On October 28, I AM HUMANITY hosted the first annual Humanity Day, a virtual celebration complemented with an in-person event hosted at the Unitarian Universalists of Sarasota; the well attended Sarasota event honored local environmental leadership for their important work.
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| Humanity Day panel discussion Photo courtesy of Holly Elmore Images |
For the virtual celebration, Holly was interviewed regarding Ei's decades-long impact and her personal philosophies. The 12-minute-interview video is available on Vimeo for viewing.
Introductions
After introducing Ei, Holly gave an overview of current endeavors in the discovery/pre-launch stage that extend beyond Ei Rewilding Urban Landscapes:
Invasive Species – focus on invasive species as a tasty food source by working with the established food manufacturing and distribution systems; restore ecological health while providing nutrition to the growing human population.
Photo courtesy of the CIEL - Micro | Nanoplastics in soils – issued in 2022, the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) Sowing a Plastic Planet: How Microplastics in Agrochemicals Are Affecting Our Soils, Our Food, and Our Future report established the tremendous amount of micro and nanoplastics in our soils from time-released fertilizers and pesticides; work with residential and commercial landscaping nurseries on shifting practices away from using time-released products.
- Scaling-Up Composting in Sarasota – Ei serves as a Table2Farms industry expert during the organization’s funding stage; a Sarasota composting pilot spearheaded by Ei is in the budget within the first round of funding.
Keys to Success
When asked about the keys to Ei's proven success, Holly explained that her corporate (Arthur Andersen auditor and Trammell Crow Company controller) and entrepreneur (owner of two restaurants and an off-premises catering business) experiences play a critical role. As a business person and entrepreneur, Holly speaks in a voice that is heard by business executives, government officials, and respected scholars; Ei has an excellent track record with creating regenerative operating practices that make good, solid business sense, including bottom-line and intangible benefits.
Another key to success is Holly's awareness of FLOW, knowing when to flow with a project’s progress, when to step to the sidelines when the flow ceases, and when to return to the flow. There are many examples of projects that "went to the sidelines" and flowed into tremendous impact when focused upon a few years later.
Collective Consciousness
As introduced in the Regeneration in ACTION (RiA) article, Collective Consciousness: a movement, a solution, working together in a holographic manner where ALL benefit is a must to ensure survival of humans as the predominant species on the Earth.
As introduced in the Regeneration in ACTION (RiA) article, Collective Consciousness: a movement, a solution, working together in a holographic manner where ALL benefit is a must to ensure survival of humans as the predominant species on the Earth.
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| Photo courtesy of Holly Elmore Images |
The following initiatives showcase how the WE Consciousness naturally integrates within Ei's important work.
- Zero Waste is a Team Sport
- Food & Beverage Sustainable Packaging Value Chain Meetings
- Nature Prevails, the Earth will heal and renew herself, when she chooses.
In 2015 Ei Advisor Tim Rumage, a planetary ethicist, along with David Houle co-authored This Spaceship Earth. The book's premise compares the Earth to a spaceship where there are finite resources necessary for survival. To replenish resources for survival, humans must understand there is no waste, only the segue into the resource's next valuable use.
The critical difference between the spacecraft of the space programs and science fiction and Spaceship Earth is simply that: we live on a spaceship that must resupply itself from itself. This is why we need to recognize that we are crew not passengers.
When humans shift from the unaware passenger mentality to crew consciousness, the current wasteful-use-of-resources and polluting-the-planet practices will evolve into solutions for replenishing finite resources and cleansing the environment.
Marshall McLuhan succinctly states the crew-consciousness premise, “There are no passengers on Spaceship Earth, we are all crew.” … and the crew must work in unison for the spaceship to survive and once again thrive.
In alignment with the Nature Prevails premise, Tim emphasizes "We are not trying to save the earth - we are not trying to save the planet. We are trying to save ourselves from ourselves"
I AM Humanity is another derivative of building an empowering collective consciousness.
Worker Populations
Since recorded history, humans often developed out-of-balance dynamics within their culture where worker populations were disrespected and frequently abused. The current scenarios of extreme poverty, severe homelessness, and food scarcity prevalent across the globe impact many urban environments; the challenging scenarios reflect the unbalanced societal hierarchies established within cultural and government norms. If humans emulated insect- and animal-community protocol an equitable societal structure would emerge.
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| A gentleman sleeps on a sidewalk in Austin, TX Photo courtesy of Holly Elmore Images |
In essence, water, soil, and insects are the foundation for life on the Earth and must be addressed as a trilogy. The RiA article, Nature Prevails: it is time to emulate Nature's perfected systems, establishes the trilogy.
In human societies, indigenous races and worker populations are comparative to the insects' role in nature's perfected cycles. Indigenous races carry the wisdom of their ancestors when humans lived in balance with Nature, respecting the resources generously provided by the Earth; the worker population provides the necessary labor for the overall population to thrive within the balance of basic essentials: food, shelter, and clothing.
* The Principles of Nature are defined in the referenced article, Nature Prevails: it is time to emulate Nature's perfected systems
A Renewed Earth
Within the current physical reality, it is impossible to clean up the challenges that humans created on the Earth. For example, it is not possible to clean-up the massive micro and nanoplastic pollution; nanoplastics segue through cell walls and cause yet-to-be-determined health hazards in the plant and animal kingdoms.
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| Ei book cover: From Macro to Micro to Nanoplastics Image courtesy of Holly Elmore Images |
Humans created a HUGE mess on the planet; a mess that the Earth will regenerate into evolved life systems yet most likely after humans are extinct or at least not the planet’s predominant species.
From Holly's perspective, collective consciousness is key to creating a renewed Earth. When the tipping point is reached of heart-based humans living on the Earth, collective consciousness will simply create a new reality based on the heart-based intentions of those humans participating.
With a collective consciousness movement underway. there is optimism for humanity's survival.
Back to Basics
In her closing remarks, Holly shared that it is time for humanity to get back to the basics. For Ei, the basics are Water, Soil, and the Microbial Communities integral to water and soil life systems. Holly often states the following quote during interviews:
We must, absolutely MUST, return our water and soil microbial communities back to a healthy, balanced state for life as we know it to survive and once again thrive on planet Earth.
Another aspect of back to basics is taking care of and nurturing our worker populations, similar to ant and bee colonies. A community is only as strong and resilient as the health and happiness of its worker population. Humanity has a lot to learn from the eusocial species throughout the animal kingdom.
Holly concluded her interview with a sincere thank you to I AM Humanity for their collective consciousness initiatives. As she bowed in reverence, Holly proclaimed " I AM Humanity."
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Tax-deductible donations in any amount are greatly appreciated to support Ei's important work.
About Elemental Impact:
Elemental Impact (Ei) is a 501(c)3 non-profit founded in 2010 as the home to the Zero Waste Zones, the forerunner in the nation for the commercial collection of food waste for compost. In June 2017, Ei announced the Era of Recycling Refinement was Mission Accomplished and entered the Era of Regeneration. Current focus areas include Nature Prevails, Soil Health | Regenerative Agriculture, and Water Use | Toxicity.
The Regeneration in ACTION Magazine articles, From Organic Certification to Regenerative Agriculture to Rewilding Landscapes: an evolution towards soil integrity and SOIL & WATER: the foundation of life, published to explain and substantiate the importance of Ei’s rewilding urban landscapes work within the Nature Prevails focus area.
The Holly Elmore Images Rewilding Urban Landscapes-album folder documents two active pilots: the Native-Plant Landscape Pilot and the Backyard Permaculture-Oriented Pilot.
MISSION:
To work with industry leaders to create best regenerative operating practices where the entire value-chain benefits, including corporate bottom lines, communities, and the environment. Through education and collaboration, establish best practices as standard practices.
Ei’s tagline – Regeneration in ACTION – is the foundation for Ei endeavors.
The following mantra is at the core of Ei work:
Ei is a creator, an incubator.
Ei determines what could be done that is not being done and gets it done.
Ei brings the possible out of impossible.
Ei identifies pioneers and creates heroes.
For additional information, contact Holly Elmore at 404-510-9336 | holly@elementalimpact.org.
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