic skin care line right from the start. It took me a few years to find one that I really love, which is Odacite’. I use it every day. In fact, I still won’t carry a product in my store that I wouldn’t use myself.

My updated wish list is as follows:

* That all paper products are made from recycled paper, whether it’s books, magazines, school and office supplies, home supplies such as Kleenex, paper towels and toilet paper

*That all beauty and skin care products are made free of chemicals

*That all cleaning products are non-toxic

*That as many products as possible are made using recycled materials

*That all food is grown without the use of pesticides, chemicals and are GMO free

*That we reduce and remove the use of plastic in our lives, and instead use reusable market bags, reusable produce bags, glass storage containers for food and glass water bottles.

Peace

Priscilla

These are the items each of us should have ready in a backpack near the front door, or underneath your bed:
*Cash ( in small denominations as well as large) and credit cards
*Social security card
*Drivers license
*Passport
*Medical records

Also

*Change of clothing for each member of the family
*Toothbrush & toothpaste
*Shampoo
*Body lotion
*Soap
*Deodorant
*Kleenex & toilet paper

Also: Family photos, and if you have a pet, you need a leash and a photo of your pet.

**Water is so vital: Store 1-gallon containers, which have a 1-year shelf life. You will need 1-gallon per person per day for 7 days. If you have a swimming pool, that water is only good for bathing and for flushing toilets. You can get a special spigot at a hardware store that attaches to your water heater, which filters out any waste. Use that water for cooking.

*Learn how to shut off the water main using a water-shut off key.

*Stock up on enough food that will feed you and/or your family for at least a week. Supermarkets only carry 3 days worth of food, so if there is any emergency, food stores will get empty very quickly. The brand Mountain House makes emergency food that has a long shelf life like.

*Buy a camping stove that uses Butane, which has a very long shelf life

*Buy Glo-Sticks or lightsicks which are an excellent source of light and can last 12 hours. Get the kind that has a lanyard so you can hang them on doorknobs when there is a power outage. They have a 2 to 4 year shelf life. Having plenty of light helps everyone feel safer.

* Alkaline batteries are a good investment because they have a 7-year shelf life

* Hands free headlamp is excellent to have, and a waterproof lantern as well

*A corded telephone that plugs into a jack in the wall is essential. When power goes out, the telephone will still work.

*Invest in a smart phone solar powered-battery charging unit

*If you don’t have water, you won’t be able to flush your toilets. Keep a box of trash bags, and put one in your toilet, and then…add cat litter to it. Keep waterless hand cleaners nearby.

*Customize your own first aid kit with all the things you need from antacids, to Advil, band-aids, lip balm, Neosporin, gauze pads, ace bandages and sting wipes.

*Buy a fire extinguisher and keep it in the kitchen. Every 6 months, turn it over and bang the bottom with a rubber mallet. It shakes up the dry material a little and increases its lifespan.

*Update all smoke detectors with new batteries and recycle the old ones

*If you live like I do in an Earthquake area, apparently the safest place to be in a room is in the corner

* I never thought about my car, but you should keep a bag in there as well with a change of clothes, water, food, light-sticks, and a window breaker in case you are stuck in your car.

*Back at home, if you don’t know already, find out where your gas meter is and learn how to turn it off. In the event of a power outage, do not light a candle until you know there is no gas leak anywhere.

* Last thing: Have an emergency plan. Discuss it with your family that in the event you have to evacuate, everyone knows what they are supposed to do. Kids should each have am emergency bag under or near their beds with extra clothing and a book or/and toy.
You also should put all your important paperwork such as the title to your house, home insurance paperwork, bank records, birth certificates, drivers license, mortgage papers, onto a flash-drive.

I hope this list is helpful to you! I’m definitely motivated just by writing it to get better organized.
Several of the items I mentioned are available for purchase through my Amazon store, which you can get to through my website www.priscillawoolworth.com