Hemp.

I feel very strongly about hemp. Sometimes my enthusiasm bubbles over and I start to feel like all we need to solve all of our challenges is hemp. I get dizzy with excitement and potential and then I take a step back and reorient myself, looking at the situation with a discerning eye.  Then I think to myself, "Yup, still feels like hemp is a major piece of the current earth puzzle."

In an America where we have conscious capitalism and widespread industrial hemp, we can create sustainable solutions for fashion, energy, construction and most preciously - food.

Check out this awesome, info-packed graphic from BurnandLearn. It gives an amazing visual overview of industrial hemp's uses and benefits.



Just by looking at the graphic, you can see what I'm saying. I would love to know the drawbacks of industrial Hemp. I'm sure it's not a perfect solution but so far I've literally never heard how hemp hurts the environment.

I just keep finding out more amazing facts about it! Farmed responsibly, hemp replenishes up to 60% of the nutrients in the soil after it is grown. It absorbs CO2 from the environment so when used/burned for fuel, it releases that which it used from the environment, keeping the overall release closer to neutral than fuel sources pulled from the ground. Gosh, we could all go on for hours about this.

Let's continue to expand the commercial use for hemp and to advocate for wider industrial authorization from the Federal government. VoteHemp has compiled an updated list of legislative action. So far, thirty two states have introduced pro-hemp legislation, and ten states have passed legislation clearing the way for legal industrial hemp production!

To immerse yourself in some hemp right now, support your local merchants! We are lucky in SoCal to have many likeminded people around us, and many of them have been working with hemp for years. It would be a beautiful thing to find a future where these businesses can create garments out of locally farmed hemp! Here are just a few local hemp merchants:

Vital Hemp - Hemp clothing boutique in Santa Monica

Natural High Lifestyle - Hemp clothing and lifestyle products in Santa Monica

The Recreator - Local advocacy group working to "recreate" the industrial hemp industry in the US. Follow this link to their Kickstarter campaign!

Lassen's Natural Food and Vitamins - Natural food, hemp oil products and vitamin shop located in Los Feliz

DIY for Conscious Cottage Industries

Below is a link for a video showing us how to make a wine bottle cutter. I am sharing it today to declare my intention to make one myself! This simple tool will enable me to recycle wine bottles into window-garden holders, candle holders, decorative lighting and more!

I watched the video on mute so I cannot comment on the audio, but the visual is clear and super explanatory!

It is important to establish an independence from one-time "do it for me" products. It's not that there is anything wrong with those products of themselves, but having the ability and resolve to make things for oneself cultivates skill, connects you to the objects in your surroundings, saves money, and contributes to your magical energy field. Having objects that you've put your consciousness on brings a level of consciousness to the object and being surrounded by objects that have your creative energy on them can bring greater comfort, peace and higher vibrations to your living space. Everything around us is a spark of creativity, so bringing out your own inner spark and making it real is a powerful physical way to connect to your surroundings, the earth and the creative life force. There is a huge difference in seeing something someone else made and enjoying the crafter's aesthetic ability, but this is not creation, this is consumption. Using objects of others as an inspiration to build is creation and creation is a great habit to have.

We can all find areas where we are able to create and for me, these fun power tool arts and crafts projects are extremely satisfying and inspiring.

These projects also lend themselves to developing your own cottage industries. The concept of creating a small business based on wares created in the home is a romantic one that I greatly enjoy. It has a huge historical precedent and is enjoying a resurgence now as the internet has opened up communication. Via ecommerce, a tiny operation can reach anyone in the world, and often little niche products can experience demands far greater than the supply, creating a great value for a truly special item. So when considering making this glass cutter, I'm happily aware that I can cut glass bottles for my own projects, for others to use in their projects, and for projects I'm able to sell. I'll bet I can find a restaurant willing to let me take out their recycling or sell me their empty bottles for pennies on the dollar.

This project takes a power drill so there is a slight barrier to start it up, but I think a good drill is a pretty crucial component to any tool box. I'm going to borrow one from a relative until I can get my own. :)

I intend to build a glass bottle cutting system to enrich my life with indoor gardening containers, and to enrich the lives of others with the containers I can supply them, the candle holders and light fixtures I can make, and I look forward to joining the flow of creativity as I find new ways to utilize the tool I build and the results of its use.

And so it is.

KARMACOUPON # 1 !!

KarmaCompany - BEADRELIEF.com

Fellow Conscious Beings!

I present for your consideration and appreciation the first official KarmaCompany: BeadRelief!

Founded last year by Greg E and John G, this company is doing some serious good and making it seriously stylish. I came across their storefront at Montage Beverly Hills while exploring the neighborhood where I work. Greg was friendly, informative and we became instafriends. Getting to know these guys and their business has been a bright spot amongst the material worship and serious attitudes-a-plenty found in BH and I am stoked to share their message with you.

Bead Relief bracelets are chic, stackable, stretchy beaded bracelets. They are easy to wear, easy to mix and match and come in three sizes. A totally viable fashion option, these bracelets have added goodness: each design represents a charity or organization and a percentage of each purchase is donated directly to the charity it represents. 

I rock these every day - a rare treat for me because I have sensitive skin. These have never bothered me, even while doing yoga and sweating tons! (They can get in the way when doing deep arm binds though, so take them off before an intense asana practice.) 

We put together an exclusive KarmaCoup for you, so here's what you need to know. The bracelets are $6 each and typically 25% of ALL sales go directly to their charity partners.

However, for the Karma Conscious, the guys are generously donating 50% your purchases to charity! Just use the code 'goodkarma' on their website to DOUBLE the contribution.

Let me make it clear. Each time you spend $6, they'll donate $3. It's so generous, I can't wait to see what we can do with this opportunity to give and receive at the same time!

Learn more about Bead Relief's Charity Partners 

Time for an #awareness #armparty! 

Happy Shopping - Happy Giving - BeadRelief.org 

Find Their Website

Learn Their Story 

Shop The Online Store

Follow on Instagram

Like on Facebook

Valentine's Day

On today this amazing crazy full moon valentine's day, im taking time to honor and feel the deep love i receive from humanity and the earth and to reflect it back out at every particle i can reach. 

thank you to everyone who has ever smiled at any one or anything
thank you to those that love those that need it most 
thank you to the "angels" for their subtle and not so subtle guidance and presence. 

thank you to my family, my friends, my facebook community, my colleagues at work, anyone that has ever let theKarmaCollective into their thoughts and hearts - your energy is with me always and our force as a unit is releasing love into all of each other throughout all of time and space.

thank you x 7 Josh Kruse for being the rock I deserve, cherish, honor and respect

thank you to myself for all the love and support

thank you to the alignment of time and space to allow this love to flow through me and through those around me.

2/14/2014 in the Age of Aquarius is about love for all - no matter who they are, what they have done, where they come from, who they know - everyone is worthy of knowing unconditional love.

We really can bring about love in the world on a scale that is bigger than before. We have the capacity to receive it now. We have the capacity to understand that our choices affect the entirety of creation, not just ourselves and our bubble of life. By reacting always with as much compassion we can find, we release our negative karma cycles and bring about a swing in a positive direction. Imagine where technology and humanity can go when we apply principles of love and compassion to all beings. We start from above the ground and ascend into the fabric of our multidimensional existence.

To the universes and all they contain, I say: I LOVE YOU. Happy Valentine's Day.

This page made me smile and tear up and I loved each photo - random acts of love and kindness will never get old. 

Urban Composting - How to accomplish composting in Los Angeles

I have begun a journey down a lifelong path. Everything has changed and I am so grateful to be committed to this new life. Spiritual journey? No.

I'm talking about composting.

This new frontier is foreign, a little scary and the road ahead is uncertain, barely paved by municipal infrastructure or private enterprise. It is exciting.

Assuming my audience is a tiny bit familiar with the concept, I'll leave the Composting 101 to EarthEasy (one of my new favorite sites!) and move right into a "How To in LA" portion.

Urban Composting has two sides. On one hand, if you have a balcony or a yard, you can compost on site and keep your pile outside in a container like this.  That one I linked is made out of recycled plastic so you score double environment points! This site here has an easy tutorial for a DIY plastic bin. If you're adventurous, try vermicomposting with this 5 tray system. The process uses worms to accelerate the process of composting! The little friends leave casings behind as they break down your food waste that are extremely beneficial for gardens and house plants.

On the other hand, if you are less inclined to have rotting food in your apartment, consider collecting your food waste and storing it in the freezer until drop off day, and physically bringing your compost materials to a drop off center that will compost it for you. This container is perfect for keeping your food waste neat amongst the other contents in your freezer, and should be compliant with LA's laws against transporting food waste in an open air container like a trash bag. In LA, we are still missing the infrastructure to drop off green food waste. The infrastructure to do urban composting needs to be built up and drop off points established. For now, I'm collecting my food waste. It's important to start somewhere, even if it's not glamorous! I'm researching where I can bring my green waste, saving up for my own composting bin, and in the meantime, the food waste lives in the freezer.

One solution available in select areas of LA is offered by a local organization called LA Compost. Their bike-powered pick up service, where they come to you and collect your food waste, saves you from the long-term composting process or taking trips to the drop off center.

Currently LA Compost is serving Whittier , Baldwin Park, Covina and West Covina. They are expanding into new areas in LA and I certainly look forward to the addition of my neighborhood. Currently they are really the only people in our area collecting food waste and their presence is much needed.

These Very Conscious People can be found online at: www.wastetofood.com and contacted directly by emailing info@wastetofood.com. They would love to speak with you to set up a pick up routine for you and offer their additional services, like free leaf removal from your yard!

No matter how you get there, the best part of composting is definitely the end result. The end product, called humus, can be used in gardens, lawns and potted plants. This rich soil additive is highly sought after and can be sold. It is often packaged like coffee and sold at farmers markets. Do we have any entrpreneurs in the building? Composting has potential for big conscious business. Is there one among us with some open outdoor space that would like to venture into this beautiful new world? We can easily pool our food waste to create a large pile worth mucho dinero! Let's create anew from what others consider waste and let's use our creation to enrich our plants, and our wallets.

Do you compost? Please take a moment to comment about your process and any successes or obstacles you've faced!

Mucho Love,
Farrah

Calling all compassionate souls! Earth Stewards! Light Bringers! Environmental Champions!

I want you to take your place within the Karma Collective.

We are a new network, a new way of being. A way of being so ancient, it seems like it never existed to our modern society.

In all that we do, we look to be gentle to our planet and to each other. We look for ways to provide value to one another, to lift up each other's souls...

We are a nation built on love, respect and empathy!

Calling all social organizations that exist to benefit others!
Calling all businesses that consider more than just the bottom line when making decisions!
Calling all beautiful individuals that know human potential is barely tapped and ready to expand!

We want to know you, to share you, to explore you and to help realize the dream of a world living in peace and harmony with one another and our planet. It is possible because we are here and it is already our future because we intend it is so!

Join me. Comment below and I will reach out!

Founding Members will be honored, profiled, shared and their value made known to the internet at large! I want to give you the "VCP" (Very Conscious Person) badge of honor and shout your good deeds from the rooftops!

This beautiful movement is in its infancy and thus is the perfect opportunity for your business to be treated like the divine spark you are! Join me and let's give the world a shining example of our potential as humans!

LOVE ALL WAYS
farrah

Environmentally Safe Pest Control

My apartment is being fumigated today. A little gross, a little humiliating, but nothing can be done otherwise - the pests may live in the walls of my old brick apartment building, and who could blame them? I'm sure it's palatial and divine living quarters for bugs and mice and other little friends.

However happy the pests are to have made their empire near my dwelling... I'm not exactly jumping for joy. And so the exterminator that serves the building has been called. As I'm not the owner of the apartment, it's difficult to get someone to come out and perform the service independently and not only that, as a person of modest means, I don't have the extra cash to foot the bill for an out of pocket extermination. So I'm stuck with a traditional chemical-laden pest treatment. I'm not happy about it, except that it has inspired me to do some research and while I hope to never need fumigation again, I'm realistic with knowing that I live in Los Angeles, I probably will engage pest control services again. Any next time, it's going to be on my terms and without the harsh and harmful chemicals I'm subjecting myself (and my succulent, named Penelope Kruse) to. 

Not to focus on the negative, but the reasons to invest in non toxic pest control are clear and simple - traditional methods using common pesticides are as harmful as spraying poison on your walls. Pesticides have been linked to the emergence of cancer, reproductive health issues and neurological damage. Doubly disconcerting is the notion that a majority of pesticides aren't tested for their affect on developing neural systems like those of our children. (Spiegelman)

With that in mind, here are some resources for those of you that can afford to be more selective with the pest control you engage.

It turns out there are many alternatives to spraying harmful pesticides with abandon.

Here are some of your choices:
1. Natural Predators - a group of Lady bugs can be brought in to eat aphids - well suited for outdoor use
2. Boric Acid - a weak acid that can be spread as powder in affected areas
3. Plant Oil Based Pesticides - sprayed like chemical pesticides, these materials have plant-based, non toxic ingredients
4. Thermal Remediation - Specialists can safely heat a room to over 120 degrees to kill pests without introducing chemicals. This is typically used for bed bugs.
5. Diatomaceous Earth - A powdered form of fossilized algae with sharp edges that can break down insect exoskeletons and dehydrate the pests. Safe for use in gardens and even on pets' fur.

Companies In LA to try:

Koreatown: Green Termite and Pest Control
LA & Orange County: Greenleaf Organic Pest Control 
LA & Southern Cali: Hearts' Los Angeles Pest Control 

If you give these businesses your business, comment back and let's see who has a great experience with them!!

p.s. I wish I didn't have to kill any pests but I have to consider my living conditions. Pests carry disease and are super unpleasant to have around... what can we do but to keep them out of our living spaces? Of course it must be said that dilligence should be done to seal any cracks or openings, and all surfaces should be kept crumb free and clear of any food waste. I will be sure to double up on my efforts to keep the bugs away without having to kill them. This site is full of inventive and natural methods to keep pests at bay, often pre-empting the need to go on a killing spree! Anything that prevents violence, even if it is "just bugs" is a step in the right direction in my book.

Annie Spiegelman, Huffington Post. Article about Eco-Friendly Pest Control

love is your best friend 

smiling and always present

Earth is your Mother

original art found here 

Karma Credo

We are stewards of the Earth

Our actions are sacred and affect our entire universe. 

We are responsible for all that we do and all that we think.

We raise the vibration of humanity and of Earth herself 

We operate in this physical realm with 

Integrity 

Respect 

Kindness 

Gentleness

Understanding 

Compassion 

We use business and social organizations to improve the lives of others and our business practices reflect the purity we promote to the earth. 

We do not use harmful chemicals or substances 

We source locally 

We reduce or eliminate our carbon footprint 

We keep our prices fair 

We value ourselves and our customers 

We give back to our communities 

We support love, charity, health and spiritual wellbeing. 

We are the Karma Collective

Join us as we break cycles of indifference and apathy

Join us as we emanate positive karma throughout all of time and space

Join us as we ascend to a reality of Enlightenment for all. 

@thekarmacollective