More Plastic stuff....

Eventually, I'm sure I'll write about the Craft and Seminary again, but this is just too interesting!!!

University of Rochester Introduces Cap and Gown Made of Recycled Plastic Bottles

University of Rochester students graduating this May will be dressed in plastic bottles, but you probably won't notice. The caps and gowns that bachelor's and master's degree candidates will be wearing are made of 100 percent post-consumer recycled plastic bottles.

The fabric used to make these gowns is spun from molten plastic pellets. It takes an average of 23 bottles to make each gown. That means that with more than 1,500 gowns sold at the University's bookstores each graduation season, 34,500 bottles will be repurposed to create the regalia.

This shift to the environmentally friendly regalia was a joint decision made by the conference and events office and the bookstores.

"We feel these gowns fit in with the University's 'green' mission," said Erica Strawbridge, conference coordinator for conference and events. "We think the students will appreciate this change."

"We consistently hear from students that they prefer eco-friendly products. We're very excited to be introducing these gowns," said Maria Ferrante, general manager of the bookstores. "Not only are they better for the environment, but the fabric actually feels softer and more comfortable than what we've used for previous commencement ceremonies."

Other features of the regalia include:

* Size labels stamped with soy ink.
* The plastic bags used to store the caps and gowns are made from recycled plastic.
* The shipping cartons are produced from recycled cardboard.
* If students don't want to keep their gowns after commencement, they can drop them off at the bookstore to be recycled into new fabric.
* They are softer to the touch and more breathable than traditional polyester fabric.

The gowns are made by Oak Hall Cap & Gown and are virtually indistinguishable in color and fit from the traditional polyester material. They will be available for purchase at the campus bookstores from March 25th through commencement.

New thoughts about plastic

Never thought of plastic's inception as being a part of a solution to an environmental problem.....I like what this person has to say about plastic's good intentions, its current problems and a potential for it in the future.

Plastic--Too Good to Throw Away

Japan Relief Fund

For those of you looking for places to donate to help Japan, please read below! Great chance to help Japan and support the endeavors of Pagans working for a better world.

From Circle Times:

Circle Sanctuary ministers Selena Fox and Patrick McCollum, along with Pagans from many paths, groups, and places are among those donating to Doctors without Borders through a Pagan Community First Giving donation site.

Doctors without Borders is among the international charities doing relief in Japan in the aftermath of the earthquake, aftershocks, tsunami, and nuclear emergencies. The donation site is facilitated by Peter Dybing, who was among the Pagans doing relief work in Haiti that Circle Sanctuary supported.

Website HERE!!!

Don't get distracted (or too depressed)....

...but let's not forget the problems in our own country as well.

Remember the oil spill from last summer?

Oh, yeah. Atlantis called, too. Might wanna answer that.

Yesterday, we were deep into the Soul Sharing portion of our Coven gathering when the phone rang (shrill, old-school land line) and interrupted the person who was speaking. The person stood up, walked over the ringing phone, lifted and set it back down again without finding out who it was. We all giggled because it was a funny chain of events. We continued our Soul Sharing portion as if the call never came.

When we finished the sharing portion, I asked the person if maybe they thought there was a purpose for that call. The person had just been sharing something they were perplexed by and couldn't figure out. To ignore a call may have meant they had the message they sought all along. They just needed to listen to it.

Then, I realized, that was probably a call for all of us.

There is a story of a person who holes up in their house alone, looking for truth. One day, Truth comes knocking. "Go away!" says the person. "I'm looking for Truth!" So, Truth leaves.

The nonstop calamities have inspired countless bloggers, columnists and FBers to scream at the top of their caps buttons: "WAKE UP!!! WE NEED TO WAKE UP!!!! COME ON!!! WAKE UP!!!!" I think we're already awake. Many of us are, anyway. We know we're in deep shit. The planet is fighting back: a major oil spill, coal mine explosions, tornadoes, earthquakes, Tsunamis and now a nuclear melt-down. Governments are tightening their powers of groups of people long-oppressed and fighting back, which leads to more oppression and therefore, even more conflict and bloodshed. Running around shouting "WAKE UP!" is like continuing to pound on the doors of stubbornly sleeping neighbors while the flames are racing up the stairway. Time to stop shouting and time to get a bucket and join the other people who are working to put the flames out. (Please note: Don't actually do this if your home is really on fire. Get the fuck out and call 911.)

So, what now? What do we do?

Oh, shit, you know what? I have no clue. But I've got a couple of things I'm going to try.

First of all, stop being mad at the "them." Christians, Republicans, Democrats, Big Business, America, Martians, Your Mom: Whoever your "they" is, just stop blaming them. There isn't a single person reading this who hasn't drank out of plastic bottle, bought gasoline or used electricity from a power plant that pollutes at least once in your life. You are part of "them," too. How are you going to be less of a "them"?

On a practical level, I am beginning by not drinking my beloved seltzer out of plastic bottles. In fact, I'm not buying drinks that come out of individual plastic bottles at all. There is a water cooler with recycled paper cups at my job. Someone needs to buy me a seltzer making machine for my birthday so I can have it at home. I'll be happier and nicer, I promise. No, it's not stopping the flow of radiation from the Japanese reactors. But it's keeping just a little more plastic from ending up in those nasty-ass oceanic garbage patches.

And speaking of nicer, I'm focusing on being just that. Kinder, more patient, more compassionate. The world is painful enough right now without having one more impatient bitch on the subway. Maybe I'll end up being kind to a brilliant young eco-science major who finds that the world is still worth living and develops a method of solar energy that is so insatiably powerful and lucrative that the general public can't resist it. It's worth a shot, anyway.

And finally, I'm asking for higher power help in a place that I normally furrowed my brow at. For years, I've been skeptic of the concept of Atlantis. I didn't believe in land that once had mystical, flying crystals and hunky centaurs that vanished from the world and now yearns to contact others. Last summer, I attended a Dolores Ashcroft workshop on Atlantian theory. I did not go away believing in the different "races" of creatures that once inhabited the lands. I did not have the same visions of specific technological marvels that are impossible even today that many other attendees had. But what I did walk away with was the possibility that there may have been a society that was quite advanced for its time (even if not comparatively advanced for our time) that succumbed to a natural disaster and vanished from history. That I do believe is possible. And if it's possible for the spirits of that vanished nation to contact the world we currently live, I could believe that perhaps They might be interested in doing that, now. They may see parallels to their own world they'd like to help us avoid.

Funny that at about the same time these horrific natural and manmade disasters are springing up all over the world, Atlantis may have returned.

I am taking a step into formally skeptical territory. I am reaching out to the Spirits whose existence I previously doubted. I am asking for the Spirits of that lost land known as Atlantis to help us, if They can. What can we do to save our world and save ourselves? We are listening.

And what are YOU going to do?

New Review of Tarot of the Boroughs

Thank you to Theresa Reed, aka The Tarot Lady! Review is up!!!

More of Theresa's work can be found here and on Twitter at @thetarotlady.

For those of you looking for ways to get shit done.

More ways to get involved and SAVE THE WORLD!!!

Thinking (and acting) globally!!!

Acting (and thinking) locally!!!