My favorite Earth Week Message

The message below arrived in last week's mail. I took too long to ask the author for permission to quote it. Fascinating ideas on specific actions we can take during this time of threatened food shortages, to make our families and neighborhoods a bit more self sufficient.

I feel obligated to come out of hiding to address a very serious issue. Out of nowhere, as many “catastrophes” often appear, America is facing a food shortage. Completely laudable, some would argue, and agree that if a real threat at all, must indeed be related to increasing gasoline prices. Now whether you believe this shortage to be inevitable or a capitalistic ploy (I vote for number two), we Americans are not completely helpless. There are some who want us to believe we are helpless, but as long as we believe we are not, we are not! There are ways that we can take back control of our food supply and decrease cancer rates and pollution at the same time.

From Tammie Umbel, CEO
Shea Terra Organics


"The area surrounding my ten acre, organically managed farm in Leesburg, VA is a picture that I have seen again and again in my travels across the country. What used to be cow pastures and cash crop farms are now miniature, luxury estates. Across from a five hundred acre cow farm are houses over ten thousand square feet with five to twenty acres a piece. Now some might hate me for what I am about to say, and frankly I could care less. It wouldn’t be the first or last time anyhow. But while the owners of these houses look outside to their kingdom of lush, manicured “pastures”, I see giant junk yards, endless pits of waste that are the real reason America might face a food shortage, and why food prices are soaring. Not only do these yards require a lot of environment polluting diesel to manicure them , but they are also eating up land that could be used for local food production- to feed the masses so we can stop importing the majority of our food from across the globe.

And she goes on to make suggestions that many of us may be able to follow. Read more here.

re-usuable money stretcher

we can re-use our empty nature's gift bottles for all sorts of things.
after using all the product from one of our bottles with a treatment pump i cleaned it out thoroughly and refilled it with a diluted version of my hair conditioner. my hair is very long, and needs conditioning frequently, but not everyday. it does, however, need to be untangled. by diluting my favorite over the counter conditioner about 50-50 with H2O i had the perfect consistency to use on the ends of my hair as a detangling agent.
if i buy super size bottles of conditioner i can decant small amounts of it into one of our bottles with a lotion pump to more easily use in the shower.
if you love to use the old timey hair rinses try the atomizer top bottle as a spray.
the atomizer top especially has many uses: filled with water and handy for misting your houseplants. homemade pet spray is easily dispensed with it, too. if you work in watercolors it's a great spray for your creative endeavors.
i shouldn't neglect to mention the disc lid which was the first of our tops i experimented with for re-use. one of our used bottles with a disc lid dispenses my dishwashing liquid. i could go on and on.
i'm interested to know if you have any ideas about re-using our packaging. use your imagination, and please let me know what you come up with in the comments area. we might put it in our newsletter as we move forward into the "green age"!
bright blessings to you-
t