Miomarmo

Our favorite things (to do to save the Earth)

In honor of Earth Day and the almost-one-year anniversary of Miomarmo, we’ve got a list of some of our favorite green tips and practices.

Nichole:
Grocery stores, Staples stores, Wal-mart all now have bins at the entrance to the store or just inside to recycle the plastic shopping bags.  I’ve doing it for a while now & I’m noticing more & more people.  It’s pretty cool because even though I mostly use my tote bags when I shop, we all still wind up with these plastic shopping bags that we all never wind up using (well…not all of them at least).

On your weekly, monthly, whatever trip to the grocery store…bring the bags back & recycle!

Chintan:
Go veggie! I don't know if I can be anything but a vegetarian. There are far too many reasons to list here, but some of the most important ones according to me are:

• It’s good for the animals. Stop the cruelty towards animals. What have they done to deserve this violence towards them?
• It’s good for you health. Simply doing a google search on vegetarianism and health will get you tons of information proving so.
• It’s good for the Earth. We are destroying pristine forests and converting them into farmland that can provide food for cattle.

Some links to get you started:
http://www.goveg.com/
http://www.peta.org/
http://www.vrg.org/journal/

Elena:
Check out yesterday’s post! Seriously, turning off lights and appliances you’re not using has to be one of the simplest things you can do.

Tim:
Some things we do on a regular basis are:

• using minimum amounts of detergent when doing laundry (you really don't need a full cup)
• re-using towels and work cloths
• find other uses for otherwise discarded items (I made birdhouses out of old deck lumber)
• using the fireplace more often in the winter (I use my own trees when possible and ask the neighbors if I can have the one they plan to discard)
• I no longer use bottled water; instead I use a filter pitcher
• discard batteries and other contaminates appropriately (our public library has a bin just for old batteries)

Matt:
The reusable grocery store bags – my family all uses them.

Dany:
Seek out sources for refilling containers, such as laundry and dish detergents. Our local coop has this service available for these and a few other items.

Happy Earth Day, everyone!

Remembering Rich

There haven't been many posts on Miomarmo lately. It's not that we haven't had anything to say. It's that our hearts have been so full, we haven't been able to write about it.

In late January, our beloved friend and co-creator of Miomarmo, Rich Mansfield, passed away from a massive heart attack. Though Rich had been writing about making his peace with the end of his life, it was still quite unexpected to us and for all those who loved him.

While Rich may not be here with us, his spirit of love, generosity, and just general joy for life live on. And we have his words to remind us of just how special and precious life is.

Rich wrote:

Before I go, I want to have a ready reserve of strength, courage, gratitude, consciousness, and even hope for the future.  I don't want to go kicking and screaming like Jimmy Cagney being dragged off to the electric chair in Angels with Dirty Faces.  With certain apologies to Mr. Thomas, I propose to go "gently into that good night."

His last post was titled "Sunrise, Sunset", a tribute to the fragility of life, and one of his favorite natural phemonena.  I think of him with love every time I see those beautiful colors in the sky and know he's somewhere enjoying them still. We love you, Rich.

Read all of Rich's posts here, including the one quoted above. And click the picture to enlarge and see that great Rich grin.

Visit an Ailing Friend

I learned of the terrorist attacks on Mumbai while listening to National Public Radio in the car on the day before Thanksgiving.   Our good friend and colleague Chintan Parikh is originally from Mumbai (he still calls it Bombay), and I was aware that he and his wife, Tanvi, are currently visiting their family in India.  The carnage was reported to be indiscrimate and savage.  I was worried for my friends.

I regret to say that I am becoming accustomed to this type of savagery.  Like the denizens of the famously black comedy, Brazil, who accept terrorism as a natural part of urban living.  A mess to be avoided on the sidewalk.  The brutality of the deeds reported on the tv and radio is so extreme that it can seem cartoonish to a suburban guy like me.  I am very aware of what happened at the World Trade Center, and I have many connections to New York and people who were directly affected by the events of September 11, yet, to tell the truth, it is beginning to seem like a long time ago.  And something I don't like to think about.

I was halfway to my holiday destination with hours of driving ahead of me when the BBC reporter starting describing the events of that day.  Unlike the dozens of attacks I've heard about in the last few years, this one had a heightened reality for me.  I had to think about it.  And the more I did, the more helpless I felt.  I felt, in other words, what victims of terror feel.  A feeling I have blocked out for a long time. 

I pulled over and called Chintan, and I got that error signal.  Great. What does this mean, I wondered.  The line is dead?  My worst fears were taking shape.  But minutes later, Chintan returned my call to say that he and everyone he knew were out of harm's way.   In a few hours it would be Thanksgiving Day in the US.  Of the many things I have to be thankful for, I promised to make make a special personal note for that one.

I also want to remind everyone that an attack like this is meant to deliver the message "Come to Mumbai and you'll be killed."  This is an open, prosperous, and truly diverse city that welcomes all religions, sects, and ethnic groups.  A perfect target for agents of destruction.  The Mumbai terrorists walked into the best hotel in town, a Jewish center, and a train station, and shot as many people as possible.  That was their plan.  Their purpose, as always, was to make us sick with fear and hate the way they are sick with fear and hate. 

Early reports are that their purpose is failing.  The city is pulling together, and security is being improved much as it has in Manhattan.

My friend Chintan has been nudging me for years to come to Bombay and visit his homeland.  I think this is the year I'll go.

Excellent editorial piece about the attack on Mumbai and why it was targeted.