What Happens when you Decide to be Green?

 

What happens when you decide to be Green, Eco-friendly, sustainable, and earth-friendly? You not only feel like part of a solution, you also learn and become aware of so many things that you once took for granted. Once you begin to do the small things that are “Green”, you then find new bigger ways to be Green.  

You begin to notice other ways of not being Green and your mindset changes. You start to create new ways to help the planet.  It turns into a passion.

Educating ourselves creates a snowball effect.

When we educate ourselves a process that snowballs happen within you.  You just naturally learn more and more. You begin to find it fascinating and fun. It’s a trend in the beginning, and then it becomes a habit, then a new way of life.  It becomes second nature. 

For me, personally,  I start feeling freer, cleaner, clearer, and healthier.  It’s a mindset, it’s a way of being.  It just can’t help but become my state of being.

Being Green is actually “Being Green” it is so true!  It isn’t a twist on words.  Again, for me, is my new way of seeing, reacting, and responding in life.  Not only in a materialistic view of ” less waste”, “less footprint” but also in how I view all of life, all of my actions, and how I view all of life’s inhabitants.  Including trees, plants, and yes, even weeds. 

It’s seeing everything as having an important role in the cycle of life here on Earth.  Watching how life has a way of sustainability that works perfectly without humans. How it has for centuries! 

 

What happens when you decide to be Green? 


You start to have a reverence for life as a whole.

You start to have a reverence for life as a whole.  It is a deep, deep sense of gratitude, of beauty, and of my reactions to such.  For instance, I used to use pesticides.  I didn’t know better at that point in my life. I was in my 20’s.  Now it makes me cringe. I don’t want mosquitoes in my yard to bite my children or myself and I also don’t want to kill the insects that keep my trees, garden growing, and eat other annoying insects to be killed. 

Nowadays, I do not use pesticides unless there is no other way. I protect bees, ladybugs, praying mantis, etc.  I even catch and release spiders, the non-poisonous ones.  I have a sense of gratitude for insects that before I just deemed them all pests to be killed. Of no real use in this world. 

You make more conscious decisions.

What happens when you decide to be Green? Now, I choose my battles and my causes. Choose my cars, the paint I use, my food, and the ways of dealing with unwanted items and I decide consciously, as before I just fell prey to marketing and commercialism. I didn’t think twice about what I used or disgarded.

Being Green is a conscious way of living.  It is being awake!  It’s working to live in harmony with all life and be a part of the natural sustainability that happens without humans.

It’s living in gratitude for this amazing planet that we have been a part of and maintaining this Earth as our home as something precious. To me, it is! Trendy, yes and so very necessary for us to begin to see being green as one of the most important ways to Be. Lisa Hawkins It’s Hip to be Green®

Being Green: Photo by Noah Buscher

Our inner world being Green is important

Our inner world being Green is important.   I work as a counselor also, so I work on my inner world as well as my outer world.  I feel this is important because how I project my actions to the world is in direct proportion to my inner world.   What does this have to do with Being Green?  So much!

Being Green truly is a state of being.  I has to do with how you feel about the world we live in.  What is important to you, in the form of lifestyle.  This has everything to do with being green.

I love life, I do, I love the bees, trees, plants, and I love this planet!  I really do love this planet.  It breaks my heart to see it polluted, and destroyed, the bees being killed off at massive proportions, it brings tears to my eyes to see the ocean polluted and sea life harmed, coral reefs dying, the polar caps melting.

That comes from a place of gratitude and grace for what a gift this planet is.  That is something that isn’t from just going through the motions of recycling and taking my own grocery bag to the food store.  That comes from a love of all life.

When people come from a place of non-acceptance of what is truly going on in the world, a place of greed, or of materialism, and no gratitude it shows up in their purchases, actions, discussions, their mood,  their state of being.  That is how they project on to the world.

So, when I say your inner world being green is important that is why.  It is how you actually are ” being” in the world.

I love being green and I love learning and finding new ways to be green, it is indeed fun for me.  I love how I become more connected to the earth and it’s creatures. I can handle wasps without being stung.  They sense that I have no fear, I’ve picked up a snake, a scared mouse.  My being green looks like me being more in touch with gratitude for everything we have on this planet.

I work hard at not taking it for granted.  I practice love and gratitude.  So when I wreck my car and I can’t bring myself to have the insurance company put aftermarket “new” parts on it, when there is stock piles of damaged cars for the picking to get used parts off of, I do it.  I just drive my car wrecked until which time, I can do less harm.

You see being green isn’t about fast and easy, it is about taking our time to do what is best for our home.  It is about taking care of, just like we would our own homes, or apartments, or condos.  We keep them clean and take care of them.  Our planet is no different.   It is our home!  Being green on the inside is important.  It dictates our choices.  It’s Hip To Be Green®

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being organized is being Green

Being Organized is Being Green. As a woman with a female brain, I know all too well the feelings of overwhelm when my office or house is a mess. I can’t think straight. It feels like short circuit melt down at times. It effects my day, my mood and my productivity. I tend to be like most mom’s and over-function, work too late, get less sleep and burn the candle at both ends. This doesn’t produce a happy life; it produces a rung out exhausted life. How does organization create a green lifestyle, a healthier environment?

Being organized helps you know more of what you have already, it helps keep things in order so you spend less time finding or doing tasks. This translates into less materials, less energy, less waste and more importantly less of your energy.

Being organized is a green act. I have a re-use/re-purpose pile, which is very helpful, it cuts down on the amount of supplies I have to purchase which saves money . I also use less gas to go to the store to purchase more supplies, which frees up my Mom time, my Me time. It feels good!
Saving time is beneficial to your health and wellbeing, your sanity and happiness. Organization is very important in all aspects of my daily life. It creates more balance and lessens stress, adds more to my bottom line. It creates a sense of relaxation, and manageability.

It’s helpful to check in with yourself on a daily basis and see how stress might be minimized by organization and how being organized causes a ripple effect on your total health. Over-functioning is known to be counter productive. Save yourself and help the environment too, get organized. Being organized is Being Green!

Being Green is more than recycling, re-using and buying green it is a state of being: one that can encompass our inner world as well as our outer world. Having a inner green environment helps my world and our world. It never goes out of style. It’s Hip To Be Green! Being Organized

Technology is here already

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Technology is here already and it is growing at a rapid rate.  So why do so many talk dismal about Climate Change and disaster ?  Many believe that fear creates action, in many cases it does.  However, when we are speaking about the whole world being destroyed it is too overwhelming for people to take it. Fear creates stagnation. 

They just feel hopeless, it’s too painful for them to take in.  They give up before they even get started.

If we keep our focus on answers, new technology that is already here, we begin to feel less hopeless and more hopeful.  We have the technology already to make huge, huge steps in the environment and climate change.

Many countries such as Switzerland, Germany, Sweden and Iceland are already major steps ahead of us.

If the technology is already here, why don’t we see it? Most are startups, they need capital, customers, and opportunities to get their products on the market.  They are also met with violent opposition by their counterparts, the major organizations that are causing much of the issue with climate change. 

We as consumers, the ones really concerned about climate change, have to support each other, gather and decide to make this change happen.

If we continue on with the same mentality that created this massive issue, it will surely not be resolved.  It takes tenacity, it takes effort, it takes proactive-ness and commitment.  It takes courage and a passion to make a difference.

This is our mission with It’s Hip To Be Green!  Show the world that positive actions and new technology are what will bring about the change we need.  Taking the positive mentality will get us fired up and passionate about the technology that is already here and create innovative new ideas. Feeling helpless, hopeless and giving up will only cause the toxicity of this planet to continue. WE will be continuing to perpetuate the same actions that caused this issue.

Albert Einstein once said: “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” – Albert Einstein

We are here to start a new consciousness the HIP movement of change. Getting excited about what is being done and shift to focus on implementing the technology that is already here and passionate about creating more. It’s Hip To Be Green®

Sustainablity is it a losing battle?

Sustainability is it a losing battle?  Many people think it is. I often speak to people that buy organic, non-toxic and eco friendly products.  What I hear from many of them is that Sustainability is a losing battle.  The environment is too far gone.  I ask ” why then do you spend so much on Organic and Toxic free products?”   I’m hearing much of the same responses, “It’s better for our bodies, and I worry about my children’s health”

Often times we fall prey to the media, this is another example of that. So much of marketing products is geared towards our most precious in life, our children.  Avoiding toxins and sickness due to chemicals.  Which in the marketing industry works beautifully.  The products sells!  That is the main goal.  It isn’t really saving the environment that gets people on board to buy.

There is some truth to this, the earth doesn’t need saving.  It will survive, I havent heard that climate change would blow up the planet.  The save the earth campaigns lack honesty.  In all honesty, we must save ourselves, our food, or atmosphere so we and other species on the plant will survive.  The campaigns point outward.  Most humans have been so programmed by media and social standards to think of their own health.

Whatever reason you might have for buying Organic, Green, Non-toxic products is a great reason. There is no judgement here.  It all helps contribute to saving ourselves, our future generations, and our ability to survive and thrive on this planet. It all helps climate change!

Every little bit helps!  It’s cliche but true!  It all helps climate change either directly or indirectly.

Being a hardcore activast hasn’t been my thing, it isn’t what I promote as a eco-enthusiast or a eco-business woman.

What we promote at It’s Hip To Be Green® is creating a lifestyle that is healthier, happier, more sustainable for your family, your integrity and your lifestyle.  A postive outlook on being green.  Saving the environment seems like a huge, huge task! To many, it is too overwhelming.

They will do their part to help, as long as, they are not made to feel they are not doing enough.  What excites me as an eco entusist is the new inventions, ideas, diy projects,  creative minds that I read about that so much gets lost in the media under the negative that is being done to the environement.

Keeping entusiastic about being green is what excites people to share, talk about and continue on with what they are doing.  When the bad news is all that is talked about, people feel hopeless.

It is my feeling that the harsh chemicals, unethical, harmful practices be seen and heard, but to have the more positive results just as much in the lime light.

Sustainability isn’t a losing battle, only in our minds do we feel we cannot make drastic enough changes, it is in our minds what the media feeds us, as facts.  What small steps we take now that become a habit, will snowball into greater and more healthier ways.   So, NO! Sustainability is not a losing battle.  Stagnation is the lost cause.  Become a eco entusiast, join the trend.  It’s Hip To Be Green®.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eco Nazi Warriors, Green Consumerism

Eco Nazi Warriors, Green Consumerism.  I sit depressed sometimes at the crazy chaotic confusion of what “ Being Green” means. I hear arguments of what “ Green” should look like, what standards businesses should be “held accountable” to, and I often wonder if in this “ ego” trap that some “ Green “ experts want to insist that we adhere to, we haven’t lost the reason for the actions, the openness to hear and be heard on what solutions can come from it,  being an Eco Nazi Warrior setting too high standards and causing issues within the system. Small business being shut down due to the hard-core green standards to which they cannot compete.

On the other hand, I also see our country, our world moving too slowly to make changes, and causing so much desperation among experts, and concerned citizens and the need to push harder, and protest more.

Don’t get me wrong I’m all about non-toxic, clean and a healthier world. I’m about protection of the habitat and it’s inhabitants as well as sustainability.  I’m just not hard-core ‘do it this way or else’. Why, because first off I created my campaign to help people understand that every bit they do helps, I also created my campaign It’s Hip To Be Green® to create a more positive, upbeat trend of Being Green, instead of the fear people into becoming more “ Green”.

You see I don’t need to set people straight, make them feel hopeless and unaware, I don’t need to only hold Green businesses accountable for high standards. I believe that it is far more productive to get people excited about being green, show businesses you appreciate what they are doing, and support them moving further into cutting their carbon footprint. As a consumer we hold all the power. The corporations must follow. If we buy we support them.

This may sound as if I’m approving of “ Green Washing”, it isn’t. There is a vast difference in a business doing what it can to be green, than one using “having a “ Green “ model” and on the flip side continuing to support unethical use of “Green” to continue toxic and damaging practices.

I try to stay focused on, Being Green myself at home, in my life, and living by example, then I am pushing it on others. I’m Green and I can prove it.  It’s simple.  I don’t have an elaborate “ Green built “ house, I have a used house, a refurbished house that also used many “ used” supplies and lumber in the remodeling of it. I’m proud of that. I don’t need to keep up with the “ Green Jones’”. What I do is walk my talk. I don’t do it to ” fit it”. I do it because I really do care about this planet, our health and the environment!

In all honesty, building bigger, more elaborate “ Green” homes is still consumerism. It’s just “ Green Consumerism”. I’m not against it, I promote it, sell it, use it. However, I do feel that there is a division between the big “ Green Consumer Warriors” pushing buying more, Green products, and people buying less, re-using more, using Green products when they need it, and actually cutting their consumerism and carbon foot print down in all areas of their life.

You see buying carbon offsets credits is great, if one cannot balance the scales any other way, but just not having to is much better for the environment. I’m game on having more Green products, more Green options, Greener businesses, totally on board with it. I am one. It’s Hip To Be Green®

What I have issue is, creating a world that has just as much consumerism as it does now, if not more, and it being Greener Consumerism. Creation of products Green or not takes energy and a certain level of carbon footprint. Even if they are Green!

I rarely have to worry about offsetting my carbon footprint and here is why. I’m doing so much and working on doing more every year, to be the Greenest I can be. I don’t need to compete. I don’t need to compare, I just focus on how I can do more. This keeps me more humble, less pushy, and feeling better about what I project into the world. I live it! I don’t preach it. It’s Hip To Be Green, and I love it.

I buy used clothing most of the time, what I don’t buy used, I buy deeply discounted. I sell it or donate it to Goodwill when done. I don’t toss it in the landfill.

I use my towels to the end, trickle them down to dog towels, then rags and use them til they are barely anything left.

I drink out of peanut butter jars. I don’t need to impress, it is more important than “ social status”. I could have a fine formal dinner, and we’d drink out of peanut butter jars. I use peanut butter, it takes energy to recycle them. So, I drink out of them. It saves money, energy, the environment.

I grow my own Organic Veggies and I’m working on fruit trees and eventually fresh eggs.

I re-use almost everything I can. What I cannot re-use I donate.

I use my Organic coffee grinds in my garden, I compost.

I even use broken clay plant pots in my garden for decorations or to hold other plants.

I heat my home with corn burning furnace. That’s right, corn. I buy it from local farmers. I support our local economy, and I heat my home wonderfully with corn. I’m the only person I know that has one. Bio fuel isn’t that green, I use corn. Farmer’s I’d rather support than the Oil industry, or Electric and utility industry.

I use the charcoal from my furnace for gardens or other uses. Nothing goes to waste.

I buy used furniture. I know right, that isn’t chic, hip or even socially classy, but I’m not in this for the game, I’m in it for real!. It is rare that I buy new furniture.

I buy used cars. I see the stockpile of used cars in this country and the lots overloaded with new vehicles. They set it up to buy new, less interest rates, longer terms. Car dealers make it hard to buy used. I can’t bring myself to do it. I buy great, good conditioned, well taken care of, used cars. My current one is Ultra low emissions car. I also drive my cars until they are almost dead. I know, I don’t need a fancy car, I want to help the environment. If people don’t like it, oh well.

I’m frugal, which means I saw money, it also means I don’t buy things I know I won’t use for long. I buy for long term. I also save the environment by being frugal.

I repair instead of replace. I buy products that have replacement parts. Throw away products isn’t my thing.

I drink water and so does my family. Water, filtered of course but WATER! That’s about all you’ll find in our refrigerator. Why because it is what our bodies need, it saves money, and it saves the environment.

I take unused water, in my house and water my plants. I rarely pour water down the drain. It’s so simple, take the glass of water UN-drank water pour it on my plants.

We make due without lots of the time. Because it just makes environmental sense, to not buy if you don’t have to. So, there are many things we just don’t do. I don’t need the newest state of the art anything. If it works and does the job, I’m happy.

I have used office supplies I’ve re-used for decades. Stapler, file folders, calculators, hole punch, etc. I’ve had them for over 20 years. They work. That’s what matters.

We use low Voc and no Voc paint in our home.

I’ve left my house siding as it is because it doesn’t need to look better to serve the social status, or fit it. I’ve decided that until that point that my house “has” to have new siding, The siding it has is just fine. Paint it, and leave it on the house instead of in the landfill. It just doesn’t make sense to throw it in the landfill.

We buy bulk, we also make our own. This keeps down the need for containers. I also re-use containers that our food comes in. It isn’t pretty but it keeps them out of the landfill. It works.

I buy with conscious and commitment. I don’t buy to fit in. I buy clothing that is well made and will last years, and I’ll love wearing it. Buying hip is great, buying quality is better, and if it is hip, which most of mine are, I get double the benefits. I haven’t stopped being fashionable, I’m just wise.

These are just a few of the things I do, to keep my lifestyle “Green” my ethics high, and my commitment in place, not just for future generations, but for us NOW. My family has learned a “Greener” lifestyle. A trend of being Greener, more sustainable, more in tune with living a cleaner lifestyle.

So, when I hear the discussions of making companies adhere to more tight guidelines and possibly hurting small businesses that really are trying their best to make a difference. I cringe, I support their efforts, they have to start somewhere, it isn’t all or nothing. It’s about starting the ball rolling and then allowing it to snowball. Creating a more positive outlook on Climate Change and being a Greener Healthier world. Getting people excited about learning a new way of life. It’s about being open.

This isn’t a competition people, it;s a call to action. No one needs to be a Green Eco Nazi. Just walk your talk, live your life as Green as you can, tell people how you do it, what’s in your heart and watch the trend grow. It can be so effortless. It doesn’t have to be overwhelming and depressing because you can’t do it all.

Let the excitement of being green become a way of spreading love and acceptance in the world. Let’s leave the battles aside. Let’s all just get excited about “ Being Green” leave the keeping up with the Jones, behind us.  Find our way to be happy with less.

It’s Hip To Be Green and it feels so good to live it, be it, and spread it around. Every step you take is a step in the right direction. It doesn’t have to be overwhelming, it can be fun!  It’s Hip To Be Green®

Pope Francis, Lack of Housing

Pope Francis’ visit to the US was nothing short of amazing, regardless of a person’s beliefs, he seemed to touch the hearts of so many. I, myself found myself crying and reading daily about his journey. What touched me is his understanding of where we are now, and his warning of ” not repeating our errors of the past”. Seems so simple and yet, so many can’t see this.

Affordable housing is another passion of mine, green affordable housing of course. While visiting the Tiny house and the Freight Container house exhibit here in Asheville. I realized how efficient and cozy, elegant and doable these homes are.

tinyhousepicofme

I’ve studied tiny houses and container homes for years, I just hadn’t had an opportunity to visit them. I felt a sense of hope for our future, a sense of pride for my community, and strong sense of connection within myself to continue to follow my passions in life.

Then I read Pope Francis’ quote. “There is no justification whatsoever” for lack of housing.

He called for “the right use of natural resources and the proper application of technology” to build an inclusive, sustainable and modern economy.

I felt relief and tears of joy at the same time! I felt a sense of connection. Finally! A part of me said.

I started the It’s Hip To Be Green line phrase in 2006 to do just that. It hasn’t been easy, and I won’t give up. BEING Green is so much more than action, it is heartfelt compassion for human rights, the earth and all of it’s inhabitants, it is the future of our children’s lives. It is a healthy attitude, way of life, belief system and total commitment. Being Green is more than just buying green. It truly is a being-ness that emits from within.

I would have loved to have been there, to hear it in person, see him, thank him for his “wake up call” to our government, to hold them accountable for more than just the 1%, for the 99% on this planet. Our home, something I truly do love, from the bottom of my heart.

I’m so grateful for this opportunity to be a part of this movement!!

Pope Francis speaks on the Environment

Pope Francis speaks on the Environment. My emotions are high as I cry about how my hearts desire is possibly coming to reality! When Pope Francis comes to the USA to speak about the environment, religious or not, it brings up so much for me. Tears, finally someone with great power and compassion is speaking the truth! Finally all I’ve worked to bring to awareness about, is being spoken to the masses.

I sit here writing and tears rolling down my face, trying to put into words what I’m feeling right now. I love this planet, truly I do! It is amazing, beauty beyond words, miracles, treasures ( not oil) not yet discovered, and I cannot believe we have gotten to where we are, our planet is filthy! Indeed, very well put. Our God given home is being treated as if it is our personal dumping station.

Animal species are dying, because we humans, are so selfish we cannot see past our own egocentric desires and modern conveniences. Our need for more, our addictions to having bigger, better, newer.

That in spite of the speeches by many, we continue to be in denial of our impact on this planet. We as humans do not have the right to use this planet as we wish, as it isn’t not just ours. It is our children’s, grandchildren, the plants and animals also. We treat it like a trash can.

popefrancis

I have anger, frustration, compassion and love all at once! At times I could just SCREAM at times I want to just crawl in a ball and sob. My heart is open, and hopeful.

This trip to the USA by Pope Francis to speak on the environment is so important! So absolutely incredible, and profound. I feel like I’m stumbling over my words to write this blog entry. I hope with all my heart that this trip, these speeches will be taken in, wake up many Americans as well as our nay sayers in the government, who continue on insisting climate change is a hoax.

As I’ve written before, climate change is just one of the issues, debatable, I say not, yet it is still questioned. Regardless of climate change we still have horrible habits of how we treat our earth, our home. Even if you can’t be on board about climate change, can you see the filth the Pope is speaking of? Can you see waste, over use, and poverty?

Can you find in your heart to see how we are treating it, can you bring yourself to make changes for all the inhabitants on this planet. Can you put your instant gratification desires aside and look at the whole picture. Can you open your heart ?

Can you listen when Pope Francis speaks on the environment and take action? Open your eyes?

I hope you will join me in the effort of so many of us, including Pope Francis, to treat our amazing gift called earth, with respect, love, and gratitude. It’s Hip To Be Green, and necessary thing to do!!!

Why I’m so into Green

Why I’m so into Green!  As I’m sitting here taking a new twist on my blog, it feels interesting to write about my hearts desire, when I’m used to writing facts, ideas, and tips.

Aside from the concept that is so controversial “Climate Change”, and all the hype about it.

I don’t put much into trying to change someone’s mind about if it is happening or not, it doesn’t matter either way, what matters is do we really want to trash this planet, do we really want to waste, destroy, use up our natural resources. Even if “Climate Change” isn’t happening.

My vision with my this site, and my T-shirts is to create a world that cares about it’s home.  I get chills trying to write about this vision, this planet, I call home. It’s so close to my heart.

Our planet is amazing, beyond belief.  It has wonders that we haven’t even discovered yet. Miracles waiting to be discovered and amazed by.  If we don’t destroy it first.

As humans, we treat this planet as if we are entitled to trash it, destroy it, pollute it, drill it dry, cut it down, as if another one is at Wal-mart. We do it without any regard for the other creatures that live here also.

It breaks my heart , when I see this all happening.  It really does!   I love this planet, it is a gift in my eyes, a incredible gift!

I get giddy just watching the most amazing creatures, and landscapes, sunsets, shooting stars and at times it feels as if I’m all alone.

I’m so fortunate to live in a place that has such wondrous natural habitat, lush green trees and amazing plants, waterfalls, beaches, amazing mountains, incredible creatures.

I’ve not traveled anywhere on this planet so far, that hasn’t had something amazing.

I live in wonder.  I live in gratitude for my planet, and all it has to offer.  I truly love where I live, and this planet is my home.

I notice that some take it for granted and many trash it.  I notice some take better care of their cars and house, and then go out into the world, trash it.  I guess it is all in how you define “home”.  My home includes, this planet.  I love and care for it, as I do my house, my car, my pets, myself, my children.

Green isn’t just recycling and energy conservation.  Green to me, is a state of being. Gratitude! Why I’m so into Green.

Love and care for all of it, as best we can. Go Green.

Being Green is hip, and for me, it is also part of who I am.  It is a lifestyle, a belief system.  It is being grateful for this amazing gift, our planet.  I wear my t-shirts to show my support, my care and concern for being aware, being responsible.

pollution-hurts

It truly does hurt, when I see tons of trash in our oceans, mountains being chopped down just to make millions.  For me, it isn’t about making money, its about living gracefully, in gratitude, respect.  Hippie?
Ok!, and maybe it is just plain respect, and care for what I’ve been graced with.

It’s being grateful for every tiny thing, as well as every enormous thing, on this planet.

My wish is for everyone to get on board, that being green is hip and show your support.  I love being Green, it feels good. What about you?