Our 2018 Message

I’m so delighted to be entering the new year and still be writing for StayBlooming.com. I didn’t get a chance to finish off 2017 with a post that showed how grateful I feel but it’s never too late for gratitude. Writing has always been my #1 passion and wanting to educate others through sharing my thoughts/ideas influences my will to find the words. I am so very appreciative of the support I’ve received in the last year and I am happy at the growth I’ve acquired thus far. One thing I’ve realized about following my heart, no matter the passion, is that it can be but so planned out. Every new journey is unfamiliar, causes discomfort, requires adjustment (and readjustment) and brings much change. But those are all signs of genuine growth and something to be proud of coming soon. So that’s our 2018 message to you. Always move forward, even when things are different than what you’re used to, that usually means you’re reaching a new destination. And that is nothing but great news!

Namaskar.

Real Trees vs. Artificial Trees

We are officially 20 days away from the Christmas holiday and, of course, the environmental conversation continues. I want to address our thoughts on real Christmas trees versus artificial ones. At first thought, you would think that artificial trees dominate because they can be reused over & over, year after year, but that’s actually wrong. I know it seems daunting but real trees are recyclable… and I’ll tell you why.

A good amount of artificial Christmas trees are made of polyvinyl chloride, in a much simpler term, PVC. And yes, PVC is a plastic. Although we’re already familiar with this plastic, it’s detrimental to the environment. As soon as it has fulfilled its purpose of being your family’s Christmas tree, the tree still has a long life ahead after you’ve trashed it. PVC can only be quickly decomposed by incineration. Not to say that it cannot decompose in other natural ways, but those ways require much more time than we humans have in an average lifespan. The issue with burning polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is the toxins that are emitted into the atmosphere. Dioxins are found, carcinogens are found. Both huge health concerns in manufacturing pesticides and cigarette smoking.

I know it doesn’t seem imminent because there aren’t mass piles of artificial Christmas trees everywhere you look. But when thinking sustainably, garbage simply does not exist. The environment encompasses our reality everyday in everything that we do, so everything we do must be in accordance with creating sustainability. If you haven’t put up your tree yet, consider buying a real one. Benefits include a great smelling home now & a greener earth later!

Feel free to leave questions or comments below or email me at alyssablooms@gmail.com.

Back to Nature

I had an amazing opportunity over this past weekend (which was also my birthday weekend) to go to the mountains in Catskill, NY. I’m a nature lover as it is so I was excited to say the least. I only stood for 3 days and 3 nights but that was more than enough time to realize I’d love to go back again. It also made me realize how important it is to unplug and connect with nature.

From having limited cellphone service to being completely alone within vast natural spaces. I found myself truly mesmerized by the tranquility it provided. Most people would pick a warm climate to vacation but this was totally ideal for me. The crisp mountain air made it all the more inviting, rejuvenating, and peaceful. If my descriptions aren’t enough… here are some photos from the creek where we stood and the pond at Kaaterskill Wild Forest.

This weekend has encouraged me to make more time for outdoor activities in nature. So I’m encouraging you guys to do the same! Not only does it help to alleviate stress and anxiety, it also grounds you. Having a sense of self in a natural environment really connects you to the bigger picture that you’re apart of. Go outside! Go hiking, take a walk by the beach, collect rocks with your kids, meditate on a park bench… whether it’s local or not… connecting to nature has too many benefits to not make time for!

Have any special places that really provide that nature connection?Share them with us at alyssablooms@gmail.com.

What is Social Responsibility?

Social responsibility is always on my mind. The reason why I write is because of social responsibility. The reason why I feel a strong desire to educate people about the environment and self-care is due to social responsibility. The reason why I devote my time to express what are non-traditional ideas is all owed to social responsibility. So what is social responsibility and why is it important?

Social responsibility is the act of taking initiative to deal with urgent social and environmental issues without it being outwardly enforced; it is a voluntary job.

There are many different ways that people can choose to exercise taking initiative, it depends on the problem they’re trying to combat. Most people will confront the issue at a local level which means within the communities nearest to/surrounding them. While some will confront issues in a much bigger manner, involving federal/state government representatives or non-profit organizations. Whatever the way, one of social responsibility’s main goal is to create awareness.

We currently live in a society that sees major change come from the bottom up. We are constantly fighting for humanitarian causes or for justice from the government. Corporations are quick to do what it takes to keep making money… even if it means taking advantage of people who don’t see the existing viscous cycles. Change lies in social responsibility and that’s why it’s important.

Social responsibility can be a 5-minute beach clean-up. It can be food or clothing drives to donate to families in need or the homeless. It can be getting neighbors to sign a petition for change your community desperately needs. It can be teaching a class how to garden and plant their own food. It can be peaceful protesting, activism, and/or strikes. The variations are endless as the list goes on.

So what can you do? I think it’s a lot more than you realize you’re capable…

Starting An Environmental Conversation

Over the last few months, it has become increasingly important to begin an environmental conversation. I always touch on this because the environment is a topic that a lot of people don’t realize is a priority. With politics finally shedding some light on how important it is, from local communities to internationally, I find myself wanting to educate people on the basics of why the environment deserves our attention.

We are witnessing environmental issues within our lives that’s a direct result of the industrial impact on earth.

We are further compromising the state of our environment by making long-term decisions for short-term profit.

How & what we’re doing to confront & deal with issues depends on the issue itself — meaning there will never one fits all kind of solution.

Our success in creating current sustainability may be able to promise future sustainability. 

The most important thing to remember is that environmental problems are multi-faceted issues. There are so many different aspects to consider and majority of them are ever-changing in nature. So solutions & predictions are harder to determine since there are many moving parts.

To start an environmental conversation, we really need to begin to build our understanding of what the environment does for us. That foundational insight can help us realize the powerful relationship between earth and man. We need to learn more about our surroundings, how much it immediately gives to us, and how our behaviors today affect what it will give us in the future. From romantic relationships to friendships and family bonds, all relationships require a specialized attention to the beloved.

So why not the relationship we have with our only home? 💭

Total Solar Eclipse ’17 Thoughts

Visible across the United States next month on August 21st, the next total solar eclipse is being dubbed the “Great American Eclipse.” Although, to quite the contrary, America isn’t as great as many of us feel. It’s an awesome event when you strip it of equating to patriotism plus some of South America can view the display too. I’m definitely a woman of the cosmos — I follow our sun’s planetary system and how astronomy and astrology cross. So I’m really excited for this solar eclipse! I got to witness the last one in 2009… my life was so much different then. This time around I feel like it is an act of fate and not only for just myself. The universe has coincided its alignments with society’s tone and dire need for change. These unique moments of planetary behavior bring about the utmost enlightenment and realization. People are more inclined to learn, to listen, to try to understand. But the message of change needs to be spoken, to be taught, to be learnt. Click here to visit NASA’s Total Eclipse page.

Mark your calendars!
For my East-coasters: we should anticipate a 1pm-4pm solar eclipse with totality occurring approximately between 2:41pm and 2:44pm. I’ll update changes if any.

‘A Name’ by Ada Limón

Image source: Kentucky Lex Go

When Eve walked among the animals and named them —
nightingale, red-shouldered hawk,
fiddler crab, fallow deer —
I wonder if she ever wanted them to speak back,
looked into their wide wonderful eyes and whispered,
“Name me, name me.”

– Ada Limón (1976)

I found this poem while riding the NYC subway. I was absolutely enraptured by this short poem and wanted to share it with you all. You can visit the MTA Arts & Design site by clicking here to view more poems and past poetry.

Seabin Project “Vacuum” Cleans the Ocean

Happy World Oceans Day! With less than 2 weeks til we enter the summer season it’s crunch time to spread awareness about the ocean and its livelihood. Earlier this week I mentioned the polluted state of the deepest part of the ocean and also introduced one woman who’s inviting people to help their local communities. Today, however, I wanted to share a commercial way to help clean any coastline called the Seabin Project.

This revolutionary floating bin (shown below) acts as a vacuum for the ocean by sucking in the surface of seawater using a pump. The litter/pollution is kept and the seawater is returned back into the ocean via its mesh innards. Sounds simple right? Thanks to the Seabin Project, it really is that simple. People often think answers to environmental issues have to be as complicated as the problems they cause but that’s not entirely true.

seabin

The only down sides are that the Seabin requires daily maintenance and can only be placed in close quarters to docks, marinas, and typically calm waters. The good news in that is that floating trash makes its way everywhere along coastlines. With ever-changing technology, we can expect to see bigger and better coming out of this idea.

Summer 2017 will be the first season they are for sale. Please click here to visit their page, learn specific details about the Seabin, and the entire project.

Follow the cause on social media:
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The 5-Minute Beach Clean-up Challenge

5 minute beach clean up

Hey there bloomers! Yesterday I started the conversation about oceanic pollution and how it affects the entire world. You can click here to view the World Environment Day post. But to recap here — this week I’m spending time on bringing awareness to this environmental problem that affects our entire ocean. Today I’m continuing that convo by introducing an Instagrammer who’s taking a stand against oceanic pollution, plastic use, and making it social.

Her name is Carolina and she’s from Costa Rica. She founded the Instagram @5minutebeachcleanup as a challenge to everyone all over the world. Would you sacrifice 5 minutes of your beach time to tossing trash? I think any person who naturally cares about the world wouldn’t mind at all.

As inspiring as this is, it doesn’t stop there. Carolina invites her followers to tag their own clean-up photos and may very well repost yours if you participate. You can easily tell that she’s passionate about this when viewing her pictures & captions. I had the opportunity to reach out to her and thank her for the work she’s put into such a great effort.

Although 5 minutes does not sound like a long enough time for the perfect clean-up… every little bit counts. When more people are involved, the same 5 minutes can become hours, days, and even weeks added up. Imagine how much cleaning up can be achieved in that time if we shared the responsibility locally. I think environmental change truly comes from the human conscious understanding how each of us is apart of a much larger whole. But first, think with compassion and sacrifice some 5 minutes.

This is the perfect chance to take a stand against people like Donald Trump who don’t take evidence of climate change and environmental protection serious. It’s also a great opportunity to teach kids, family members, friends, colleagues, etc. about the importance of oceans, beaches, marine life, and how it relates to us.

Below are some more snapshots of this amazing cause. Please follow @5minutebeachcleanup on Instagram and take part in the challenge at your local beach!

View this post on Instagram

From Mexico 🇲🇽 #Repost @guadafk GRACIAS ♥ Consciousness ♥ Education ♥ Responsability ♥ 👏🏼👇🏼 ・・・ Every day, on the beach, there are tons of plastic brought from the ocean. What if we all really take 5 minutes each day we go to clean it? – why do we expect anyone else to clean the plastic we consume every day from out beaches? – every act of kindness goes a long way. Dear Tulum voyagers; let's carry a portable ashtray, let's pick a bit of plastic every day, every little counts. Imagine if we all do it as our holiday routine? – imagine if we teach that to our kids?- But most importantly, let's be conscious of the plastic we use every day. There are ways. Let's not get too comfortable around trash. #tulum #tulumbeach #betterworld #5minutebeachcleanup #fiveminutebeachcleanup #loveyourplanet🌎

A post shared by 5MinuteBeachCleanup (@5minutebeachcleanup) on

World Environment Day 2017

I’m going this to use this very appropriate week to spread awareness about oceanic pollution. I say appropriate because not only is today World Environment Day but this Thursday, June 8th, is World Oceans Day. So today I’ll be sharing information on the environmental problem of oceanic pollution and over the week I’ll go over some ways we can help locally.

I’ll share a bit of personal background about myself. I have studied biology, environmental science, and environmental policy in higher educational institutions. (I struggled with changes of heart in majors like so many of us do…) But I’m not only familiar with those things because of learning about them, it’s also based on a natural passion and real love for the world. Personal indeed because I absolutely thrive when surrounded by nature and natural elements. Some of my dreams and aspirations include helping create a sustainable planet for us and future generations to come. Personal indeed but it is my passion and what feels like my life force.

Moving forward.

National Geographic published this article Deepest Place on Earth Contains ‘Extraordinary’ Pollution Levels back in February 2017. Please take a moment to read if you can, if not, I’ve tried to summarize the info so you can continue reading. When I initially read the article, I was completely devastated by my own naive thinking. How could I honestly believe that the Mariana Trench would be untouched by human impact?

For starters, the Mariana Trench is the deepest known place of the ocean. It lies in the western Pacific Ocean, closer to the continent of Asia. With it being the deepest place in the ocean, it’s easy to get caught up thinking that it’s too remote for dangerous pollution to reach. But it’s quite the contrary and National Geographic has brought to light the extremely high levels of toxic pollutants built up in this area.

It’s needless to say that the source of this pollution is the industrialization in nearby countries over extended periods of time. It’s partly due to catastrophic weather that displaces chemicals that wouldn’t otherwise be in the ocean. But also, water flow is naturally slow there and it does not help the state of the Mariana Trench. There has been scientific evidence supporting high levels of toxins in animals living in those depths. But to fully grasp how this is an issue, you must understand the inter-connectedness of the ocean. The food “chain” or “web” that humans thrive on is connected to the ecosystems of the ocean and land alike.

This is an open-ended post because this could not possibly have an immediate resolution. The only “fixing” comes in creating awareness in conversations, preventing pollution, and changing our current behaviors to always consider where human impact will end up. Stay tuned for tomorrrow’s continued talk about oceanic pollution and how one woman in Costa Rica is trying to help via social media.

Stay green my friends!