Profound Courage
A young woman speaks up to all adults at a UN conference.
We should all pay close attention:
Saving A Life In About An Hour
A remarkable and moving story ~ a handful of people on a small boat save a whale’s life and are richly rewarded.
Be inspired in 8 minutes….
Thank you Gayle for sharing this video!
Paradise On Earth
It’s rare to come across so many solutions to creating a paradise on earth all in under 7 minutes, David Wolfe has done it again.
I don’t agree with everything here ~ cooking can still be done with solar and with the environment in mind (even the raw foodist’s use at least 3 devices that require electricity) and I’m not sure about sending nuclear waste to the middle of the sun BUT this is how we need to start thinking, researching and acting. It is possible to have paradise on earth and sooner than we think. We have the resources, we have the intelligence all we need it to want to.
Regenerating The Earth
After reading an email depicting the global degenerating state of affairs of our neglected most precious resource, water, I was feeling overwhelmed, powerless and angry about the lack of protection of the quality of our water. It’s the way I felt all through university in Environmental Studies, constantly bombarded with only the bad news of our toxic environment and no hope of light at the end of the tunnel.
Then I spoke to Shawn Waetcher, founder of Shawn’s Atlantean and once he shared success stories of re-creating thriving environments for our food system I felt completely revitalized. I remembered that my mission is to spread the word on good news and all that is possible.
Shawn has been collecting seeds since the age of 3. He’s been planting vegetable gardens before attending school. An early retirement package from his career as a police officer gave him the opportunity to spend his time growing his hobby and passion into a business. His fertilizer products are producing high yielding results. His natural body care products which he created to re-hydrate his own dry skin sells itself as all his ‘lady’ clients keep ordering more…
In our interview we talked about the quality that’s not available in the food from the mainstream sources. He shares the science behind his products and how they work on building the internal composition of food to achieve the high minerals and sugars necessary for high quality, satisfying to the taste buds, food.
“We don’t have food with right composition of sugar and minerals, the fertilizers achieve the high quality we need. It doesn’t go bad and it tastes heavenly and we don’t need as much, it’s so satisfying. If we want quality food we need a quality environment.” Can you imagine what we’re missing!
Shawn trained with the late Dr. Carey Reams who helped green the desert in Israel in the 30′s and learned that a basic principle to achieving high quality food and crops is to approach the matter wholistically. This means combining biology, chemistry and physics since all three are necessary to work with nature and achieve the energetic level necessary. Currently, only one or two of these science are applied to our mainstream crops.
Shawn touches on the issue of the trend of using too much nitrogen, although it’s necessary for healthy grow, too much focuses on how the grass or plants look and does not take into account what’s going internally. How symbolic for our societal norms in general.
The most revitalizing part of the interview was the story shared about the neglected orchard in Paris, Ontario. With Shawn’s knowledge and his work using microbes an entire orchard was brought back into full bloom in two years. Not only were the various fruit trees producing more than ever, a bee keeper in the area couldn’t keep up with all the honey, the bees were loving all the nectar and the entire system is thriving!
This is the kind of story that uplifts me and keeps me inspired to continue looking for the people that will help shape our future. I believe Shawn is an individual we are all going to need to help us revitalize and regenerate the earth if we hope to keep this planet our home.
More interesting information on bees and what Rudolf Steiner had to say back in the 20′s that we need to know today to keep our food system going.
Shawn, I can’t thank you enough for sharing your wisdom and stories and for doing all you do for our planet.
Visit Shawn’s website and listen to our interview below.
Wonderous Water
Our profound interview with Dr Romila Verma revealed a fraction of the complex issues behind our most precious resource : Water. It unites us; water runs through culture, country, race, gender, age, politics, religions, status and finances. There is no substitute. It’s in everyone’s best interest to work on protecting our water.
Dr. Verma beautifully describes that as a small child growing up in India, water found her and showed her it’s importance. Personal experiences with Malaria and other stories of water borne diseases have shaped Dr. Verma’s interest and passion to focus her work on treating water as a “common good.” She is the voice for water and the 2.5 million dieing each year (mostly children) as a result of unlcean water.
We can all benefit from understanding the breakdown of available water (source USGS):
~ 70% of our planet is made up of water
~ 97% of that is Salt water, leaving 3% Fresh water
~ only 0.3% of that 3% Fresh water is surface water which we use to drink
Listen to our interview to hear the full story and allow yourselves to be impacted by what you hear. Reconnect with water’s story every time you turn on the tap, think of the millions of years it takes to create a clean, sustainable body of water, be reminded of the infrastructure, process, finances and art behind our urban water filtration systems and think about what we put into our 0.3% available water source every time we put harmful chemicals back into the system.
More to come from Dr. Verma….
Earth Custodian Extraordinaire
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Meet Angela Bischoff, Outreach Director for Ontario’s Clean Air Alliance [dot] org and green-spirationist and activist extraordinaire. I was fortunate enough to be a part of Tooker Gromberg’s ‘Greenspirations’ email list before folks were building email lists and have gotten to know Angela’s work through the news items, events and information she consistently puts out.
It’s an open secret that our current energy sources and consumption are not sustainable and are creating environmental and health issues, to put it mildly.
In our interview, Angela shares surprising statistics on who’s using how much energy, underlying reasons for our slow progression towards sustainable energy, how the Clean Air Alliance is working towards practically making change and empowers us with tips on what we can do to make a difference. Change and conservation begin at home.
Despite the challenges ahead, Angela shares three incredible milestones worth celebrating:
~ The Green Energy Act “is the most progressive piece of legislation on the continent” (and let’s do our part to keep it here!)
~ Ontario has legislated the Coal Phase Outs by 2014 and is doing so for the right reasons, deliberately and all parties have agreed. Wow. Go Ontario!
~ Toronto has just under 1 million cyclists that say they would bike more if it was safer. Overall, despite recent steps backward, the cycling community and bike lanes have set Toronto apart. We can support Angela in her East to West bike lane project on the Danforth.
Ultimately, the issues and solutions have been around for a long time. I believe the greatest task at hand is to open up our hearts and move from a place of fear to love and embrace and surrender to our green evolution.
Contact angela [at] cleanairalliance [dot] org to receive ‘greenspirations’ and ‘no nuke’ news.
In gratitude to Angela for her dedication to the restoration of our city, province and planet.
The Smart Hanger
An interview with Leigh Meadows of The Smart Hanger reveals how one commitment can blossom into a garden of positives for the environment, industry, non-profits, children, women and much more. A real example of an invention that’s solving a landfill issue, creating profits, inspiring children and industry, all done with grace and balance.
Leigh walks us through her inspiring journey of how the The Smart Hanger was sparked by a suggestion made by her 8 year old son, the work involved in bringing to life this innovation and the motivation that keeps her on track when challenges arise. Leigh also shares her secret recipe for outlining and achieving goals and what she hopes to see happen for the green industry.
A few surprising (but so true!) nuggets of conversation about listening to our children and writing down the legacy we want to leave for ourselves and our children.
Spend 30 minutes listening to this interview to be refreshed of all the possibilities available to us when we step into our values, passions, motivators and an I can mindset.
http://www.thesmarthanger.com/
An Hour A Week
Twice this week I’ve been gently reminded by two very different but equally dynamic women, both busy mothers, that spending an hour a week expressing your creativity is fundamental.
It’s important to nurture and feed the artist within, period. No guilt, no compromise. Set aside the time every week and commit. Whether it’s writing, painting, sculpting, the list goes on, it’s important for our overall balance. When the artist is fed, feelings of resentment decrease. When resentment is gone, there’s more space for joy, health is improved and we emit a higher vibration to our loved ones. This positive ripple effect is felt by everyone. Our children learn by watching us that creative play is an important part of life and we model commitment to our overall wellbeing.
One of the women is an artist who put painting on the back burner while raising her family. Now that the children are older she is picking up a brush again. Her art teacher commented, ‘imagine where you could have been if you’d just spent an hour a week.’ If she could do it all over again, there would be no back burner. It’s her only regret. Another women, painter as well, describes it as feeling dark when she’s not working on her paintings and everyone notices a change in her so she keeps it up to keep herself feeling alive, patient and vibrant.
I’ve been guilty of starving my artist but after these gentle nudges, I’ve taken the message to heart and will dedicate an hour (or two!) to my creative expression knowing it’s good for me, my daughter and the planet! This usually means waking up during the paperroute delivery hours but it’s absolutely worth it.
I hope this encourages you to keep life delicious through dedication to nurturing your creative being.
A Promise To Our Children
I promise to be the very best version of me
And guide you along to be the best you can be
I promise to nourish my mind, body and soul
And teach you to love yourself whole
I promise to honour you, treat you with respect
Be kind to myself and others, the example I will set
I promise to listen to you when expert advice conflicts
Co-parent with divine guidance, to sweet surrender submit
I promise the planet to clean up and protect
Fresh air and water you will have, not toxic effects
I promise to build a strong foundation of love
May you blossom my joy, a gift sent from above
- anne marie daniolos
Inspiring Spring
Had to share this beautiful painting I came across on facebook by Kathryn Graham Wilson
Let’s Learn From Nature and Let HER Guide Us
Brilliant!!!
“Learning about nature and learning from nature are profoundly different. Learning from nature is the new lens we need to wear.”
Installing The ‘Love’ Program
This is the program the world needs now….
The Installation of Love!
Installing Love on the Human Computer…
Tech Support: Yes, how can I help you?
Customer: Well, after much consideration, I’ve decided to
install Love. Can you guide me through the process?
Tech Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?
Customer: Well, I’m not very technical, but I think I’m ready. What do I do first?
Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you located your Heart?
Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now. Is it okay to install Love while they are running?
Tech Support: What programs are running ?
Customer: Let’s see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge and Resentment running right now.
Tech Support: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High Self-Esteem. However,you have to completely turn off Grudge and Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed. Can you turn those off ?
Customer: I don’t know how to turn them off. Can you tell me
how?
Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and Resentment have been completely erased.
Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that normal?
Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get the upgrades.
Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, “Error – Program not run on external components.” What should I do?
Tech Support: Don’t worry. It means that the Love program is set up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before you can Love others.
Customer: So, what should I do?
Tech Support: Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge your Limitations.
Customer: Okay, done.
Tech Support: Now, copy them to the “My Heart” directory. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty programming. Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.
Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files.Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?
Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed and running.
One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.
Customer: Thank you, God.
God/Tech Support: You’re Welcome, Anytime.
- Anon
A Drop Of Paradise On Earth – Brazil
Thank you Ana Paula, for sharing these beautiful photos of your recent trip.
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Contact Ana Paula Photography : paula_caria609@hotmail.com
Hope
This is my personal mission and the driving force of Pholia.
THANK YOU Danish Ahmed for sharing this post!
Find Danish at : http://www.facebook.com/OrdinaryWords
A Disservice To The Environment
During an interview and engaging conversation with the CEO of a solar panel company I realized what a disservice we green folk have been doing the environment by not being in green businesses earlier.
For so long, it’s been ‘wrong’ to be green and to profit. We’ve been living in a ‘this or that’ frame of mind instead of creating winning situations for people making a living doing goods for the planet. Thankfully, a few brave souls broke ground and paved the road – with environmentally friendly paving material – a showed us we can have both and it’s good to do both. Funny enough, most of these brave souls come from the financial industry, bringing their business sense to the world of green.
We are at the tipping point of the environmental movement and I can’t help but wish we realized that we would be doing ourselves and the planet a favour had we started sooner. As the saying goes, all in divine time.
Quesadilla’s, Ethical Business & The Envirnment
A recent conversation with the owner of an oh-so-cute Mexican lunch spot with the yummiest Quesadilla’s I’ve ever had left my taste buds satisfied and soul wondering about the definition of success and how we do business.
Jorge the owner is unassuming and brilliant. Before venturing to start one last business before retiring, he studied everything stats Canada had to say about the top three trends in the market, percentages, cities, demographics, colours and so much more. He used wisdom gained from past experience in the corporate world, his knowledge of having lived in other countries and his zest for life to breakdown what he wanted to do, where he wanted to do it and how it should be done. And he has indeed achieved success with sales tripling in a 3 year period. And you would never know just by looking at the place …
I applaud Jorge on his hard work and his incredible success and wish him the best of luck for the future. However, there was one thing he said that caught my attention, raising concern about the success and how we achieve it.
Location was chosen based on the kind of spending habits folks have in this area of the city, you know the folks that work all day in factories and plants and then spend every penny they’ve earned. Stuck in the vicious cycle of clocking in and out and then de-stressing by spending, they never save, get out of debt or achieve their dreams. These habits may make for one for very successful Mexican joint but it also makes for a very vulnerable city. One plant or factory closes and a whole lot of people are out of job and then the whole city is out of paying customers!
I started to think about how we use the statistics at hand. Statistics are an extremely powerful tool. What if we were to use the data to empower an entire city by educating them on how to use to the money they earn? How to save, plan to get out of debt and achieve bigger picture goals? Wouldn’t this make for a much livelier, happy and healthy group of people? Wouldn’t this make for a more sustainable, economic foundation for the city? And wouldn’t we still be doing business? But ethically??? A financial planner could charge modestly for a seminar and Jorge could provide lunch. Folks would still go out to eat but maybe not as often. Jorge could creatively fill that gap or expand in other ways.
I believe we reach a finite end when we use the power of statistics to prey on others. This type of success is limited. However, if we shift our perspective to serving and empowering others we nurture and grow abundance, sustainbility and experience infinity and limitless possibilities.
All of this is possible and we don’t need to wait for things to collapse before we discover there was another way. We only have to shift our perspective and ask ourselves if we’re being ethical and it can be done.
Better still we can stretch the same principle to environmental issues. We experience the planet’s resources as limited because of the way we perceive, manage and use them. If we applied a different philosophy, one that is grounded in ethics, respects all life and resources the way Native American practice reconciles every action with it’s effect on the next 7 generations, we would experience abundance and an infinite amount of resources. And we’d still have time for lunch.
That would be the coolest way to live.
Living on Less Than $2 A Day
Some of these folks make our iphones….
Indoor Air Quality and Winter
My family and I first moved to the burbs when I was 12, into a brand new home. This was a big deal for my parents who moved to Canada very young, started with very little and worked their way to be able to afford this house.
For the first few years, we all felt sick with nausea, headaches and a kind of cloudy feeling after being in the house for a few hours. We all had our own theories about what was going on and it wasn’t until I was 17 and attended (back then, I’m 34 now) a ‘green’ workshop where a women spoke about ‘off gasing.’ It suddenly made absolute sense that this rewarding home was releasing toxins from all the new building materials and was making us sick. New materials will off gas anywhere from 3 – 7 years.
That’s where my passion for the environment first started, particularly in green building. I got my degree in Environmental Studies and have been running my own eco-painting and green building consulting company for the last 5 years. Our homes should not make us sick! And as green architect Martin Leifhebber says, it’s like putting ourselves and all these chemicals into a jar and then tightening the lid.
With the temperature dropping we are all spending more time inside and I want to share a few tips to keep the quality of your indoor air quality high to protect us and our little people. Indoor air quality is 5 times worse inside than outside*. We share the air and are likely to experience symptoms if we don’t take some precautions.
- Open windows daily, even a couple of times a day for a brief period. Do this in your car as well, especially if the car/home is newer.
- Bundle up and go outside, even if it’s just for a little bit.
- Duct cleaning (best time is before furnace season but it’s not too late)
- If you’re thinking about renovating or painting, use low or no VOC products. Yolo Colour House paint is my favourite for painting, other products will depend on what you’re renovating. There are lots of products claiming to be green, check specific levels and what standard they’re going by.
- House plants: NASA has performed extensive testing on indoor air quality and the capacity of plants to filter out the deadliest of toxins. The top 3 house plants to help in clearing the air are: Areca Palm (aka yellow palm or butterfly palm), Lady Palm and the Bamboo Palm. They are also easy to maintain*.
- HEPA filters (air purifiers, furnace filters or in newer vacuums)
(*Source : EPA, CMHC, How To Grow Fresh Air by Dr B C Wolverton)
Turning Our Waste BACK into Oil!
Waste as a treasure, a machine that travels the world turning garbage into
usable oil
Flour Power and Carbon-Neutral Bio-Diesel
“For every pound of flour, one half-litre of carbon-neutral bio-diesel is produced for the farmers. Food AND fuel from the same harvest” reports Greg Herriot of Oil Seed Works on their Flour Power
Murals and Furniture
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Our team of painters is growing and their work makes me glee – these are my favourite jobs!
Focused on children’s room but not exclusively. Customize anything!
All products are environmentally friendly…
Mural : Under the Sea
Mural : Sleepy Racoon
Furniture : Forest Cabinet
Furniture : Table and Chairs
Furniture : Wall Cabinet
Furniture : Hide Your Gloves
Furniture : Peacock Painted Glass
There’s more where this came from … talk to us for more information :
annemarie@pholia.com
