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letter from the editor Green is the color of balance and harmony. From a color psychology perspective, it is the great balancer of the heart and the emotions, creating equilibrium between the head and the heart.
Green loves to observe, and therefore it relates to the counselor, the good listener, the social worker. It loves to contribute to the society. It is the charity worker, the good parent and the helpful neighbor.
From a meaning of colors perspective, it is the color of growth, spring, renewal and rebirth. It renews and restores depleted energy, a sanctuary away from the stress of modern living, restoring us back to a sense of well being. This is why there is so much of this relaxing color on earth, and why we need to keep it that way.
A combination the colors yellow and blue, green encompasses the mental clarity and optimism of yellow with the emotionally calm and insightful of blue, inspiring hope and generosity of spirit not available from other colors.
Green is an emotionally positive color and it gives us the ability to love and nurture both ourselves and others unconditionally. A natural peacemaker, it must avoid the tendency to become a martyr.
Jessica Natasha
Wear green when you want to overcome a thwarted ambition. Use green to decorate your space for positivity. Travel to a green place for relaxation. Eat more greens for a healthier living. And discover more ways of adding green to your life through HĂœâ€™s spring 2016 green issue.
CO N TEN TS
Well-Being Finding Your Balance and Harmony in Life
16
Live Green on a Budget
20
Positive Side of Negatives
18
Travel A Day in Kakadu National Park
32
Greenest Places on Earth
30
Green Traveling
26
Necessities 5 Ways Cucumber
50
The Many Benefits of Green Tea
48
How to Make Your Own Nettle Infusion
46
Emerald and Jade
54
Home A guide to an Eco-Friendly House
34
Home Tour: Natural Habit
36
7 Tiny Plants for Your Space
42
Live Green on a Budget Living green means making sustainable choices about what we eat, how we travel, what we buy, and how we use and dispose of it. We can implement sustainability in our workplace by greening the buildings we inhabit. Our everyday choices can create a sustainable lifestyle. However, living the green live can be pretty costly. People often wander how to live sustainably on a budget. Without further-a-do, here are some strategies and tips to help you live a green life under a budget.
Every time you are about to make a purchase, ask youself: Do I truly need it?
BUY LESS BUY QUALITY We live in a consumer culture, conditioned early on that we can buy the things that we want. The green market is no different. There’s a very real temptation to buy your way green by purchasing all the latest power-saving gadgets, the endless reusable bags, mugs and water bottles. This is where much of the feelings that “green is expensive” comes from and it isn’t necessary. Consequently, the first principle of living consciously on a budget is simply to buy less. Every time you are about to make a purchase, ask youself: Do I truly need it? Do I have something at home that I can repurpose instead? Is that item truly worn out or can I make do for a little longer? Purely saying no will obviously save you cash. When it comes time to actually buy something, try to get your brain out of being purely thrifty and hold out until you can spend a little more on something that is really good quality so that it lasts you longer. Even if that item isn’t sustainably made, if it’s well made it will stay out of the landfill longer and you won’t have to replace it for a very long time if you take care of it. Hence, even if you spent more in the beginning, trust me you’ll spend way less over the long term. But again, this requires a mindset shift out of the immediate cost and into the long term benefit. This is especially true for bigger ticket items.
How do you tell if something is good quality? Often a company that values quality will go to great lengths to communicate how well made their products are because they are proud of it. The label or website should go into, step by step, how their products are made, and with what. Also, read reviews, they may reveal quite a lot. Lastly, buy from a craftsman or handmade if applicable. You are then buying direct and can speak with the maker to learn the most you can. As an added bonus you can feel fantastic about supporting an artisan and use your item with the confidence that your dollars went to a good place.
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BUY USED
Isn’t paying 70% less for something worth it?
If you’re in the market for furniture or clothes, this is an awesome way to go. Why not start by purchasing clothes at a second-hand shop? Sure, whether buying clothes or furniture, it means looking around and being patient until you find what you’re looking for, but isn’t paying 70% less for something worth it? Also, you can truly see how an item will wear over time. Isn’t it the worst feeling ever when you buy a dress you absolutely love only to find that after two wears it looks terrible? All stretched out and pilled up? Yeah. No thanks.
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PLAN ACCORDINGLY & DO N ’ T WA S T E In this case we’re mostly talking about food. For example in the US, 30-40% of food ends up in landfill, uneaten. In other words, for every $10 dollars you spend, you might as well be throwing away up to $4. Yep, not super budget friendly right? The simple fix is to plan better. Rather than going to the store and buying what looks good to you in that moment, take the time to plan out your meals for the week, but start by choosing a few key ingredients such as ones that are in season right now. Then plan several meals that use those ingredients, since chances are that one meal won’t use up a whole head of broccoli, as an example. That’s a big mistake that many make, right off the bat.
Take the time to plan out your meals for the week
Once you’ve cooked your meal, save your leftovers at all cost. Use wide-mouth mason jars to store leftovers in. If it’s not enough for dinner the next day, eat it for lunch, or combine a few small portions to make a larger smorgasbord. And hey, it saves you time!
ORGANIC TOO MUCH? BUY THE DIRTY DOZEN A good strategy is to pare your shopping down to the dirty dozen. In summer, shop exclusively at the farmer’s market and enjoy organic everything. However, in winter, it’s a different story since the grocery store is a lot more limited, which is when the dirty dozen comes into play. Also, avoid packaged food. The bulk of your grocery bill comes from items like this and often you can make something similar at home for a fraction of the cost, which brings us to the next tip...
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A google seach will teach you all you need to know and it only takes a long time the first
MAKE IT YOURSELF The first thing you might think is “I don’t have time” or “I don’t know how.” In most cases, a google seach will teach you all you need to know and it only takes a long time the first few time you try something new. After that, you know how to do it, you’re all set up, and you can fit it into your schedule much easier. There’s a ton of ways to save money and live a conscious lifesyle, but hopefully these few will get you started. Take a look at the way you currently do things and see if you can switch up a few things to easily put these concepts in play.
Often you can make something for a fraction of the cost
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GREENEST PLACES ON EARTH
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Greenest Places on Earth
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Costa Rica The Costa Rican phrase, “pura vida” (pure life), has taken on a whole new meaning as the country ran solely on renewable energy for a record-breaking 75 days in 2015. This is hardly surprising: 94% of its energy comes from renewable sources and it’s home to La Fortuna, the world’s first carbon-neutral destination.
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URUGUAY
Cabo Polonio With wind, water and agricultural waste set to generate 95% of Uruguay’s electricity this year, the continent’s smallest nation is on a quest to do without oil. But it’s hippie enclaves like Cabo Polonio on the coast that are wooing tourists with a back to basics lifestyle of no electricity, no roads and communal candlelit meals.
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Switzerland When it comes to recycling, the Swiss are militant – and who can blame them? They want to preserve their wonderful, snow-shrouded mountains, rosemary-coloured hills, trickling streams and world-class skiing. Sqitzerland is ranked number one in the world for sustainable tourism in the last Global Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report, Switzerland continues to reduce emissions, embrace renewable energy and is home to some 355 ‘Energy Cities’.
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ITALY
Torri Superiore Thought to date from the late 13th century, the medieval village complex of Torri Superiore in the Ligurian Alps is an eco-village that has been restored using sustainable wood and environmentally friendly paint. Here, hot water is heated through solar panels, the toilets are compostable, and food is grown on-site in permaculture gardens and fruit orchards. Visitors can stay in the village, learning about sustainable living and taking part in work exchange holidays.
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Bhutan
When it comes to tourism, the country has pioneered a strict ‘high value, low volume’ mantra, meaning traditional homestays feel authentic, and leopard-spotting treks are void of crowds.
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The tiny Himalayan kingdom that measures its prosperity in Gross National Happiness (placing a greater emphasis on social, cultural and environmental factors rather than economic) is a shining example when it comes to sustainability. Around half of its pristine forestland is a designated protected area, electricity generated by hydropower is used by more than 70% of the population, and universal healthcare and education is free of charge.
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Azores Islands The autonomous Portuguese archipelago made up of nine volcanic islands has just been named the world’s most sustainable destination in the first Sustainable Destinations Global Top 100. The Azores have earned their
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green credentials with a host of policies tapping into renewable energies – wind, geothermic and biomass – which currently generate 28% of electricity on the islands, with a 75% target for 2018.
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Pitcairn Islands The Pacific archipelago’s pristine seas are home to some 80 species of fish and coral, which lure scuba divers and snorkelers from around the world. Conservationists have welcomed plans to protect this unique archipelago, which is inhabited by the descendents of HMS Bounty mutineers.
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A hotbed of biodiversity, the waters surrounding the Pitcairn Islands are about to become the world’s largest marine reserve. That’s thanks to the UK government, which last month announced plans to protect 834,000 sq km (322,000 sq miles) of ocean around the British overseas territory.
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Iceland Iceland is a land of staggering natural beauty. Located on the mid-Atlantic ridge, it’s also one of the most tectonically active places in the world, with over 200 volcanoes and 600 hot springs, as well as numerous glaciers and waterfalls. This abundance of natural hydro and geothermal resources supplies nearly 100% of the country’s electricity consumption and 85% of its total primary energy consumption, making Iceland the world’s largest green energy producer per capita.
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AUSTRALIA
Lady Elliot Island Functioning as a frightening precursor for the rest of Australia’s floundering Great Barrier Reef, the idyllic atoll of Lady Elliot Island was nearly wiped from the face of the Earth by the sinister hand of capitalism. Originally a baron landform, the island was fertilised by the excrement of seabirds, but was brought to the brink of destruction after the arrival of Asian miners who extracted guano from beneath the white sands. Thanks to long-standing reforestation efforts, today the Great Barrier Reef’s most southerly coral cay has returned to its former glory, with a sustainable eco-lodge granting visitors the chance to snorkel with humpback whales, stingrays and turtles.
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Chumbe Island
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Just 32km (20 miles) off the coast of mainland Tanzania, Chumbe’s shallow turquoise waters are home to one of the most spectacular reefs in the world. Only 16 guests are permitted to visit the island at any one time, staying in rustic eco-lodges situated within the island’s forest reserve. Expect no Wi-Fi, no TV and no worldly worries.
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Ecuador The first country to recognise the rights of nature in its constitution, Ecuador was named World’s Leading Green Destination at the World Travel Awards in 2013 and 2014. As well as laying claim to the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador boasts a huge chunk of Amazon rainforest and is one of the last bastions of South American cloud forest. The country is not without its environmental issues, but it remains one of the most biodiverse destinations on the planet and offers some of the best eco-lodges in South America.
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7 Tiny Plants for Your Space
Snake Plant The Snake Plant is a small easy-going plant originating from West Africa, Nigeria and east of Congo. Nicknamed the Mother-InLaw’s Tongue, it only takes a little water, tiny bit of food and whole lot of sunshine to survive indoors year round.
Mini Cactus Mini-cacti generally produce brightly colored flowers and take on lots of unique, interesting shapes. Since they are succulents and produce colorful flowers, mini-cacti require about four to five hours of direct sunlight daily. They also need well-drained soil and like other succulents, don’t need as much water as other plant varieties.
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Aloe Plant The Aloe Vera plant is known for its nutritive and healing value. These plants need indirect light to avoid browning and burning. Going easy on the watering will keep these plants happy in their pots.
Air Plant These amazing plants can grow and thrive without soil. However, they do need constant air circulation. Light mists of water and indirect light keeps them happy.
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Golden Club Moss Club Mosses prefers cooler temperatures, low to moderate light, good air circulation and moist, rich soil.
Echeverias These cute tiny plants make very ‘friendly’ companions, rarely crowding out other plants, but also not caring if they pushed aside a bit. In general these are inexpensive easy plants, popular mostly because of their ornamental flower-shaped, thick-leaved succulent rosettes and wonderful colors and textures... but their low cost certainly helps too.
Marimo Ball A marimo/moss ball is a rare growth form of algae, which grows into large green balls with a soft, velvety appearance. They will grow in tap water at room temperature as long as the water is changed every one or two weeks. All they need is normal household lighting for them to make food, otherwise, indirect sunlight is fine.
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