The PLANET-Based Times

Celebrating Two Years Biking, Busing, Walking and Carsharing

This February, LWH celebrated our second anniversary of running our nonprofit without our own car. We’re busing, biking, walking, carsharing and taking the random Uber. We love Colorado Carshare for vet visits, sanctuary operations, farmer’s markets, festivals, events, and toting recycling and donations. Sometimes it takes more planning, but our planet is worth it.

We help Colorado Pet Pantry by picking up pet food and supplies from a donation bin we manage. Colorado Pet Pantry is a local nonprofit pet food bank that helps reduce pet homelessness by getting unwanted and donated food into the tummies of hungry pets. That helps keep food and pet supplies out of landfills — an added bonus.

Less Cars = Less Parking Spaces = More Wild Places

How to be a car free hero. Check out Colorado Carshare, Turo or Zipcar that might have cars for short term use in your area. Carshare, carpool and rideshare to make friends, reduce traffic, reduce road construction, reduce wildlife fatalities, reduce gas and electricity use and reduce pollution. If you have a car — get flexible — and share a ride. Riders, tip for the trip.

Colorado peeps if you sign up for Colorado Carshare and use the code REFER HARMONY, you get a $25.00 drive credit.

If you don’t live in a bike and bus-friendly community, or have access to Colorado Carshare or other carshare options, contact us.

Good Events Made Better

This past November, Southern Plains Land Trust (SPLT) was able to make their entire event zero (low) waste thanks to our help and an earmarked gift from a supporter. Living With Harmony donated extra funds so the event could provide reusable cups, glasses and mugs to make the entire event single-use free. SPLT already had reusable dinnerware lined up for the event.

We totally love that SPLT has acquired tens of thousands of acres of endangered prairie and grasslands in Colorado so pronghorn antelope, bison, prairie dogs, meadowlarks and other species have a home and place to play. Yay!

It turns out that prairies are a great place to stash (sequester) carbon. So we like that SPLT partners with the Colorado Pika Project to offer carbon credits that conserve prairie grasslands. These credits not only help fund projects that maintain vital wildlife habitat, they also sequester carbon!

Carbon Offset: Reduce what you can and offset the rest. Offset your personal or your business’s carbon footprint by donating to the Colorado Pika Project.

80% of your donation will be used by Southern Plains Land Trust to sequester carbon dioxide by purchasing and permanently protecting endangered prairie habitat and native wildlife. The remaining 20% will be used by Rocky Mountain Wild to conserve climate sensitive species such as pika.

Upcycled Bins for Our Turtle Friends

Our rescued western box turtles and tortoises are wild — but unfortunately can no longer live in the wild where they belong. We give them the best life we can even though they are still captive. We want our turtles and tortoises to have some outdoor access and adventure times!

We found ourselves in need of another outdoor space (bin) after Spot came along. Read Spot’s story here. That’s why we’ve built a fourth turtle bin. Now every turtle and tortoise can get more sunshine and foraging access in the spring, summer and fall. They usually get to be out if its 60 degrees or more and this includes all summer in the predator proof bins.

If you live nearby, come turtle sit for an hour or two and watch the turtles dig, burrow, munch, forage for weeds, play in the wading pool, do the turtle dance, and hang in the shade.

It may not be the wild, but it is a world of change from the small glass tanks and classrooms that most of our western box turtles and tortoises were liberated from. Captive turtles often lack proper nutrition, enrichment, space to roam, proper humidity, heat, sun exposure, or UVB lights. In the wild nature provides these basic needs to prevent poor health, stunted growth, weakness, skeletal and shell deformities and unhealthy body temperatures. These issues are common with captive reptiles. Learn more about turtle survival at Turtle Survival Alliance.

For the bins, we always hire PLANET-Based people willing to use upcycled and reclaimed building materials. It may take a more effort to work with reclaimed materials but let’s respect the resources — that old wood, old hardware and old screws don’t need to be brand new.

We salvaged old wood and hardware for some of the bins from jobsites and demos. All materials were hauled by bike for bin number four.

If you like, for your remodels and projects try to source used, recycled and reclaimed wood and building supplies on Craigslist, FreeCycle, Nextdoor and Facebook Marketplace first. Some businesses sell upcycled materials, appliances and everything in-between. We have Resource Central in Boulder.

By the way, reusable napkins, hand towels and cleaning rags also help stop deforestation. Single-use = Resource abuse.

Colorado Environmental Film Festival

This year Living With Harmony upped its game even more by helping select nonprofits go more PLANET-Based. We picked organizations that we love and who are aligned with our mission.

Recently, we provided delicious and climate friendly PLANET-Based snacks to volunteers and attendees at the Colorado Environmental Film Festival (CEFF). We were also on the planning committee. We had our eye-catching booth at the Eco Expo. Our food sampling was a big hit again this year. We had five super volunteers that helped make it all possible.

We gave out tasty and sustainable alternatives to eggs, dairy, meat and seafood and loved showing people some swaps for their favorite foods. We featured artisanal plant-based cheeses from Rebel Cheese, other plant-based goodies and our homemade eggless salad.

We used our food with outreach to remind people that our food choices have a huge impact on the planet. Food opened up the door to discuss PLANET-Based Living, and the deforestation, excessive land use, pollution, water and energy that are used for animal agriculture.

We also talked about the discarded fishing gear and ghost nets that catch or entangle unintended victims — such as dolphins, whales, birds, sharks, turtles and noncommercial fish species. Wherever there is fishing, there is bycatch that results in the death and injury of even more marine animals. Just more reasons we advocate for not eating fish and seafood — and eating plant-based.

One of our most popular tastings was the Chickpea Untuna Salad, a PLANET-Based alternative to tuna salad. Here’s the recipe.

Here’s a note the CEFF Executive Director sent us. “Your thoughtful, flavorful food was a highlight of the event and perfectly reflected our values of sustainability and community care. Our guests and volunteer team truly appreciate your efforts and quality of food and your contribution helped create a welcoming, memorable experience for everyone.”

We were gifted a wooden name tag — looks like we will be back next year.

Low(er) Waste Coaching

We are jazzed that the Longmont Farmer’s Market wants to collaborate with us to help reduce their waste. We will help them collect plastic film and hard-to-recycle packaging that will go to Ridwell. We’ll be helping them rescue water, by collecting ice and water from vendors at the end of the market and watering the nearby shrubs and trees. Come visit because we will be tabling as well.

LWH is happy to help individuals, businesses, markets and organizations do low(er) waste events and be more PLANET-Based. If you need help, we want to hear from you. We have included some tips to reduce waste below.

Stock your office or business with reusable mugs, cutlery, plates, bottles of condiments, and cloth napkins. When ordering food for meetings or events, request no single-use items, no serving utensils, and no condiment packets. Gift a Bliss Kit to employees or staff members.

A Bliss Kit can include a reusable mug, reusable napkin, water bottle, to go container, utensils and your fancy chopsticks. Your Bliss Kit doesn’t want to be stay home alone and wants to be with you, along with your cellphone. Bring your Bliss Kit everywhere and every time.

Speaking of cool, it’s a delight to walk into a business restroom and see a reusable hand towels station. It shouts, “We’re saving forests, rivers and wildlife habitat and slowing down deforestation.”

Seeing reusables at an event is both eco classy and eco logical. Single-use paper products and compostable dinnerware seem more sustainable but can rot and make methane if they get tossed. They need to go to a commercial compost facility to break down properly. Go big and talk with event organizers about reusables or join the planning committee.

Find a caterer that offers reusable plates, glasses, and other dinnerware. If the event has a registry or auction, the additional cost can be a gift request so guests or donors can make the event low(er) waste and PLANET-Based.

Put together a team to rescue the food waste and compostable items. Take the compost home to your composter or garden if no compost is available onsite. Food waste that ends up in the landfill makes the world stinkier, hotter and methane-ier. Match your compost gloves with your attire for the green carpet.

Ditch the swag bags. There are too many pens, water bottles and cheap sunglasses filling up the junk drawer and floating around the ocean. Just say no to ‘goodie bags’ at events. LWH does not sell t-shirts or branded stuff — the cost to the planet is too much. We invite others to do the same.

Direct Action is Our Rent for the Earth

Rescue trash and recyclables anytime and anyplace. Be fab and sport a cloth Earth rescue bag or bucket.

Help others help the planet. Vital Actions is cleaning up plastic from rivers, beaches and wetlands, rescuing endangered animals, preserving habitat and planting native trees. They have saved ~60,000 sea turtle eggs from hunting every year since 2016! We support Vital Actions’ mission because direct action is crucial in the defense of the oceans, forests and land.

Traincation!

Trains in the US are 5 to 10 times more efficient per passenger mile than planes. Trains mean less fuel use, more wildlife, less pavement, cooler summers, cleaner air, and award-winning views. Fuel for thought.

Planes mean more light and noise pollution, increased CO2 emissions, more asphalt, more fuel, massive airport infrastructure, habitat loss, long lines and security hassles.

Traincations (taking the train) are your chance to sightsee, chill, read, eat, write, call friends, make friends and sleep. Traincations give you the time to delete ancient texts, emails, photos and videos on those resource wasting data centers. Be amazed by the secret places that you won’t see from the air or highway.

Buy a carbon offset for those airplane miles when you need to fly. Opt for nonstop flights. The total plane ticket will cost more, but the offset will pay you back in better air, water, soil and climate. Some airlines offer those carbon credits — if and when you buy a ticket. Better yet buy your carbon offset from the Colorado Pika Project!

Eco-Challenges + Refrigerator Art

Check out our new PLANET-Based Eco-Challenges. With bit of humor, double entendre and brain game mixed in, we nailed sixty Home, Life, Travel, Food, Team and Consumer eco-challenges. They have cool pics of at risk animals on them too. See those PLANET-Based Eco-Challenges here.

Your mission if you choose to accept it is to ask two friends to join you in a new PLANET-Based Eco-Challenge every week.

Of course our classic PLANET-Based Living Guidelines are still here too! Now you can rock your refrigerator’s eco-art with both the PLANET-Based Living Guidelines and the PLANET-Based Eco-Challenges. And share them both far and wide.

PLANET-Based Life Meetup

We started a PLANET-Based Life Meetup. We meet virtually on Zoom. Join us so we can share ideas, make friends and get support. We will post the recordings.

A PLANET-Based Life is so fun, you won’t want to take a vacation from.

Double the Trouble Bunny Rescue

In addition to our education and outreach, our nonprofit is dedicated to permanent rescue for un-wanted former companion animals and classroom pets. If we don’t have space, we help place these animals elsewhere.

Guess which bunny is Anise and which one is Toffee?

Bunnies are the third most common companion animal in the U.S. They are gentle, social and inquisitive creatures when given the chance. They’re smart little buggers that easily get bored. They dig by nature and get destructive when they have nothing to do. Many of them end up in shelters, on free ads to give away – possibly to become snake food or let loose to fend for themselves.

One of the lucky ones is Anise. She was spared just in time while being chased by dogs. She found her home with Living With Harmony. At first, Anise was too scared to leave her cage, even with the door open. Months later, Anise tasted the joy of freedom, and found lots of reasons not to go back into her pen.

Bunnies are much happier when paired with a buddy, or at least one close by. Anise always sat near Reggie, another LWH bunny resident. After Reggie passed from nasal cancer, we rescued Toffee, a lonesome boy whose family didn’t have time for him.

After six weeks, following a careful introduction period, Toffee and Anise decided to be BFF’s! They’re savoring their co-dependent life 24/7 with Living With Harmony.

Community Gardening is for the Birds

This garden season we will continue to provide food and shelter for pollinators, birds and other critters. We plant goodies and leave seed heads and debris for them to hide and to survive the winter.

We bury the bird paper and bunny litter waste from our rescue at the garden. The newspaper is used instead of a plastic weed barrier under the mulch walkways. It breaks down and returns nutrients to the soil so the rolly polies, worms and microbes can thrive. The bunny litter comes from recycled paper or hemp pellets, so it makes a good mulch.

We are always experimenting with native plants, wildflowers and prairie grasses so we might someday apply this to a larger demonstration property.

If you don’t have a garden, help return habitat back to nature (rewild) by replacing a lawn with native plants and grasses. Help a friend rewild their lawn, if you have already rewilded your own. This creates micro sanctuaries and rest stops for insects, birds and pollinators that have migrated long distances and are looking for sweet places to set up shop.

We also grew veggies on our two plots. We were lucky to have enough onions and greens that lasted until the end of December and still have heaps of Serrano peppers in the freezer. We discovered that cauliflower, broccoli and brussels sprouts also have totally edible greens — so we’ll grow more of those this year. They rock in smoothies, soups and dehydrated flax crackers too.

In addition to growing food for ourselves and our animal residents, we have been freezing, blending and dehydrating the food that we grow. We talk about easy ways to preserve food and compost on our IG, FB and YouTube. We don’t want our waste to end up in landfills, where it makes methane — a greenhouse gas that makes the planet gasp.

If you want to learn more about veganic gardening, take a look at Learn Veganic. Their next course is starting soon, with early bird pricing. Free e-book if you sign up by 03/31/26.

Garden Party + Market Volunteer Opps

Boulder Community Garden: Are you interested in permaculture, exploring alternatives to peat moss, low water and plastic-free veganic gardening, using mulch, and making compost? How about weeding and testing your plant IQ, or just watching pollinators and birds passing through? If so, volunteer a few hours a week for us. Free veggies are a bonus.

Watch our garden video to see more about what we do.

Longmont Farmer’s Market: Join us in our resource rescue at the Longmont Farmer’s Market so we can help the market go more PLANET-Based. Come help sort hard-to-recycle packaging, compost and recyclables during the market. We will also be gathering unwanted ice from vendors at the end of the market to water plants and trees. Contact us.

Living With Harmony Events

Check out our Living With Harmony 2026 calendar of Boulder-area events here. JP and Andrea will be tabling for Living With Harmony again this year at farmer’s markets, animal sanctuaries, events and conferences. We look forward to meeting you.

JP will continue teaching about plant-based nutrition, functional fitness, movement and PLANET-Based Living. He’s lecturing, doing seminars and life coaching during his “free time.”

His upcoming events: Power of the Plate, conference by the Plantrician Project, San Diego, CA (or virtual options), the Mile Hi Church in Lakewood, CO; the Natural Health Association (NHA) Conference in Independence, OH; the Vegan Summerfest in Johnstown, PA; and the Plant Powered Party in Las Vegas, NV. The Thrive Alive Fest in Williamsburg, KS is offering $50 off if you mention JP50 at registration.

JP has also been helping students reach their full potential, incorporate functional fitness, and learn about plant-based foods at a martial arts school in California.

Look for his latest article on Ahimsa, an important part of our mission, in Health Science. We have permission from Natural Health Association (NHA) to post this article for you. Consider Joining NHA to get Health Science and more. Find the Ahimsa: Living With Harmony article below.

Check out JP’s Pillars of Health book on Kindle or find it used on Ebay or elsewhere.

Tell us if you know of an event that Living With Harmony, JP and Andrea should be a part of.

Andrea has been working with JP for decades to age with grace and to always be her best.

Sign of the Times

Where is away? You decide. Is that plastic bag going to choke an Olive Ridley turtle living in a coral reef in the Caribbean, or will it be turned into a piece of plastic lumber for a deck so less trees are cut down? Is that snack wrapper going to be trapped on the roots of a mangrove where an octopus is trying to start a family, or will it be turned in a bicycle seat for a cargo bike.

Ridwell keeps plastic packaging, batteries, lightbulbs, old clothing and more out of the landfills and the oceans. It is an option for pesky hard-to-recycle items, such as food and snack wrappers and bags (aka wish-cycling items) that aren’t recyclable in curbside bins and are common contaminants. The reclaimed plastic can be made into other items.

Most of ocean trash is from land-based activities and the top ten items include plastic bags, bottle caps and snack wrappers. Fishing gear accounts for 40% of ocean plastic waste and wreaks havoc too. Choose to refuse to reduce at the source. For the rest, recycle with Ridwell and sport this purty sign.

At last, we can properly recycle items that we have, stuff we get from friends, recyclables we rescue from events, from work, misfits that we rescue out of other bins or any other trashy place. We’re all about PLANET-Based Resource Rescue.

Ridwell has a doorstep service in some areas — including Colorado — and has a mail-in service. The entire LWH team, along with peeps in Timbuktu and in-between, can properly recycle with prepaid mail-in envelopes.

Tell us when you enroll for Ridwell. One of our sponsors will pay for your first month, or cover the cost to start the mail-in option. Let’s keep those hard to recycle items out of the oceans and rivers.

A Better World

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