Yes! No, Maybe So...

[I have no monetary relationship with the publication or it's manufacturer.  I just admire their purpose.  **Alert.  This post is a tad long**] 

How fantastic is it to know there is a magazine called YES!  Positivity is a great remedy for many things.  I for one can learn that lesson daily.  This magazine is positive without being preachy.  I've been tracking it since last Summer. Therefore I wanted to spotlight it today in case you've never heard of them.  But I must say that this magazine isn't free, like my three current favorites, Delicious Living, The Whole Person and Whole Life. I've seen  booths for Yes! at various venues and they don't just give it away to passers by, they ask for donations.  Yes! is ad free [can you believe that?  It's like watching a TV show with no commercials], and exists because of faithful subscribers, and generous financial contributions [I like to consider them green/conscious benefactors], and an impressive board of directors. Their rates are ridiculously low, i.e. via the Internet only $17 for a year, otherwise it's $24 annually, $32 for  two years, $44 for a three year subscription.  Crazy right?  Now, I no longer subscribe to publications because I'm kicking my hoarder tendencies. However if I were to ever consider it again,Yes! would most likely be among my top three choices.

This following information was taken straight from the publication.  Read on...
YES! Magazine is an award-winning, ad-free, nonprofit publication that supports people’s active engagement in building a just and sustainable world.

The heart of our work is to spotlight practical possibilities for deep shifts in our society.

• We inspire people to say YES!
• We support and connect individuals and communities working for a just and sustainable world.
• We reframe issues, reflect diverse human-scale stories, and offer tools for people to use and to pass along.

YES! now reaches over 150,000 readers each quarter and draws some 100,000 visitors to our website each month.

YES! is one of the only magazines printed on 100% recycled, 100% post-consumer waste, chlorine-free paper.

The Positive Futures Network (PFN), the publisher of YES! Magazine, is an independent, nonprofit organization.

The Positive Futures Network and its publication YES! Magazine start with the belief that we need deep change if we are to avoid the breakdown of society and the natural world.

Our hope lies in the fact that powerful innovations are taking hold within virtually every sector of society.

The work of the Positive Futures Network and YES! Magazine is to give visibility and momentum to these signs of an emerging society in which life, not money, is what counts; in which everyone matters; and in which vibrant, inclusive communities offer prosperity, security, and meaningful ways of life.

To enhance the impact of our work, we carry out extensive outreach programs to educators, students, journalists, activists, faith organizations, national networks, policy makers, and businesses.

The following article by Colin Beavan was published in Yes! on Nov.11, 2009.   It was recently sent to me so of course I had to share it with you.  I don't subscribe to all 10 suggestions [#2 horrifies me because I live in a city whose public water system I don't fully trust but nonetheless it's great advise.] This is a good list and a great place to start.  Please enjoy.  

10 Ways to Change Your Life

(Not Just Your Light Bulbs)

EAT YOUR VEGETABLES

All you have to do is stop eating beef. Worldwide, beef production contributes more to climate change than the entire transportation sector. The carbon footprint of the average meat eater is about 1.5 tons of CO2 larger than that of a vegetarian. Cutting beef out of your diet will reduce your CO2 emissions by 2,400 pounds annually.

DRINK FROM THE TAP

You can save money and your environment by giving up bottled water. The production of plastic water bottles together with the privatization of our drinking water is an environmental and social catastrophe. Bottled water costs more per gallon than gasoline. The average American consumes 30 gallons of bottled water annually. Giving up one bottle of imported water means using up one less liter   of fossil fuel and emitting 1.2 pounds less of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

OBSERVE AN ECO-SABBATH

For one day or afternoon or even one hour a week, don’t buy anything, don’t use any machines, don’t switch on anything electric, don’t cook, don’t answer your phone, and, in general, don’t use any resources. In other words, for this regular period, give yourself and the planet a break. Every hour per week that you live no impact cuts your carbon emissions by 0.6 percent annually. Commit to four hours per week, that’s 2.4 percent; do it for a whole day each week to cut your impact by 14.4 percent a year.

TITHE A FIXED PERCENTAGE OF YOUR INCOME

Tithe a fixed percentage of your income to non-profits of your choice. If an average U.S. family contributes 1 percent ($502.33) of its annual income ($50,233) to an environmental non-profit, they could offset 40.7 tons of carbon dioxide per year. Many of our public health and welfare services are tied to consumer spending which, in turn, depends upon planetary resources. If you want to help, don’t go shopping. Just help.

BUILD A COMMUNITY

Have dinners with friends. Play charades. Sing together. Enjoying each other costs the planet much less than enjoying its resources.

GET THERE UNDER YOUR OWN STEAM

Get around by bike or by foot a certain number of days a month. Not only does this mean using less fossil fuel and creating less greenhouse gases, it means you’ll get exercise and we’ll all breathe fewer fumes. If you can stay off the road just two days a week, you’ll reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an average of 1,590 pounds per year.

COMMIT TO NOT WASTING

Wasting resources costs the planet and your wallet. Let your clothes hang-dry instead of using the dryer. Take half the trips but stay twice as long. Repair instead of rebuy. The list goes on. In the summer, for every degree above 72°F you set your thermostat, you save 120 pounds of CO2 emissions per year, and if you wash your clothes with cold water you can cut your laundry energy use by up to 90 percent.

TAKE YOUR PRINCIPLES TO WORK

We must act as though we care about the world at work as much as we do at home. Company CEOs or product designers have the power to make a gigantic difference through their business, and so do the rest of us. In commercial buildings, lighting accounts for more than 40 percent of electrical energy use, a huge cause of greenhouse gas production. Using motion and occupancy sensors can cut this use by 10 percent.

DONATE A DAY'S TV TIME TO ECO-SERVICE

Take one day off from TV—the average American watches four and a half hours of TV a day—and try voluntary eco-service instead. Those four and a half hours a day watching TV add up to 825 pounds of carbon dioxide each year.

BELIEVE WITH ALL YOUR HEART THAT HOW YOU LIVE YOUR LIFE MAKES A DIFFERENCE

We are all interconnected. Every step toward living a conscious life provides support to everyone else who is trying to do the same thing—whether you’re aware of it or not. We are the masters of our destinies.

Happy Thursday, pay it forward however you can.