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.

Check out the Simplify the Holiday Challenge!

Below is a list of fun and creative actions you can take to simplify the holiday season. Pledge to 5 actions (or more!) that you will adopt this holiday season. Then, ask your friends and family to sponsor you in support of your efforts, perhaps even in lieu of a material gift.

Schor advocates a time-rich, ecologically light, small-scale & high-satisfaction economy.  The Plenitude fundamentals she describes include four principles:

1. A new allocation of time  (work less)
2. “Self-provision” (make, grow, or do things for oneself)
3. “True materialism” (being aware of the impact on the environment of what we consume)
4. Restore investments in one another and our communities

Or, in more simpler terms “Work and spend less.  Create and connect more.”

The “create and connect more” part was something I had been putting to the side, focusing a lot on the “spend less” part of life.  Just thinking about creating more brought joy back front and center!!!

Have a look at this video where you’ll get an overview of the ideas Schor’s puts forward in her book:

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.

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

I was recently introduced to Jane Jacobs and her thoughts about urban living.  She passed away a few years ago at a ripe age of 89 years, a true-blue reformer advocating for some 40 years that communities required connection in their design.  She argued that modern urban planning needed to move away from its unnatural & austere philosophies and embrace a more authentic sense of complexity and diversity.

Jacob’s ideas championed the people and their need for a sense of connection to place.  “It’s messy,” she professed.  Neighborhoods need to be designed to support active living – easy walking ways and public transportation for trips up to 2 miles from home.  Buildings should be of various ages and states of repair.  Change needs to well up from the masses and be incrementally implemented.  Take the 20-year transition of Toronto becoming more bike friendly … it began with the introduction of bike lanes, then places to park bikes in the city, then racks on front of buses.  “Now just look at all the bikes in Toronto,” she beams!

The excellent video below, produced by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, includes an introduction to Jane and offers some relevant ideas for today’s thinking about communities and sustainability:

Scanning through my morning news sources the other day I came across a couple new ideas for living more green – an eco-hotel and baby-clothing-rental service.

Tubohotel, located 45 miles south of Mexico City, is made from waste construction concrete pipes.  Furnished with a queen-sized bed, desk light and fan, with space for under bed storage, these hotel rooms are priced at US $42/night.  Communal bathhouses are provided onsite.

Inspired by dasparkhotel in Germany, Tubohotel is part of a growing trend of eco-responsible tourism and recycled architecture.

This video shows the layout of Tubohotel:

For more info, visit:  www.tubohotel.com

The other new business concept I happened upon was renting baby clothes.  Similar to the Netflix model for renting movies, Plum – a San Francisco startup offers baby clothes for rent by the month.  In an effort to transcend ‘outright ownership’ this idea of hand-me-downs delivers good-as-new items in seasonally appropriate styles and the correct size.  Customers can order 2, 4 or 7 outfits at a time.  Orders are mailed in a returnable envelop with an organic muslin laundry bag.  Clothes can be sent back at any time within three months.  Stains, they say, are no problem – they are taken out of rotation and donated.

Plum in action from Plum Babies on Vimeo.

If you’ve got wee ones in your home, check out www.plumgear.com.

The reading list won’t be too extensive – it’s summer time after all – but it will be just long enough to easily mix in with your other summer reading.  … We might even include a few documentaries available online for the group to watch and discuss!

Fee:  $15.

Contact Carol if you have any questions or would like to sign up.  The group’s first conference call is Tuesday, July 26!

The Eco-Spirituality PRACTICE Group provides an opportunity to stay current with eco-news and check in with others who are endeavoring to live more lightly and lovingly on the Earth.

We’ll pick one seven-day eco-spirituality practice each month, explore it individually on our own timetable, and check in with each other during a conference call at the end of the month to share and appreciate one another’s insights and good works!

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

• Rethinking Trash “Discovering There is NO Away!”
• Reconnecting with the natural world “Lightening Up”
• Soul work “Developing a new sense of ourselves”

Kick off beings in July 2011 with “Discovering There is NO Away!”

Two conference call per month:  30-minute launch call at the beginning of the month, and a 60-minute check in conference call near the end of the month.  Group determines convenient conference call day/times.

Fee:  $15/mo.

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.