Christy Wilhelmi

Since we live close to the oceans, I see littering as a huge issue. Sewers take waste to the ocean unfiltered, and it ends up in the stomachs of birds and sea animals. I have a hard time believing that we as a species haven't evolved past dropping trash on the ground (like your mother lives here, know what I mean?) 

The other prominent issue is our water use. We pump our water down to LA from 500 miles away. It's totally unsustainable and yet we keep building new housing in the outskirts of town, ever expanding the need for water, irrigation for lawns (a really, really bad idea in LA), and other wasteful practices. It would be better to spend the money on creating storage for when it does rain here (rarely) and creating the infrastructure to deliver captured water to homes and gardens. 

Gratitude is a much-needed tool with today's political and environmental dire outlook. It helps me step away from the harsh realities of the problems that need fixing, and look for a moment at what's working. Gratitude helps generate more things to be grateful for. So I'm game. 

I've been vegetarian for 25 years, and even though I grow most of my organic produce, I still fall into a pattern of eating beans and rice for a lot of meals. The effort to add servings of fruit and veggies to each day has been a fun challenge, and I'm sure a healthier choice. 

I found it really hard to sit and eat my food without want to read or watch something, because I usually eat in front of my desk or go through my mail at the kitchen table. So it's interesting to observe what comes up while I eat. At some point I'll probably be able to focus more on the food itself and my eating process. Right now I'm just squirrely.