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 After being inspired by Edward Norton and The Green Bag Lady, my new goal is to turn my home town of Gualala into a plastic bag free zone. This post by Treehugger is the perfect example of how to turn the serious, ugly problem of plastic bags into a huge win for not only the planet but the effort to clean up our watersheds as well. The 5 cent plastic bag tax has reduced the average number of bags handed out per month in Washington DC from 22.5 million to 3 million! It has also generated $150,000 in revenue to help clean up the Anacostia River.
My first step is to meet with our local grocery store owners and see if I can get them "on board". I already have The Green Bag Lady agreeing to do events in Gualala in July when she is visiting, and a radio interview with her set up with our local radio station. Stay tuned and wish me luck! Any suggestions and encouragement are welcome.
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 Have you been watching the Olympics? I have been catching some of it. My absolute favorite sport to watch is the snowboarding halfpipe. Their grace, strength, fearlessness and athleticism totally impresses me. Shaun White is truly amazing and I have fallen in love with Torah Bright, the women's gold medal winner from Australia. I couldn't help but think of our friends down under when watching her ride.
Did you know that this year's Olympic medals are partially made from recycled materials salvaged from old electronics including cathode ray tube glass, circuit boards, and other computer parts? You can read more about it here. One small step worth celebrating.   My husband and I started dating on Valentine's Day 18 years ago. That fateful day, we exchanged hand-made cards. Since then, it has been a tradition to make each other a Valentine's card (No gifts, but a HAND-MADE card is a requirement!)
Here's a peak at the one I made him this year. I love my jumbo playing cards. They came with about 5 extra cards that promoted their other products. I decided to re-purpose two of these extras into this year's Valentine. I designed it in the computer, printed it out and then used my handy Xyron machine to turn the printouts into giant stickers that went right over the advertisements. I thought it came out pretty cute. After the cards have been out on display for a week or so, I will put them away in strange locations: in cook books, random drawers, under things, etc. I like happening upon them later... it's like hiding reminders of love around the house. Some I haven't seen in years, but when I do there is always that "awwwww I remember that one" moment. No two are ever alike, and it is a fun time capsule of our friendship. Wishing each of you the opportunity to express and receive love this day and every day! Some of the creative problem solving inventions these days really are unique! I recently stumbled across this amazing new office product. It takes your used office paper and turns it into toilet paper! Check out the video to see for yourself. Thanks Rachel, at Interior Revolution for pointing this one out to me. NOTE: Rachel is running a give-away at the moment so go check out her very cool blog!
While we are on the topic of creative solutions... here's one just in time for that romantic holiday from Ask Umbra: eco lube and/or hair gel! My goofy husband has been asking for eco-jerry-curl for honkies. I think this just might be the answer to his odd request. I have been avoiding (like the plague) using plastic water bottles and plastic grocery bags for a few years now, ever since I learned about the Pacific Gyre.
On January 9th, I was watching the sunset from our favorite local beach and noticed a lot of tiny plastic fragments in the line where the tide and the beach meet (see photo). Was this the first signs of the Pacific Garbage Patch making its way to my home town? Three weeks and a couple of storms later, virtually all of the sand from the beach was washed out to sea and what remains is a rocky landscape formerly hidden below the sand. My friend Lizzy thinks the beach looks "cleansed" since all plastic shards (and most of the sand) are now gone. I am told the waves will slowly bring our beach sand back. It will be interesting to observe this phenomena. I have started a personal Secular Sabbath Sunset Series blog and will document what I observe there. Meanwhile, The Green Bag Lady and I think 5Gyres is the best web site for explaining the trash that is collecting in our oceans around the globe. I highly recommend you take a few minutes and check it out. Everyone should know about this important topic and 5Gyres is a fabulous resource for learning more.  I met Harmony Grace for the first time in the Albany airport. Did you know the Albany airport has an art gallery in it? The first thing Big Harmony & Little Harmony (and Mary!) did together was check out the current display called Material Witness. It is all about discarded materials being reused to create art. So, Harmony's first art show at 9 weeks old was recycled art. How cool is that! It couldn't have been more perfect. Here's a photo I took of one of the sections. Sorry, I don't have the name of the artist to give credit to but the show was produced in cooperation with the Rensselaer Schools of Architecture, and Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences.
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Harmony Susalla
Founder of Harmony Art organic design. 
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