Category Archives: Sustainability

It’s safe to assume that we all want to leave the world a better place that we found it. But it’s not always easy to build a sustainable life. Step by step, inch by inch, and choice by choice, you can make a difference. These articles by Lasára Allen’s can help.

Gift Buying with Consciousness – A Guide to Compassionate Consumerism

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Often my anti-consumerist, smaller footprint, “live simply” self, and my “the kids deserve the joy that materialism so easily delivers”, acquisitive, affluenza-suffering self war with each other.

Especially during birthdays, and holidays. During these special days I, like every other conscious consumer, enter the battlefield of who to buy for, what to buy, and why? And, most importantly, HOW?

For your consideration, some guidelines I came up with for my own conscious and compassionate consumerism:

1. Remember that every dollar is a vote. When you spend, you are voting for the survival of one “contender” over another. You’re contributing to the policies, and politics, of the corporation you buy from. Choose accordingly.

2. Locally owned companies need your support to stay afloat. So, keep chain store gift buying to a bare-minimum. If you’re going to spend your “hard-earned” cash, spend it where it helps the most.

3. Gift with products and services you believe in. Organic cotton socks may be out of your price range ($50 for five pairs? Yikes!), but, see # 4.

4. Buy products and services produced and offered by people you know. You probably know a lot of really great folks, doing really great things. Artists and artisans, musicians, writers, massage therapists and body workers, hairstylists and aestheticians, fix-it guys and gals, coaches, teachers, carpenters, tarot readers, florists.

Instead of an item that may or may not go to waste, why not purchase a gift certificate for a massage, a dollar amount at a local store, a commissioned piece of art from an artist friend, classes, or a glorious spa day? Look at it this way; not many of these are things most of us would buy for ourselves right now. Not with the economy being so bad. So why not feed the “giftees” heart with some gentle R and R, a feast for the soul, or the gift of beauty?

This doesn’t need to be a big expenditure, either. Get a gift certificate for lunch at the locally owned taquería. You’re out ten bux, and your friend is in for a great lunch!

Keep in mind that when you buy from friends, you gift twice. You support your friend in her or his commitment to “right livelihood”, and you give a quality, personal gift to the recipient.

5. Attempt to fully and presently give the gift of yourself. Relax into the experience of it, stay present in the joy of times shared with loved ones. Light candles to welcome the return of the Sun.

6. Become conscious of your judgments, and let them go. This is a very personal suggestion that you may relate to; one of my biggest challenges to staying present in gifting is my judgments about consumerism, and the wastefulness that especially the bigger holidays bring; light displays, wrapping paper, extra driving, extra buying, extra spending. And with the more minor holidays being amped, this complaint no longer belongs just to Christmas time.

My voice of judgment rings out in response to my own holiday habits – which at times veer into excess, over-extension, stress. It can be overwhelming to stay conscious in the midst of it. So, I try to relax my judgment towards myself and others. Judgment is not compassion.

7. Meditate on the longing, the need, the hunger that the shadow-side of WANT inspires, and allow it to pass. Again, and again, and again. Feel it, and let it go. Recognize it in your own desires to care for, and to be cared for, and find acceptance and love for the hungry parts of you. Notice it in others, and generate compassionate understanding.

Just as with any face of compassion, conscious, compassionate consumerism is a practice. It’s a practice I undertake for my own benefit, and the benefit of all sentient beings.

These are my steps to compassionate consumerism. What are yours?

Support an independent business person; ME!!!

Tarot Readings with Lasara – Gfit Certificates holiday special!

Register a loved one for the Sexy Witch Teleclass experience!!!


January, 2013; A LOCAL, IN-PERSON SEXY WITCH COURSE? YOU can make this happen. Local? Register now.


Other holiday themed articles:
Of Dark Nights and Wood Stoves – A Christmas Reminiscence
Compassionate Consumerism
Reframing Your Family’s Recesssion Anxiety to Conscious Consumerism
Five Ways to Engage Your Kids in Grateful Giving

Happy Holidays! Stay Grateful, Gracious, and Green!

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Gift Buying with Consciousness – A Guide to Compassionate Consumerism

Often my anti-consumerist, smaller footprint, “live simply” self, and my “the kids deserve the joy that materialism so easily delivers”, acquisitive, affluenza-suffering self war with each other.

Especially during birthdays, and holidays. During these special days I, like every other conscious consumer, enter the battlefield of who to buy for, what to buy, and why? And, most importantly, HOW?

For your consideration, some guidelines I came up with for my own conscious and compassionate consumerism… read more here…

Tarot Readings with Lasara – Gfit Certificates holiday special!

Register a loved one for the Sexy Witch Teleclass experience!!!

Finding Light in the Darkness – The Reason for the Season

The celebration of this season has roots in the timeless, hidden promise of light and warmth that lives within the dark. Even after the longest night of the year is over, winter still holds sway. But the light does begin its ascent to grandeur and glory in the eternal procession of seasons. …read more here…

Self Care for the Holiday Season

The holidays are upon us. No matter what your spiritual persuasion, you’re probably going to be finding time within this season of cold days and long nights to gather with family and friends, sit around the feast table, and celebrate some light in the darkness. What a wonderful thing!

But even so, the most joyful season still comes with holiday stress. And, between travel, shopping, parties, and family commitments, many of us don’t take very good care of ourselves in the midst of it all. During the holidays, most of us eat more – and more poorly. We exercise less. We let our spiritual practices slip. I mean, who has time to meditate? There’s a sale on, and I still have gifts to buy! (Right?)

The result; physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion. …read more here…

Holiday Health: Compassionate Consumerism, and Self-Care.

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The holidays are (basically) upon us! Since starting to do the Holiday Season binge-shopping (yeah, me too), I thought I’d offer a link to my article, Gift Buying with Consciousness: A Guide to Compassionate Consumerism.

And, since we’re all prone to losing track of our self-care during the season, I am also linking Self-Care for the Holiday Season.

May the revelry commence! Stay safe, sane, and healthy, as we hurtle toward a brand new year. (Wow! Already?)

Stay tuned for more.

Doing Our Part to Safeguard the Ecological Heritage of Future Generations

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See below the text box for our other green business policies, and ways that you, too, can reduce your carbon footprint.

We Sell Primarily Green Products, and Our Services are Green, Too
  • Gratitude Games, our primary product is download only – zero-waste product; no shipping waste, no manufacturing waste.
  • Telephone-based coaching and teleclasses are a greener option than their in-person counterparts.
  • We are moving towards e-books, and away from print materials.
  • We choose primarily green and eco-conscious partners to work with, and as often as possible use ecologically sound third-party companies to create our products.

    • Contrary to Popular Sentiment, it IS Easy being Green!
    Gratitude Games are Green!

    The crew who brings you Gratitude Games are grateful for a healthy global environment. And we want to do our part to safe-guard the ecosystem for future generations.

    So Gratitude Games are green products. No shipping, no handling, no packaging = no waste! A download link is sent immediately upon purchase.

    Go GREEN; it’s is as easy as 1, 2, 3!
    1.    Visit download page – sent to you when you order.
    2.    Download files.
    3.    Print items or play from your computer.
    The technical details of buying GRATITUDE GAMES green: a high-speed internet connection all that’s required.

    Five Reasons to Go Green with Gratitude Games

    • Combat the waste of shipping; each mile a product travels to get to shop, or to your house, or a shop then your house, leaves a carbon footprint.
    • Eliminate the packaging required for shipment. The overnight shipping industry alone uses over a billion envelopes and packages a year. (See below the text box for more details.)
    • You can print the items as green as you like – if your home or home office is fully green, than so is your product! If you have a paper/printer-free office, you can have them printed by a local green printer, or the nearest superstore. Your choice!
    • Reduces manufacturing cost, saving you – and us – money.
    • Reduces manufacturing waste; when lots are manufactured, there are pieces that may or may not sell, and all the packaging that goes along with each piece. With downloads, only what you need to print is printed, so there’s no unnecessary waste.

    The overnight shipping industry uses more than a billion shipping envelopes and boxes each year. This packaging not only creates significant solid waste after its use, but its production also requires large quantities of paper and plastic, uses energy and water, and produces both air and water pollution.

    Our Green Business Practices

    Paper-Free Office:

    • If U.S. businesses cut office paper use by only 10%, it would prevent the emission of 1.6 million tons of greenhouse gases (the equivalent of taking 280,000 cars off the road).

    If you aren’t ready to go paper-free, recycle! Recycling 1 ton of paper saves:

    • 17 mature trees.
    • 7 thousand gallons of water.
    • 3 cubic yards of landfill space.
    • 2 barrels of oil (84 US gallons).
    • 4,100 kilowatt-hours (15 GJ) of electricity; enough energy to power the average American home for five months. (Citation: wikipedia)

    Printer- and Fax-Free Office.

    • No e-waste; printers and faxes, in addition to computers, create electronic waste. (See links below for more about the e-waste problem.)
    • No ink cartridge waste.

    Energy Use Reduction:

    • We use very little heat – in the winter time we move most of our operations into a family space that’s already warmed, to reduce heating use.
    • Turn off lights when not in use.
    • Turn off all appliances not in use.


    THE THIRD R: RECYCLE

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    Recycling is probably the most mentioned, but least effective of the three Rs. Of the four items mentioned above, only the yogurt container can be recycled. And at, that, only at some recycling centers. The shirt and plastic bag are landfill. Over time, the shirt will rot away. The plastic bag will not.

    Of all the items I mentioned, the computer is most problematic. There’s a new term that’s been created in recent years; e-waste, or electronic-waste. Your phones, TVs, and computers all fall into this category. Ne recycling here!

    But even with items that are recyclable, the value of the recyclable item as a measure for decreasing waste is variable. It’s complex, and I don’t even begin understand the level of math that goes into figuring it out, but it takes energy to recycle. In some cases more (soda can back into soda cans), in some cases less (post-consumer waste like office paper into toilet paper).

    But, more or less, recycling uses resources. Don’t get me wrong – I’m not telling you to give-up on recycling. I’m just saying that the other two options, reducing and reusing, are the ones that are going to be softer on your pocket, and gentler on the earth at the same time.

    And that’s something you, and your family, can feel good about. Twice!

    (Stay tuned for the FOURTH R: REPURPOSING!)

    About the author: Lasára Allen is an author, educator, advocate, and the creator of Gratitude Games. Her writing covers a range of topics including gratitude, parenting, relationships, bipolar disorder, fitness, yoga, health & holistic well-being, compassion, and spiritual practice. As an educator and advocate, Lasára speaks about living, parenting & working with bipolar disorder, gratitude as a spiritual practice & an opportunity for community & global involvement, grateful parenting & raising grateful children.

    Over the years, Lasára has helped clients and students find balance in their lives, and alignment with personal and family-held values. She has taught, spoken, and coached internationally. She began designing Gratigories and other Gratitude Games in 2008. Lasára is a mom to two daughters, and wife to the love of her life. Find out more more at http://www.LasaraAllen.com, and http://www.TheGratitudePlace.com.

    (Feel free to share this article, in its entirety. Please leave the document intact, and links active. THANKS!!!!)

    THE SECOND R: REUSE

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    Reusing is step two; once you’ve purchased an item and put it into circulation, the more times the item is used, the less the overall impact. This is just as true for a plastic bag, yogurt container, t-shirt, or computer.

    Of the four items mentioned, only the shirt is biodegradable. And, at that, only truly biodegradable if made of organic material such as cotton or silk. So reuse it! (Or, Repurpose – the fourth R.)

    The plastic bag can be reused – as a sandwich bag for your kid’s lunch, at the store for your produce, a container for left-overs like pasta, or even a hair cap for dying your hair. But once it’s done with, it’s landfill – no ifs, ands, or buts.

    If you can find biodegradable

    The yogurt container is a sturdy alternative to Tupperware™ (and basically free, if you bought it for the yogurt, right?). Or, if you’re starting your own “Victory garden” this year, you can use it for starts for your veggies.

    Once the container begins to fall apart, it goes into the recycling – that is, if your town has a recycling program that accepts that kind of plastic.

    Of all the items mentioned, the computer has the most problems with waste – much of it toxic, from batteries in laptops, to the metals used in the construction of the insides of the machine.

    There’s a new term that’s been created in recent years; e-waste, or electronic-waste. Your phones, TVs, and computers all fall into this category.

    E-waste is becoming a larger and larger issue. It’s a problem that’s grown to the extent that companies which once shipped used computers to countries like Africa have stopped, due to the accumulation of e-waste.

    Instead of being a benefit, the well-intentioned act of offering our older technology to countries where there was less available has become a liability, and in a sense, an inadvertent sort of “off-shore dumping” program.

    This article goes so far as to say that once you buy electronics, you should consider them yours for life.

    The longer we can keep any of these items in use, and better yet, in use in our own household, the better for the environment – and our pocket.

    So use your electronics until they’re totally unusable – and then make sure they’re either disposed of properly, or refurbished for further use.

    There’s a line-up in my house for my coveted machine when I eventually upgrade, but if your kids are too high-falutin to take your old laptop, there’s always someone who would be glad to get a few months use out of that outdated computer, or even your “beater” of a car.

    About the author:
    Lasára Allen is an author, educator, advocate, and the creator of Gratitude Games. Her writing covers a range of topics including gratitude, parenting, relationships, bipolar disorder, fitness, yoga, health & holistic well-being, compassion, and spiritual practice. As an educator and advocate, Lasára speaks about living, parenting & working with bipolar disorder, gratitude as a spiritual practice & an opportunity for community & global involvement, grateful parenting & raising grateful children.

    Over the years, Lasára has helped clients and students find balance in their lives, and alignment with personal and family-held values. She has taught, spoken, and coached internationally. She began designing Gratigories and other Gratitude Games in 2008. Lasára is a mom to two daughters, and wife to the love of her life. Find out more more at http://www.LasaraAllen.com, and http://www.TheGratitudePlace.com.

    (Feel free to share this article, in its entirety. Please leave the document intact, and links active. THANKS!!!!)

    Re-Framing Your Family’s Recession Anxiety to Conscious Consumerism

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    Every challenge is an opportunity. The recession is a perfect chance to create a shift in your family’s, and your own, values; a chance to move from want-based, status-based, and impulse spending, to sustainable consumer choices.

    Of course, the first step is to that reframe is in shifting your own thought process. In this article you’ll see that in many cases the eco-conscious, sustainable and the financially sound options are one and the same.

    It’s not always an easy leap to get from habitual, reflexive, pattern spending to more conscious choices. Here are some simple – even if not always easy – steps to get you, and your family, thinking from a more resilient and ecologically sound perspective.

    Reframe Patterns Induced by the Recession to Lessons that Will Last a Lifetime – Or Even Generations.
    To begin with, instead of jumping to the blanket thought or statement, “We can’t afford a new (insert-item-of-the-moment-here)!” address the question – first in yourself and then with your child – “Do we need a new (insert-item-of-the-moment-here)?”

    Need is a complex idea. It may take a while to rebuild and your family’s and your own thoughts, feelings, and ultimately values regarding the question of what constitutes need. It’s not as simple as just need vs. want. There’s a whole spectrum.

    Here are a few things that will help in the process of creating a new valuation of the concept of need in your family structure.

    • Casual conversation with your family about what need really means. Using examples of less consumer-driven cultures can be illustrative.
    • Age-appropriate documentaries of truly impoverished cultures can help a child who is ready for a more global picture to understand the scale between need and want.
    • With younger kids, pictures books, folk tales, and songs can help in redefining values.
    • Remembering that giving is a gift. The fact that you are able to give means that you have abundance to share.
    • Philanthropic acts, couples with conversation, can shift a sense of need to a a value of generosity. (See my article 5 Ways to Engage Your Kids in Grateful Giving for ideas on how to enact this value and practice.)
    • Volunteering at a local soup kitchen with your kids can bring it home that there’s trouble, right here in River City – but not in your home! (Again, see my article 5 Ways to Engage Your Kids in Grateful Giving.) It shows that this level of scarcity exists, but that you’re family is safe from it. When my kids say, “There’s nothing to eat!”, it’s time for at least a conversation about what “nothing to eat” means.

    As you educate your kids, it’s healthy, inspiring, and empowering to couple information about poverty and need with stories of positive change. Even more important is introducing ideas for positive change that you and your family can offer to your community and the world.

    Little steps your child can take to help make the world a better place will help to turn fear to hope. Projects even as simple as boxing up a few items and offering them to a local charity can go a long way in allowing your kid awareness, without overwhelm.

    If your kid has an allowance, you may invite them to tithe, to contribute to an organization like Save the Children or Heifer International. Or, you can start a family generosity fund and decide together where to contribute the collected funds on a monthly, quarterly, around holidays, or randomly.

    Consistency in Word and Deed.
    During the holiday season of 2007, I asked my tween-aged daughter to seriously consider her use of the word need.

    She did, and after her time for contemplation we talked about it. We then boxed up lots of unused household items, toys, and gifts, and contributed the haul to a local free-store. As part of a holiday project a women’s group I’m part of had taken on, the daughter and I bought some items for a Christmas package for a local family in need.

    A few days later, I casually used the word need in a conversation with my husband. My daughter overheard it, raised an eyebrow, and said, “Need, mom?” I quickly retracted. She was right. I really only wanted what ever the now-forgotten item was.