One of the most eco-friendly ways to celebrate Earth Day with your family, office mates and school class is to create a Vision Board.
HOW to create an eco-friendly vision board to celebrate EARTH DAY!
Blogger note, during the past few months, one of the most requested posts on this author's Amazon.com blog has been "how to create an eco-friendly vision board. So I've repeated and updated this step-by-step post in celebration of Earth Day 2009. ENJOY!
Good news, Joyce Schwarz, author,being contacted by various recycling organizations and foundation to set up workshops across the nation to show why creating Vision Boards is eco-friendly.
Shown above is Aras Baskaskas, $1 million CBS Survivor show winner who is featured in THE VISION BOARD by Joyce Schwarz talking about wellness and Yoga and the environment.
CARBON NEUTRAL:
First we want to assure that the book itself --208 page, 4-color throughouts, hard cover, 100 color pix IS "carbon neutral". A quick check online shows that News Corps, who owns Collins Desing, an imprint of Harper Collins Publishing does buy eco-offset credits.
The Vision Board: The Secret to an Extraordinary Life
REMIX: RECYCLING MAGAZINES & OTHER PRINT MATERIALS
Be assured by creating Vision Boards using images from old magazines and other printed material such as direct mail flyers, invitations, posters, wallpaper and even newspaper clippings, you ARE RECYCLING!
There are several regional and national programs organized just to recycle magazines (more on those later, especially the ones from the MPA (Magazine Publishers Assn) and the City of New York.
SO TO START CREATING AN ECO-FRIENDLY VISION BOARD:
A) Gather old magazines, newspapers, printed materials including greeting cards, cartoons from newspapers, grocery circulars and catalogs in a large basket.
B) Be sure if you purchase any new background paper or materials that they are recycled too. Recycled posterboard is available but you may want to create your board using such eco-friendly materials as flax or organic cotton fabrics or even the back of old paintings or posters you already have on your wall--continuing the recycling circle.
C) Gather up found objects, paperclips, broken jewelry, ribbons from a birthday party or wedding shower, stamps and stickers from envelopes (you can re-attach with a glue stick later)
D) Be sure any paints or marker pens you use are also eco-friendly. In fact considering buying a whole pack of these and sharing them with your neighbors so that they can create an eco-friendly board too!
Or use natural materials. I've seen vision boards created with charcoal, withwaters colored by natural herbs & flowers and almost water-painted onto the board.
Or even consider painting (with eco-friendly paints) a large bolder or old board you find near your garage>
E) Consider making your own recycled hand-made paper from old paper --the back of old posters, the back of leftover wallpaper or even on the back of an old awning or window shade!
F) If you're framing your board, be sure to recycle an old frame that you have in your house or garage or to pick one up at a flea market or thrift store in your neighborhood.
G) Gather the raw materials together. Spread out an old blanket or tablecloth to cover the creation area (a table or an area of a floor or even do it outside on your patio).
H) Begin by making a list with your group of the Eco affirmations they would like to keep in the next year and for the rest of their lives!
Examples include:
I recycle everything I can.
I am recycling my kitchen scraps too now.
I turn off the water when I brush my teeth.
I have a filter for my tap water.
I am simplifying my life.
I buy only what I absolutely need to live.
I make my footsteps on earth as light as they can be.
I recycle for others when I see an opportunity.
I make sure what I buy is carbon-neutral.
Pictures for your eco-board.
One of the fun ways to get the right pictures for your eco board is to make a list of those pix you'd like to see on the board such as: a) a home garden you are planting b) a method of composting you are starting in your group/family c) Past pictures of your family in the outdoors -- climbing or hiking or enjoying the earth at places you've visited --yes, even if they are near and part of your home town area. They don't have to be at an exotic location
TRAVEL -- another option is to gather some travel brochures at your local travel agency or from the travel section of your newspaper or favorite website and put those on the board planning on where you'd like to visit that IS eco-friendly.
VOLUNTEER WORK - do a bit of research and see what local groups need volunteers to help with eco-friendly work in your location. Make a call while you're creating your board -- don't wait until after the weekend or until tomorrow morning. Most groups have answering machines or voicemail or you can email them expressing interest. DO IT NOW1 Add a picture of the group's logo or pix of those past volunteers helping out humanity and the earth to your board.
DECORATE THE BOARD with natural embellishments, consider adding dried flowers or leaves, add a twig or sprinkle it with sand from your last beach visit (spread a layer of glue in a circle first and the sand will stick of course!
MAKE AN ECO-PLEDGE -- draft up an eco pledge that you type up or handwrite on a brown bag and put it on the back of your Vision Board to remind you of what your family is pledging to do that is eco-friendly for 2009 & beyond.
Set at least one day a month aside to catch up with eco-tasks like recycling, composting etc. Maybe you choose the 3rd Saturday of the month or it's the afternoon after church on the second Sunday. By setting a specific date you'll keep your eco-pledge and be living your eco-friendly live you envision on your EARTH DAY VISION BOARD!
Here is an example of how really visioning what you want out of life can help with your lifestyle decisions. ENJOY. Any questions, email: [email protected] or add your own comments to this blog post!
AN EXAMPLE OF LIVING AN ECO-FRIENDLY LIFE that a vision board solved for TV personality Aras Baskaskas the $1 million dollar winner of SURVIVOR:
Today we are featuring the vision board created by CBS SURVIVOR $1 million winner, Aras Baskaskas when he was working with THE VISION BOARD author Joyce Schwarz with help by artist Annie Kaycora.
Note more info on Aras board is featured in THE VISION BOARD by Joyce Schwarz, Collins Design and you can sign up for a free newsletter at
www.visionboard.info.
Aras vision became even greener during the creation process as he decided to design his future dream living and working environment which will feature both his planned Yoga retreat center and a living area too.
By creating the board Aras realized he wanted to combo his life so that work and living would be in more harmony versus having two locations for those parts of our lives as many people still do.
Take a look at Aras vision above and read more about it in THE VISION BOARD by Joyce Schwarz,
www.tinyurl.com/visionboardamazon. The website for the book is
www.ihaveavision.org.
For more information about designing your eco-board, email:
[email protected]
THE VISION BOARD BOOK by Joyce Schwarz featured in Canadian News Column
