From the Green Monster.

Back to Basics:                                                                                                             8 Ways to Simplify Your Life

It’s a crazy, busy world we live in, and it     seems to be getting more hectic as time goes on. With all of the devices, technology, and media available, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. The reason people may feel adverse to the fast pace of the modern world is that it’s entirely different from the rhythm of the natural world and our natural instincts.Jill Lavigne 
April 5, 2017 

When you go out into nature, everything seems to be moving at such a soothing, even pace.                                                                                     Just as Lao Tzu, the ancient Chinese philosopher, and writer would say,                                                                                                                       “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”                                                                                                                                               Yet if you look to around, you’ll find quite the opposite in our society.                                                                                                                             Some people tend to be so impatient, wanting everything immediately,                                                                                                                         or else disappointment and dissatisfaction sets in.                                                                                                                                                           For many of us, that’s not the kind of life we want to live.                                                                                                                                         Going back to basics through simplifying your life is one of the ways we can                                                                                                               empower ourselves and not get caught up in the rat race.                                                                                                                                               Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Know yourself and your                                                            priorities

This is the first step to living a life that’s your own which is a great way to simplify everything                                                                                         and become more focused and less distracted. To start simplifying your life,                                                                                                                 you’ll want to know what matters to you most.                                                                                                                                                                   Write some of the things that mean the most to you on a piece of paper or journal about it.                                                                                           Here are some ways to lower stress and take care of yourself.

2. Lower your expenses

Embrace an attitude of gratitude for the items you already own and maybe even                                                                                                           try out minimalism.  The less cluttered our lives are, the more simple they tend to be.                                                                                                   Borrow items you need from friends or your community.                                                                                                                                                 You can also try living in a smaller space to save money,                                                                                                                                             switch to a cheaper cell phone plan or internet service.

3. Meditate regularly

Meditation has been proven to relieve stress and anxiety,                                                                                                                                               and it has also shown promise in improving brain function.                                                                                                                                             If you find you get overwhelmed, then doing meditation at least once a day or on a                                                                                                       regular schedule can help you a lot.                                                                                                                                                                               there are tons of guided meditations onYouTube, or on mediation apps like                                                                                                                  Insight Timer that you can do for free.

4. Work with plant medicines

Incorporate the healing benefits of plants into your life.                                                                                                                                                 There’s nothing more simple than going back to using 100 percent natural remedies and                                                                                     medicines. Learn more about tinctures, teas, essential oils and supplements that you                                                                                                   can take to take care of yourself.                                                                                                                                                                                     Ease out of using all the over the counter medicines from the drug store and replace them                                                                                           with all natural plant medicines.                                                                                                                                                                                       To learn more, check out: 6 Herbal Medicines You Can Make for Common Ailments.

5. Grow your own food

Growing your own food is taking a big step toward simplifying and enriching your life.                                                                                                     Not only will you have fresh, organic fruit and veggies,                                                                                                                                                 but you’ll also save money and trips to the grocery store.                                                                                                                                        Gardening is also an amazing way to be in touch with nature,                                                                                                                                       which really brings us back to basics.                                                                                                                                                                                It’s great for the mind, body, and soul.                                                                                                                                                                             You can learn a lot from The Old Farmer’s Almanac books as well as their website and                                                                                            not just about gardening.

6. Ride a bike or walk

Instead of driving your car everywhere, why not get outside and walk or ride your bike?                                                                                                 It’s the simple way to get around, and it’s exercise too.                                                                                                                                                 So you’re not just getting to where you need to go, you’re improving your health.                                                                                                           Multitasking at it’s finest. Or try traveling by bike if you’re feeling really adventurous.

7. DIY       

Get into the back to basics mindset by doing it yourself.                                                                                                                                                 You can learn how to do practically anything and everything yourself.                                                                                                                           People did things themselves for ages.                                                                                                                                                                         Check out DIY tutorials online, buy a book or take a course in your community.                                                                                                             We have tons of great DIY projects right here on One Green Planet.

8. Completely unplug

When we think back 50 or even 25 years ago, things definitely moved at a slower pace.                                                                                               Back then people didn’t have the world at their fingertips.                                                                                                                                               If you wanted to talk to someone, you called them, or you just ran into each other somewhere.                                                                                     To simplify your life, why not pretend like it’s 1994 again and forget you even have a cell phone                                                                                   or internet?  Try it for a full day and see how fun it can be.

Try out some of these ways to simplify your life and find out how                                                                                                                                     going back to basics can enhance your life.                                                                                                                                                                   How do you embrace simplicity in your life?                                                                                                                                                                     We’d love to hear in the comments below or on Facebook!

Image source: Kristy Kravchenko/unsplash

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by Taboola 

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Browse through some recent posts below:

10 Chemicals to Avoid in Your Everyday Products

Why Less is More if You Want to Help the Planet … and Yourself

How to Grow Your Own Ginger and Garlic

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Don't Panic but I do suggest you ride a Bicycle to work!

https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2569/sea-ice-extent-sinks-to-record-lows-at-both-poles/

NEWS | March 22, 2017

Sea ice extent sinks to record lows at both poles

By Maria-José Viñas,
NASA's Earth Science News Team

Arctic sea ice appears to have reached on March 7 a record low wintertime maximum extent, according to scientists at NASA and the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado. And on the opposite side of the planet, on March 3 sea ice around Antarctica hit its lowest extent ever recorded by satellites at the end of summer in the Southern Hemisphere, a surprising turn of events after decades of moderate sea ice expansion.

The March 7, 2017, Arctic sea ice maximum extent was a record low, due to warmer-than-average temperatures, winds unfavorable to ice expansion, and a series of storms. Antarctic sea ice also broke a record with its annual minimum extent on March 3. Credit: NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. Download this video in HD formats and view full credit information from NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio.

On Feb. 13, the combined Arctic and Antarctic sea ice numbers were at their lowest point since satellites began to continuously measure sea ice in 1979. Total polar sea ice covered 6.26 million square miles (16.21 million square kilometers), which is 790,000 square miles (2 million square kilometers) less than the average global minimum extent for 1981-2010 – the equivalent of having lost a chunk of sea ice larger than Mexico.

These line graphs plot monthly deviations and overall trends in polar sea ice from 1979 to 2017 as measured by satellites. The top line shows the Arctic; the middle shows Antarctica; and the third shows the global, combined total. The graphs depict how much the sea ice concentration moved above or below the long-term average. (They do not plot total sea ice concentration.) Arctic and global sea ice totals have moved consistently downward over 38 years. Antarctic trends are more muddled, but they do not offset the great losses in the Arctic. Credit: Joshua Stevens/NASA Earth Observatory. More information from NASA's Earth Observatory.

The ice floating on top of the Arctic Ocean and surrounding seas shrinks in a seasonal cycle from mid-March until mid-September. As the Arctic temperatures drop in the autumn and winter, the ice cover grows again until it reaches its yearly maximum extent, typically in March. The ring of sea ice around the Antarctic continent behaves in a similar manner, with the calendar flipped: it usually reaches its maximum in September and its minimum in February.

On March 7, 2017, Arctic sea ice hit a record low wintertime maximum extent in 2017. At 5.57 million square miles, it is the lowest maximum extent in the satellite record, and 455,600 square miles below the 1981 to 2010 average maximum extent. Credit: NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio/L. Perkins. Download related video in HD formats from NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio.

This winter, a combination of warmer-than-average temperatures, winds unfavorable to ice expansion, and a series of storms halted sea ice growth in the Arctic. This year’s maximum extent, reached on March 7 at 5.57 million square miles (14.42 million square kilometers), is 37,000 square miles (97,00 square kilometers) below the previous record low, which occurred in 2015, and 471,000 square miles (1.22 million square kilometers) smaller than the average maximum extent for 1981-2010.

“We started from a low September minimum extent,” said Walt Meier, a sea ice scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “There was a lot of open ocean water and we saw periods of very slow ice growth in late October and into November, because the water had a lot of accumulated heat that had to be dissipated before ice could grow. The ice formation got a late start and everything lagged behind – it was hard for the sea ice cover to catch up.”

The Arctic’s sea ice maximum extent has dropped by an average of 2.8 percent per decade since 1979. The summertime minimum extent losses are nearly five times larger: 13.5 percent per decade. Besides shrinking in extent, the sea ice cap is also thinning and becoming more vulnerable to the action of ocean waters, winds and warmer temperatures.

On March 3, 2017, the sea ice cover around the Antarctic continent shrunk to its lowest yearly minimum extent in the satellite record, in a dramatic shift after decades of moderate sea ice expansion. Credit: NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio/L. Perkins.Download related video in HD formats from NASA Goddard's Scientific Visualization Studio.

This year’s record low sea ice maximum extent might not necessarily lead to a new record low summertime minimum extent, since weather has a great impact on the melt season’s outcome, Meier said. “But it’s guaranteed to be below normal.”

In Antarctica, this year’s record low annual sea ice minimum of 815,000 square miles (2.11 million square kilometers) was 71,000 square miles (184,000 square kilometers) below the previous lowest minimum extent in the satellite record, which occurred in 1997.

Antarctic sea ice saw an early maximum extent in 2016, followed by a very rapid loss of ice starting in early September. Since November, daily Antarctic sea ice extent has continuously been at its lowest levels in the satellite record. The ice loss slowed down in February.

Operation IceBridge, NASA's aerial survey of polar ice, flies over a lead, or opening in the sea ice cover, near the Alaskan coast on March 11, 2017. Credit: NASA/Jeremy Harbeck.

This year’s record low happened just two years after several monthly record high sea ice extents in Antarctica and decades of moderate sea ice growth.

“There’s a lot of year-to-year variability in both Arctic and Antarctic sea ice, but overall, until last year, the trends in the Antarctic for every single month were toward more sea ice,” said Claire Parkinson, a senior sea ice researcher at Goddard. “Last year was stunningly different, with prominent sea ice decreases in the Antarctic. To think that now the Antarctic sea ice extent is actually reaching a record minimum, that’s definitely of interest.”

Meier said it is too early to tell if this year marks a shift in the behavior of Antarctic sea ice.

“It is tempting to say that the record low we are seeing this year is global warming finally catching up with Antarctica,” Meier said. “However, this might just be an extreme case of pushing the envelope of year-to-year variability. We’ll need to have several more years of data to be able to say there has been a significant change in the trend.”

Related links

• NSIDC announcement
• Data visualization: Minimum Antarctic Sea Ice 2017
• Data visualization: Arctic Daily Sea Ice Concentration from Arctic Minimum 2016 to Arctic Maximum 2017
• "2016 Arctic Sea Ice Wintertime Extent Hits Another Record Low" (March 28, 2016)
• "NASA Study Shows Global Sea Ice Diminishing, Despite Antarctic Gains" (Feb. 12, 2015)
• "Arctic Sea Ice Annual Minimum Ties Second Lowest on Record" (Sept. 15, 2016)

How to plant Mom and Dad.

A FUNNY BUT GOOD IDEA!

 Hello Gentle People:

 Death is inevitable! Soon I and millions from my Baby Boom generation will die and the burden of funeral  arrangements will fall to those we leave behind. But why does it have to cost a fortune? We can change the concept a little and plant Mom and Pop in an organic Urn. One that will decompose and grow a Tree or a Rose Bush or wild flowers. We can even place engraved Copper Plaques on the Trees identifying them for future generations. For example: here grows Mom who was our mighty Oak of stability. Dad is the Willow Tree out back!

 And why do we have to stick Mom and POP in a cemetery? Why not plant them in the back yard of the family home where they can grow into beautiful Trees? Of course if you live in an apartment you can simply plant them in a large vase and grow a beautiful plant! I am of the opinion that Grandma and Granddad will be well watered and protected over the years. You might even be able to eat them if you like Tomato Plants. 

 Of course the idea is not original as many large Trees presently grow in Cemeteries where grieving family and friends planted them many years ago to commemorate their departed. The problem is that the concept won't work if too many people die at once which is possible with the Baby Boom generation all nearing the same expiry date!  Trees can grow large and they need plenty of space and Sunshine to grow Tall. Crowding them together in a Cemetery is not a good idea! 

 Now this is not to say we won't have funeral costs. Cremation is a cost. A free lunch for the grieving survivors is a cost. The Urn, however,  is more than reasonable. All you need is Flower and Eggs and a small amount of Clay. You can create your own masterpiece! Bye for now!  

When coccolithophores die, they scream a warning!

Trillions of warriors, in a battle visible from space

See the murky cloud in the water? It's made of dying warriors - tiny sea creatures called coccolithophores who are fighting viruses, losing, dying and falling to the sea floor.

It's not an unusual event. It happens around the globe all the time. This war has been going on for millions of years. The combatants have evolved intricate strategies to outwit each other. And most interestingly, the way this battle plays out is crucial for all oxygen-breathing life on this planet.

Listen to the story here. You won't regret it! It's well-told, it's thrilling, and it will make you think of the world in a new way:

http://www.radiolab.org/story/190284-war-we-need/

#biology

Radiolab

A War We Need

Every day, every moment, an epic battle is raging across the globe. It's happening in the ocean. And the evidence is both highly visible and totally hidden, depending on your perspective. In this short, the tale of an arms race involving trillions of sea creatures--and why their struggle is vital to our survival.

The Killing has begun!

More Actions...Mark as readMark as unreadAdd starRemove starMute--------Apply label:[Imap]/Sent[Imap]/Trash  ‹ Newer 2 of 42 Older › Danielle Katz, PETA <DonorE@peta.org> Sat, Apr 1, 2017 at 9:02 AM To: Joseph Raglione <human4usbillions@gmail.com> Reply | Reply to all | Forward | Print | Delete | Show original External images are not displayed. Display images below - Always display images from DonorE@peta.org View this message online.         Donate now. Dear Joseph, In 2016, more than 66,000 sensitive, social seals were bludgeoned or shot during the commercial seal massacre off the eastern coast of Canada—and in a matter of days, the violent slaughter of thousands of young seals will begin again. Sealers have already started killing some adult seals, and very soon, they will begin to kill many thousands of seal pups—most just weeks old—and strip them of their skin, often while other seals watch in terror. Will you help us protect seals and other vulnerable animals who are slated to be slaughtered for their skin by giving $5 or more today? We can protect seals and other animals from slaughter— please contribute today. Despite growing opposition around the world, the large-scale commercial slaughter of seals is about to begin yet again. Many young seals will not have even eaten their first solid meal or learned how to swim before they are cruelly slaughtered. Some will be shot to death, while others' soft skulls will be crushed with hakapiks—hooked clubs with piercing metal tips. After the seal pups are beaten to death, their killers will drag their bodies across the ice and tear the skin off them. To avoid damaging the fur as they drag them, the killers will jab the clubs' tips into the animals' eyes, cheeks, or mouths. Please donate $5 or more today and help PETA protect the thousands of young seals and other animals who are at risk right now. Because of PETA members and other kind people all over the world—as well as seal-product bans in the U.S., the EU, Russia, and most recently Switzerland—there are few countries left that are willing to buy the bloody goods that come of this carnage. Even the Canadian government's own attempts to push seal products into the Chinese market have fallen flat, and its recent legal challenges to the EU's ban have failed just as spectacularly. Were it not for the millions of dollars in subsidies paid by Canadian taxpayers, Canada's horrific commercial seal-slaughter industry would likely have collapsed by now. There is hope that Justin Trudeau, Canada's forward-thinking prime minister, may signal a turning point in this campaign. PETA has contacted him to urge him to end his country's federal subsidies of the commercial seal slaughter, and our "seal" activists—including our giant costumed seal—are reminding all Canadians that another violent slaughter of thousands of young animals is no way to commemorate the country's 150th birthday. We're as close as ever to seeing the end of this massacre, and we must press forward now. Thank you for all that you are doing to help prevent the cruel and violent deaths of baby seals and other animals who are in harm's way. Kind regards, Danielle Katz Associate Director of Campaigns P.S. While the Canadian commercial sealing industry may be a shadow of what it once was, that shadow still has the capacity to kill thousands of animals this year.Your $5 gift today will immediately support our vital work to stop the slaughter and save more living beings from cruelty and abuse.  66,000 seals died last year    Inbox

THE BEST OF THE BEST.

Hey gentle people, join in and improve this poem. The author won't care as he or she is unknown.
Simply copy the poem and add what you like. Post it wherever you like.


THE BEST OF THE BEST!

We are briefly conscious
Within a dynamic of changing energy...
Small bits of thinking life surviving proud within
Eternally changing energy...
And while confronting dangerous consequences fearlessly
Fly into space to explore the unknown...

We are infinitely small bits of life
Existing within an absolute Universe,
Trying to discover and understand what is unknown
For the benefit of all life on Earth...
For we are NASA scientists.
And we are the best of the best!

Author: Unknown.