A Green Valentine...

Christmas left piles of discarded wrapping paper, ribbon, and packaging in its wake. Now, thanks to Valentine’s Day, we enter a dangerous, trashcan-clogging world of plastic hearts, tissue paper, and greeting cards. Add to that complicated packaging for every item, and nearly any holiday can be one of our most wasteful times of year. A couple years ago, for Christmas, my mom came up with several clever, sustainable ways to “wrap” her presents for us. She was my inspiration for this blog.

--Following are a few tricks I’ve used that you can try. Remember them for birthdays and other holidays, too!

~ Earth-friendly Gift Wrap Tricks! ~

*REDUCE PACKAGING WASTE: Inside a gift I had bought, I found paper stuffing used to give it shape. Instead of letting it get thrown out, I used it as wrapping paper for one of the other gifts! Worried your paper is too boring? Jazz it up with glitter, stickers, or even just your own handwriting. For your Valentine’s gift, try writing a love poem on it. Be creative!

*USE ALTERNATIVE WRAPPING MATERIALS: Find things around the house, like the removable cover of a decorative throw pillow (Thanks again to my mom for this trick).

Instead of wrapping boxes, decorate them or keep an eye out for ones that are already decorated- no wrapping necessary! L

ook for cloth gift bags while shopping. If you have a hard time finding some, I recommend visiting a wine shop. They often carry a variety of elegant decorative cloth bags for wine bottles. They make smaller gifts look dazzling, and they can usually be found year-round!

Last, but not least, remember that some presents don’t need anything more than a bow to be magical. J

*Last but not least… RECYCLE (OF COURSE!): After the presents have been opened, don’t forget to check your items for recyclable materials. We all know that nearly every product is locked deep within seemingly impenetrable plastic. Recycle it! Save space in your trash can, and help save the Earth at the same time.


Love & Light,

Kaitzilla J

November's Bike Month

Whew! 2010 seems so long ago, already! How does the time fly by so fast? I honestly cannot say. I can, however, tell you how the people manage to travel so quickly… They’re riding their bikes! That’s how! J I am especially thankful and proud to announce that D.R.E.E.M. Reality’s November Bike Month for 2010 was a rousing success. Fellow director Ashley and I started a FacebookTMevent in order to get the word out. We were extremely excited, as this was one of our first official acts as D.R. directors. Thankfully, it took off even more than either one of us were expecting. So many great people jumped on the chance to trade their four wheels for two. Friends told friends who told more and more friends. In no time, the majority of our posts were from complete strangers! Hooray for networking!

Please feel free to visit D.R.E.E.M. Reality’s FacebookTM page and look for “Bike Month” to see how we did. While you are there, check for upcoming events and opportunities to make a difference. Participants have posted comments, kept track of their mileage, and even posted pictures of some of their bicycling adventures! We had so many participants it was impossible to name a winner. On second thought, there was one clear winner: our mother Earth! She is likely the most thankful for the positive impact that so many bikers made to help her. J

Special thanks to everyone who pedaled their way through November, those who pedal their way through life, and those who will choose to pedal more in the future. Biking is not only a wonderfully fun and effective way to commute, but it is also a great way to exercise and have a great time doing it. Remember, every month can be bike month. So, drop those keys, grab a bike, and pick up the pace!

Love and Light,

-Kaitzilla

It Ain't Easy Being Green...but we're working on it!

Hello, all! Kaitzilla, here: one of D.r.e.e.m. Reality’s east coast voices! One of my favorite things to do includes noticing the many sustainable techniques already available where I live. It’s easy to take personal responsibility and make a difference, even in unlikely places!

For example, I went to the North Carolina State Fair this year. Growing up in the capital city of North Carolina, naturally I went to the State Fair every year. However, I noticed a different experience this year. I found myself surrounded by gardens, culture, and even… recycling? That’s right! The State Fair is no longer just about deep-fried candy bars, donut-bacon cheeseburgers, and nauseating rides anymore! It’s also about helping to protect the earth. For the record, no, I’m not kidding. There was seriously a bacon-cheeseburger with all the fixin’s served between two glazed donuts instead of a bun… Mmmm, can you feel your arteries shutting down just thinking about it? I digress. Anyway, I am proud to acknowledge that recycling bins were abundant and convenient at the fair this year! Almost every trash can had a recycling bin right beside it. Now, if we could keep the trash cans from overflowing, and use the recycling more, we’d be in great shape, NC! I want to urge people to be more aware and take notice of these convenient receptacles. They are available, let’s use them!

You may already be familiar with the giant pumpkin sporting a blue ribbon you can find at a state fair, but what about entire gardens? We saw dozens of squares of land, themed and decorated with a wide variety of beautiful plants. Beyond the judging area there were also larger gardens on display, including a huge one dedicated to edible plants growing easily together! This garden (a small portion pictured to the right), simply named “Pretty and Tasty Garden,” contains all-edible plant life. The experience felt particularly exciting for me, as I got to see a prime example of the many foods that can grow in my current climate! [*if you read my last blog, I recently encouraged everyone to figure out what kinds of foods can grow easily at home. In fact, I encourage you further. Check out Where to Find Pick-Your-Own Fruit and Vegetable Farms / Orchards for Local, Fresh Fruit, Vegetables*]

The art projects on display at the fair are inspiring to see. Entries include traditional folk art, to cake decorating. Wonderfully, the artists range from professional s to children! To close, I leave you with the wise words of my favorite entry, a robot built by a young child.

“Hi, I’m Recycle Bot! I am made of a lot of recycled things. Recycling is very important in the state of North Carolina! Each year North Carolinians throw away $74,072,000 in aluminum and $41,411,600 in plastic. Did you know N.C. has a statewide ban on the disposal of these items?...”

The delightful robot goes on to boast about the numerous things made from recycled materials! Listen to the robot, recycle!

<3 Kait

Director Introduction - Kait!

Howdy, fellow D.R.E.E.M.ers!

Allow me to introduce myself… Kaitzilla here! I just want to start off by saying “Thanks for reading!” I can hardly express how grateful & blessed I feel to officially take part in this wonderful organization. There are many exciting endeavors & educational experiences to look forward to, & I delight in having opportunities to share them with the world! One of the first, but biggest, lessons I learned from being inducted has to do with what it takes to be a D.R.E.E.M.er. Originally, I thought it would take some sort of meditative ascension, or that I would have to suddenly & immediately become a flawless human [a complete contradiction]. However, I began to realize that qualities that simply made me me also made me a D.R.E.E.M.er! Passion, pluck, and perhaps even my perkiness all add keys to the instrument that is myself. Of course, many instruments must come together to make dynamic music. 

On Oct. 5, 2010, Ashley Munday and I [Kait Vettel] were awarded our certificates of induction, and we officially became directors of D.R.E.E.M. Reality! We felt especially thrilled because of the love and energy poured into our certificates. They were lovingly hand- crafted from recycled [and reused] brown paper bags and decorated with love & intention, plus lots of flowers! The certificates serve as beautiful visual reminders of the commitment we have made to ourselves, this organization, our community, as well as the whole environment!

Due to fortunate happenstance, Ashley and I were recently able to join D.R.E.E.M. Reality president and vice-president [Melinda & Danielle Phoenix, respectively] for a week during their Hawaiian Research Project. Hawaii is a stunning, majestic place to visit. Many people already know that. However, I had no idea what amazing examples of sustainability the Big Island has to offer. For starters, there is hardly any trash to throw out. Even public areas in the bigger cities offer recycling bins, compost receptacles, and sometimes even paper compost! Due to the limited space and fertile soil, Hawaii has to be extremely conscious of how often landfills/dumps get used. Imagine how much of a difference we could make here on the mainland if we simply adopted more of these simple waste reduction techniques! The notion is not as distant as it sounds. Even fast food companies where you live make efforts toward sustainability. Many fast food containers, such as cups, lids, and even the plastic nacho trays at your local Taco Bell are recyclable. The swirling triangle of arrows has become a widely recognizable symbol, and I urge everyone to take note of just how many products bear that symbol! This is our ever-important first step: Awareness. Next, let’s start encouraging these fast food places to provide customers with recycling bins in the stores! They have made the effort to use recycled materials, it’s up to us to complete the cycle. Of course, it wouldn’t hurt if they made it easier on us!

On another sustainability note, the town of Hawi, where Ashley and I stayed during the majority of our Hawaii visit, gets its energy from wind power! The vast fields of massive windmills are majestic, and awe-inspiring. The city took responsibility for its residents. Which brings up a good point: what about individuals visiting or living in Hawaii? There are many amazing work-exchange programs in Hawaii for visitors. It is an incredible way to experience the heart of Hawaii, while simultaneously giving something back to the land. Aside from the eco-villages, farms, and intentional communities on the big island that tend land & farm their own food, average families living there also grow food. During our stay, we were lucky enough to share in many amazing dining experiences with many of the ingredients being picked just before preparation. Nothing short of inspiring; clearly gardening is no longer only for large-scale, mass production farmers! In our work-a-day world, it’s often easy to get caught up in convenience, as opposed to procuring our own food. I myself am often guilty of ignoring where my food comes from. I encourage everyone reading this to find out what foods grow easily in your climate, and get planting! You’ll be sold once you taste the food you pick fresh. Plus, getting your hands dirty and working directly with the earth & soil can be a powerfully spiritual and fulfilling experience. I felt elated, accomplished, & on top of the world after rescuing a mango tree from parasitic vines! I bet the mango tree felt pretty good, too! When you feel that good [and the earth does too!], nothing can get you down.

Though sometimes overlooked, the spiritual, emotional, and communal experiences we share as people are just as vital to sustainable living as environmental considerations. After all, if you do not feel emotionally or spiritually fulfilled, then you yourself do not share the ability to sustain healthy living! The earth is not the only thing that needs help. Our souls need to utilize tools of sustainability as well. For example, one of the most unique and fascinating experiences I had during our time on the island came from our fortunate involvement in what is known as a Dream-In. An exercise where each participant sets intention into one’s dreams before bed, so as to better absorb the messages within them after awakening. The next morning, the sense of spiritual community that we each search for made known that it exists already in our subconscious during the sharing of the dreams. Many people, whether they knew one another or not, shared similar dream symbols and emotions during the night. Also, about half the group awoke at the same time [before the chimes to wake up went off]. It made me realize that there may be nothing so powerfully universal, yet seemingly impossible to fully understand, as the act of dreaming. Whether one thinks of a dream as a seemingly random assortment of images perceived during sleep, or the waking desire that fuels our very existence, dreams power us all.

D.R.E.E.M. on!

<3 Kait

PS- An extra thanks to those of you who actually sat through this long-winded introduction! <3