Clean House, Clean Planet

Published by Simon & Schuster, Clean House, Clean Planet has a rank in the 60K’s on Amazon.com.

I spoke with author Karen N. Logan, and quizzed her about Clorox Wipes vs. natural cleansers for the bathroom counter. She explained how using a spray bottle of scented vinegar, a simple baking soda paste and a wash cloth could get the counter shiny-clean, free of soap scum and dry, without leaving a gritty baking soda mess!

Now I don’t need disposable wipes that clog up landfills and could harm my family’s health.

I ordered this book, and I hope you will too.

The polar bears the threatened by global warming. Their ice is melting. Their habitat is shrinking. They must hunt on thick ice, so they are going hungry. Sometimes, there is too much distance between the ice burgs, so they can drown.

We can help by reducing consumption – don’t buy things that you don’t really need, because “stuff” creates pollution that contributes to global warming. Also, don’t use too much energy, and use clean energy.

My mom, dad and I sold Certificates of Polar Protection at the Dharma Foundation Holiday Trade Fair on Saturday, December 5, 2009. It was at my school’s gymnasium. For a minimum $5 donation to Natural Resources Defense Council, people bought a little certificate. They can fill in the recipient’s name, and sign it, and give it as a gift. We wrapped them with red ribbon. (For more information about the polar bears, please go to www.savebiogems.org and find out how to get involved.)

I brought my 6 stuffed polar bears. The big polar bear is Ruth, my mom’s bear. (We put some of the bears under the table because people thought we were selling stuffed bears!)

We raised $130.87 for the Natural Resources Defense Council. They help the government make laws to protect the polar bears and reduce global climate change. We had a great day! And we raised awareness about the polar bears and global warming.

People feel better about bad stuff if they do something about it. We did something, and we helped others do something, too. We helped 30 people give certificates instead of gifts that the recipients might not really want or need. Reducing consumption helps with global warming.

The Lefflers and Dharma Foundation are not affiliated in any manner with the Natural Resources Defense Council or any of its programs, projects or websites.

Lynne Twist

On Sunday, November 1, 2009, Lynne Twist lead a symposium in Fairfield, Iowa called ”Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream.”

My husband David and I joined at least 100 other caretakers of planet earth to experience how we can change our mindset to change – and save – the planet.

I read Lynne Twist’s book “The Soul of Money” about 8 months ago, recommended by one of my students in a computer class I taught. I discovered that while poverty is a trap, so is wealth! The real point was to not let money be a trap. Wow!

Lynne came to Fairfield in the summer and I saw her get an award and speak about the Pachamama Alliance. This is an alliance between a tribe in the rain forest of Ecuador and the western world.

The talk on Sunday was a longer version of this message:

To save the environment, the Western world needs to start making decisions less from the mind, and more from the heart.

Read more about these ideas on the Pachamama Alliance website.

I signed an agreement that said,” I am committed to bring forth an environmentally sustainable, spiritually fulfilling and socially just human presence on this planet as the guiding principle of our times.”

You can participate, too. Visit the Awakening the Dreamer Website to get started.

I started by contacting fellow moms and the mayor of our city, to ask how we can pool our knowledge on running our households sustainably. Stay tuned for updates!

Published in Maharishi University of Management’s The Review Vol. 25, #3, October 14, 2009

The Department of Communications and Media is adding faculty, a new lab, new equipment, and additional classes — a move that became necessary because of the long waiting lists for digital media classes in this popular new major. It launched two years ago with 12 students, and last year more than tripled to 37 students.

The major recently added two new faculty, Gabriel Romero and Susan McGuire Romero, experts in graphic design with a special interest in sustainable design. The department also hopes to add faculty in video.

Program codirectors Gurdy Leete and Stuart Tanner have scheduled additional sections in narrative, video production, and video editing, and have added new courses on photography and new media (in collaboration with the Department of Art and Design), and on the graphic novel. More are planned.

As part of the expansion, the department bought new Nikon D60 DSLR cameras, 24-inch iMacs, and two new Mac Pro computers, all with the Adobe CS4 Master Collection (which includes popular software programs such as Photoshop, Flash, InDesign, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, AfterEffects, Encore, and others) and Final Cut Studio. The department hopes to acquire more Sony V1 and Sony Z1 camcorders, lights, microphones, and scanners.

“We’ve added a second digital media classroom, so now we’ll have two classrooms for in digital photography, digital arts for sustainable living, Web design, video, and media projects,” Mr. Leete said.

Program alumni are enjoying exciting opportunities. After Hollywood film director and University Trustee David Lynch met the ambitious students in the Communications and Media Department, he launched DLF.TV, a website about students, creativity, and consciousness. The majority of the staff at DLF.TV are students or alumni of the digital media courses.

“Our students have been doing fantastic work,” Mr. Leete said. “In the last few months, students and recent graduates have won a remarkable array of awards for their student work, with four awards and seven nominations at the 2009 Iowa Motion Pictures Association Awards, a Gold Eddy at the 2009 Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival, and two nominations for Webby Awards, the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet.”