What Does it Mean to Co-Create Our World?

If you had all of the money in the world, what kind of world would you create? What kind of fuel and energy would power our lives? Would you opt for organic food, if it were affordable and available? Would you invest in the company that makes or delivers sustainably sourced sustenance? How would people move around in your utopia?

There is great power in how we spend our money. There is even greater strength in where we invest. This is a largely untapped source of influence for Main Street. When we don’t know which companies are fueling their future off of the money in our retirement, insurance and tax dollars, chances are quite high that we are profiting on the very companies that we picket – from polluters, companies that denude the forests and other last-century products and services that have led us to the climate crisis we face today.

Align Investments with Goals for Sustainability

We can save the planet, while enriching ourselves, when we make sure that our investments are aligned with our goals, when we put our money where our heart is. And yes, this can be very profitable. That’s why ESG Investing have become buzz words. [ESG Investing includes an evaluation of a company’s Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance or their conscientiousness in this metrics.] Many companies that are not planet-friendly are providing products and services that we line up to buy. It’s just as important to green our lives as it is to embrace ESG Investing.

In 2020, the pandemic forced changes upon all of us. Overnight, many of us began working, and doing almost everything, from home. As a result, the skies had never been cleaner in my lifetime. Traffic had never been so light and calm. Global carbon emissions dropped -7% between 2019 and 2020. In Europe and the U.S., the plunge was even more significant, at -11% and -12%, respectively. (China’s emissions were down only -1.7%.)

Demand for gasoline sank to the point that oil futures holders were paying not to take delivery on April 20, 2020. (Storing oil is very expensive.) The historic low price for oil is now -$40.32/barrel.

Sadly, emissions are on track to be higher in 2021 than in 2019.

How do we take charge of our portfolio when the financial advisor is encouraging us to let her handle things her way, and then “do good” with the profits? Is this the right approach today?

Rethinking and Recreating our Investments of Time and Money

The pandemic’s interruption of our lives is an opportunity to rethink and re-create everything, putting the health of the planet that nurtures and sustains us at the forefront. Every cent we own and every moment we spend is always an investment. We are a co-creators of our world. Our retirement and tax dollars are invested in the corporations that define our existence. When we realize the power of our money and investments as tools to make us rich and to also enrich our world, we will start aligning ourselves with other creative and motivated people who are invested in our success, the success of the companies we choose to support and the world at large.

Believing you have to make money fast before the world ends, the dollar becomes worthless, or the bank takes back your home is the kind of vulnerability that scam artists and shysters feed upon. Drink in the education and research you need in order to make successful investments. You’ll be less vulnerable to predators and more available to money while you sleep. Wisdom is key. Life math is something we should all be learning in high school. If we think of all the time we have wasted worrying about money in the past, we know that getting smart about budgeting and investing is actually going to take less of our time.

If you can shop, you can pick stocks. If you tithe, you can become a millionaire. If you can pick a great life partner, then you can select the second most important person in your life, your certified financial partner. If you know your age, then you know what percent of your retirement plan you should keep safe – not invested in stocks. Once you discover how the dollars you invest create our world, you can start investing in the products, goods and services that will save our planet.

Invest with Heart to Co-Create Our World

When people start investing with heart, soul and wisdom, instead of fear, blind faith and greed, this world will become a very, very beautiful place. There is no end to the problems that can be solved when we move trillions out of the old industries of oil, gas and cigarettes, and invest that trove in the clean energy, goods and services that contribute to a healthy, sustainable world. A life like this increases in value every single day and becomes more valuable, not just to each one of us individually, but to those around us, and the world at large.

What it Really Means to Live a Rich Life

True wealth is not a rollercoaster. Living a rich life is priceless. Having a planet that nourishes and sustains us is a divine blessing, and is essential to our survival. So, let’s put our money where our heart is to live a richer life today, and to co-create something worthy of being remembered for generations to come.

Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is

Excerpt from the Introduction of the 2nd edition of Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is, an original ESG Investing book. The 2nd edition was just released as an Amazon Exclusive in September, 2021. The ebook will be offered free for 5 days only starting on October 31, 2021. Visit https://www.NataliePace.com/ for more information.

Natalie Pace

Natalie Wynne Pace is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project and the author of the Amazon bestsellers The Gratitude Game, The ABCs of Money and Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is. Since 2002, Natalie Pace has been touring the world and featuring the most sustainable businesses, farms, individuals, restaurants and homes. Download your free Earth Gratitude mini ebooks, featuring The Dalai Lama, H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, Elon Musk, The Duchess of Northumberland, Deepak Chopra, Life is Good, the Earth Day Network, Global Green USA, Arianna Huffington, Lynne Twist, Ron Finley and more, at http://earthgratitude.org/. Learn more about Natalie Pace at http://www.nataliepace.com/.

The post How We Co-Create Our World: Aligning for Sustainability appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Photo of Ron Finley Growing Food for Health by Leroy Hamilton

There are some quiet, powerful seeds of prosperity sprouting up in some of the most unlikely communities these days. From Compton Gardens to South Central Los Angeles to Berkeley and beyond, individuals are transforming food deserts into oases and growing food for health. This practice is something that can go a long way toward putting extra money into the pockets of vulnerable families and reducing the chronic problem of obesity (and healthcare costs) in America. Below are highlights from three community gardens.

The Edible Schoolyard at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, Berkeley

The Edible Schoolyard spans one acre where you’ll find apple trees, vegetables gardens, and even a beehive – all organic. The “classroom” is an open-air makeshift wood gazebo, with bales of hay for seating, constructed by students. Messages on a colorful whiteboard remind the students to be safe, respectful, responsible, open-minded, to collaborate and work together, and to use the right tool for the right job. A few students who have been through the curriculum are now teacher aides and were assigned to show me around.

“What’s the favorite thing you’ve eaten here at the Edible Schoolyard?” I ask one of the aides, as we walk into the kitchen.

“Kale pesto,” she responds, licking her lips at the sumptuous thought. Kale pesto! That’s really the last thing I expected to hear. However, I soon learned in my makeshift survey of budding gardeners that sophisticated palettes dominated.

Inside the school’s kitchen, the kids are making harvest soup, another of their favorites, using cooking tips from Alice Waters (Chez Panisse’s beloved visionary is the founder of Edible Schoolyard). I’m a little alarmed at the size of the knives. However, the kids are comfortable cooking with blades and heat, working collaboratively to chop, season, and double-check the recipe. There’s only one sound I’m hearing that is rare for classroom learning, and it’s not the yelp of a wounded cook. It’s laughter.

“Our education system has become memorization of very specific factoids. What we lose in that is the process of how to learn,” according to Kyle Cornforth, the Director of the Edible Schoolyard campus at Berkeley. Tasting one sample of their delicious soup is my proof that hands-on learning works!

This isn’t the only upside to having an organic school garden. The ultimate goal at the Edible Schoolyard is to reform the school lunch “reheat and serve” program with healthier, nutritious options.

“Edible education is a pillar of social justice. We owe it to our youth to introduce them to the connections between food, power, sustainability and oppression, so they can help create access and opportunity for all,” Janet Levenson the Principal at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School, wrote to me in an email. These lofty goals are easier to learn, and more profound, when the students dig their fingers in the dirt.

Food Deserts, Poverty, and Dialysis

That’s exactly what inspired Ron Finley to grow organic food in South Central Los Angeles. It’s virtually impossible to find a fresh carrot in South Central, but the area is teaming with drive-through fast food joints, liquor stores, and countless diabetes clinics. Ron began drawing the connections between chronic disease, toxic food, institutionalized, drab schools, and high incarceration rates. He wanted to beautify his life and his neighborhood. It’s easy to find Ron Finley’s house. It’s the only one with a banana tree, sagging with ripening clusters of fruit, in the road verge. He takes meetings in his reed gazebo in the space between the sidewalk and the street.

“Growing your own food is like printing your own money,” is one of Ron’s most quoted messages. His inspiring TED Talk has been viewed almost three million times. He believes that gardening is the most therapeutic and defiant act you can do and invites us all to “plant some shit” and become “gangsta gardeners” too.

Compton Gardens

Dr. Sherridan Ross (a retired surgeon) and the Metro Community Development Corporation are also growing organic produce in a food desert – in Compton, California. By working with the city, they were able to place garden beds in an abandoned lot. Individuals can purchase a 4’ x 8’ bed, which can feed a family of three for an entire year, for only $50. Better yet, kids actually love the food. Dr. Ross shares how he often puts sweet peas into the palm of a recalcitrant kid, who later, after sneaking a bite, saunters back to ask for more. The Compton Fire Department even has a few garden beds, ensuring that Compton’s Bravest stay in tip-top health.

“There’s a lot of obesity here,” Dr. Ross told me. His community wants to improve health, and they are also interested in winning over hearts. Local gang members were invited to tag the garden boxes with graffiti, with one caveat. They had to use words that they found in The Bible. A few started hanging around after that, to learn Biodynamic French Intensive Gardening and sample the first fresh greens they’d tasted in their lives. The Compton Unified School District has given the green light to set up gardens at their schools, and arrangements are being made to have the fresh food available for lunch.

It’s incredible to think that a few seeds can truly transform a community. When you add up the amount of money spent on health care in the U.S. (almost $3 trillion and 18% of our Gross Domestic Product) and the high percentage of obesity (36.5%), and then divide that by healthy food and exercise (gardening), you’ve got an easy, cost-effective solution, which is already demonstrating results. In 2010, childhood obesity had hit a heartbreaking high of 15.9% in low-income children in the government’s WIC program. Recently that trend has been reversing. According to the Centers for Disease Control, “During 2010–2014, the overall prevalence [of obesity] decreased significantly to 14.5%.”

Another positive outcome of growing your own food is that we reduce our reliance on plastic – something that has become a massive problem accumulating in our oceans. Kiss the Ground and other soil experts are raising awareness about the value of carbon sequestration that occurs naturally in healthy soil and plants. Learn more about Kiss the Ground in their upcoming documentary and at: kisstheground.com.

Thank you Alice Waters, Ron Finley, Dr. Sherridan, and the teams behind Edible Schoolyard and Compton Gardens for transforming lives by planting seeds of prosperity. There are so many other heroes in this flowering, biodynamic space, including Kerri Eich-Reiner at University High School in West Los Angeles, the Community Healing Gardens in Venice, and more. If you’d like to plant seedlings of your own, take the advice of Principal Levenson and dig in. The Edible Schoolyard has been around for two decades, and they have resources and best practices available on their website to share.

Go to EarthGratitude.org to download your free e-book featuring the world’s most respected experts, including The Dalai Lama, H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, Elon Musk, Arianna Huffington, The Duchess of Northumberland, Deepak Chopra, the Earth Day Network, Ron Finley, Lynne Twist, Green Our Planet, Life is Good, Master Sha, Leon Krier and more.

Natalie Pace

Natalie Wynne Pace is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project and the author of the Amazon bestsellers The Gratitude Game, The ABCs of Money and Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is. Since 2002, Natalie Pace has been touring the world and featuring the most sustainable businesses, farms, individuals, restaurants and homes. Download your free Earth Gratitude mini ebooks, featuring The Dalai Lama, H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, Elon Musk, The Duchess of Northumberland, Deepak Chopra, Life is Good, the Earth Day Network, Global Green USA, Arianna Huffington, Lynne Twist, Ron Finley and more, at http://earthgratitude.org/. Learn more about Natalie Pace at http://www.nataliepace.com/.

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Earth Day is an annual reminder that the planet needs us to step up our game now—not only for a holiday—but on a daily basis. Living a green lifestyle is essential to the sustainability of our common home. It is also good for our wallet, offering savings of thousands of dollars every hear when we make smarter energy choices.

1.  Light up Your Life

Switching out your incandescent lights with LED lighting in your home or office can save up to 85% on your lighting bill. With new technology and greater availability, LED bulbs are now under $10 each and can last for up to 15 years. Unlike CLs (compact fluorescents),  they do not contain mercury or other toxic elements. Live by the mantra, “On when you enter, off when you leave.” One noteworthy example: when the Ritz-Carlton Denver switched to LED lighting, the electrical engineering team was able to use some of the savings on their lighting bill to invest in other sustainable solutions.

2. Electricity

Get to know your energy hogs and vampires and discover the best times to energize.

Save up to 90% on your electric bill with a few easy tricks. Put a timer on your water heater, so you are not heating water while you are asleep or at work. Don’t heat or cool empty homes or rooms. (Hotels routinely turn off entire floors when occupancy is lower.) Combine loads for the dryer. Big appliances are energy hogs, so the less you use them, the better. Power down and unplug your energy vampires like cell phone chargers, computer chargers, and home entertainment systems when they are not in use. You don’t need to charge your batteries 24/7, just as you don’t need your lights on 24/7. A simple power strip can make it easy to power down.

3. Water

Xeriscape your lawns, at home and at work and plant native greenery. Research grey water systems and find out what you can incorporate at home. Support community gardens instead of grass at local schools and parks. Water plants in the early morning or evening, when more of the water is absorbed and less evaporates in the hot sun. Don’t keep water running while you brush, wash dishes or hands.

4. Green Investing

Investigate: Are green funds really green?

Sadly, there are more than a few fund companies that call their products sustainable, and/or socially responsible, but are invested in companies that are not. Most of the green exchange traded funds (ETFs) run truer to their name than the mutual funds (even of well-known socially conscious fund companies).  Be careful when investing in individual clean energy companies. Most are still in the red and can have volatile swings in their share price. Purchasing a fund protects you from the risk and price volatility of owning just one individual company.

5. Transportation

The average American spends almost $2,000 per year on gas and almost $4,000 when gas prices are at their high. Is it time to rethink your transportation? Look into a hybrid or an electric car. Powering up an EV costs half or less than fueling up with gasoline. Try moving closer to work. Look into commuting by bike or train. Biking or walking when you run your errands can beautify your bottom line, your bottom, and our planet. You’d be surprised how much exercise and health you can enjoy, and how much money you’ll save, with this one simple trick.

6. Reduce your heating/cooling bill

If your home is properly insulated, your body heat actually warms the space. If your utility bill is high, chances are that you have a drafty house. Visit PassiveHouse.us for tips on passive solar, insulation and energy reduction. Complete your energy efficiency upgrades in 2016 and you might qualify for a tax credit. (Learn more at energy.gov.) When you can heat or cool a smaller space (your office, say) rather than the entire house, you are saving a massive amount of energy (and money).

7. Clean Energy Tax Credits

Use them now! Many energy efficiency tax credits are set to expire at the end of 2016. Visit EnergyStar.gov and search for “tax credits” to see what is available.

8. The Global Earth Day Gratitude celebration on April 22
   

   From 7:30 to 8:30 PM on April 22, 2016, Earth Day (worldwide, in your own time zone), individuals around the world will power up the gratitude and power down the grid to get as close to personal net zero as possible. Illuminate by moonlight, candlelight, or LEDs. (It will be a full moon.) We can count our blessings. Focus on energy efficiency. Observe the fresh insights that flood our awareness and the world consciousness. Be epic. Allow the lessons learned in this practice to inform new habits in the days ahead.

Download your free Earth Day Gratitude ebook at EarthDayGratitude.com. The ebook features valuable tips on sustainability and stories of gratitude from visionary leaders such as Prince Charles, Deepak Chopra, Kathleen Rogers, Lynne Twist, and more.

Natalie Pace

Natalie Wynne Pace is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project and the author of the Amazon bestsellers The Gratitude Game, The ABCs of Money and Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is. Since 2002, Natalie Pace has been touring the world and featuring the most sustainable businesses, farms, individuals, restaurants and homes. Download your free Earth Gratitude mini ebooks, featuring The Dalai Lama, H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, Elon Musk, The Duchess of Northumberland, Deepak Chopra, Life is Good, the Earth Day Network, Global Green USA, Arianna Huffington, Lynne Twist, Ron Finley and more, at http://earthgratitude.org/. Learn more about Natalie Pace at http://www.nataliepace.com/.

The post Earth Day Gratitude appeared first on LA Yoga Magazine - Ayurveda & Health.

Make Every Day Earth Day

If you want to make every day Earth Day, follow this simple rule of thumb: Use Less of Everything.  Jettison the waste hidden in your daily routine.  This is great for your personality and for our planet.

Use Less of Everything

(And have more money for the things you love.)

Housing

Who really needs a McMansion?  Unless you’re the king on the hill entertaining leaders from another country, heating and cooling cavernous empty spaces is very hard on your wallet and humanity.  If you were mining the coal, storing the spent nuclear fuel rod or tracking the gas yourself— instead of flipping a switch — you’d definitely be more mindful.  Eight-six percent of power we use comes from nuclear and fossil fuel sources.  Downsize.

Water

Drought-resistant plants and xeriscaping are beautiful, easy, and appropriate for the Southern California climate.  Let the water flow to the farmers and focus on conservation.

Electricity

Smart choices can result in savings of up to 90% on your electric bill.  Insulate.  Don’t heat or cool your home or our water when you’re not there.  Adjust the thermostat when you leave, put a timer on the water heater, or choose a water heater that heats on demand.  Power down all electronic devices and unplug your phone and computer chargers when not in use.

LED Lighting

Going for incandescent to LED light bulbs represents a savings of 74 watts per bulb saving you up to 80% on your lighting costs.

Gasoline

America’s oil addition is staggering.  We suck up almost nine million barrels every single day.  Over $2,000 per household was spent on oil and gas last year.  Bike to work, anyone?  (Also walk, take public transit, carpool, or drive a fuel efficient hybrid or electric vehicle.)

Organic Food

Your body craves nutrients, not calories.  There is a growing body of research supporting the evidence that buying organic means you’re choosing more nutrient-dense foods.  (Check out the Organic Farming Research Association.)  Kick the junk food addiction and spend less money on health care (a nearly $3 trillion annual bill in the U.S.).

Natalie Pace

Natalie Wynne Pace is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project and the author of the Amazon bestsellers The Gratitude Game, The ABCs of Money and Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is. Since 2002, Natalie Pace has been touring the world and featuring the most sustainable businesses, farms, individuals, restaurants and homes. Download your free Earth Gratitude mini ebooks, featuring The Dalai Lama, H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, Elon Musk, The Duchess of Northumberland, Deepak Chopra, Life is Good, the Earth Day Network, Global Green USA, Arianna Huffington, Lynne Twist, Ron Finley and more, at http://earthgratitude.org/. Learn more about Natalie Pace at http://www.nataliepace.com/.

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When we consider a partnership related to sacred business, we can recognize that Americans collectively already have a lot of experience in sacred partnership. For example, we co-created over generations what we call the land of the free and the home of the brave. It isn’t by accident—and it isn’t perfect. We know that many freedoms were (and continue to be) hard won.

For example, in the 1850s, after a bloody and horrific Civil War, we outlawed slavery. In the 1920s, after a dedicated suffragette movement, women were finally granted the right to vote. But, progress doesn’t require bloodshed. The collective effort of the country in 1962 meant that we pooled our resources creatively and financially to put a man on the moon.

The solutions to our current challenges lie in our hands. High oil prices? A collective effort to increase commuting by bike and train could impact this dramatically. Thermonuclear meltdown in Fukushima? If everyone cut their energy use by 90%—and even more significantly—invested in powering the grid with renewable energy, we could reduce our reliance on risky nuclear energy. If we compare this effort to landing on the moon, it is certainly easier to power the grid with renewable technology, much of which already exists, than rocketing an astronaut “on an untried mission to an unknown celestial body.”

Here on Planet Earth, we are collectively engaged in a sacred business partnership. It’s time to step up our commitment and courage—to reach beyond personal comforts and ask ourselves the hard questions. What we pray for must be what we do daily. For example, we must co-fund a clean tomorrow rather than allow cronyism economics and destructive businesses to flourish by tapping into the trillions in our retirement plans and 401Ks. We must kick our oil addiction and commit to new habits as a society.

More than money, this requires wisdom and right action. We can all take action now.

Natalie Pace is the author of the Amazon bestsellers, The Gratitude Game, The ABCs of Money and Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is, which are both available now for 99 cents on Amazon. Natalie has been saving homes and nest eggs for 14 years, while at the same time earning the ranking of No. 1 stock picker. Learn more at NataliePace.com.

Supporting Solar

The US Department of Energy’s 2015 Solar Decathlon is being held at the Orange County Great Park. Student teams from around the world participate in a competition to design and build a solar-powered home. Four Orange County universities: University of California Irvine, Saddleback College, Irvine Valley College, and Chapman University have joined together as Team Orange. The competition has begun and houses will be open to the public for viewing in October, 2015. For more information, visit: solardecathlon.gov

Clean LA Solar

The Clean LA Solar Coalition continues to support solar installations on rooftops in Los Angeles. For more information, visit: cleanlasolar.com

Earth Friendly Products Solar

One of the SoCal business committed to solar powered initiatives is Earth Friendly Products. The family-owned Orange County producer of environmentally friendly detergents and cleaners is powered by a solar array on the roof: ecos.com

TreePeople’s Rain Barrel Rebate

Rain barrels allow for reuse of water for landscaping in drought prone Southern California. SoCal’s Water Smart program offers rebates for purchasing up to four barrels. TreePeople organizes truck load sales through Rain Barrels International at below retail prices. The next truck sale is at the Mar Vista Farmer’s Market on February 28. For more information, visit: treepeople.org/rain-barrel-and-tank-information

Natalie Pace

Natalie Wynne Pace is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project and the author of the Amazon bestsellers The Gratitude Game, The ABCs of Money and Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is. Since 2002, Natalie Pace has been touring the world and featuring the most sustainable businesses, farms, individuals, restaurants and homes. Download your free Earth Gratitude mini ebooks, featuring The Dalai Lama, H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, Elon Musk, The Duchess of Northumberland, Deepak Chopra, Life is Good, the Earth Day Network, Global Green USA, Arianna Huffington, Lynne Twist, Ron Finley and more, at http://earthgratitude.org/. Learn more about Natalie Pace at http://www.nataliepace.com/.

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The Ultimate Earth Day Celebration. 

Ironically, it was on Earth Day, 2010, when the Deepwater Horizon exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 men and spewing at least 4.9 million barrels of oil into the Gulf. This was a wake-up call for the Bike Power Community, which has been celebrating Earth Day as a Day Without Oil ever since.

There are no rules. The Bike Power organizers encourage everyone to garage the car and power their lives by bike for a day. There is so much to learn from and be inspired by taking a day off from oil. The day moves slower. Ideas spark. Meaningful and lasting change takes root.

31 Suggestions for Earth Day

1. Gift a bike to your local Goodwill or children’s advocacy group so that those most in need can pedal their way to health and greater fiscal health, too.

2. Ride a bike to work and to do your errands. Plan now to make this happen all day (or all weekend) long.

3. If you can’t ride a bike or walk, choose mass transit or carpool, instead of driving, or telecommute to work.

4. Videoconference instead of flying to a meeting.

5. Use reusable bags instead of plastic.

6. Eat local, organic and low on the food chain. (This means no chocolate or coffee for Americans and Canadians. Acck! Drink local beer, wine and spirits.)

7. Plant a tree.

8. Pay bills online.

9. Reduce, reuse and recycle.

10. Compost.

11. Replace your light bulbs and CFLs with LED lighting.

12. Test drive an electric car.

13. Send this article to your local newspaper and ask them to publicize Bike Power Weekend.

14. Send this article to 10 friends and ask them to send this article to 10 friends.

15. Join the Facebook community page at: facebook.com/BikePowerWeekend

16. Have fun.

17. Organize an Earth Day event at a local school; help parents peddle their kids to school.

18. Stop investing in oil in your 401K, IRA, annuity and pension plans. Learn more in my Green Investing article and radio show.

19. Invest in a clean energy exchange traded fund. Search iShares and PowerShares for options. Here are three possibilities: (ticker symbols) ICLN (iShares), PBW (PowerShares) and PBD (PowerShares).

20. Use wind, solar and geothermal energy to power your home, office and electric car.

21. If you must drive, gas up on Monday and don’t refuel until after Wednesday.

22. Get creative about avoiding gasoline and petroleum products for an entire week!

23. Wear cotton instead of polyester.

24. Organize a bike ride in your town or city.

25. Unplug your cell phone chargers immediately after your phone is charged. (Leaving it plugged in is like leaving the lights on all the time — a big energy drain.)

26. Tour the first platinum LEED-rated home in the U.S. online at LivingHomes.net.

27. Join or start a Bicycle Advocacy Group to make your community more bike-friendly and to raise awareness of the benefits of bikes through advocacy, programs, education and outreach.

28. Get more green tips in the Energy Savers Guide at: energysavers.gov/tips

29. Learn more about energy efficiency retrofits and Passive House building at PassiveHouse.US.

30. Buy and use less of everything!

31. Check out innovative products, like the TagaBikes.com bike/stroller.

Natalie Pace

Natalie Wynne Pace is the co-creator of the Earth Gratitude Project and the author of the Amazon bestsellers The Gratitude Game, The ABCs of Money and Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is. Since 2002, Natalie Pace has been touring the world and featuring the most sustainable businesses, farms, individuals, restaurants and homes. Download your free Earth Gratitude mini ebooks, featuring The Dalai Lama, H.R.H. The Prince of Wales, Elon Musk, The Duchess of Northumberland, Deepak Chopra, Life is Good, the Earth Day Network, Global Green USA, Arianna Huffington, Lynne Twist, Ron Finley and more, at http://earthgratitude.org/. Learn more about Natalie Pace at http://www.nataliepace.com/.

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