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"The price we pay for money is paid in liberty” - Robert Louis Stevenson
Life tip: Be conscious! Practice making fewer, but better informed decisions. Stay in the present. Try to live a more quality, less quantity life. Think simplicity. Consider what will actually improve your life versus what mass media tells you is a necessity. How do you do this? Start with thinking about every decision you make, instead of just going by habit. A 
next step could be meditation (Meditation), which brings many benefits to your concentration, health & outlook. From there, the sky & your happiness are the limit!
“Nothing has any power over me other than that which I give it through my conscious thoughts.” – Anthony Robbins
Amazing website: Learn about anything & everything from experts at www.ted.com. And be careful, this is addictive.
Green tip: Packaging – why do we purchase products that only need to be in packaging for a few weeks to a few months (from their creation until they reach the consumer), when the packaging they’re in will last for decades, if not generations? Try purchasing only products that have minimal, or preferably no, packaging.
Book recommendation: Remove the concept of disposable and you go from a cradle-to-grave concept to ‘Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things’ – McDonough & Braungart
“A mind stretched by a new idea can never go back to its original dimensions.” - Oliver Wendell Holmes
Interesting statistics on trees:
The net cooling effect of a young, healthy tree is equivalent to ten room-size air conditioners operating 20 hours a day
If you plant a tree today on the west side of your home, in 5 years your energy bills should be 3% less. In 15 years the savings will be nearly 12%
A mature tree can often have an appraised value of between $1,000 and $10,000
One hundred trees remove 53 tons of carbon dioxide and 430 pounds of other air pollutants per year
Mmmmm recipe: Spinach & Scallops… delicious, or to pass on a recent quote I heard “it tastes like happiness” Spinach & Scallops
Knowledge is “trading magic for fact, no trade backs” – Pearl Jam
Remember to SHINE!
“Whoe'er excels in what we prize / Appears a hero in our eyes.” - Jonathan Swift
Life tip: Consider what you deem of importance. Some items may immediately come to mind, but note that there’re likely other items that you haven’t considered. How do you spend your time? Do you watch a lot of sports? Preach environmental benefits? Read celebrity magazines? Volunteer? Remember that every dollar you spend and every minute of your life devoted to something is a vote for that and for furthering its causes and importance.
Amazing website: Ever wondered the full impact of purchasing goods, check out Story of Stuff and watch the 20 minute video, there are lots of other good resources on it too!
Green tip: Use your legs! Try walking or biking for all trips of less than 1 or 2 miles (and remember to bring your re-usable bags). You’ll save gas, a
s well as wear & tear on the car, which means more money in your wallet. Also, look into car-sharing or using public transit more often.
“Restructuring the transportation system also has a huge potential for reducing materials use. For example, improving urban transit means that one 12-ton bus can replace 60 cars weighing 1.5 tons each, or a total of 90 tons, reducing material use by 87 percent. Every time someone decides to replace a car with a bike, material use is reduced by 99 percent.” – Plan B 3.0 by Lester Brown
Interesting statistic: 1.5 million - Number of acres of forests in Colorado destroyed by the pine beetle, which is better able to survive warmer winters and is wrecking havoc in America's western forests.
Book recommendation: For an alternate perspective on history, try Ishmael by Daniel Quinn. Note that it’s written as fiction, but that it has a very interesting philosophy throughout it. Definitely worth a read!
Mmmmm recipe: Olive oil! Yes, I do get excited about it. Olive oil has a ton of health benefits (Olive Oil) and is delicious. Always get extra virgin & try it on everything. It does have a fairly low flash point, which can cause a burned flavor when used to cook, so don’t use with high heat. For a delicious shrimp & garlic recipe, check out: Shrimp & Garlic
“Cause I can't make you happy unless I am” – Ziggy Marley
next step could be meditation (Meditation), which brings many benefits to your concentration, health & outlook. From there, the sky & your happiness are the limit!
