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Conceptualizing Our Vision
In this 2016 interview, Maia Boswell-Penc, founder of the hEarth, speaks with Bethany Gonyea, founder of the Albany Peace Project, about the power of coming into stillness.
Bethany has long focused on bringing meditation to create peace; Maia shares her passion about bringing mindfulness to the project of creating regenerative communities.
Climate Crisis and Global Depletion
Earth’s Ecosystems show signs of ill health and collapse. Species are going extinct at rates far exceeding the background rate. Human populations are suffering and vulnerable.
Environmental In-Justice
Our habits, practices, policies and systems mean that our black, brown, indigenous and under-privileged brothers and sisters – including those in the Global South – face negative and debilitating consequences first – without having reaped the benefits of our extractive and colonizing practices.
Widespread Pandemic Distress and Isolation Individuals and communities face economic hardship and emotional challenges. People feel cut off from one another and embattled against the “other side.” A “scarcity mentality” breeds fear and mistrust.
Uncertainty and Moving on with “Business-as-Usual” Many of us feel uncertain about what we can do to bring our communities and our world to health and well-being. Others of us live in a kind of “trance,” going on with “business-as-usual.”
In the face of Climate Emergency, global depletion and the fallout of centuries of white supremacist, human-centric, colonizing and extractive approaches, the hEarth serves as a seedbed for regenerative community. Educating about ways we can take small actions, that lead to larger actions, the hEarth is all about placing the health of Planet Earth and All her Creatures front-and-center. We seek to join with others in telling a new story of connection and hope.
The hEarth is a Non-Profit Eco-Education and Sustainability Center focused on bringing us to nurturing, regenerative, Earth-centric and justice-oriented practices, habits and experiences.
We offer purpose and renewed spirit though workshops, events, and our hEarth Shop. There you can browse our sustainability tools, Nature-inspired products, and textiles sewn by Afghani women participating in our Refugee Women's Sewing Collective.*
*The Refugee Women's Sewing Collective, currently composed of women from Afghanistan, sews bags, boppie covers, children's clothing and other sustainability items for the hEarth Shop. Using donated and re-use fabric and materials, we seek to empower refugee women, helping them to gain sewing, literacy and soft-skills, while helping bring resilience and offering a fair wage for sewing items.
Thus, we strive to bring attention to the plight of Climate Refugees and the ways in which we, in the Global North, have a responsibility to do all we can to help mitigate the devastating instability faced by many, situations exacerbated by Climate Crisis and our failure, collectively, to take meaningful action.
We also participate in the project of keeping textiles out of landfills, thus reducing the release of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.
OUR
PURPOSE.
OUR
GOALS.
At the hEarth we’re all about weaving Earth into the fabric of our lives, placing the health of our Earth and all her creatures at the center of our seeing, our policies, our practices and our dreams.
We inspire you to weave Earth into your life.
Witnessing the sacredness and wonder of our Earth and all her diverse species, we promote joining with others to create Regenerative Communities.
We offer opportunities for you to go into Nature and to bring Nature indoors with you - because savoring our earth is where it all begins.
At the hEarth, we believe it’s all about coming into Presence, engaging in transformative conversations and experiences, and working together with joy to stir up a critical mass.
We educate you and connect you with others, building community.
Engaging in small, everyday acts of Earth Care is important in itself. It brings us to live our lives with intention. Doing so also builds momentum, bolstering us to do more.
We support you with tools, ideas, workshops and events.
Witnessing the Plight of Climate Refugees, we have teamed up with a group of Afghan Women Refugees -- the Refugee Women's Sewing Collective -- to empower the women facing devastating loss in their home country. We bring you sustainability items and Earth-Romping clothing for children -- most of it made from recycled and donated materials.
We invite you to purchase our items, take our workshops, support us financially, or volunteer with us.
Recognizing our interdependence is key to sidestepping a fall into crisis, collapse, suffering and despair. Highlighting our interdependence brings us together to create health, justice and lives filled with abundance and fulfillment.
We help you engage with the interdependence of all things, and together we celebrate the beauty and mystery of our Beautiful Planet Earth.
Raising awareness of Climate Crisis, Global Depletion, Environmental (In)Justice, and the plight of Climate Refugees, we offer education, support, community and engagement through transformational conversations, experiences and tools.
We aim to join with others in generating a critical mass of conscious, loving commitment to transforming human systems, structures and relationships. Our vision – placing Earth Care and our complete Interconnectedness with all things front-and-center.