It turns out that in this case the death-blow is a loss of two-thirds the author’s income.  As Amanda Rooker contemplates the discrepancy between her good intentions and the reality she’s faced with, a powerful transformation unfolds – her belief of being too poor and too busy to live sustainably is replaced by the realization that it was, in actuality, her “product-based, practice-based ideal of sustainable living that was not sustainable.”  This leads her to some intriguing revelations about what sustainability truly implies.  In the end, Amanda comes to see sustainability as a spiritual practice and process in parallel to the natural world -

“Even if the body is deficient in many areas, it will only take in what will address the primary deficiency.  Pouring supplements into your body (or in this case adding sustainable practices) to address visible symptoms, is a waste of time, money  and energy.  Only when the core deficiency is met will the body be capable of absorbing what it needs to address the next core need.”

Very refreshing!

Being that I am passionate about Community (the Intentional sort), I am fascinated by collective intelligence and its inherent synergism.  I knew I had to share this article on Collective Intelligence in Small Groups over @Kurzweil as soon as I read it.  It’s based on a study performed by MIT and published by Science that found that the Collective Intelligence Factor in the performance of small Human groups is not correlated with the intelligence of the group members, but with how well the group works together.  Maximum collective intelligence is not born from cognitive ability but from “social sensitivity”, which the study defined as the willingness of the group to take turns and apply their individual skills collectively to solve challenges.

That long-lasting bruise that disappeared?  It was replaced a few days later with three tiny blisters that are now almost gone themselves; the only evidence that my leg was ever injured in that spot.  Also, the pronounced improvement in my breathing continues.

Frankly, I expected to feel poor during this initial 10 days and was fully prepared for the “crisis period” many described, but which neither my DH or myself experienced.  Our plan is to get to 50 drops 3x per day and stay at that level for 3 weeks (the cleansing phase), before reducing it to a daily 50-drop dosage for 3 to 6 months (the restorative phase).  After that our maintenance routine will be a weekly 50-drop dose.

I’ll update with developments or changes.

Two weeks ago I would not have necessarily known that H2O2 was another name for Hydrogen Peroxide, and I had never heard of H2O2 Therapy in any of its guises.

Then a friend let me in on the trick behind her noticeable green thumb (really, her garden is easily triple anything around).  She explained that each plant receives a certain periodic dosage of Food Grade H2O2 in its watering schedule and went on to extol the many (and seemingly quite visible) benefits.  I had never heard of doing this, but delivering more oxygen to the plant’s roots (which is what it does) both sounds like a good idea and looks rather effective.

My interest was piqued.  Especially by her suggestion that the clear benefit of providing additional oxygen to the plant is replicated in Humans.  In fact, as I’ve since discovered, most medicinal plants, nutritional supplements and new “miracle” programs (such as the Alkaline Diet) work by increasing oxygen intake and/or supply in our body in some regard.

I found a dozen books at the library, and then researched everything I read on-line.  Even the rather disappointing Snopes article that merely suggests it’s common sense to stay away from it, citing only a case or two of poor judgment.

What started as an interest in developing my own green thumb became an interest in the potential of H2O2 for personal use.  Especially when I read that farmers use H2O2 in their animal’s water supply to decrease the need for antibiotics.  Shouldn’t that be a clue to its potential?  Yet the FDA says H2O2 isn’t fit for Human consumption.  How can this be?  Of course this is the same FDA who wouldn’t approve ammonia-washed meat products for animal food, only to turn around and rule that the same was fit for Humans instead.  Not to promote conspiracy theories, but I don’t believe they have our best interests at heart.

Especially when you take into account that many European cities treat their municipal water supplies using H2O2.  Some since 1901!  The water-on-tap is said to be revitalizing and invigorating.  This, while America treats most of its supply with known carcinogens like Chlorine and Fluoride!

What is H2O2 in the first place?  As I said at the beginning, it is more commonly recognized under the name Hydrogen Peroxide.  More accurately, Hydrogen Dioxide.  In essence, water with an extra oxygen atom attached!

Perhaps because it has been in commercial production since 1890, most people I talk to don’t seem to realize that Hydrogen Peroxide is a naturally occurring compound found in all oceans, lakes, rivers, rain, snow and in all life forms.  It is in all fresh fruits and vegetables we consume, especially concentrated in those grown in the open air.  It is a natural disinfectant.  The Human body creates and uses H2O2 as a free radical to destroy bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites.  White blood cells make hydrogen peroxide to oxidize all infections and invaders.  Vitamin C helps us to stave off infections by producing hydrogen peroxide.  The colon, bladder and vagina all produce hydrogen peroxide to stay aerobic and healthy.

When used chemically, H2O2 is up to 5000 times more effective than Chlorine as a sanitizer and antiseptic.  It is used to pasteurize milk in most countries.  It is said to be the “miracle” in the healing waters of Lourdes, France, given the high natural concentration in the spring…

Ok.  So you get my drift.  No surprise, given all of the above, that H2O2 therapy is wide spread.  Especially in Germany, where apparently there are IV therapy stations one can go to wipe out the on-set of ailments.  It is important to know that most strains of harmful bacteria and viruses, all internal fungi and parasites, and cancer cells – all of which are anaerobic – cannot survive in the presence of oxygen, and thus IV therapy using H2O2 shows astounding results across hundreds of thousands of test cases, across several decades, in Europe.

While I would love to participate in the IV therapy, that option isn’t readily available to me at this time, so I decided on the next best option – oral therapy.

I have had chronic asthma since I was 13 (over 20 years), and have a blood disorder similar to Sickle Cell Anemia that, without a spleen, leaves me with a serious immune impairment.  The asthma, I am told, is directly related to the inability of my misshapen blood cells to circulate appropriately through my smaller capillaries.  It stands to reason that increasing the oxygen supply to my body would be a good thing.

After my research I decided to order 17.5% Food Grade H2O2.  Most oral therapy programs call for starting with a 35% solution – but it is considered hazardous to transport, comes with additional fees, and ends up diluted for the therapy anyway!

At this point I am only 24 hours into it, so I will be reporting back on this topic.

I started with 6 drops in 8oz of water, taken three times through the day and at least 1 hour ahead of meals.  I will increase this until I am taking 50 drops per 8oz, if I can manage that.  Even with the mere 6 drops I highly dislike the feeling of the water, so right now that seems like quite a bit!

I had no expectation of immediate results.  In fact, everything I read suggested that there would be a period of crisis in the body as the unhealthy organisms were sloughed away due to the presence of oxygen.  However, both my DH and myself could feel it instantly!  Vitalized is the only word that seems to accurately describe the sensation!  Every part of my body felt suddenly very alive and awake.

But more than that – an injury to my right leg in May that left an enduring deep bruise, completely vanished after my second dose and I am breathing better than I have in 20 years!  In fact, I had no intention to sit down and write this but after such astounding results I feel like singing from the rooftops!

Stay tuned and I’ll keep you posted.

My son is a Page at the local library, and brought The Northwest Vegetarian Cookbook home for me the day it was put into circulation.  He almost skipped it due to its lack of interior gloss, but I’m so glad he didn’t!

If you are a vegetarian living in the Pacific Northwest this is a must have book, for all its insight into local products, traditions and seasons of harvest.  The only thing that could make the book better is if its pictures were in color and included some shots of finished products.

If you are a vegetarian living elsewhere and simply want to indulge in some of the 200 recipes from Oregon and Washington, than this is also your book!  The Pacific Northwest produces a wondrous bounty of unique ingredients!

Last night my family enjoyed the Wild Mushroom Soup with Sherry, using the Garlic-Mushroom Stock recipe also found in the book, and it was superb just like everything else we’ve tried!  And after this, I’m sending the Bake Bean with Hazelnut Bread recipe to my Step-Dad!

At a consumer level, the study finds that the average household ultimately discards 14 percent of all food purchases.  Nationwide this is the equivalent of 43 billion dollars each year!

So the question becomes, what can be done about it?  I believe we can turn this knowledge into a positive by letting it spur us to action.  In fact, the study noted three consumer actions that will have a big impact on the future direction these percentages take (given in all caps; the expounding is my own):

1. PURCHASE PLANNING.  Keep a well-stocked pantry, free of lots of store bought cans and processed junk.  Repurpose glass jars and fill them with organic, whole foods bought locally in bulk and representative of everything your family eats the most of (i.e. don’t buy things just because they happen to be on sale).  When something is used from the pantry or you notice the bulk-jar needs a fill-up, immediately add the item to your next shopping list.  This will help you avoid impulsive trips to the store (the most likely time for you to buy a bunch of stuff you don’t need; 15 percent of such purchases statistically go to waste).  Plan your shopping trips wisely.  Examine the pantry, look in the freezer, examine the sale-ads for the store(s) you’ll be visiting, and then make a meal list for at least a week, if not two or more.  Buy on sale, but not just because it’s on sale.  For example, don’t let cheap prices lure your family into stocking-up on processed foods.  Instead look for good prices on fresh foods that can be paired with items on hand in your pantry, or turned into pantry items (i.e. a cheap price on strawberries becomes a year’s worth of homemade strawberry jam).  Also look for good sales on your common pantry items.  Try not to buy anything at the store that isn’t on your  list, unless you find a good deal on a healthy item that will expand your running list of meals.
2. RESPONSIBLE USE.  If you appreciate flexibility like we do, avoid planning your meal list by the day of the week and instead just keep a numbered list of the complete meals you have on hand.  Remove meals as they are consumed and add them as they are acquired.  Put the meals that utilize the most perishable ingredients at the top of the list and make choices that don’t allow those items to go to waste (i.e. take-out can truly wait a night if you have fresh ingredients on hand you are letting spoil).  Save any leftovers from your prepared meals for lunches, save the unused portion of any ingredient for use in other meals (in fact, count on this when planning your list), and save the best scraps of meal preparation in freezer bags (for making great stocks, broths, gravies, casseroles, etc.).  If you see produce moving toward over-ripe, preserve it through freezing, dehydration, or canning; or let it motivate you to make something from it in impromptu fashion.
3. EDUCATION.  Learn about the ingredients you buy and consume and how they are best stored and preserved.  Always take the extra moment to store things properly.  Label and date anything you freeze or otherwise preserve.

And if you really want to see our nation start to break its ties with the specter of mindless insatiability, I recommend a fourth.  Support one of the many programs nationwide that collects surplus foodstuffs from restaurants, grocery chains, produce warehouses, and distributes what would otherwise be thrown away to those who need it most.

Over the past few weeks I’ve been researching innovations in the off-grid arena and thought I’d share just a smidge:

WIND

According to the Global Wind Energy Council the wind power industry grew 31% last year despite the economy, making wind power a 63 billion dollar a year industry.  Investors are not hesitating to throw their money into the wind.  Grin.

One of the most promising products for home wind energy production is Honeywell’s new gearless turbine, engineered to serve the mainstream.  It was named one of Popular Mechanics 10 Most Brilliant Products of 2009 and solves many of the issues commonly associated with personal wind turbines.  The gearless turbine requires only a quarter of the wind speed to generate power, compared to geared turbines of the same diameter!

SUN

Another promising product from Popular Mechanics 10 Most Brilliant Products list that I’d already taken notice of in the Blogosphere is the Andalay AC Solar PV Panel.  Because it’s an AC system, there’s no need for an inverter and a tricky wiring job.  All the mounts, racking and wiring are built right in.  Essentially the closest thing there is to plug-and-play power for the home user!

WATER

Unlike Sun and Wind, which can be more or less accessed by everyone to some degree, using hydro-power relies on being lucky enough to have access to a source of running water from the property.  Yet when there is a spring, creek, or river (or if you happen to live on a boat), a micro-hydro power system is the most constant and reliable source of renewable energy available.   The most recent advances in micro-hydro turbines seem to reflect a similar trends in the wind power industry toward permanent magnet motors with fewer parts.  This improves performance in every way – creating turbines with more responsivity and less parts to wear out.

BIO-DIESEL

As I don’t drive and don’t feel particularly inclined toward fuel-burning engines, bio-diesel is admittedly not my forte.   However, I am savvy enough of off-grid circles to have second-hand knowledge of the glory of the Listeroid, a heavy-duty diesel generator that can be run off of filtered waste vegetable oils.  The Lister diesel generator isn’t anything new.  In fact, it originally came onto the market in 1929 and is today a standard of the Amish.  It is also known for bringing a reliable power source to scores of remote locales around the globe.    It can specifically,  directly power older tools & equipment having belt drives, or newer devices like water pumps, as it works to generate power for your battery bank.  Good for an off-grid homestead!  Put one in your workshop and use it to power the tools, pump some water, and back-up the batteries of your primary system on calm, cloudy days!

FUEL CELL

Is this the future? The Bloom Box has been called technologies’ newest darling, perhaps in part to early high-profile customers like Google and e-bay.  This fuel cell device is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, and it takes only two of these small boxes to power the traditional American household.  The suggestion is that for an initial investment of roughly $6k the standard American home will be able to become their own power center; just order on-line and set it up without having to worry about wiring.   Also, because the boxes can generate both energy and hydrogen the company describes a future where Bloom Boxes are paired with solar and wind systems to enable 24-hour power AND are used distribute hydrogen to “hydrogen fueling infrastructures”, potentially providing fuel for your hydrogen-powered car.  While you still have to feed the Bloom Box fuel after your initial investment, they are capable of using renewable bio-fuels, converting the fuel into electricity and hydrogen at over twice the standard rates.  It is this factor – that fossil fuels aren’t requisite – that is the Boxes’ saving grace and sets this technology apart from other similar (and failed) attempts at the same idea.

There are so many other amazing ideas  in development out there aimed at an off-grid future, from city-powering wave generators to kite-sails designed to harvest electricity for villages of clustered homes…the list goes on.  What I included here I kept on the home-powered, reasonably affordable scale.