1.    Start with you. While scientists once believed we were separate from everything else on earth, we now know that couldn’t be further from the truth. We human beings are made up of the same stuff that makes up the stars we gaze at, the grass we walk on and the very food we eat. Spiritual teacher Deepak Chopra says it best: “At some point in our lives, the realization dawns upon us that freedom does not come from external situations or circumstance. All of creation, everything that exists in the physical world, is the result of the unmanifest transforming itself into the manifest. Everything that we behold comes from the unknown. Our physical body, the physical universe — anything and everything that we can perceive through our senses — is the transformation of the unmanifest, unknown and invisible into the manifest, known and visible. The physical universe is nothing other than the self curving back within itself as spirit, mind and physical matter.”

With this in mind, how we think about ourselves, treat ourselves and feed ourselves becomes a whole new ball game: every negative thought we hold and reaffirm to ourselves is also reaffirmed to the universe, every bad diet choice directly affects the health of universe, every unkind action or thought towards another has a direct affect on the universe and so on. Making conscious, educated choices every day is the first and most important step in healing the earth. A great place to start the education is with inspirational author and teacher, Louise L Hay and her bestselling book You Can Heal Your Life. To get a deep understanding of how the lives of humans and animals are deeply connected, watch Earthlings, a documentary narrated by Joaquin Phoenix.

2.    Change your diet. While the meat and dairy industries do everything in their power to ensure consumers believe meat and dairy help us grow healthy and strong, there is much evidence to the contrary. Besides the undeniable health risks of eating meat and dairy that can no longer be ignored due to the rise-and-rise of cancer cases, there’s another reason it’s important to reassess the amount of animal products in your diet—and that’s the detrimental impact meat production has on the planet. A 2006 United Nations report found that the meat industry produces more greenhouse gases than all the SUVs, cars, trucks, planes, and ships in the world combined. When asked by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) what personal change people could make to help the environment, ex-Beatles star Paul McCartney answered, “I think the biggest change anyone could make in their own lifestyle would be to become vegetarian.” Find out how here.

As with anything, it’s about being kind to yourself during the process if you decide to give up meat and dairy. Do your research to ensure you do things at a pace that works best for your body and lifestyle. An important thing to remember: vegetarianism and veganism are not diets in the common sense of the word, or religions for that matter. Rather they’re a lifestyle choice—an action resulting from understanding how everything on the earth is deeply connected, and how what we put in our mouth has a profound effect on everything we are and do. That means taking it all one meal and day at a time, so leave any feelings of guilt or failure at the door. Every step you take towards making a difference adds up. Be proud of yourself and tell yourself often.

3.    Stop buying plastic water bottles, shopping bags or containers. We’ve all certainly heard it before: buying water in plastic bottles and getting plastic bags at the supermarket isn’t a good choice for the environment. Treehugger.com has an article that gets straight to the point detailing what is known as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” or “trash vortex”: (it’s) essentially a floating expanse of waste and debris in the Pacific Ocean now covering an area twice the size of the continental U.S. Believed to hold almost 100m tons of flotsam, this vast “plastic soup” stretches 500 nautical miles off the Californian coast, past Hawaii and almost as far as Japan. Gotta see it to believe it? Watch this.

As said before, being kind to you, also means you’re being kind to the world around you. Plastic water bottles contain the cancer-causing chemical known as Bisphenol A, which leaches from the bottles to the water you consume. Step one: buy a reusable water bottle. Step two: fit a reverse osmosis filter to your kitchen tap (same goes for the shower: many municipal water supplies are not only highly chlorinated, but also contain high levels of pharmaceutical drugs—such as antibiotics, oral contraceptives etc—which get ingested through the skin, which is the body’s largest organ. Read more here.

4.    Recycle, buy recycled and make your own. Recycling household items needs little explanation these days, as most of us seem to have it down. If you’re not sure about what can be recycled, check out this handy guide. Everyone loves a gift, but everyone loves a handmade present even more. In this consumer-driven world, buying new has become the norm. But thanks to the recession (translation: blessing in disguise) people are learning to appreciate the more authentic, simple things in life. If you’re not yet ready to embrace your creative side, when it comes to buying Christmas, birthday, wedding gifts and the like, head to Etsy.com, a site that features beautiful handmade treasures, many of which have been made from pre-loved items. When it comes to furnishing your home, finding pre-loved items from garage sales and antique shows can add an individual charm that will make your home uniquely yours.

5.    Learn how to compost. Composting is a natural recycling process that continuously happens in nature. Throwing vegetable scraps and grass clippings into the trash not only adds to the world’s overflowing garbage dumps, it also throws away wonderful nutrients that you can use on your own garden (regardless of whether you live in a house or apartment). How do you make compost? Plowhearth.com explains: There are four key words to remember: green, brown, air, water. What this means is that, to make compost, all you have to do is bring together moist, fresh, predominantly green ingredients (grass clippings, weeds, kitchen scraps, and the like) and predominantly brown ingredients (dead leaves, straw, hay, wood shavings or chips, etc.), ensure that the mix remains damp, and turn it all every few days to reintroduce oxygen to the pile. That’s it. In less than a month, you’ll have rich, crumbly, brown compost that you can add to your garden soil, use in containers, or mulch with. Also see Howtocompost.org.

6.    Ask questions. Just because the local newspaper, six o’clock news or your favourite website says something is so, use your intuition, gut feeling or whatever you choose to call it and ask questions. Just because it’s in print or because a news anchor spouts statistics, doesn’t mean it’s God’s given truth. Look deeper to see who funded the research. Read labels and ask yourself if the ingredients sound like they’re good for you and your family. By educating yourself and gaining an understanding for yourself is one of the most important daily actions you can take.

7.    Share your knowledge. As we’re all on this journey together, the best gift we can give to others is knowledge. As you pick up any healthful, earth-loving information that you feel is invaluable and can help others in some way, share it. Start a blog, start an action group, join an environmental group. Or simply start a journal of your journey that you can refer to when you feel someone who know could use some information you’ve previously recorded.

Photo courtesy: jurvetson

There are so many good reasons to read the label on any cosmetic product you intend to buy. I used to think, albeit naively, that if a product was for sale then it must have been put through rigorous testing and deemed safe for human use. But alas, that wishful thought was just that—wishful.

Amongst the thousands of cosmetics brands on the market today, a good number contain chemicals toxic to our health. Just like food in the supermarket, if you can’t pronounce a word on a label, chances are it was brewed in a lab not in nature. Many of these ingredients are used as fillers; cheap additions that give the illusion of more product, without hurting the manufacturer’s bottom line.

Just because a lipstick, face cream or the like is expensive also doesn’t mean it’s any safer than the alternative $2 bottle in your local drug store or chemist. In fact, that cheap bottle may be a hundred times safer than the cream that comes in the fancy packaging.

With cosmetic safety regulations lacking in many countries, it’s up to ourselves to be our own judge and jury when it comes to what we’re willing to buy and then put on our skin—our body’s largest organ. Anything you slap on the outside ends up on the inside. If you’ve read this blog before today you’ll be familiar with the phrase: “if you can’t eat it, don’t wear it”.

If you’re starting to wonder exactly what chemicals are lurking in your bathroom cabinet, be sure to check out The Cosmetics Database.

In the book Natural Organic Hair and Skin Care, cosmetic chemist and herbalist Aubrey Hampton is quoted as saying: “Buyers in department, drug, discount and supermarkets don’t know anything about the chemicals that go into cosmetics, and assume their customers don’t know much either.”

These chemicals have only been proven safe with animal testing. If you put them in your product you rely on or accept those tests. Also, many of these chemicals pollute our environment because they aren’t biodegradable. This affects all species. You won’t know this if you don’t read the label.

Besides the cocktail of chemicals that make up many beauty products on the market today, there’s also the very real issue of animal testing. Just because a manufacturer didn’t test on an innocent being, doesn’t mean the manufacturer they bought their chemical ingredients from wasn’t tested on an unsuspecting monkey or rat. What it boils down to? Labels also lie.

Some insight and advice from Aubrey Hampton:

“‘We don’t test on animals’ can be a misleading (slogan) because many of the chemicals used by the sloganizers are tested on animals by the chemical manufacturers who supply the cosmetics companies.”

“It doesn’t matter whether or not they say they don’t test on animals. It doesn’t matter whether they say they don’t use animal extracts. It does matter if they use chemicals that pollute our environment, chemicals which are used as safe and effective based on animal testing. This is what you find out by reading the product label.”

“A label may say: This Cosmetic is not Tested on Animals, but may still have ingredients such as sodium lauryl sulfate, methyl papaben, propyl parabem, benzalkonium chloride etc. These chemicals have only been proven safe with animal testing. If you put them in your product you rely on or accept those tests. Also, many of these chemicals pollute our environment because they aren’t biodegradable. This affects all species. You won’t know this if you don’t read the label.”

So there you have it. If we continue to be lured by the glamorous advertising and marketing campaigns that tell us to put a toxic concoction of animal-tested ingredients on our skin, it’s my belief that the skyrocketing cancer rates will continue to grow without exception.

The best action I ever took was to clean out my bathroom cabinet, cleanse and moisturise using food (baking soda, extra virgin coconut—or olive—oil), and wear little-to-no make-up.

We also have an opportunity to teach our children what we perhaps didn’t know. Give them the information so they can make an informed decision as to what they will and won’t put on their own skin—perhaps protecting them from the dis-eases that result from continual use of these harmful products.

Photo courtesy: Tiago Rïbeiro

So, here are my top 12 attributes of the new age environmentalist, in no particular order… If you have some additions, please feel free to add them in the comments!

1. Not only recycles, but uses less waste material by buying less. Understands that buying more stuff means greater unhappiness and more suffering (check out the teachings of the Tao Te Ching for more insight into this). Lightening the material load clears the mind and allows for more quality time spent on the stuff in life that really matters.

2. Avoids processed and man-altered foods, including GMO, pesticide-laden produce. Knows that chemicals are not only bad for their own body, but for the planet and all of its inhabitants—plant, insect or animal. Grows or buys their own organic produce and helps to spread the word on this all-important action.

3. Doesn’t eat animals, consume or wear animal-derived products. Knows that they share the same consciousness as all living things, so to harm another is the same as harming themselves. Understands the many factual reasons as to why eating animals is also detrimental to the future of the planet.

4. Listens to their own heart and the hearts of others. Extends a helping hand whenever possible, knowing the greatest gift they can give is a selfless act of love toward another. Love without rules helps expand consciousness.

5. Is not concerned with their reputation, good or bad. Rather, the new age environmentalist marches forward in their life purpose, knowing their cause is much greater than themselves.

6. Meditates regularly. Maintains a close connection to source energy (or God) and the environment.

7. Lives by their own rules, rather than obeying the rules set out by mainstream media. Understands that mainstream news sources have their own agendas, instilling fear in the hearts of those who watch it. Knows the media-hyped green industry has been saturated with those who see the value in the eco-dollar, rather than eco-solutions.

8. Buys only recycled, upcycled or organically-made fashion. Understands that cotton is sprayed with toxic chemicals that harm not only the wearer, but the environment.

9. Only buys beauty products that are not only tested on animals, but also those that aren’t laden with toxic chemicals. Understands the skin is the body’s largest organ and benefits most from products (from the pantry) that can also be eaten (such as extra virgin coconut oil).

10. Walks or uses carbon-neutral transport whenever possible. Knows walking is a great way to connect with nature, while also doing the body and the planet good. Understands that looking after themselves as nature intended is a very real way of being kind to the planet.

11. Uses their knowledge and passion to educate others in a positive, uplifting, useful way. Knows that all good news is best shared.

12. Knows that they don’t know everything. Is a student of life and readily admits they don’t know if they indeed don’t. Is open to new ways of thought and advice on how to further extend their helping hand.

Producer-director Robert Kenner and investigative authors Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) and Michael Pollan (The Omnivore’s Dilemma) lift the veil on the U.S. food industry – an industry that has often put profit ahead of consumer health, the livelihoods of American farmers, the safety of workers and the environment.

While animal-lovers undoubtedly will have a hard time sitting through some scenes of this tell-all documentary, the message is one everyone should watch to understand exactly where their food comes from, how it is grown and processed, as well as the risks associated with eating it.

Food, Inc. filmmakers take you behind the scenes (see trailer below) to witness practices they say are deliberately hidden from the American consumer. They also reveal how a handful of corporations control the nation’s food supply.

Now the question remains — how similar is the food industry Down Under? Thanks to comedian Mike King we know about the despicable treatment of pigs in New Zealand factory farms. But what else is being hidden from the eyes of the consumer?

It’s also worth noting that some of the food on our supermarket shelves is directly imported from the United States.

Hot tip of the day? Go organic, grow your own veges and get your ticket to see Food Inc!

The meat-eating “environmentalist” and former politician blames all sorts of things on climate change, but not once mentions what his favourite meal is doing to the planet.

“Despite the many challenges to solving the climate crisis, there is hope, and the opportunities are everywhere – especially in the form of increasingly powerful technological tools,” Gore was quoted as saying. “Renewable sources of energy – if developed – could completely replace CO2-rich fossil fuels, and new technologies can allow us to move forward with unprecedented scale and speed to avert the worst impacts and set the stage for successful recovery.”

I have a much more immediate — and more cost and health effective — solution for Mr Gore. Give up the steak and burgers.  Lead by example. Show everyone what the main culprit is and that the solution is in our own hands. That we don’t need to rely on technology or so-called eco gurus or environmentalists to find the solution that will save the human race from extinction. Here’s hoping he mentions that a big part of the solution lies with what’s in our shopping carts and on our dinner plates.

I eagerly await reviews from Gore’s second installment.

On a lighter note, it’s great news to hear that The Vegan Society of New Zealand has re-formed, launching with a cool new website that boasts all sorts of vegan facts and the like. Join their Facebook page HERE.

It’s a website I’ll keep myself busy with until my new food dehydrator arrives from the U.S. Note to self: don’t plug in an electrical item, that’s made for U.S. users, into a New Zealand socket. I guess it’ll now make a one-of-a-kind planter box. An expensive one at that!

“Resting stylishly on recycled bamboo serving platters sat a ménage of beef tartar, pork belly something-or-other and a trilogy of pungent unidentifiable cheeses,” DuDell wrote. “I was frustrated that nobody on staff had made the seemingly obvious, absolutely critical connection between what we eat and the health of our planet.”

What Michael experienced at this party, is unfortunately common place amongst many high-profile greenies (Al Gore is one case in point). These peeps won’t give up their lamb chops and barbecued steak because, they have been quoted as saying, it’s just too hard for them and their followers.

Michael’s Huff Post article explains further:

At a recent concert in Sweden, Moby asked Al Gore why he didn’t mention the heavy environmental impact of animal production in his film An Inconvenient Truth.

“He answered honestly,” recounts Moby, “basically saying that getting people to drive a hybrid car isn’t that difficult. Getting people to give up animal products is almost impossible.”

Mr Gore, The Lazy Environmentalist guy and other self-proclaimed greenies are definitely doing wonderful things by getting the green word out. But in order for the planet to repair itself, we need to be educated on what’s doing the most damage. That without question is meat and dairy production.

A 2006 report from the UN stated that raising animals for food generates more greenhouses gases and contributes more to global warming than every mode of transportation in the world combined.

Read the full Huffington Post article HERE.

The actress writes about the benefits of adopting a plant-based diet, from effortless weight loss to clear skin. She also spills the beans on how her vegan diet has given her boundless energy and a digestion that works how it’s supposed to.

While her name may be associated with Clueless, the health-happy celeb is anything but. While the vegan diet she recommends will be kind to your bod, Silverstone also explains why chowing down on meat, fish, milk and cheese causes permanent damage to the planet—so deleting it from the diet is a sure fire way to keep people and the planet healthy.

May The Kind Diet hit the bestseller lists everywhere!