Greening the City

Sustainability is a hot topic these days, and there's a good chance that your local government is jumping on the green bandwagon too. Some cities like Philadelphia, New York, Portland, Chicago, and Baltimore (just to name a few) even have an office dedicated to sustainability within city government. This is huge progress from just five years ago, but a lot of people still don't know about efforts happening in their cities. Take some time to find out what's going on in your neighborhood and see how you can help - even if it's just to spread the word. If you're in local to Philadelphia (like me!) you may want to consider attending the Greenworks: First Annual Progress Report event on Wednesday May 26:

Donate your hair and nylons

The most recent oil spill may have happened several weeks ago, but it is still a current issue. The leak is releasing approximately 5,000 barrels of oil a day.

Salons around the country [and perhaps the world, but at least around America] are collecting hair to donate. Hair collects the oil from our head, so why not collect the oil in the ocean? Some salons are collecting nylons/stockings also. I have heard that the hair gets put into the nylons and then put into the ocean to sop up the oil.

For a more detailed and scientific description and information about helping to donate, check out this website.

http://www.matteroftrust.org/

For a YouTube video of how hair soaks up oil check out this link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwQOD_Ir2vQ

Tonight our guest will be talking about...

Hi folks,

I have the great honor of being your guest blogger this evening. I'd like to thank Valerie for opening this up and extending the invitation - I am flattered. I'd also like to thank Big Baby Jesus, just because.

Tonight (its actually daytime where I am, but saying "tonight" sounds classier) I would like to blabber on for a short while to cleanse my mind of some thoughts and hopefully seed some new ones in your own brain. Lets call this a thought exchange. I'd simply like to share with you a point of view that I have come into recently which has served me well in this world so far. And remember, its only an exchange if you offer some in return.

Many of us have heard of the Gaia concept - the idea that the world and all of its inhabitants are one living being interconnected through many different channels. The more I ponder this the more it makes itself clear and true in my world. For example, did you know that in a healthy forest the mycelium (the "roots" of mushrooms) connect every single living plant to each other. They accomplish this by means of their massive, branching fungal network that can extend for miles around and grow up to an inch per day. Mycelium latch onto root hairs and enhance the abilities of trees and plants to soak up water and nutrients. Through these mycelial networks it is entirely possible for the trees and plants on one edge of a 500-acre forest to "know" when a tree is cut down on the other end of the forest. They can communicate through the mycelium.

In The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird, numerous experiments where conducted in the late '70's that scientifically verified plants have "feelings." What do I mean by that? One example was conducted using a polygraph - a lie detector, which measures simple changes in electrical energy. Plants were hooked up to the lie detector and their responses measured when different things were happening around them. The plants gave sharp responses on the polygraph when their leaves were cut or burnt - to be expected. But the researchers found that these same plants then gave similarly alarmed responses when the researchers simply thought about cutting or burning their leaves. And nearby unharmed plants would respond as well. In fact, a plant in another room would respond when a plant was being cut or burnt. Clearly there is more going on here than we were led to believe by the cultural and scholastic standards of previous generations.

Where am I going with all this!?!! Well, the idea, without dragging this out too long, is to demonstrate that there is a lot more going on beneath "the surface" of our everyday 5-senses experience. We all know this. How did you know your mom was going to call you on the phone just before the phone rings? How is it that major scientific theories are often "discovered" by multiple scientists across the globe at nearly simultaneous times in our history? Could we be connected by more than cell phones and Facebook? Could we be more sensitive than our eyes and ears let us believe?

The answer is yes. We are, and so are the trees, ferns, rocks (yes rocks even!), birds, deer, flies, and all living creatures. We are all part of this planet which is part of our solar system which right now contain things that we can't see.

Please remember that we are all one and that we all need help from time to time. Help! And when you are exhausted and your head hurts from all the thinking and worrying. Stop. Breathe. Let it go and say, "now I have done enough for today." And rest.

But you knew all of that already. Were you waiting to live like you know it? Sometimes I wait for signs that other people know this. We are all connected. Do you agree?

Thank you for reading. Thanks for participating in this hard world and doing the best you can.

- Marc

Enjoy:

http://www.ted.com/talks/paul_stamets_on_6_ways_mushrooms_can_save_the_world.html