Living by green principles can be extremely satisfying, but how do you do it? Surely, its not by purchasing more green products, because buying and using more things is all part of the problem.

This Lifehack article has got a great point, though, that a better guide to Green Living might well be David Allens Getting Things Done, since the principles of Green Living are not all that different from the principles used to be more productive.

1. Strive for Simplicity: More stuff means more complexity; more upkeep, more keeping track, more things to do. In global terms, it means more wasted resources.

2. Fairness: Much of our consumption-driven market is based on unfairness. If everyone along the chain, from a Bolivian granny making hand-woven grocery bags to the Wal-Mart worker, actually were paid what youd expect, that hand-woven grocery bag would be out of most peoples price range.

3. Community: If youve ever had the pleasure of attending a local farmers market, youve experienced something few of us do these days: an encounter with a part of your community, an actual living and breathing person, who made that which youre about to buy.

4. Sustainability: A system is sustainable when the negative outputs of that system are accommodated and turned into positive outputs. However, most of our global production is not sustainable.

5. Planning: Planning means looking ahead toward a desired outcome. It also means thinking a little bit about the community that isnt here yet and dealing fairly with them. The decisions we make now will create the conditions our grandchildren and their grandchildren will have to deal with.

6. Transparency: Planning, community, fairness, and ultimately sustainability require transparency, but most decisions these days are made behind closed doors.

To take Green Living a bit closer to home, I also encourage you to look into the principles of Bau-Biologie. Bau-Biologie is the holistic study of the man-made environment, human health and ecology, and you can use many of their principles to create a healthier indoor environment for yourself and your family.
Sources:

* Lifehack.org

Millions of people across the world are facing hunger and starvation due to the current food crisis. According to experts, the crisis will continue as long as those who dominate the international grain markets remain unwilling to change their behavior.

As food supplies are diminishing, for instance, the government released measures to increase the use of biofuels — a policy that will further increase food prices.

Biofuels are taking food out of the mouths of starving people and diverting them to be burned as fuel in the car engines of the worlds rich consumers.
Sources:

* Organic Consumers Association April 21, 2008

* New Statesman April 17, 2008

* The Economist April 17, 2008

* BusinessWeek April 28, 2008

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

In the year 2007, wheat prices rose 77 percent and rice 16 percent. These were some of the sharpest price hikes ever. But this year the speed of change has accelerated even further. Since January 2008, the price of rice has soared just over 140 percent.

Says Josette Sheeran, head of the UN World Food Programme, This crisis is different. It is occurring in many countries simultaneously, the first time that has happened since the early 1970s. And it is affecting people not usually hit by famines.

So whats happening?

Theres a lot of talk about the rising demand for biofuel being the culprit, as more farmers are now growing biofuel products rather than food, spurred on by various governmental incentives. But thats certainly not the one and only factor fueling this world-wide problem.

What has Caused This Burgeoning Food Crisis?

Other factors that have been pointed out, in various articles spread across the past weeks, include:

* Improved financial situation of people in China and India has increased demand for western-style diets rich in grains, meat and dairy
* Export quotas by large grain producers, coupled with panic-buying by grain importers
* Trade imbalances among nations
* Population growth, adding 78 million people per year
* Global warming. Unfavorable climatic conditions in 2007 devastated crops in Australia and reduced harvest in other European countries. Southern Africa and the western U.S. have been plagued with severe drought.
* Unsustainable use of land and water
* Rising oil prices, as fossil fuels are needed throughout the agricultural process, from running tractors, to fertilizer production, to shipping

A few others, from non-traditional media outlets, bypass all these excuses and point the finger directly at the similarities between our current situation and previous man-made famines for the end purpose of mass genocide.

In January 2008, the BBC broadcast a segment in their The Things We Forgot to Remember, featuring Economics Nobel Laureate Professor Amartya Sen, among others, speaking about the 1943-1945 Bengal famine in which 6-7 million people perished when the price of rice doubled, and then finally quadrupled. However, that famine, as now, was not caused by a food deficit per say, but rather by the callous politics in the area at the time.

Personally, one of the things that bother me most after reading through multiple articles on this issue, are the frequent references to the need for higher yield crops, rather than the development of sustainable agriculture. Although the names of any particular biotech companies are never mentioned, it walks, talks and reeks like poorly cloaked Monsanto propaganda.

Monsantos Rich Harvest

Monsantos genetically altered seeds tripled their first-quarter earnings, from $90 million to $256 million, according to BusinessWeek in January 2008. Their GM seeds have been a prime beneficiary of the growing demand for food and alternative fuel sources.

I have a sinking feeling that Monsanto will eventually ride in like a knight in shining armor, offering to end the world-wide plight with its high-yield spawn , those one-time-use-only seeds with dubious genetic signatures that may or may not kill anything thats left. They already began that project in mid-2007, with the Gates and Rockefeller foundations donating $150 million worth of GMO crops to reform agriculture and end hunger in Africa.

That would surely be one of the absolute worst case scenarios we could possibly face, as GM crops are bound to do far more harm than good, both to the biodiversity of the planet and your individual health, through the unchecked introduction of foreign genetic material and hardier pests.

What Can You Do to Help Yourself?

There are certainly no easy answers to these world-wide issues. However, I do believe its possible to act as positively as you can on an individual basis.

As Ms. Sheeran stated, the initial response of the middle-class to the current situation is to cut out medical care. Unfortunately, for many this equates to doing virtually nothing to maintain their health, instead of focusing on healthy alternatives and preventive measures. Dont fall into that category, folks! There is still much you can do to optimize your health that doesnt have to cost a fortune.

Here are a few tips and guidelines to keep in mind:

* Eat as much raw, locally grown organic food as you can afford, paying attention to your nutritional type. Not only will this maximize the health benefits you can derive directly from your food intake, but youll also help keep your local small farmers — that are actively involved in sustainable agriculture — in business
* Exercise regularly
* Get plenty of appropriate sunshine, which has been proven to help prevent numerous cancers and other diseases
* Manage your stress
* Limit toxin exposure as much as possible
* Get plenty of sleep
* Join a car sharing program. CarSharing.net is a great resource with links to local programs across the United States, Europe and limited parts of Asia
* Simplify your life. Everything you own, owns you, and voluntary simplicity has become the catchphrase for people across the globe who are drawn to a less stressful, more joyful, healthy and rich existence, with organizations such as The Simple Living Network offering plenty of guidance

Researchers say sudden exposure to light can upset a sleeping individual’s ‘body clock,’ even if snoozing continues uninterrupted. The experts believe their insights into light’s effects on the sleep/wake cycle could further research into the treatment of common sleep disorders.

Nighttime exposure to light begins to motion a chemical process which can function as a precise, selective, and very rapid neural switch controlling the sleep/wake cycle.

The sleep/wake cycle is controlled, in large part, by the secretion of melatonin by the pineal gland, which is located deep within the brain. Melatonin production surges during nighttime sleep. One of the biochemical machines involved in the production of melatonin is this enzyme, AA-NAT (N-acetyltransferase).

It’s the only one of the machines there that can turn production on and off. A rise in AA-NAT levels triggers a concurrent rise in sleep-inducing melatonin. AA-NAT levels can be reduced when consumed by barrel-shaped cell structures called proteasomes. Usually, the regular nighttime activity of the pineal gland effectively shields AA-NAT against proteasomal destruction.

The simple clicking on of a bedside lamp means light comes along, blocks (pineal) stimulation, and the (AA-NAT) protein is zapped by the ever-ready proteasomes. The result? A simultaneous drop in melatonin levels. Light exposure is a very good way of controlling melatonin production. Since melatonin is directly linked to the workings of the mind’s sleep/wake ‘clock,’ therapies that replicate the potent effects of light on melatonin production could prove effective in treating conditions such as jet lag or insomnia.

Science, (1998;279:1358-1360)

High blood levels of the hormone melatonin may explain why blind women have significantly lowered risks for breast cancer compared with sighted women.

Melatonin, which is secreted by the pineal gland in the brain and plays an important role in the body’s sleep cycle, is thought to influence the secretion of estrogen, which in turn influences breast cancer risk.

The investigators found that totally blind women had a 36% lower risk of breast cancer compared with sighted women. Women who became blind relatively early in life (before age 65) appeared to be especially protected against breast cancer, with incidence rates 49% below those of sighted women.

Only total blindness — not visual impairment — seemed to protect against breast cancer. According to the authors, this supports the theory that increased nighttime exposure to artificial light reduces melatonin levels, altering estrogen secretion rates and upping risks for breast cancer.

Blind women are by definition unreceptive to light, however, and may maintain high melatonin production at night regardless of external light conditions. Kliukiene’s team believe this may be the mechanism whereby blind women are protected from breast cancer.

British Journal of Cancer March 2001;84:397-399

Experts are evaluating the possible link between childhood leukemia and too much light at night.

More and more children are diagnosed with leukemia, following a noticeable spike happening in those younger than 5 years old. For them, the risk of developing this cancer increased by more than 50 percent during 1950-2000.

Why leukemia strikes children is not known. However, experts think environmental factors may be the source of the 20th century rise. If they are right, then it may be possible to identify causes — like light at night — and prevent the disease. Researchers point to light as one of these factors because modern people are exposed to more light than in the past. Light at night disrupts the natural hours of darkness our bodies need to produce proper levels of melatonin.

Sleep — also known as natural circadian rhythm — is an important part of overall health because of this hormone, which protects DNA from damage. Experts say low melatonin has been known to instigate and promote cancer growth.

Several studies have concluded that people who work at night are more likely to develop breast cancer. Also, experts note that blind people, who are not vulnerable to light at night, have a lower incidence of cancer.

Researchers plan to look at the association between biological clocks and light receptors in the human eye, and how sleep patterns, alertness, mood, physical strength and blood pressure are affected. They also will examine another possible cause of childhood leukemia — magnetic fields, which also may decrease melatonin levels.

EurekAlert September 8, 2004

Dr. Mercola’s Comments:

This link between light and leukemia isn’t surprising to me because light exposure at night can reduce melatonin levels, which increases your risk of cancer. Young children are exposed to several forms of light at night — including night-lights and television.

Children, teens and adults should not watch TV before bed. Better yet, get the TV out of the bedroom or even out of the house, completely. It is too stimulating to the brain and it will take longer to fall asleep. When light hits the eyes, it disrupts the circadian rhythm of the pineal gland and production of melatonin and seratonin.

There also should be as little light as possible in the bedroom and, if you get up in the middle of the night, in the bathroom.

If you are lacking melatonin, I do not recommend supplements. It is best to increase levels naturally with exposure to bright sunlight in the daytime (along with full spectrum fluorescent bulbs in the winter) and absolute complete darkness at night.

One of the other important things you can do to maximize the production of melatonin and decrease your risk of cancer is to make sure that you have exposure to bright sunlight during the daytime. Indoor lighting just wont cut it. At night it is important to sleep in pitch dark. You should not be able to see your hand in front of your face ten minutes after you turn out the light. Most people will require black out shades and/or drapes to achieve the level of darkness.

Maintaining your internal clock is important to health. Simply, a full night’s sleep is key to your health.