Environmentalism

The Plastic Bank.....social plastic, an idea whose time has come!

Loving, protecting and living on the earth

Another post about plastic, but this one is good news! This will be very short.

Please, check out the Plastic Bank - Harvesting Plastic Waste to Reduce Poverty.

What a brilliant idea they have! I don't know these people, but I am pretty sure I love them:

David Katz is the founder and President of The Plastic Bank. According to the website, David's dream was to bring hope to and liberate the minds of the world’s most disadvantaged and to rid the world of ocean plastic. His inspiration came from his travels, seeing beaches with more plastic than sand and people living in extreme poverty withouthope. David realized that, not only do the people of the world need hope, but also that the world itself is also struggling. I realize this too.

Shaun Frankson is a social entrepreneur. He wants to change the world. So do I.

Andrew Almack believes in the power of social entrepreneurship to change human behavior. I believe in the power of ideas to change human behavior.

Sarah Ross is dedicated to making the world a better place for her children and her children's children. So am I.

Please go to their website and read about this revolutionary idea. If it makes sense to you, the way it does to me, please sign their petition asking companies to use social plastic in order to improve lives while reducing plastic waste.

If you know of any other innovative businesses that are trying to solve environmental problems and improve lives, please leave a comment.

I want to introduce my readers to all of them, because I know that if we all work together we can protect the environment and improve the lives of those living in dire circumstances.

With open minds and optimistic hearts we can make a difference. That is why WE are here NOW.

The fire of love

"The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered fire." Teilhard de Chardin, 1936

I love this quote because it speaks to the amazing potential of love to totally revolutionize the way we live. But, only if we harness the energies of love with the same fervor and dedication that we have devoted to harnessing the resources of the natural world.

It is so interesting to me that Teilhard predicts we will finally understand the power of love after we have learned to harness space, wind, tides and gravitation. So much of the 20th century was devoted to figuring out how to "conquer space." Why is it that we use such a militaristic term to describe our desire to explore our solar system? As if we could, somehow, control or contain the vast universe of which we are such a tiny part.

So what does it mean to harness space, the winds, the tides, even gravity? I think that Teilhard, in 1936, meant "harnessing" in the sense of learning about and understanding these things in order to use them in a way that protects the earth.

He viewed gaining knowledge as a step in our quest to understand our relationship to divinity. As a scientist, he sought to understand the natural world and as a priest, he sought to understand our relationship to God. He believed in the continuing evolution of the natural world and the continuing evolution of the human capacity for understanding.

Most importantly, to me at least, he believed that the natural world and the spiritual world are intricately connected. To grow in reverence for one is to grow in reverence for the other. He meant, I think, that the natural world is a manifestation of God's all-encompassing love. The more we understand the mysteries of nature, the better able we will be to understand the mystery of divine love.

Now, in the early 21st century, we have come to a tipping point of enormous consequence. The natural world faces all sorts of threats caused by our misunderstanding of our relationship to it. We are in danger of depleting our natural resources, as well as eliminating species in both the plant and animal world.

Due to our unrelenting search for sources of energy that come from the earth and our unsustainable agricultural practices, we are in danger of losing the capacity to harness the most incredible and powerful source of energy in the universe - love.

Was Teilhard suggesting in 1936 that when we come to understand space, wind, gravitation and tides, we would learn to how to use them for energy production without damaging the natural world? And was he also suggesting that only when we finally learn to produce energy without harming the natural world, will we be ready to understand the true power of love?

What a mind-blowing concept that is!

We tend to think of love as something that exists for us and in us, despite how we live on the earth. But maybe, the love that we experience is just a tiny fraction of the love that is waiting for us when we learn to live in harmony with the earth. Maybe, there is a love so powerful and energetic that we can't even imagine it and, maybe, it is accessible, not in some after-life state of being, but here and now... vibrant and living within the natural world, waiting to be discovered and released.

Maybe, we who are living now at this period of environmental peril are the ones who will discover how to truly harness space, wind, tides and gravitation with reverence for the natural world and gratitude for all it provides. Maybe we are the explorers who will discover and unleash the incredible power of love that has surrounded humanity for all of its existence.

Maybe, just maybe, you and I were chosen to be emissaries of that divine love.

~~~~~~

Personal note about my discovery of Teilhard when I was a student at Boston College.

Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) was a Jesuit priest and a scientist. He fell out of favor with the Vatican due to the nature of some of his writings...writings which are now taught in theology and philosophy classes in many Catholic universities.

I came upon this quote at the beginning of the first chapter of the now-classic, Chicken Soup for the Soul. The first chapter is about love. Reading this quote brought me back to my days at Boston College in the 1960s when the Vatican still considered his work to be erroneous, if not heretical. Like many other students, I read his writings with great interest. I was particularly struck by Hymn of the Universe.

Although, I had not really thought about him in quite some time, I believe that his writings have had an influence on how I think about the earth, the cosmos and our place in both. Finding his quote as I was thumbing through Jack Canfield's book was a revelation to me. There it was so succinct and elegant - a quote that expresses what I feel and believe.

I wanted to find the date of the quote so I googled him and came upon the American Teilhard Association. Its objectives are:

A future worthy of the planet Earth in the full splendor of its evolutionary emergence.
A future worthy of the human community as a high expression and a mode of fulfillment of the earth’s evolutionary process.
A future worthy of the generations that will succeed us.

I might have to join this organization. I think I would find kindred spirits there. I embrace their objectives and explore some of them in my novel I Call Myself Earth Girl and its sequel which I am writing now.

http://teilharddechardin.org/index.php/our-mission

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

If you love the ocean, now is the time to show you care.

Think for a moment about the oceans. What do they mean to you?

For most of my life, I have lived less than an hour's drive from an ocean and it gives me comfort to know that I am so close. I can't really imagine not being able to see, smell and hear the ocean whenever I want to. For me the sea shore is a place where I find peace; where I feel most connected to the infinite energy that gives us life.

I feel loved and loving when I see a sunrise or a sunset on the water. I feel connected to those who live on the "other side" of the immense and beautiful sea that connects one continent to another. I feel, indeed, that I could not live without the ocean.

And I am right. Even if I lived hundreds of miles from it, I could not live without the ocean. Neither could you. Literally.

Oceans are integral to human survival.

Maybe that is why so many people love to be near them. Is there something deep in our collective unconscious that knows our survival as a species is intricately connected to the oceans that make up over 70 percent of the earth's surface?

Without being consciously aware that 94 percent of life on earth is aquatic, do we realize in the depths of our being, that we land-dwellers are a small minority and that we are, indeed, dependent on the biodiversity the ocean contains?

When I used to scuba dive in the Caribbean, I was amazed by the diversity and beauty of the underwater life I saw. I never stopped to think about the bio-medical products that have been made possible by the diverse forms of marine plant and animal life.

When I enjoy the majesty of Gloucester's rocky coast, or Cape Cod's sandy beaches, I never once think about how the ocean transfers heat from the equator to the north and south poles, or how it moderates carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere. I simply bask in its beauty and relax into the peaceful, contented feeling that being near the ocean always gives me.

I know that millions of people share this love of the ocean. That is why so many people choose ocean-based vacations. Lately, though, I have begun to think that we are drawn to the ocean, not by its beauty, but by our subconscious understanding that it makes life on earth possible.

Has God or the universe created us to have an innate love of the ocean in order to help us understand that we need it? I think the answer is yes.

And, if the answer is yes, then it is important to understand what the ocean does for us. Even more important may be understanding what is happening to the ocean due to the increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

I am not a scientist so my explanation will be simple. I will include references at the end for more thorough understanding.

The ocean plays a vital role in removing CO2 from the atmosphere. Right now, almost half of the carbon emitted by burning fossil fuel is absorbed by the earth's oceans. More carbon dioxide can be absorbed and processed safely in cold water than in warm water.

As the earth's temperature rises, it affects the temperature of the water in the ocean. The warmer the ocean becomes the less able it is to absorb CO2 without harm to marine life, and to the ocean itself.

So, we have a huge problem: as more carbon dioxide is emitted global temperatures increase and the ocean water itself warms and is, therefore, less able to absorb the CO2.

But that is not the only problem the ocean (and we humans who depend on it) is facing. The ocean water is becoming more and more acidic due to the increase in carbon dioxide. Human activities are adding 24 million tons of CO2 to the oceans every day. Research has shown that the acidity has increased almost 30 percent in the last 100 years! This really matters because a balanced pH level in the ocean is crucial to the ocean's ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Nature gave us a beautiful system of carbon exchange between the earth, the ocean and the atmosphere. We have unwittingly debilitated that system. We have taken something beautiful and life-giving and turned it into a vicious cycle.

I don't blame us for what has happened. Most of us didn't know, or didn't understand. But that is in the PAST. All of the information is available to us now. We have no excuse not to know.

We are so privileged to be the ones who have been given the gift of knowledge. We must not reject this gift. We can not return it because it isn't comfortable. We must accept it with gratitude. We must embrace it. We - you and I - are here NOW.

Martin Luther King, Jr's words from almost 50 years ago state it well : "We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is a such thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time."

We can not wait. We must learn how to live differently. We are the leaders the earth has been waiting for. We are the stewards the ocean needs. We are the humans who have been chosen to join together and heal the earth. We can do it. We must do it. Let us begin now.

Remember that what happens next is up to all of us. We are all connected.

“When people are determined they can overcome anything.” (Nelson Mandela, Johannesburg, South Africa, Nov. 14, 2006)

References and resources

http://www.noaa.gov/ocean.html

http://www.seaweb.org/markets/health.php

http://www.climate.org/topics/climate-change/ocean-uptake-climate-change.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24904143

Speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on April 4, 1967, at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York City.

I Call Myself Earth Girl, novel by Jan Krause Greene

http://www.seaweb.org

SeaWeb helps mitigate ocean pollution by sharing and supporting safe, sustainable and responsible ways to interact with our marine environment.

SeaWeb's KidSafe Seafood program provides guidance for selecting healthy, sustainable fish for child consumption. KidSafe Seafood informs parents of the dangers of eating mercury- or PCB-laden seafood while providing sustainable, healthy alternatives.

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