| Reflections on universal issues from around our small earth, all of them interconnected, complex and evolving. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next > End >> |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Page 5 of 14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Stay in touch with EcoHearth
EcoHearth Spotlights
Marita Prandoni
Marita Prandoni has a passion for exploring different cultures and worldviews. She draws inspiration from her family, tutoring extraordinary youth, meeting unexpected heroes and from the stunning natural beauty of her home turf in and around Santa Fe, NM.
Eco Action Tools
Knowledge is power only if you use it. Below are tools to help you get your eco activism on.
Eco Product Pick
SgDiapers Starter Kit gives baby a green, breathable alternative to plastic diapers. Flushable and biodegradable. See more items in our Eco Shop. |
Small Earth
When my friend from Paris and her family were visiting me this summer, I asked if they had had an opportunity to sample our train service from Santa Fe to Albuquerque and back. She retorted, “Why would we take such a slow train, when in France we can take the world’s fastest?” It's true Europe and many other parts of the world have more advanced trains and rely more on train service than does the USA. Yet this was not always the case. 
Last summer my family took a road trip through northern California. We slept under coastal redwoods and hopscotched across manifold landscape to visit seldom-seen friends. Our favorite stop was in a tiny town tucked deep in a valley where picturesque vineyards climb the hillsides toward pine-covered slopes. With just 250 residents, they have only one restaurant, a master vintner for the wine cooperative, and an annual pie auction. Remarkably cut off from the rat race that preoccupies most of this state’s 35 million, the abandoned, open hearts of our artist-friend Nelson and his neighbors betrayed that we were still in friendly California. 
Dear President Obama and Members of Congress: I am writing to you about the urgency to address our energy policy in view of the current string of severe weather occurrences across the world. It is astounding that, in view of the litany of climate-related catastrophes that have resulted in decimated towns and cities, and loss of life at home and abroad, Congress appears to take little notice. Our representation in Washington continues to deny the current climate chaos, in spite of the fact that the majority of Americans do not. 
Imagine living in the Rocky Mountain west and stepping off your porch to take in pastoral fields edged with golden cottonwoods. Your view climbs to a band of aspen hemming the base of sandstone bluffs. Beyond is a cobalt-blue mountain range. Then, setting your gaze just a few hundred feet from your door, you notice wooden stakes blooming with bright orange surveyor’s tape. This is typical of how many rural residents in western states come to learn that their piece of paradise does not extend to the core of the Earth. Beneath their feet rest the profits of natural gas and oil corporations. 
At my last cubicle job, I worked for a nonprofit whose mission was to highlight solutions for healing the environment. For that reason I found it particularly unsettling that, internally, this organization’s leaders had trouble implementing simple energy-conservation measures that they vigorously preached to the wider world. So for Christmas, I gave them a multipack of compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs. Supporting Sponsors
