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Buddhism and the Environment: Is Mindfulness Meditation Enough?

posted by Ethan Nichtern | 11:47am Sunday August 2, 2009

I had the honor to be interviewed about Buddhism and Ecology by Rod Meade Sperry at the Shambhala Sun Blog last week. Check out the audio interview at the above hotlink. Also check out Rod’s great website, The Worst Horse for the latest on Buddhism and Pop-Culture.

nichtern-sunspaceaudiopromo.jpg

One of the things I mentioned in the interview is that Buddhist teachings on ethics and conduct are intentionally vague and general. So what, as meditators, are you doing – as a daily mindfulness practice – to heal the planet?


Having already made a good amount of progress in eliminating some disposible items from my routine – (like plastic bags, disposible coffee cups, piles of napkins, etc.) – and having a Vermicompost bin in my home, I have moved on to food. I try to buy locally as often as possible and am currently looking into Community Supported Agriculture (CSA).

What do you practice, specifically, for the environment?



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AZ

posted August 3, 2009 at 5:59 am


A vegetarian diet reduces the incredible pollution caused by meat producers, not to mention that I don’t harm the animals.
Carpooling a little bit, and using trains and buses more. More walking and bike riding too.
Using energy efficient appliances. I live in Japan. My washing maching weighs the load and then uses the amount of water needed and tells me how much soap to put in. My dryer dries them half way and I hang them for the rest of the time.
No impulse buying. I only buy what I’ve made a decision to buy after giving it thought.



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Bodhipaksa

posted August 3, 2009 at 2:04 pm


Being vegetarian saves as much in CO2 emissions as not driving a car. I wash most clothes in cold water to save energy. Whenever possible I dry clothes on a wooden rack on my back deck (condo association doesn’t allow drying lines). I time my laundry with what are forecast to be good drying days. I compost every scrap of vegetable waste and recycle it into my little garden — I just use an ordinary trash can with holes drilled in the sides and bottom. So far this summer we’ve avoided using the A/C.



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