If you haven’t heard of furoshiki continue reading. The ancient art of Japanese gift wrapping with fabric can be a great way to make wrapping easy, elegant and beautiful!
I like new dish towels or flour sac dish towels in colors to wrap a gift of wine or home baked bread using the art of furoshiki.
A large scarf can be used for wrapping bigger items or even to create an instant shopping bag! Watch the video to see just how easy it is here.
They are beautiful, useful and reusable. Bulky wrapping paper, ribbons and bows – gone! An empty shelf in my linen closet – yes!
Just like the picture above, I have often used a scarf to create a small coordinated evening bag. It’s quick. It’s easy. It’s great when traveling and it folds flat into my suitcase.
On other occasions, if you need to dress up in the evening, simply wrap the same scarf sarong style over black or white slacks. It quickly dresses up a casual look and is used often in the Middle East.
In the previous post I discussed how increased income disparity caused by the power of global multi-nationals is creating a world we do not want to live in.
But what can you and I do? We are not victims, nor are we uninvolved bystanders, we are participants. We are not powerless, we vote with our dollars, time and actions.
I promised you some suggestions. Here are ten for your consideration. If you are already doing some of these – yeah!!! If not, start now!
1. Social change starts inside. We can explore our own values. Know what they are and live in a way that brings integrity to the best within ourselves. Eliminate any violence (physical, mental, emotional, verbal) in your own life. Meditate. Reflect. Pray.
2. Education. We need to become educated regarding the real nature of poverty. Get your news from sources other than American news companies. Read how other countries perceive events in the world. (Jerusalem Post, Al-Masry Al-Youm, Der Spiegel).
3. Read. Read. Read. Most of what we need to know can’t be found on TV. TV is junk food for the mind. Read how U.S. policies have affected other countries. Books like Mark Kramer’s Dispossessed and Jeffrey Sach’s The End of Poverty provide a good foundation and a bibliography of other resources. Request that these books and others be available in your local library. Other books include The Blue Sweater, Three Cups of Tea and Half the Sky.
4. Volunteer and donate to non-profits such as Bread for the World or Mary’s Pence, working with networks of women to solve the problem of poverty – not just provide charity.
5. If your church or community offers mission trips to poverty stricken areas – go. Talk to those struggling with poverty. Listen and learn from them the problems they face every day for clean water, food, housing. We would not last a day in their world. Or arrange a dialogue with some of the working poor in your city through your church or community organization. Find out what life is like for many right in your own community.
6. Buy Fair Trade and local products whenever possible. Buy produce from your local Farmer’s Market. Know where the things you purchase come from and how those who make them are paid.
7. Learn how extreme weather caused by climate change particularly impacts the global south, the two thirds world – creating more poverty. Drive less. Carpool. Walk more. Use public transportation when you can. Consolidate your trips. Fly less often. Shop less. Consume less. Live more simply.
8. Work to end sexism, racism and “isms” of all kinds. Discrimination moves billions of dollars unfairly from one group to another. Begin with suggestions in a previous post here. In the Twin Cities we have an inter-faith discussion group. Join us or start one in your community. Learn about the different (“different” not worse) values and perceptions of other faith traditions. Hear others’ stories and share your own.
9. Become active in local politics. Meet with your local politicians. Participate with many others in “A Day on the Hill” – a joint religious advocacy gathering today at the State Capital. Or work with MICAH for affordable housing in your community. All change starts locally.
10. What else can we do?
The ability to develop deep relationships beyond our own family (clan, social class, nation) and connect with others who are different than ourselves is what it means to become truly human. This is compassion. This is what brings depth and meaning to life.
We are part of the human family and the web of creation. Just like with our own families – this family will not be healthy and whole until each member is healthy and whole.
This is not an easy task. Certainly it is not an instant or quick-fix task. But neither is it an impossible task. Rather, it takes education, listening, connecting and be willing to make different choices. Come with me on the journey!
When visiting Israel, I noticed that people in coffee shops and restaurants were tucking into big bowls of salad for breakfast. Could that be true? Yes! Israelis love salad for breakfast and they grow fabulous vegetables year ’round. So why not?
We try to do the same at our house too. DH cuts up more than a dozen vegies to create a colorful, flavorful salad that we keep in the fridge and use all week long. We use it as salad, to stuff in pitas, toss into soups and sprinkle into omelettes or frittatas. When it’s fresh, crunchy, already chopped and in a clear container on a shelf at “eye height” it’s much easier to remember to use it.
Photo A. Meshar
Here’s a good tip: if you store the salad in a large mixing bowl, place a tiny bowl or sauce dish upside down at the bottom. It will keep any juices away from the vegetables so they stay fresh longer.
Otherwise look for a plastic container with a grid on the bottom, for the same purpose.
Breakfast salad might be served with an egg (fried or boiled) placed on top. Often the salad is topped with a dollup of yogurt, feta cheese or fresh herbs. Pita or toast can be served on the side.
So tomorrow morning, consider a fresh, Israeli salad for breakfast along with your cup of coffee. Your mouth and body will thank you all day long.
My grocery store is often Kowalski’s. I shop there because they carry Peace Coffee which is always Fair Trade coffee – meaning workers receive a living wage. They also carry local produce that isn’t shipped great distances and supports local farmers.
But tonight while shopping there I was near the deli and noticed a big display of Fiji Water above the Olive Bar display. Really ???? Fiji Water??? Yikes! Do we really need to ship water from the other side of the world??
I took time to convey my shock and dismay to the manager. I explained why I shop at Kowalski’s in the first place (fair trade, local, organic) and why products like this bottled water make me want to RUN and SHOP SOMEWHERE ELSE.
You can do the same. You can make a difference. Take time to talk to the produce manager or store manager. They know, as I do, that just one person making a comment means at least twenty other customers thought the same but didn’t take the time to tell them. If two or more people have negative comments on a product that product is HISTORY! You can make a difference.
Bottled water is bad enough. It gives the impression that it’s OK to pay a high price for water – something every human person needs by virtue of being human. Just like we need clean air, we need clean water to survive.
Although there are rare times when bottled water may be necessary — there is never a time when it is necessary to import bottled water from the other side of the globe! What a waste of oil, plastic (more oil) and money!
Further, too many people living in Fiji do NOT have access to clean water. The American owners of Fiji water have taken over local water sources there (as if you can own the water supply of others’?) and now export what water they have out of the country. Read more here.
(Update 3-3-11 – Learn more about the problems of bottled water in general.
Returning from Costa Rica we got caught in the big snow storm which reached as far south as Dallas. As a flight couldn’t be scheduled until the next day we decided to enjoy our extra day of vacation. We ended up at the Element Hotel. In the midst of this snow and ice storm, our cab driver James, safely delivered us to the hotel. What we found there was a little unexpected.
Element Hotels are green. Each space has ENERGY STAR qualified kitchen appliances, eco-friendly bath fixtures, and recycling bins for paper, plastic, and glass. They used recycled paper towels in the kitchen. We found a filter system for drinking water at the sink to replace plastic bottles, and silverware and glassware instead of disposable products.
The shower had dispensers for shampoo/conditioner and body wash, rather than wasteful mini-bottles. The manager informed me that the rainfall shower fixture saves 5,300 gallons of water per room, per year.
Carpets with up to 100% recycled content and low-VOC paint. Large windows and compact fluorescent bulbs that use 75% less energy than conventional bulbs.
Our room was well designed with a kitchen on one wall, a sectional sofa, desk and queen sized bed (with luxurious linens) filled the rest of the space.
Prices were comparable. I would stay there again and recommend it. Why not support green if you can? We vote with our dollars after all.
Here’s what our room looked like below. Amazing. An entire apartment in 450 square feet.
