Nature Boosts Both Your Mental and Physical Health

By Naomi Yaeger

UMC Earthkeeper

Spending time outside in nature can heal you, both physically and mentally.

During COVID lockdown, Terry and I took many walks with our dog. We noticed budding leaves and flowers, then spring arrived. In the summer, as Terry continued to work from home, we continued to walk. Soon Autumn arrived. The same leaves, which were buds, were now turning yellow, orange, or red and falling.

In December, I donated to the Nature Conservancy. With my donation, they invited me to attend a nearby event. The closest one I could find was a Zoom presentation titled," Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative." The featured speaker is Florence Williams, author of "The Nature Fix." She's also written several magazine articles such as "Is Your Noisy Neighborhood Slowly Killing You?" in Mother Jones, and "Fight the Winter Blues, Find a Dose of Nature." in the Wall Street Journal, and "Take Two Hours of Pine Forest and Call me in the Morning," Outside Magazine.

According to Outside magazine, "Florence Williams travels to the deep woods of Japan, where researchers are backing up the theory that nature can lower your blood pressure, fight off depression—and even prevent cancer."

The Japanese are seriously researching how "forest bathing" affects health. This reminds me of the Bible stories of Jesus spending time in nature when he had a big decision to make. I recall specific significant transitions in life when I've spent time in nature. 

The COVID shutdowns spurred Terry, our dog, and me to walk nature trails near our home. We feel better after a walk.

Shh, don't tell Terry, he's getting his Christmas wish -- walking sticks.

Learn the scientific reasons for feeling better with time in nature: join me, read Florence Williams' "The Nature Fix," or visit her website at www.FlorenceWilliams.com.

Terry walking with MaggieBW in the CSS woods.

Naomi walking in Chester Park 
with dog MaggieBW. 

Terry walking with a stick down
an unused ski hill in the spring.

My friend gave me toilet paper as a gift!

For God So Loved the World

By Naomi Yaeger, 

UMC Earthkeeper

Christmas is coming. Have you thought about sustainable gifts you could give?

My friend gave me toilet paper for my birthday!

It was not because of COVID and hoarding situations, but because the company doesn’t use plastic for packaging and because it’s made from bamboo, which grows faster than trees. It arrived “pre-gift-wrapped” in colorful paper. The company gives 50% of its profits to building bathrooms.

I feel a little naughty writing this in, but the company's name is “Who Gives a Crap” -  whogivesacrap.org. The company gives money to WASH, which stands for Water Sanitation and Hygiene.

As a United Methodist, I’m proud that WASH is a recipient of the Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church Advance # 3020600.

Think about what YOU could do this Christmas to bless a friend or family member with a sustainable, useful gift. 

I’m giving bars of soap I made at a local business Mix Cosmetiques mixcosmetiques.com . 

Some 10 % of everything Mix Cosmetiques sells goes to teaching women in Uganda how to make cosmetics and start their own businesses.

When Christians think of Christmas, they often think of John:3:16 -- how God reached out to them to enter into a personal relationship. I want you to remember how much God loves YOU. In addition, this Christmas, look again at what God loves enough to send God’s own Son—the world. God’s own creation! All of creation, not just humans. If God so loved the world, then we also need to. Choose at least one aspect of creation and love it through your actions and advocacy.

Sources: umcreationjustice.org and whogivesacrap.org  and umcmission.org

Show some love to Lake Superior, help clean a beach

By Naomi Yaeger

UMC Earthkeeper

Every year in September thousands of volunteers come out to keep beaches all over the world healthy, safe and beautiful. The Alliance for the Great Lakes, a non-profit is sponsoring an Adopt-A-Beach Campaign to clean beaches.

“You can pick up trash by yourself and that’s great,” Sharon Moen said. Sharon is leading a group near the Lake Superior Estuarium in Superior. But the difference in the group clean-up efforts is that they will keep data on what type of trash is collected and send it back to the Alliance for the Great Lakes. We have a human print on how we are affecting our rivers, waterways and oceans. And of course, there is the socially distanced human interaction with the event.

Several non-profits have joined together to share in the beach cleanups in September: The Ocean Conservancy, The Alliance for the Great Lakes and the Friends of the Lake Superior Reserve.

Sharon has led groups in beach cleanups for more than 10 years and says the item most commonly found is cigarette butts. “The plastic filters do not degrade,” she said, “they will sit there on the beach for a long, long time.” Also the chemicals leached from cigarette butts are not good for aquatic life.

The most interesting trash Sharon has found is  one-half a bowling ball. And the most fun thing she found is surf balls or “whale burps,” -- tightly wound organic matter in the shape of an egg.Sharon will provide trash bags, latex gloves and facemasks. The first few to sign up will get the “really nice,” face masks.

Children need to be accompanied by an adult.
Learn more and sign up at greatlakes.org

Pre-register: https://bit.ly/3hbXtOS

Join us to clean sweep the beach:
Saturday, Sept. 26. 9 a.m. until 2 p.m.

A Delightful Way to be Introduced to Endangered Species

By Naomi Yaeger
UMC Earthkeeper

Children running around outdoors, chasing frogs. That’s what I call a happy childhood – time spent outside examining frogs, or hearing birds or running on the beach. Did you ever find a turtle or a frog as a child? Do you think your great - grandchildren will be chasing the same species of turtles or frogs?

Painting by Adam Swanson

On a rainy afternoon my husband and I went to the Great Lakes Aquarium to see an exhibit by Duluth artist Adam Swanson. This exhibit  focuses on some of the 45 endangered species in Minnesota. His whimsical paintings are broad, colorful, acrylic brushstrokes on plywood. The exhibit, “The Mirrors,” includes 14 painting about some of the more than 45 state and federally listed endangered and threatened animals of Minnesota. 

Adam said in an email, “I tried to create colorful, engaging snapshots of our unsung neighbors. Animals who have existed in our region for millions of years.”

If just viewing “The Mirrors,” the exhibit is free to the public. Each work is titled and some information given. Examining one painting, I wondered why the woman was wearing a turtle like a backpack and if Adam intended the turtle to look like a backpack. In another painting, I questioned if the lynx saw the boy at the campfire and if the boy was aware of him. “Would a lynx harm a child?” In an audio recording, Adam says that according to National Geographic there are no known cases of a lynx harming a human.

Viewing this exhibit, I learned more about endangered species. This exhibit will be up at the Great Lakes Aquarium until the end of August. A reception will be scheduled.

I learned a lot via the aquarium’s website, which has photos of some paintings and audio to describe the paintings along with a few words from Adam. Visit https://glaquarium.org/the-mirrors/selected-works-fromthe-mirror/ to learn more and hear Adam’s voice.

A outdoor patio reception is scheduled for July 28, 6-8 p.m.

Two Movies to Add to Your Binging List

Two Movies to Add to Your Binging List 

By Naomi Yaeger

Earthkeeper UMC

Two new movies premiered in April on Earth Day, April 22. One was

The Story of Plastic, which is now showing on the Discovery Network. The other film released on YouTube is Planet of the Humans.

My daughter, Rebecca Bischoff, made arrangements for members of the First United Methodist Church, AKA "Coppertop" to see a screening of The Story of Plastic. I sent a link out to about 35 people. 

One person replied, “I’ve already seen this, and I’m cutting back on my use of plastics.” 

The point of the movie wasn’t that you, the individual, need to quit using plastic, as much as it is about the plastics industry is planning to ramp up their production of plastic. It’s touted as the movie, “Big Plastic hopes you won’t see.”

the plastics industry is planning to ramp up their production of plastic. It’s touted as the movie, “Big Plastic hopes you won’t see.”

They’d rather blame you as a litterbug, then take responsibility for producing even more plastic and selling it to industry as the container of choice. The other film, Planet of the Humans, is free on YouTube. I found it very depressing, so make sure you have something uplifting to do after the movie. To me, the only answer to save our planet after watching this was to curtail our population severely; or our standard of living, or how we make, buy and package things.

Also, on March 18, 2020, right as many were being urged to stay-at-home. Big Plastics wrote to Alex Azar US Department of Health and Human Services, encouraging them to tout the glories of single-use plastic. (And there is a peer-reviewed study that says plastic isn’t any safer)

I know you’ve been watching a lot of TV or binge-watching, so I’m adding these two movies to your list:

The Story of Plastic

Planet of the Humans.

Handwashing with soap and water is effective to prevent COVID-19

With a public health nurse as my mom, hand-washing was emphasized as I grew up. My husband grew up on a farm. If I tell him, “Dinner is ready, go wash your hands,” he gets up and washes his hands. In her elder years, my mom served the church as a “Sunday School Grandma.” Her biggest duties? Taking the little ones to the bathroom. One of my friend’s little boys so thoroughly washed his hands that she asked him, “Where did you learn to wash your hands like that?” “My Sunday School Grandma,” he answered.

I learned a new word: fomite. A fomite is an inanimate object that can transfer disease. According to the CDC a person is most likely to contract COVID-19 from aerosol transmittal, which means from droplets by coming into contact with another person. This is why social distancing and why washing your hands is important.

To keep you safe from COVID-19 the CDC recommends washing your hands with soap and water.

Why is plain old soap and water the most effective way to prevent viruses?  There are three reasons:

1. Washing with soap and water removes visible dirt and mucus.

2. Using a soap decreases surface tension, breaking the glue-like interaction between the virus and your skin.

3. The soap and water is physically removing whatever is on your hands. The outer-casing of the virus is made of lipids which are fats. Soap dissolves fat.

“The soap not only loosens the “glue between the virus and the skin but also the Velcro-like interactions that hold the proteins, lipids and RNA in the virus together,” according to, “The Science of soap – here’s how it kills the corona virus” theguardian.com.

Hand sanitizer cannot penetrate mucus. You would have to literally soak your hands in alcohol-based hand sanitizer for it to be as effective. Though hand sanitizer is recommended if you don’t have anything else or if you washed your hands but need to touch a door handle to arrive at your destination. As Australian professor of Chemistry Pall Thorardson wrote, “You can’t for any price, get a drug for the corona virus - - but your grandmother’s bar of soap kills it.”

You may also find this podcast useful

Why Does Hand Washing Beat Hand Sanitizer Hands Down?

Other sources used: CDC- www.cdc.gov, NIH www.nih.gov, and  Pall Thordarson as interviewed in The Guardian. Thordarson is a professor of chemistry at the University of New South Wales, Sydney