Ongoing Events
Rethinking Plastics
Habitat Restoration
Other Events
RETHINKING PLASTICS
NEW: Keep up with Rethinking Plastics Campaign news and events info via the Rethinking Plastics Campaign News Blog.
TALKS UPCOMING
- Contact our program coordinator for upcoming talks or to schedule one.
TOPICS
Through our advocacy and work with other environmental organizations, we have developed three presentations relating to plastic pollution:
- Rethinking Plastics, Rethinking Our Lives. This is our original talk. With a showing of Synthetic Sea and 100 slides, we explore the history of plastics, the impact of an industry that produces 56 million tons of non-biodegradable synthetics in the US every year, and the kinds of solutions that we can apply individually and institutionally.
- Advertising & the Environment. A close look at how the sophisticated use of basic principles of advertising (saturation, need, association, and humor) has led us to buy things we don’t need, and destroy earth’s life systems in the bargain. Using bottled water as a case study, participants take apart the logic of sample advertisements and learn about “principles of freedom” that can protect us from this devastating influence.
- Litter Hurts. This is an interactive lesson developed through San Rafael Clean for schools and community groups. Most marine debris (80%) comes from land-based sources. Learning to deal with waste – that is, anything that we don’t want any more – is the first step in developing an environmental ethic. Litter prevention touches the whole spectrum of environmental issues.
HELP US SPREAD THE WORD!
Would you like to share this information with your friends, co-workers, or neighbors? Do you know a social club looking for speakers or a church seeking to improve its environmental footprint? Is there a school in your neighborhood? Tell them about our presentation. We’ll be glad to work out the arrangements for a presentation that suits their needs and interests.
RETHINKING PLASTICS: TRAINING FOR SPIRITUAL ACTIVISTS
Consider joining our team of Community Educators. Learn about the environmental and health consequences of plastics, how to organize a thought-provoking and inspirational presentation, and methods of raising awareness through mindfulness practice and the Green Sangha principles of activism.
If you have been waiting for a training in your county, now is the time to contact our Program Coordinator, Elizabeth Little. She will discuss your schedule requirements and organize the next group in your area.
OTHER RETHINKING PLASTICS EVENTS
Join Cathy Rosekrans’s team of volunteers at the Civic Center Farmers’ Market the third Sunday of every month, or at the Oakland and Hayward markets on Saturdays.
HABITAT RESTORATION
Each season we go to Green Gulch Farm near Muir Beach for an afternoon of Inner & Outer Restoration. After a free and delicious organic lunch, we gather for an overview of the day’s work and choose jobs that suit our interests and capabilities. Tasks include: removal of exotics, trail building, planting of natives, wood gathering, and sheet mulching. After a couple of hours, we rest together on the lawn or on the deck for tea, fruit, and muffins. We then hold a short Green Sangha meeting, to share information, inspiration, and plans for the coming season. We end with deep silence, meditating with the larger community in the Zendo. Bring comfortable layers for changeable weather, sturdy shoes, a hat, and gloves if you have.
12:15 pm: Arrive for lunch
1:00 pm: Gather at stop sign for introduction and task assignment.
3:30 pm: Meet for tea and muffins.
4:00 pm: Green Sangha gathering — news, stories, reflections.
5:00 pm: Retire to Zendo for meditation.
5:45 pm: End meditation, prepare for brief Zen ceremony.
6:00 pm: Adjourn.Contact Stuart Moody for details about our next event.
