Like many environmentalists, Stuart Moody of Green Sangha will tell a Redwood Coast Senior Center audience on March 25 about traditional actions against pervasive plastic pollution, like single-use bag bans and beach cleanups. He will also ask locals to look deeper for the solution.
The 7 p.m. event is sponsored by Mendocino Coast Transition Towns” recycling and reuse working group. It is co-sponsored by MendoPower Employment Services, which will offer a barter pile where people who bring one or more reusable items can take an equal number away.
Moody is head of the organization”s rethinking plastics campaign and is eager for the challenge of a first chance of inspiring a town like Fort Bragg, so strongly linked to an ocean choking in billions of tons of plastic pollution.
Among ideas like “nature-wear parties” and “taking the no-plastic pledge,” Moody will discuss Green Sangha”s core philosophy, which is a little different from most environmental groups.
Green Sangha balances equally its spiritual and environmental missions and finds power in that balance. The philosophy of inspiring “awakened” action has helped create several active chapters in Marin, Sonoma and the East Bay.
“The theory in Buddhist psychology is that collective consciousness has a life of its own,” Moody said. The notion has been subject to increased interest and testing in the scientific community. Both prayer and meditation by people in large numbers have been shown in studies to reduce violence in communities beyond those participating.
“The idea that thoughts are part of the universe, and that they don”t just happen in our heads, is a fun hypothesis to think about and test,” said Moody.
A new approach is obviously needed. Since the famous line “Plastics!” in the movie “The Graduate,” the industry has overwhelmed all others despite prophesies of catastrophe from more conventional thinkers and scientists.
In fact, in the spirit of the movie character who advised Dustin Hoffman of plastic”s potential, the talk begins with Moody laying out the history of innovation and adaptation that made plastics one of the most amazing products in human history.
But then Moody details the downward spiral of harm this ingenious product is causing and will cause. Ideas that other communities have developed with the help of Green Sangha include setting up meetings with merchants about all the costs of single-use plastics, not just bags; special beach cleanups; and getting people to see how long they can stick to a pledge not to buy single-use plastics.
Another idea is to save all the single-use plastics one uses in the course of a year.
“This is everything from dental floss to the stickers from your organic fruit, save it up and weigh it at the end of a year,” he said.
MendoPower encourages people to bring an item for barter, an idea Moody likes and which could make the discussion livelier.
“Reuse is really important. Recycling is often just a fancy way of throwing things away,” said Moody.
MendoPower will also detail plans for its April 2 “Whale-of-a-Sale” live auction, also at the Senior Center, that will raise money for both the Senior Center and MendoPower”s effort to create a community recycling and reuse center, among other projects.
Co-sponsor Mendocino Coast Transition Towns is a locally created effort that is part of a national and international campaign to recreate local economies. Efforts range from creating local currency to helping with local food efforts like the Noyo Food Forest.
On the web: http://greensangha.org/, http://www.transitionnetwork.org/, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Whale-of-a-Sale-LiveAuction/117700358306599.
Email Frank Hartzell at frankhartzell@gmail.com.
