FOUNDATION FOR A RESILIENT WORLD
- A conscientious public discourse is necessary for people to participate in governing themselves
- The conservancy of earth is central to human continuance
- Cultural expression is fundamental to human joy
- Compassion is the root of individual uniqueness and strengthens our collaboration
- Healthy local food production and distribution is significant to the quality of life
- Lifting people up is essential to a functioning society that benefits everyone
- A thoughtfully planned infrastructure creates thriving communities of activity and beauty
FOOD - DIET - KITCHEN - HOUSEHOLD - HEALTH - COMMUNITY - EDUCATION - CREATIVITY - ANIMALS - OCEANS - WATER - ENERGY - THE GREAT OUTDOORS - PLASTICS - URBAN PLANNING - PRODUCTS - CLOTHING - MONEY - POLITICS - INSPIRATION
- Support Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), local farms, farmer’s markets, and co-ops
- Aim for organic options
- Avoid foods treated with pesticides, fertilizer, antibiotics, hormones, and harmful additives
- Try to eat with the local seasonal harvest to avoid force-ripened and wastefully imported produce
- Read ingredients lists on products, not just nutritional labels
- Buy fair-trade when selecting coffees and chocolates
- Grow your own vegetables and herbs
- Learn to create ethnic flavors and the world of spice
- Make produce (fruit and veggies) and grains the main part of your diet
- Learn about homemade green smoothies and juicing
- Keep a list of healthy foods VS. carcinogenic, processed foods
- Avoid high fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils whenever possible
- Avoid toxic and nutritionally bankrupt (empty calories) foods, such as sodas
- Cook from the essential basics
- Learn about biodynamic foods and raw foods with active cultures
- Serve smaller portions and eat everything on your plate
- Cut back on flesh protein (meats)
- Collect the discards of vegetables and accumulate them in the freezer to boil and make a stock
- Pick at least one night a week to make a meal from items in your freezer or cupboards
- Make breads, jams, and compote from overripe and bruised fruits instead of tossing them
- Instead of trashing it, use stale bread for things like French toast, crust, and bread pudding
- Use all parts of citrus fruits; zest can be frozen to use in pasta and desserts, rinds add flavor in oven roasted dishes
- Learn about in-home composting and compost the scraps that you cannot eat or use
- Plan meals ahead of time to eliminate waste
- Learn about the Minimalist Movement and reduce the amount of things you own.
- When purging, keep things that are useful, beautiful, or provide a loving memory.
- Conserve time by knowing everything has a place. Handling things once allows for more time.
- Learn about your carbon footprint and take steps to minimize it
- Learn to sew and mend and repair your own clothing
- Swap old clothes with friends; it’s new to you!
- Be cautious and curious about items entering your home that come into contact with your skin
- Switch to natural cleansers like vinegar, baking soda, lemon, teas, borax
- Recycling all plastic, metal, cardboard, glass
- Use cloth napkins, dish cloths and towels
- Locate your recycling center for electronics, light bulbs, batteries etc.
- Avoid personal care and household cleaning products with harsh chemicals and carcinogens
- Try breathing techniques, meditation
- Exercise your body and practice preventative nutrition
- Take care of your physical, spiritual & moral health
- Practice kindness for a healthy attitude
- Meet your neighbors, know their names, share a meal
- Start small groups to recycle and share big items together
- Be an emergency responder
- Strive for unity
- Help the less fortunate
- Help the elderly
- Advocate for peace and nonviolence
- Speak out against injustice! Racism, bullying, prejudice, inequality
- Take time to learn about cultures and ethnicities outside your own
- Find organizations with causes you believe in and promote them locally
- Attend to the spiritual health of yourself, your family & friends
- Support attainable healthcare for all people
- Mentor youth to instill confidence in their dreams
- Read, read, read!
- Study maps to understand geography and the nations in the global news
- Stay informed about the different habitats and the creatures that depend on them
- Learn more about the primordial elements; earth, air, water, and fire and how they sustain life
- Research geology to better understand our natural resources and the minerals used to make things
- Take advantage of free online learning resources
- Expand and develop your world view beyond the city or the country you live in
- Understanding the difference between what you should know instead of what the media promotes
- Recycle cards, cereal boxes, and packaging to make your own cards, gifts, and gift wrap
- Turn off the TV and do some puzzles or go outside
- Explore the visual arts
- Read creative writing and poetry
- Seek out new and different music from independent artists and musicians
- Go see live theatre performances and live music
- Do creative meditations by freely drawing, writing, or assembling with no goal in mind and no pressure to make something perfect, let your right-brain move you
- Adopt unwanted pets from shelters
- Protect pets in extreme weather conditions
- Limit discarded trash, plastic, and chewed gum that endangers birds
- Don’t support factory farming that commit animals to abusive conditions
- Report questionable activity concerning the abuse of an animal
- Support free-range, grass grazing, and decent environments for all animals
- Cut down on fish consumption due to dwindling size and shrinking numbers
- Never thrown plastic trash into bodies of water!
- Learn about the plastic gyres that are endangering oceanic habitats
- Advocate for a non-toxic approach to food production to end chemical runoff that pollutes our wild oceans
- Buy local to avoid supporting ocean transport which pollutes and endangers
- Drink tap water! Research water filters that work and last.
- Be aware of waste, turn the faucet off while brushing teeth
- Be mindful of how often you flush the toilets in your home
- Visit your local wastewater treatment facility and learn about the process
- Know what not to flush because public filtration doesn't work on all things
- Collect rainwater from your gutters, or greywater for reviving plants
- No need to shower every day! It is actually better for you.
- Locate your recycling center for electronics, light bulbs, batteries, etc
- Turn off lights when not in use and switch to energy efficient light bulbs
- Use cold water washing and hang clothes to dry
- Insulate your home, especially your water heater to keep water hot
- Assure that your clothing includes weather appropriate items easy to layer
- Learn about fossil fuels and the oil crisis
- Advocate for the use of in solar, thermal, wind and wave energy
- Follow the sunlight (when it is out) and work on capturing with curtains as it moves.
- Carpool and use public transportation whenever possible
- Use power strips to keep multiple items plugged in, yet off
- Programmable thermostats for temperatures that are comfortable rather than extreme
- Plant for diversity, learn the difference between heirloom, hybrid, and GMO seeds
- Choose native plants that will welcome pollinators
- Visit national and state parks and forest preserves
- Go bird watching and learn the different species in your region
- Find an orchard to pick your own blueberries and strawberries
- Ride a bike, climb a tree
- Help legalize industrial hemp for healing our soil, providing new jobs, and healthy products
- Bring your own “doggy” container if you dine out
- Encourage the use of bio-plastics and plant-plastics
- Learn about plastic toxicity and avoid using BPA plastics for food and drink
- Bring cloth bags to transport groceries and other purchases (Give them as gifts.)
- Put small purchases in your backpack or purse, you don’t need a bag!
- Advocate for the eradication of plastic bags, reuse existing ones
- Plastic products are chemically composed to last for centuries, do not discard them after only one use!
- Look into reusable, eco-friendly water bottles with built in filters
- Learn about the process of recycling plastics
- Wash and clean out plastic containers and reuse them for storage or crafting
- Speak out in favor of small gardens in abandoned lots
- Plant flowers for pollinators, support local beehives and honey production
- Pick up litter
- Support the upkeep of existing infrastructure
- Be aware of food deserts
- Learn about rooftop and indoor gardening
- Advocate for ‘green’ and LEED certified building processes and energy use
- Find a cause, live it, and promote it.
- Buy necessities not junk; do you really need what you’re buying?
- Learn about the modes of capitalist production
- Spend more for quality items made to last and pass them on
- Support indigenous craft over cheaply produced items made under abusive labor practices
- Check labels on imports to assure that items are made and purchased justly
- Plan DIY projects to create household decorations and gifts
- Buy less and discard less
- Fight against planned obsolescence (things designed to wear out quickly)
- Shop used and vintage
- Support handmade and professional craftwork
- Know your clothing! Learn about materials and how they are manufactured
- Wear natural fibers; cotton, hemp, linen, silk, wool, bamboo, etc
- For cold weather assure that your clothing includes items to layer
- Learn to sew and mend and repair your own clothing
- Develop a unique style as oppose to follow swift fashion trends
- Purchase quality items that don't fall apart
- Care for your clothing when wearing, cleaning, and storing.
- Bank at small banks or credit unions
- Prioritize getting out of debt
- Make a budget and stick to it
- Spend less than you make
- Use cash over credit
- Make a list of things that you are able to barter with; skills, crafts, goods, food
- Learn about gift and barter economies
- Don’t listen to fear mongers on the right or left, find real news reported by citizen
- Vote outside the 2-party system
- Listen to people of all politic belief-systems, point out the principles you agree on, shake hands and drop the labels!
- Make up your own mind; find your own moral compass and stick to it
- Question what you learn and what you hear
- Do your own research
- Work towards reform by collective participation
- Harness the power in numbers
- Be a citizen watchdog to shout out corrupt practices
- Join a petition network
- Set up a time to make one phone call a month to your local politician
- Change from within on a personal level and move outwards
- Create more peace in the world by first fostering peace in your own life
- Take time to listen to others about their spiritual beliefs and ideas
- Resolve to plant the “seeds” for a better life for yourself and others
- Empower others by commenting on the good you see around you
Photos and Art by Lee Tracy
