Lisa Overman, A Healed Heart

We all want to do our part to improve our environment and take care of our natural resources. The web is all abuzz with ideas, tips and commentary on what will improve the state of our global community. In my own home I work hard to be environmentally friendly. If you asked my boyfriend Rob he would say I’m a tree hugger. That’s okay with me, I like trees and I like the idea of my family seeing trees in person in a hundred or more years from now. So I offer you ten small things you can do at home to begin living more green friendly.

1. Recycle, this one sounds like a no brainer. But, the reality is that many people don’t realize all the items that can be recycled. The majority of things we purchase can be recycled if we are dilligent. In my own home the weekly recycling far outweighs the trash. I generally have one bag of trash a week and three bins filled to over flowing with recycling. In some cases items are picked up at your curb, in other cases you must drive them to the recycling center. Here in St. Petersburg, FL curb pick up takes paper, cardboard, plastic, and metal. When I want to recycle my glass, or prevent Rob from throwing it in the trash I have to drive it to a local drop off point.

2. Use Cloth Grocery Bags.
This simple step saves bringing home unnecessary plastic bags and allows you to use bags that have the strength to actually hold your groceries. How many times have you shared my experience of a plastic bag breaking mid way into your house? I learned this eco friendly trick when I lived in Germany. There you must purchase your grocery bags, that is exactly the incentive Americans need to use eco friendly cloth bags. Who wants to pay for something they already have at home?

3. Unplug…This is a tip I gleaned from Oprah’s show. One of her audience members during a budget friendly show gave the tip of unplugging things you are not using. This woman took it very seriously, unplugging the T.V and all lights and appliances that are not essental, until you are ready to use them. She said it dropped her electric bill by more than half. That is good for your wallet and our planet. After that show I walked through my 2,300 sq foot house and began to review things that didn’t need to be plugged in. There were many many things and within a month I was seeing a thirty dollar reduction in my own electric bill. Something that took me five minutes now saves me money every single month! I chose to unplugs lamps in my guest room and office, my cell phone charger, my second computer, toaster and electric kettle, shredder and other assorted small items that are only used periodically. Now when I want to shred something I take the extra ten seconds and plug it in. Yes, it takes a few extra seconds but I remind myself I’m not only protecting the planet I’m saving my wallet, which I love!

4. Adjust Your Thermostat or Purchase Programmable Thermostats
I opted to purchase and install programmable thermostats in my home. These are money saving and they are relatively easy to use. I had mine figured out within a day or two and they now allow me to adjust the temperature in my home for a variety of occasions such as travel or sleeping etc..

5. Make Your Own Green Household Cleaners
I was a hold out on this one for a long time. I thought what a pain in the ass this is going to be. But once I actually began doing it and had a system down it became really simple and now I never run out of eco friendly cleaners! I used a variety of websites for my green cleaning recipes. I actually did an article on this topic but the article is currently MIA on my website. I hope my tech person will find it shortly and then it can be up and viewable again with great links!

6. Donate Used Items to Charity or a Friend.
We all have excess stuff in the house, rather than throw it in the trash where it will end up in a landfill consider recycling it to charity, a pet rescue center or to a friend who needs something you have. I have spent a lot of time in the last few years donating things to charity and sharing things with family and friends. Something your tired of might bring new light and joy to a friend’s home. I also do this with magazines. When friends or family come by I always offer magazines that I have finished reading. First it drives me nuts to throw money away and second I am such an avid reader that I love the idea of sharing a magazine so that another can have the pleasure of reading it.

7. Find a New Use For Things
Old flower pots can become a potted herb garden. Old books can be swapped on various websites or at a book shop. Coffee cans can become storage containers. 35 lb cat litter tubs from Sam’s can store a variety of things with a nice air tight seal. Plastic containers make the perfect small job paint container when lugging the entire can is just not what you want to do. Use your imagination and find a new use for an old item.

8. Buy Compact Florescent Light Bulbs
These are a huge money saver, they last for years and thus put less waste out into the environment.

9. Recycle Your Ink Cartridges
This one is a no brainer, not only does it save the planet it saves your wallet because stores like Staples give you a three dollar coupon discount off a purchase for each ink cartridge you recycle. How cool is that, you save money and the planet.

10. Recycle Your Electronics
Many companies these days are allowing consumers to send in their old computers to be recycled correctly. Here is a link from the EPA with an entire list of potential recycling options for your electronics, cell phones and computers.

The True Power of Water By: Masaru Emoto is a book that I find deeply interesting and that I recommend. It is one of several books that Masaru Emoto has written on the effects of vibration, energy, prayer and thought on water. When I was flipping through it this morning, reading randomly I came across a piece I wanted to share. Along with this is a YouTube video with Dr. Emoto

A family that subscribed to our magazine conducted an interesting experiment. They put the rice in two glass jars and every day for a month said “Thank you” to one jar and “You fool” to the other, and then they tracked how the rice changed over the period. After a month the rice that was told Thank you started to ferment, with a mellow smell like that of malt, while the rice that was exposed to You fool, rotted and turned black. Pg 97

To give your attention to something is a way of giving energy. By receiving attention , life can get the energy to move in a better direction. Pg 98

With our economy in such flux and with the emotional upheaval so many people have experienced I was reminded by The True Power of Water just what we as people can do to focus our energy and our intentions to begin bringing love and calm to the distress and upheaval we see and feel. This morning as I read pages 90 to 104, I was reminded that we can create with our focus and our intention. We can begin to create a calm, healing around us by focusing our gratitude on everything good around us. Energy goes where we put our attention. We want to give energy and focus to the good in our world and in our lives. Focus on gratitude, Be grateful, be filled with love for everything in your life. Being grateful creates an energy that eventually opens the door to more good in our life.

For example, my house needs to sell, so rather than focus my energy on feeling a desperate need for a sale, I focus my energy on gratitude for what I have, for having a beautiful place to live, for having the abundance of owning a home and I release it to spirit. Another example, with the economic situation many families are feeling strapped financially and are not able to meet all their financial obligations, rather than focusing energy on all the things that are not paid, and getting more distressed focus on what you have paid. If you paid your rent, or your phone bill, think of the money you used or are using to pay this bill and say a prayer of gratitude for the fact that this money is in your hand and that you are using it to pay something that needs to be paid. A grateful attitude for the abundance in our life helps create more abundance.

There will naturally be moments of distress and stress. I can attest to this…laughter with a house for sale and still for sale long beyond what I can afford. But what I am seeing in my own life, with my own intention and gratitude is a subtle positive shift in my abundance with keeping my focus in GRATITUDE and using my thoughts in an uplifting way to say THANK YOU for everything I can pay and for EVERYTHING I have. I can assure you with two houses of bills this is a real test of my focus and intention.

There are more days than not that I could just spin out in the anxiety and stress of paying for two houses. Instead I’m learning and seeing positive results by saying THANK YOU to God and the universe for everything in my life. When I awake in the morning I say a prayer of gratitude for my house, the man in my life, the money I have, for my family and friends. I refocus through the day, for a minute or so and I say another prayer of GRATITUDE and THANKS for all these things and for any abundance that I find coming into my life on that day. I know there will be readers rolling their eyes, some in my own family I’m sure, but it’s working.

GRATITUDE is THE RIGHT ATTITUDE to change our experience, to change our lives. We know that greed and corruption are not working, we can see that every day on the nightly news. We see the direct result of the economy in our investments and our bank accounts. We know what doesn’t work, so lets focus what can work. AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE AND LOVE.

If you have been following my posts the last week or so then you already know I’ve been clearing boxes of stuff from my office and guest room closets. It’s an assortment of stuff that got dumped there nearly a year ago when I officially moved. Like anyone, sorting through the things I don’t necessarily need seems like a hassle. The reality is that I spend a lot of time working at home as a writer and I enjoy my space (even closets) so much more when they are organized. I tend to be a very organized writer, I like my space to be upbeat and comfortable.  I hate having piles of papers everywhere; so the idea of closets filled with excess is not attractive to me either. Yet It seemed so overwhelming and time consuming to deal with.

Finally at the encourgement of my friend Myscha I began to seriously think about organizing the closets and giving another few jeep loads to charity. I thought about the job for a day or so, not really overly enthused to begin. Just looking at it all felt overwhelming. After talking to another friend, Doreen and hearing her excitement over her own home’s Feng Shui changes I went home encouraged and set to work. I began as Doreen had with Feng Shui tips and then as I felt my energy and the energy of the rooms I was working on shift I began to feel excited about clearing my space.

Okay, every moment wasn’t exciting or even interesting. Some of it was down right booooriiiing. But, the finished result, a closet which looks neatly organized and guest room walls brimming with some art and color that brings energy and life to the room made a vast difference in my mental attitude and my pleasure at looking around my guest room.

 My guest room was of particular importance for two reasons. For one it’s the second floor area of my career and helpful people in the Feng Shui bagua. This same area on the first floor is my front door area, which is welcoming and uplifting with chimes, a wooden Buddha carving, oriental rug, a deep warm clay pot and a framed photo of soft, white magnolia flowers. The second reason it was key is because I will soon have my grandma visiting for two weeks and I want her to find the room welcoming and restful.

For me making any room peaceful starts with something spiritual. In pretty much every room of my house you find spiritual items, a religious statue, a buddha, angels, a fairy, an evil eye, all things that bring me a sense of calm and serenity. For the guest room I found the perfect picture to hang; a calendar picture of The Place of Refuge on the Big Island of Hawaii. The place of Refuge is one of the most sacred spiritual spots in the islands. It is known as Pu’uhonua o Honaunau to the Hawaiians and was a place of refuge for anyone who had done wrong. It was where the ancient Hawaiians fled to when they had done wrong. If they could reach this spiritual spot before they were caught then the priests gave them forgiveness for their transgressions and sins.

It felt appropriate to hang it in my career and helpful people area as a spiritual reminder that I too am forgiven for my mistakes and am protected and guided. Just walking past the door and seeing that special picture brings me a moment of calm. Pu’uhonua o Honaunau is one of my favorite places in the islands. Each time I visit the Big Island I return to this sacred and treasured spot and now the beautiful reminder of this sacred place resides in my guest room above the bed. A newly clear space, a clear mind and the gift of knowing I have been blessed with much in my life.

On June 4th, 2008 Discovery channel rebranded one of it’s channels to create Planet Green; “an eco lifestyle network dedicated to green lifestyle programming. According to their press release the Planet Green network will be dedicated to the highest quality programming for a green lifestyle. There will be authentic, quality information for such categories as eco design, organic food and green architecture. The priority will be on such core genres as science, technology, transportation, eco tourism, home greening and organic living.”

Having watched several shows on this network already I’m truly excited and encouraged that as stewards of the planet we’ve been given a simple and clear way to learn more about green living and ways to protect our environment and planet. This is a wonderful opportunity for each of us to expand our scope of knowledge and begin to make positive changes in our lives that help our planet and all it’s beings. Planet Green can be found on channel 108 on the Bright House system. It is currently listed as Discovery Home, but when you tune in to channel 108 you will see it as Planet Green. Absolutely worth viewing!

  

Photo Credit LightSpectral(inandout’s)photos

Tonight I discovered the coolest thing. Yahoo has an entire section of it’s site called Yahoo Green. Am I the only person who was completely unaware this existed? I am the queen of green in my family so how did I miss this? Absolutely no idea.

One of the cool pieces of Yahoo’s Green section is something called 18Seconds.org which allows you to check out how much effort people in your particular part of the country are making toward green living practices. I love this and I love the idea of the entire section!  Another cool part of the site is called What’s My Climate Impact? Here you answer questions about your lifestyle to see how much of a carbon foot print your lifestyle is creating. This is eye opening, check it out! Awareness is everything, with awareness comes change. Here’s to making the real changes that change our lives and our earth for the better.