Another book on my list is from the National Council of Churches, God’s Earth is Sacred – Essays on Eco-Justice. It includes 13 essays by leading eco-theologians and an open letter to church and society in the U.S. from the Council.  God’s Earth is Sacred calls us to deep reflection on “our responsibilities as those who live within the USA - the part of the human family that represents five percent of the worlds population and consumes 25 percent of the Earth’s riches.”  It insists that our new understanding needs to be integrated “into our core beliefs and practices surrounding what it means to be ‘church,’ to be ‘human,’ to be ‘children of God.”  At its conclusion, we are urged to coherent and consistent action within the church community’s life and in the broader world “in restoring God’s Earth-the greatest healing work and moral assignment of our time.”

What eco books are on your reading list for 2012?  Please share them in “leave a reply” below and let’s grow the list begun here.

Wangari Maathai is a hero of mine, as she is for thousands and thousands of others!  Her life stands as a testimony to the difference one life can make.  She passed away yesterday and it is so heart-warming to read all the tributes pouring out onto the information highway.

One video clip I especially treasure is of her telling the story about being a hummingbird.  It’s an excerpt from the documentary movie, The Dirt.  May you enjoy it and join Wangari in being the best hummingbird you can be!

One of my favorite passages from her autobiography, Unbowed:

What I have learned over the years is that we must be patient, persistent, and committed.  When we are planting trees sometimes people will say to me, “I don’t want to plant this tree, because it will not grow fast enough.”  I have to keep reminding them that the trees they are cutting today were not planted by them, but by those who came before.  So they must plant the trees that will benefit communities in the future.  I remind them that like a seedling, with sun, good soil, and abundant rain, the roots of our future will bury themselves in the ground and a canopy of hope will reach into the sky.  (p. 289)

The global actions to save our planet last Saturday, 9/24/2011, was moving. I was able to take part in a rally in Chicago calling attention to an old coal plant in the Pilsen neighborhood that is too polluting, too close to people, too old and needs to be shut down. Have a look at the photo gallery from events held around the world – it’s so inspiring to see this global movement!

The Spiritual Eco-Practice Group at Inspiration House provides an opportunity to deepen one’s own eco-practice, stay current with eco-news and find support with others who are endeavoring to live more lightly and lovingly on the Earth.

This autumn we’ll pick one seven-day practice each month, explore it individually on our own timetable, and check in with each other via conference calls to share and appreciate one another’s insights and good works!

Seven-Day Practices to “get in the groove” include:

• Soul work – “Developing a New Sense of Ourselves”
• Reconnecting with the natural world – “Lightening Up”
• Rethinking Trash – “Discovering There is NO Away!”

The second season for the Eco-Practice begins later this month, September 2011, and includes four conference calls.  Group determines convenient conference call day/times.

Fee:  $35.

Contact Us to register.

Facilitated by Carol Hohle.  Carol is the Founder & Executive Director of Inspiration House.  She is an educator, environmentalist & spiritual activist.  She speaks, lead workshops & retreats on spiritual practices and eco-spirituality.

If you’ve been inspired like me to watch the protest going on in Washington D.C. to stop the Canada Tar Sands Pipeline from being built, but haven’t been able to join the vigil, then this action might be an appropriate way for you to show your support.  Events are being planned around the globe.  I’m joining, for example, the march from Chicago’s City Hall to nearby coal plant in the Pilsen neighborhood in support of shutting the old, polluting facility down.

Learn more about the day and find an event near you.

The Climate Reality Project airs over the internet live on September 14-15!  Tune in from wherever you are and learn how climate change is impacting the planet.  From Mexico City to Alaska, Jakarta to London, Tonga to Cape Verde, people will share their real story of what it’s like to live with climate change.  We’ll hear the impact of extreme weather events, pollution, and rising ocean waters as it is effecting everyday people and communities.  Learn more.

Plastic is one of humanity’s truly amazing inventions.  It can be molded, cast, extruded and shaped into films and fiber.  I think the most amazing shape it takes is as a vessel for carrying liquids and other items.  Bags, bottles, and boxes made of plastic have proved to be one of the most effective forms of packaging man has created.
Just take a look at this collage of objects created by plastic!

The bummer is once plastic objects have fulfilled their purpose and been ejected from our lives they turn into trash with a decomposition timetable that takes way too long.

The plastic bag, used in check out lines to collect and carry our groceries, is a fairly new invention that came onto the scene when I was a teenager in 1976.  They have become so ubiquitous though that they are overtaking the world’s landfills and creating harmful litter in every place they land.  Depending on environmental conditions it can take between ten to thousands of years to decompose – and with only one in fifty bags being recycled – recycling is not going to be long-term strategy to prevent us from gunking up the planet.

So how do we undo 30 years of growing dependency on plastics in our life?

First, I recommend developing an awareness of how much plastic we use in our own lives.  Once we’ve cultivated an awareness, we have some information upon which to plan how we can deduce our dependency on it.  Then we each have to take action to make small and big steps to eliminate it.

One woman who is tackling this issue is Beth Terry.  Let her findings and actions be a source of inspiration for you.  Watch this video and follow her blog.

Another resource that first alerted me to the fact that recycling won’t solve our choking-on-plastic problem is 5 Gyres.  This post explains the complexity of the recycling solution myth, exposes some of the misinformation tactics of the plastics industry, and offers a few short-term solutions we might collectively take to get a handle on this epidemic.

I hope that as we become aware of this issue we, as a people, will rise to the challenge it presents and will develop new materials and objects that maintain the same level of design ingenuity but remove the hazards to the environment.  I believe we are fast approaching a time when we can no longer afford to develop non-sustainable goods – we must embrace cradle-to-cradle design.

“Your home is a garbage processing center where new things are purchased
and slowly demoted through various stages of trashification until you’re done.”
- Comedian Jerry Seinfeld

To learn about your own footprint, this quiz is a helpful tool. It will measure your consumption and offer suggestions to lighten your impact.

The average American generates about 100 pounds of plastic waste a year. So did Beth Terry, until she read an article about plastic pollution in the oceans and saw a photograph of a dead albatross chick carcass filled with plastic products. Making the connection that her actions were harming a creature she never knew existed, she resolved to live a plastic free life. From January to November 2010, she generated less than 2 pounds of plastic waste.

Listen to Betty’s TEDx talk:

Learn more about living without plastic:

• Beth’s blog
• 7 Misconceptions about Plastic & Plastic Recycling
• A Life Without Plastics website