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Hello everyone, thank you for taking the time to read this introduction blog. My name is Travis, and I will be this series’ primary writer and content provider. I will be presenting a new blog every two weeks. I do hope you enjoy and learn something along the way.
This blog series will be about ethical and socially conscious technologies. I will explore the innovations in home products, food production, renewable energies, home construction, and daily use products.
We are living in a world where we are all interconnected with one another. The problem is that we are not always aware of these connections and how they impact us daily.
The goal will be to raise awareness about how these technologies can help us live more ethically and environmentally conscious lives.
Over this series, we will explore ethical and environmentally friendly technologies that have been developed in recent years. I will discuss how they can help make your home and community safer, healthier, and more sustainable. All in the hope that we can find a few things that make your life easier while also making it a little bit better for everyone else.

It’s difficult for me, and probably you as well, to imagine ways in which I can actually counteract rising CO2 levels and climate changes. A recent village newsletter and a few conversations have reminded me of what we can do locally, by reducing heat islands and encouraging photosynthesis for carbon sequestration, also known as carbon capture.

Heat islands are generally thought of as being solely in urban areas, but the components within those urban areas are found in small communities such as my own. Black-top streets, concrete sidewalks, and a few trees along boulevards and on properties come to my mind as being similar. The EPA recommends counteracting urban heat islands with green roofs, cool roofs, and porous paving with trees and vegetation. Shade trees not only give wonderful relief from the Summer-heat but are also known for their presence to instill a feeling of safety and hospitality from a caring community. They can co-exist with walkways of porous pavements, as seen locally on the WTC campus, where precipitation seeps down into the ground to nurture the vegetation, prevent run-off and erosion, and often reduce dangerous ice build-up. Although initially labor-intensive, brick and porous paving can also be utilized on driveways and parking areas. These are means which can be pursued locally and individually.

On average, an individual with a 2000-calorie diet emits 2 pounds of CO2 each day. Since trees capture carbon, do you know how many trees would capture those 2 pounds? The answer is fifteen! However, when you consider the average American’s daily fossil fuel consumption, it would take 730 trees or roughly 7 acres of forested land to counteract that individual’s CO2 level. For perspective, in my village of 2.10 square miles with a population of 1933, it would require 1,411,090 trees or 13,531 acres of forested land. However, our 2.10 square miles is equal to only 1,344 acres. It seems insurmountable, but I’ve figured that I am exceeding the original 15 tree equation and although non-specific, I’ve mentioned other things in a previous blog about further reduction of my carbon footprint.

Focusing on carbon capture by trees alone without considering other vegetation would be a mistake. Perennial native plants are excellent for carbon capture and are usually better than most worthy non-native plants. The native plants are already suited to the growing conditions of the region and will provide habitats for endemic beneficial insects and wildlife. Plus it’s best to mimic nature by diversifying because the plants will support each other in all kinds of weather and soil conditions. Growing from seed or planting perennials will keep soil and carbon stores intact. Since dead vegetation releases its carbon storage, perennials will reduce that loss.

It’s Regeneration International’s philosophy that healthy soil, healthy plants, healthy animals, healthy people, healthy climate, healthy societies–our physical and economic health, our very survival as a species, are directly connected to the soil, biodiversity, and the health and fertility of our food and farming systems. Indeed it encompasses global health and well-being related to the circle of life itself.

Plants and soil sequester 30% of our CO2 each year through photosynthesis, but the ability of the soil to sequester CO2 is slower than that of plants. Trees are generally slower than plants, supporting the necessity for biodiversity. Healthy plants are only produced in healthy soil. 

The Brix test can indicate soil fertility levels. If soil nutrients are in the best balance and are made available by microbes upon the demand by plants, the Brix reading will be higher. For example carrots could be poor @ 4, average @ 6, good @12 and excellent @ 18 readings.

It matters that a Brix test on vegetables and other plant foods rates high because they will not only taste better but will also be more nutritious. The Brix equals the percent of complex carbohydrates in the juice of the plant. The higher carbohydrate in the plant juice, the higher the mineral content of the plant, the oil content of the plant, and the protein quality of the plant. Plants with higher Brix levels also are more insect resistant and less prone to frost damage. The available soluble sugar is what gives taste and sweetness to plant food—the more calcium along with the sugar, the sweeter the taste. You probably realize from this that plants with excellent Brix readings could reduce the “sweet tooth” for refined sugars often found in processed foods.

When the gardener builds the soil to produce high Brix foods, the ground would be full of organic matter, beneficial bacteria and fungi, and the proper nutrient ratios. A simple soil recipe would be to mix ⅓ compost, ⅓ peat or coco coir, and ⅓ vermiculite as a base. Then add beneficial microbes and food for those microbes. Earthworm castings, mycorrhizal inoculants, compost teas, hummus, amino acids, humic and fulvic acids, copper sulfate (5-10#/acre), rock dust, and seaweed are the best soil additives.

Sunlight plays an essential role in a plant’s ability to produce sugars. Sunlight, as I have discussed in a previous blog, also helps to develop healthy humans and animals. Regenerative agriculture practices support biological diversity, natural resources, native wildlife habitats, and soil fertility. 100% grass-fed meat under this form of agriculture usually adheres to the requirement that those farm animals be raised with NO antibiotics, NO added hormones, and NO confinement feeding. Instead, graze rotationally on diverse forages in open pastures for their lifetime. I would add that glutathione, a form of protein, is primarily found in animals grazed. Glutathione counteracts the effects of radiation emitted by wi-fi, cell towers, etc.

Your money spent on this form of agriculture will support small and medium-sized farms and local economies, build and maintain your immune system, and reduce your healthcare costs or time-off due to illness. The payback is immeasurable.

This pandemic has been beneficial by encouraging me to consider what’s personally meaningful. I know I’m not alone in this opportunity for reflection lately, nor is it my first time doing so. Surviving difficult situations has forced me to shift gears from what I thought to be accurate to new directions. When I thought I was in control, I learned I was not, forcing me to go with the flow. So much of my life had fulfilled essential roles as a parent and employee while thinking, “Was I born for this?” A way for me to answer that question has been to look at the synchronicities in my choices and life events. They have not been without risk; most of them were out of my comfort zone. Thank goodness for those who have shown me alternatives!

A friend in Germany has a small lot similar in size to mine on which she and her husband can grow much of their food to last through the winter. It’s from her example that I decided to landscape with trees and bushes that bear nuts and fruit. I have a couple of raised gardens for vegetables. In lieu of a large lawn, I have perennial areas for pollinator plants and herbs. During the winter, I was delighted to have salad greens and herbs growing in my conservatory. Each year I challenge myself to do better because I thoroughly enjoy what I’ve been producing.

Anticipating a reduced income during my retirement, I had the shingles replaced with steel roofing for increased fire protection, reduced property insurance, and its long-term lifetime. The addition of a conservatory was to have year-round enjoyment among my plants while soaking up passive solar heating in the Winter and mosquito-free nights in the Summer in a room with a view. Since it has honeycomb window shades and access to a heat pump, it has also reduced my energy costs while coordinating with my grid-tied solar energy. I’m able to track my photovoltaic production through a monitoring system which is further validated in part by my local municipal utility bill. As for its performance, my array routinely overproduces my annual demand by 20%, with fluctuations related to the seasonal angle of the Sun and, of course, snow cover, making it a form of “net-zero.” By choice, I also follow Sunshine to optimize my energy efficiency.

Materialistically, this is how I’ve optimized some resources. Most Importantly to me is that I’m trying to leave my piece of our planet better than the way I found it. I do feel good about showing up in this way.

As you may have noticed in my previous blogs, I’ve tried to learn as much as possible about how COVID-19 affects me personally because I’m considered to be at the highest risk due to my age. It was made worse by a near-death cardiac event during this pandemic. So, I have scrambled to find natural and holistic ways to strengthen and rebuild my well-being.

Fortunately, I was brought up in a household that didn’t focus on processed foods. I’ve also learned to be more conscious of what I eat and food sources, such as non-GMO, local, or organic. As I mentioned in my previous blog, I have been motivated to grow some food on my property. I enjoy the noticeable delicious taste of homegrown produce, along with the knowledge of it being more nutritious and health-full without toxins. 

My medical crisis was and has been a real eye-opener about Western medicine. While I’m grateful for how pharmaceuticals addressed my medical situation, disturbingly, I learned the physical price I would pay while on them. As long as I remained within normal limits on lab tests, Western medicine was not concerned with my trending toward abnormal. Yet, I’ve been able to learn from online pharmaceutical resources the unhealthy trends which can be anticipated through prolonged use. This was never emphasized in my 50 years of healthcare, nor was the untoward effect of compounding multiple medications. I discovered recently that 5.5 times the half-life of any medication (each is different) could indicate, under optimal circumstances, when that medication could be expected to be out of the human system. Delay in expelling the medication may be related to impaired kidney, liver, digestion, food source, and the aging process.

Long ago, I had learned that medicinal herbs could be effectively utilized to meet health needs before the halfway point of typical lab results. This philosophy is generally accepted around the world, except here in the U.S. For example, in Japan, what is known as Kampo is utilized by Western medicine-trained physicians who have permission from their government to use numerous Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) herbal formulas in their practice.TCM shuns single organ-focused treatment, as practiced in Western medicine; instead, it incorporates a full mind-body-spirit assessment. Treatment strongly emphasizes patient education on activity, diet, emotions, and prevention. Therefore it’s telling that U.S. health outcomes rank 11th among 11 industrialized nations and 79th among a larger similar group. As you may suspect, I’ll be studying TCM’s 1500 year wisdom for practical applications.

I’m speaking here from personal experience, research, and observation. I’m an elder,
a retired RN with over 50 years of experience in a wide variety of adult healthcare settings, have been a resident in an extended care facility for rehabilitation from a multitrauma head-on MVA, and early in this pandemic, had another near-death experience. It’s my opinion that those who have been or are in any healthcare facility represent all of us on a wider scale. It is even more poignant during this pandemic, as a simile to the coal miners’ canary in the cage.

In general, upon admission to any healthcare setting a person experiences various forms of depersonalization. You may have experienced it as well. There’s the armband, medication protocols,an established bathing schedule, monitoring of excretions for possible interventions, mealtime scheduling, perpetual unit noise, continuous blue night lights shining into your room, social isolation, and limited conversation with staff. There’s usually many asking the same questions, leaving as soon as they have answers to their checklists. It doesn’t take too long to realize what their expectations are of you and what, if you are compliant, you’re expected to do. Someone always has authority over some part of this scenario, and a majority of which is not you.

However, most of that scenario could be better. remedied, as can the 4 infamous co-morbidities (heart failure, COPD, diabetes and obesity), which underlines the initial wave of deaths from COVID-19. Flavored nutrient drinks and other processed foods, are laced with carbohydrates, vegetable oils, additives and preservatives. Those processed foods predispose a person to surpass an 8:1 Omega-6 ratio to Omega-3 fatty acids, causing an inflammatory cytokine imbalance. It is estimated that Americans average a 21:1 ratio in their diets. Persistent blue light exposure after Sunset influences changes in the circadian rhythm, causing reduced beneficial sleep and lowered immune responses. The PDR lists each pharmaceutical with its side effects, but does not recognize the interplay of complete medication profiles for duration of overlapping effects. A pharmaceutical has a half-life from hours to many days, however, under the best circumstances it will take 5.5 times that half-life to be cleared from the body. I’m certain you can recognize some cumulative effects from all of these.

Whether or not being institutionalized at some level, Americans participate remarkably in similar situations to what I have said here. We may also consider MRSA, opioid crisis, and climate changes as other examples with their own variabilities. Indeed, how much of these represent a matter of choice? Could it be that Pogo was correct? How have you been adapting to or reducing your participation in any of these trends?

As I mentioned in previous blogs, there is a connection between well-being and the energy waves from the Sun. Besides benefiting from the Sun’s energy, our bodies perform on inherent energy waves, as in heart and brain waves.

The concepts of qi (chi) and chakra follow along that line of thinking, with chakra acting as a generator and chi as the electrical current. In order for the body to function, a variety of subatomic elements (chemicals) must be present for conduction and metabolism. Plants from healthy soils contain a majority of these elements. Furthermore, we need these elements to form proteins that build and maintain our DNA genomes.  These genomes relate to our internal and external environment at differing levels through biorhythms to our human anatomy and physiology, to become in sync or have homeostasis.

The Chinese in TCM examine these rhythms more deeply by noting specific body-centered activities at different hours of the day.  For example, wakefulness at 2 AM may be due to a liver imbalance. Chiropractors may notice that the Lumbar 4 Disc is misaligned.  Interestingly, 12th century Hildegard von Bingen noted emotional/ spiritual connections to the nerve routes from the spinal cord to body organs, too.  Scientists might find there’s a potassium imbalance as a reason for the liver dysfunction.

This is, what may be called “elemental nutrition”, and it will be the backdrop for my subsequent blogs.

It’s only natural when we prefer sunny days to “gray” days. There’s so much more to that story. So, I’m offering here a review of Dr. Jack Kruse’s interview on Brad Kearns’ “Breather Show”: www.bradkearns.com/2020/10/23/. ; episode 222, about the physical effects of our 24-hour circadian rhythm cycling.

Dr. Kruse recommends mastering our circadian rhythm with adequate full spectrum light exposure.  His conclusions from his findings include: timing when you eat is more important than what you eat, seeing morning sunlight is critical, snacking or eating every 2-3 hours guarantees life-long obesity, a person can lose a massive amount of weight without counting calories, and everyone needs to eat fats for optimal health.

First of all, here’s some technical information which may help. Cortisol surges around 6 AM and decreases around 6 PM. Ghrelin which signals hunger, especially in the morning to the pituitary gland, drops quickly after eating if you’re not obese. Leptin, a fat-storage hormone involved with satiety, is only efficient when the brain and digestion match for an optimal calorie intake. When the leptin effect is compromised by adverse lifestyle practices, you store fat rather than burn it.  If you’re sensitive to the effect of melatonin, it will increase during 4 hours of darkness while ghrelin decreases and leptin enters the hypothalamus.

Now for what all of that means.

• As the rising sunlight hits the retina, melatonin is shut off. Adenosine, most effective at sunrise, initiates the release of serotonin and cortisol within 30 minutes after waking for a burst of alertness.
• If sunrise was at 6AM, melatonin is completely shut-off by 7:30.
• Between 9-10AM alertness and sex hormones peak.
• Around 2:30PM muscle coordination is ideal.
• By 3:30PM, optimal reaction times are present.
• Before 5PM, due to optimal protein synthesis, the cardio-vascular system is most efficient, so it would be an excellent time for exercise.
• By 6PM, as the sun sets, the cardio-vascular efficiency drops, and by

 6:30 PM the blood pressure begins to rise to compensate.

• As leptin is released from the fat cells, the core body temperature will rise. Agouti, a neuropeptide from the brain signals an increased appetite, decreased metabolism, and decreased energy expenditure.
• For the next 2-3 hours, as leptin is rising, insulin drops, and a fat hormone (adiponectin) drops, signaling adenosine to be released.
• Sleepiness peaks around 10PM when agouti is at its peak. Sleep occurring in darkness causes the release of melatonin with a drop in core temperature.
• The gastro-intestinal tract shuts down around 11:30 PM.
• At midnight, or 2-3 hours after bedtime,  leptin signals to burn energy reserves. Yes, we are built to burn fat at night. This will not happen, with sleep apnea, leptin resistance, or having eaten 3-4 hours before bedtime. 

With melatonin and leptin sensitivity, the hypothalamus sends messaging for the upgrading and efficiency of the thyroid gland, causing the BMR to rise and the burning off of excess calories. The hypothalamus is responsible for hormonal and metabolic functions such as regulating body temperature, hunger, improved aspects of parenting and attachment behaviors, thirst, fatigue, sleep, and circadian rhythms. Waking between midnight and 3:00 AM may be from insulin spikes after eating a meal less than 3 hours before bedtime, or being exposed to artificial blue light within 1-2 hours before bedtime. If Prolactin, also released during darkness, is deficient, inflammation and a reduced level of immunity occur. Leptin resistance can be a reason why post-menopausal women gain weight that they cannot lose in the gym.

I hope this has given you some ideas on how you might become more “in sync.” 

In previous blogs, I mentioned that we all can gain Vitamin D from ultraviolet B rays from the Sun and from recommended daily dietary intakes.  The caveat before taking any form of Vitamin D supplements, a person needs to have a test completed for a baseline, because like any supplement, moderation and compatibility with actual needs will prevent untoward symptoms and effects. Reminder when taking Vitamin D3 supplements recommended amounts of Vitamin K2, calcium, and magnesium must also be met. Another consideration on supplements is the quality of the product will assure that you have the actual potential of receiving what is on the label. Supplements are by no means to be substituted for prescriptions without advice from your physician or another qualified healthcare provider.

That being said, Vitamin D is critical for good health, particularly when dealing with severe SARS-CoV-2.  Studies lately have discovered that a Vitamin D3 deficiency is directly related to the severity of COVID. An October 2021 study showed levels of 50ng/ml could cut the mortality rate to zero. Generally, people who had died also had 1-4 of the following comorbidities: obesity, diabetes, chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD), or heart failure. 

Our bodies appear to perform at their best with a fluctuating exposure of 50-60Hz of non-ionizing waves, whether from the Sun or artificially produced. Below 50 in some studies, found cell proliferation, as in cancer malignancy and DNA damage after sustained, persistent exposures. These extra-low frequencies (ELF)-electromagnetic fields (EMF) are produced artificially when energy is generated and transmitted, from Wi-fi routers, cell phones, transmission lines, microwaves, and some home appliances and light bulbs.  High energy ionizing radiation comes from ultraviolet light, X Rays, CT scans, and nuclear energy. The amount of exposure from those waves correlates with the amount of cell destruction. The bottomline for well-being appears to be moderation in exposure and reduced proximity measures, but specifics are under investigation. 

More on applying this knowledge toward well-being will follow.