Living Eco-Logically: What It Means to Be Green

{Read the full post on elephant journal.}

Being green is more than merely checking off a list of sustainable to-dos: canvas grocery bags (check), recycle and compost (check), conserve water and electricity (check).

Green is the color of the heart chakra—it is soothing, calming, the color of love, generosity, kindness and friendship.

Green is the main thread of the plant kingdom, from tiny blades of grass to towering trees.

Being green means living from the heart, close to the earth.

We are not only what we eat, but we’re also how we eat—so chew with mindfulness and gratitude. Slow down. Savor more.

Being green is living off-the-grid and opting out of the system of corporate consumption. Being green is supporting local, independent businesses, farmers’ markets and second-hand shops.

Being green is coming as close to zero waste as possible. Managing our trash has become mandatory. For the past few years, we have lived without municipal trash pickup (in rural Guatemala) and have therefore gotten quite skilled at reducing our trash. It’s about what you buy—choosing the plain and simple, unpackaged produce over the saran-wrapped eggplant or the mushrooms on a bed of styrofoam.

Being green is living in harmony with the laws of nature and principles of permaculture—balance, intelligence and following the wisdom of nature.

Being green is shifting into a new paradigm of us. We don’t need to save the world—we are the world.