10:30pm Thursday night I sit down on the couch to watch some TV. I am flipping channels to see if I prefer watching Jay Leno, David Letterman or Nightline. I make my decision, but I still have 5 minutes until the show starts, so I flip over to the Planet Green channel, and low and behold there is Leila Connors on Supper Club with Tom Bergeron. I only caught the last half hour of the show, but I watched the show in its entirety on Friday afternoon.

I have seen all the previous Supper Club shows and have enjoyed some more than others mostly due to the topic of conversation. I really enjoyed this show the most because of just one particular point that was addressed that has had me thinking a lot over the last several months.

The point was brought up during dinner that some people don’t want to be inconvenienced with doing a simple ‘green’ thing like carry cloth grocery bags with them to the store. Host Tom Bergeron commented that these people are not so much lazy, but just struggling to get through the day. Actress Aisha Tyler added that it’s not that people don’t care, it is just not as important to them as compared to their everyday pressures. I totally agree with both of them, and saw this first hand last year when confronted in a grocery store.

I was grocery shopping and I brought in with me as I always do my reusable grocery bags. I only brought in 3 reusable bags and the grocery bagger had filled them up and started to put the few remaining items I still had left in a plastic bag. I immediately told him, please don’t put those few items in a plastic bag, just place them in the shopping cart and I will put them in a reusable bag when I get to my car. I always have a lot more bags in my car.

The woman behind me in line who was about my age, said, “Oh PLEASE! Do you really think that one plastic bag is going to ruin the world?”

I replied, “It’s one plastic bag here, and another there, and it all adds up. It’s no big deal to just bag these few items myself when I get to my car in order to help ensure we leave a healthy and livable planet for future generations. It’s a small sacrifice.”

She boldly replied, “I sacrifice plenty, in fact all I do is sacrifice, my whole life has been one big sacrifice.”

WOW! Bad choice of words on my part, I used the word…SACRIFICE. I didn’t mean to, but I obviously hit a nerve, or what Eckhart Tolle calls in his book A New Earth, a ‘Pain Body.’ You didn’t have to be a psychologist to know that this woman has a lot of unhappiness, pain and negativity inside her. So trying to have a discussion with this woman about the environmental importance of bringing your own grocery bags would have been futile.

The part of The 11th Hour that resonated with me the most was said by Wes Jackson at the end of the film, he says, “The deterioration of the environment, of our planet, is an outward mirror of an inner condition. Like inside, like outside, and that‘s the part of the great work.” I couldn’t agree more.

I was happy that The 11th Hour DVD included in the Special Features Section the Religious Perspective. I completely agree with what Rabbi Michael Lerner says, “The environmental movement has to develop a spiritual consciousness and a spiritual approach…The environmental movement not only has to teach the scientific fact, but about the new spiritual vision.”

The biggest disease on our planet is unhappiness because people perceive they are drowning in either debt, poor relationships, family pressures, job/career stresses, or poor health. They feel they are drowning victims always in survival mode. They have forgotten that they already know how to swim. They just need to be reminded of who they are…they ARE swimmers.

So I was thrilled to hear Leila talk about the premise of her next film which continues on the theme of - What’s going on in the world is a reflection of an inner condition. The film will address the questions…Why are we here? Who are we? What is God?...in relationship to the environment and our survival. I can’t wait for this one to come out.

Yes Leila, you can pull this off.


You can still see this episode of Supper Club on Sunday August 10th, and on Monday August 11th. See schedule HERE.

 We have have over 1000 Environmental based Experiments, labs and lesson plans 

for Teachers/Home Schoolers and their students. Search topics like Global Warming (of course), climate change, air pollution, science, ocean etc..

*The site is fun and easy to use

*You do not have to hassle with any login procedure

*Grade ranges are from K-12

*The site is 110% kid safe 

www.greenplanetsearch.com is also: 

*An environmental search engine with over 3000 sites indexed and adding more green sites daily (we are an actual search engine, this is not another Google custom search)

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*Submit your Green Website feature

Below is a screenshot of our home page showing  the ECO LESSON PLAN ENGINE on the top of the page.

Directions for LESSON PLANS, go to www.greenplanetsearch.com on the top of the page it will say ECO SEARCH ENGINE.

On the right of that you will see the black which states "switch to eco lesson plans" Click It, then you will see it change to the ECO LESSON PLANS, type in your search and learn!!! 

         Hey everyone.

                  Just wanted to share an amazing new company that I recently came across. It's called Melaleuca. They have over 300 completely natural products that are also biodegradable and the packaging is recyclable. Their goal is to get people to switch their everyday household products like: laundry detergent, stain remover, dish detergent, soap, vitamins, makeup, toothpaste, deodorant, cookies, cereal, weight loss bars & shakes, meal supplement shakes and bars, breakfast bars, shampoo & conditioner and so much more. As you can see there is pretty much everything and all the products actually work better than the other leading brands and are either the same price as or less. Most products are heavily concentrated so they last longer but come in smaller packaging which saves energy and waste.

        Until the 20th of August the one-time membership fee of $29.99 is cut in half. So you can become a preferred customer for only $14.50. The membership fee is also completely refundable for the first four months if you are not satisfied or find its not right for you. Also, ALL products are completely refundable no matter how much you've used if you are not satisfied, as long as you return it within 60 days. There really is no risk. Try it! You may like it. Not only are the products great but you can have the satisfaction of knowing you are saving yourself, your family and your home (the environment) in the process!!!

     If you are interested please visit this site to get more info:

    http://www.livetotalwellness.com/CrystalB

   Also, if you know of anyone who may be interested please refer them to the site to get more information.

 THANK YOU!!!

   LIVE GREEN

The first Flash Search Engine is an Environmental Search Engine!! http://www.greenplanetsearch.com is now live!

 When Mike Haney first presented the idea behind the technology behind

www.greenplanetsearch.com, he was laughed down. Virtually, of course. “Everyone can

dream,: scoffed one, erroneously.

A few people were intrigued. The combination of Haney’s vision of a Flash-driven search

engine, and the plan to create a dazzling environmental education resource, eventually

attracted a loose-knit corps of collaborators, most of whom have never met in person first

among them Andre Roussille, a French computer programmer, and now part owner of the

company.

The upshot from this collaboration, apart from the stunningly beautiful homepage, is the

only people involved in the creation of the search engine, is that the only people involved

in the development devoted environmentalists, who genuinely wish to disseminate good

information to students and educators.

Later, through a similar serendipity, Mr. Haney teamed up with a veteran journalist who

agreed to lend his services to the site, building from scratch a source of environmental

news and policy analysis.

Advertisers will be strictly vetted by the companies shareholders, limited to companies

that are making a meaningful contribution the planet’s health.

The final result, which was launched this week, is the culminating of thousands of

hours of work, and more than a few false starts.

It boasts easily navigable information, experiments, lesson plans, presented in an interactive and graphically enhanced format,

and has an exclusive global climate change resource section for teachers and kids.

If you would like more information about greenplanetsearch.com, or to schedule an

interview with Mike Haney, please call Mike Haney at 305.531.3746   or e-mail info@greenplanetsearch.com. 

Just a reminder that GREENSBURG premiers this Sunday, June 15th at 9pm ET/PT on Discovery's new Planet Green channel. The 13-part series follows the green rebuilding story of Greensburg, Kansas after a devastating EF5 tornado traveled through the area on May 4, 2007 destroying at least 95 percent of the city. The series features Leonardo DiCaprio as its executive producer, and will be a behind-the-scenes look into the rebuilding of Greensburg as an eco-friendly community which will showcase as a model for the rest of the world to follow.

I have been feeling a little guilty about looking forward to this new series since a disaster had to happen in order to make this series possible. But now with all the recent disasters happening all over the country with more tornadoes and severe flooding causing people to lose their homes, businesses and towns, a series like this is hitting the airwaves at exactly the right time. The community of Greensburg can give hope now to other people by showing how they turned life’s challenges into personal triumphs.

Since Planet Green debuted this past June 4th I have had the opportunity to watch a few of the shows. My eco-ego has enjoyed watching WA$TED the most. I have to admit that watching this show gives me an air of superiority, in that I feel I’m very green compared to the people they profile on the show.  LOL  

Then I watch Living with Ed and my air of superiority gets diminished very quickly, because my actions pale in comparison to Ed’s actions. I don’t do anything even close like riding a stationary bicycle every morning to generate enough electricity to make toast like Ed does.

Compared to Ed, I’m a very light shade of mint green. 

No one can do everything, but everyone can do something...and that's what counts.




 

Dear Leonardo,

I love you, man. I love the way you brought Rose back to life on the Titanic. I love the way you pushed yourself and your people to do the impossible as Howard Hughes The Aviator. I love the way you died in Blood Diamond. Most of all, I love that you took a stand for saying what needs to be said in 11th Hour.

If you were authentic the viewer would come away feeling what truly moved you to make the film in the first place. You did not reveal the truth of that for us. We long for someone to speak the truth to us about what is going on in the world.

I would love to have you do a re-release, a director’s cut, that blows people out of the water with your authentic truth. You know, if it all comes down like it looks like it’s going to come down (see www.just-stop.org), what have you got to lose? It will all be gone anyway, so why not take the risk to say it like you feel it?

What drove you to make 11th Hour is your love for the possibility of humanity and for the miracle and beauty of the Earth. We know this. Please let us feel this. Please let’s make 11th Hour again with the real you in it, the man who stands for hope for all of us. You can do this. We can help you.

Clinton Callahan

Munich from the USA (+9 hours) 011-49-89-74949473

www.radiant-joy.com

  A Movie That Santa Does Not Want You To See!

What Would Jesus Buy? is a serious docu-comedy about the commercialization of Christmas that just came out on DVD. I rented it last night and found it quite hilarious and very thought-provoking as well.

What Would Jesus Buy? follows Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir as they go on a cross-country mission to save Christmas from the Shopocalypse: the end of mankind from consumerism, over-consumption and the fires of eternal debt!

Bill Talen (aka Reverend Billy) was a lost idealist who hitchhiked to New York City only to find that Times Square was becoming a mall. Spurred on by the loss of his neighborhood and inspired by the sidewalk preachers around him, Bill bought a collar to match his white caterer's jacket, bleached his hair and became the Reverend Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping. Since 1999, Reverend Billy has gone from being a lone preacher with a portable pulpit preaching on subways, to the leader of a congregation and a movement whose numbers are well into the thousands. Through retail interventions, corporate exorcisms, and some good old-fashioned preaching, Reverend Billy reminds us that we have lost the true meaning of Christmas. What Would Jesus Buy? is a journey into the heart of America – from exorcising the demons at the Wal-Mart headquarters to taking over the center stage at the Mall of America and then ultimately heading to the Promised Land … Disneyland.

Will we be led like Sheeple to the Christmas slaughter, or will we find a new way to give a gift this Christmas? What Would Jesus Buy? may just be the divine intervention we’ve all been searching for.

The Shopocalypse is upon us … Who will be $aved?

I thought the film had a nice mix of serious & relevant information, as well as outrageously funny scenes. The 11th Hour film expert Bill McKibben is featured in the film under the section called “Malling of America.” Bill talks about how he feels in a 100 years from now we won’t be doing the things that we are doing now. We will have figured way more interesting things to do than just go shopping as our main activity. Unfortunately, he thinks we don’t have a 100 years to make that transition. We have to make it more quickly than it would happen naturally or else we will derail the Earth’s physical systems – especially the climate.

One of my favorite scenes is when Reverend Billy and his Choir go Christmas caroling door to door. They sing these popular Christmas songs to families using new lyrics.

Deck the Malls with Folks with Money!
FA LA LA LA LA, LA LA LA LA
Tis the Season to be Dummies!
FA LA LA LA LA, LA LA LA LA

  AND 

Joy to the World!
In the Form of Goods!
Consume! Consume! Consume!
Bright Plastics This and That’s!
For Screaming Little Brats!
Take the SUV to the Mall
Take the SUV to the Mall

I also loved the part where Reverend Billy hears peoples’ confessions out of a confessional booth that he sets up on a street corner with a sign that reads, “Confess Your Shopping Sins.” Alright, I will come clean and confess my biggest shopping SIN from the past few years. I bought one of those big exercise balls, and only used it twice. It sat in my closet for a couple of years, then I finally gave it away.

I feel much better now that I confessed. 

            William Kamkwamba

Can films change the world? No, films can’t change the world. But the people who watch them can. 


What is Pangea Day?
Pangea Day was the world’s largest global film event that took place on May 10, 2008. The cities of Cairo, Kigali, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, and Rio de Janeiro were all linked to produce a live 4-hour program of powerful films, visionary speakers, and uplifting music.

Pangea Day was created as a worldwide cinema event with programming that highlighted the themes of unity, the common ties that bind us into a global culture. In a world where people are often divided, it's easy to lose sight of what we all have in common. Pangea Day seeks to overcome that - to help people see themselves in others - through the power of film. Pangea Day taps the power of film to strengthen tolerance and compassion, uniting millions of people to build a better future. The goal is to invite the viewers of these films to join a global conversation about the issues that affect us all.

Pangea refers to the supercontinent from which all current continents eventually separated. It serves as a reminder of the "connectedness" or unitary nature of all people on Planet Earth.


I only got to watch a little over an hour of Pangea Day live on May 10th, and I have been watching the rest of the films and speakers a little each day. If you want to treat yourself to something special then take the time to watch this inspiring event on the internet.

If you only have time to watch one film, then watch the award winning and very inspiring film Moving Windmills. This is a very short film about a 14 year old boy, William Kamkwamba who lives in a remote rural village in Malawi where they have no electricity. William saw a picture of a windmill in a textbook and decided to build one to power his family's home. Using found materials and scrap yard parts such as a broken bicycle, tractor fan, melted plastic pipes, bamboo and used copper wires, he built a series of windmills which would change his and his family's life.

You can watch the full Pagean Day program HERE, or just watch the films HERE.

ABC News takes a look inside the Panea Day Festival.

Enjoy!  Be Inspired!  Be Enlightened!

ARE YOU AN ECODAREDEVIL? 11th Hour Expert, J. Nichols awards the most courageous Eco-warrior at Duke this Earth Day. Read his keynote speech here:

"In the 1970’s, I idolized Evel Knievel. He was rock star, sports hero, and folk legend in one. His death-defying jumps inspired me to launch my bicycle over puddles and many a hapless friend.

Now, I find new inspiration in my childhood hero. In 1961, before he became “Evel,” Robert Craig Knievel hitchhiked with the rack of a bull elk from Montana to our nation’s capital to protest the culling of elk in Yellowstone. The Kennedy administration responded and countless elk were saved.

READ MORE

Sorry, I don’t remember who, but one of the experts in The 11th Hour film quoted Deepak Chopra who said, “Everyone is doing the best they can at their level of awareness.”

In the book, A New Earth, Chapter One, The Flowering of Human Consciousness, Eckhart Tolle says, “Another aspect of the collective dysfunction of the human mind is the unprecedented violence that humans are inflicting on other life-forms and the planet itself – the destruction of oxygen-producing forests and other plant and animal life; ill-treatment of animals in factory farms; and poisoning of rivers, oceans, and air. Driven by greed, ignorant of their connectedness to the whole, humans persist in behavior that, if continued unchecked, can only result in their own destruction.”

Eckhart says, "Humanity is now faced with a stark choice: Evolve or die. … If the structures of the human mind remain unchanged, we will always end up re-creating the same world, the same evils, the same dysfunction"

Reading A New Earth and participating in Oprah’s free 10 week on-line class will help awaken the consciousness of the planet, and raise each of our level of awareness. 

I’ve read the book and have already signed up for Oprah and Eckhart Tolle’s on-line class.