Mike Garcia and his team have been taking care of our garden in Manhattan Beach for several years. He’s always been an advocate for drip irrigation, and with the drought situation here in southern California, my husband and finally decided to have it installed. Mike says drip irrigation uses 60 percent less water than a traditional sprinkler system. I can see the savings already. We see no residual water from miss-aimed sprinklers on our driveway anymore.
As we’ve worked with Mike and I’ve gotten to know him better, I more and more like his philosophy of protecting the our planet, our bodies and our minds. I’ve thrilled to share his words on those subjects here on Choices today.
Light Overcomes Darkness
By Mike Garcia
Life is the most precious of gifts. When we break it down, what in life is most important? It depends on who is being asked. Some may say making a living, which means making money. Some may say relationships or health. And of course, there is no reason to judge others on what they conclude. We all have our priorities.
I would like to invite you to consider these sobering thoughts. If health declined to the point of living a very poor quality of life, we would be unhappy. If our home (planet earth) declined in health due to man’s mismanagement of resources, we would reap terrible consequences. Two goals to aim for in modern times is to keep our health to an optimum and the same goes for understanding what it means to care for our planet, becoming stewards of planet earth. Or simply put, caring for our physical health and our environment.
Up to World War II, it seems that food was in the hands of the masses. Everybody had a garden. After the war, the masses decided it would be all right to assign the task of food production to corporate America. This would give us the free time we needed to make more money and pursue our dreams. As a society, we plunged into college, jobs and living the American dream.
Mike’s front yard fountain with tomatoes meandering through
GMO and Pesticides. Looking back, what can we see with respect to quality of life? America is being challenged on health and environmental fronts as never before! As a nation, we have never been so overweight, thanks in part to the lack of nutritional education and the plethora of fast food restaurants on every corner. The introduction of GMO seed 20 years ago was a great concept. Twenty years later, we are seeing the fruits of what seemed at the time like a good idea. I would challenge you to search the Internet and read what you can on GMO foods. Did you know that ten years ago, about one million pounds of pesticides were used on our food supply? The current number hovers at 100 million! This is due to the introduction of GMO seed to our food supply. GMOs have a built in insecticide. However, not all bugs die. Some get stronger. These strong bugs breed and create super babies. So, more and more pesticide is needed on our food. By the way, the chemical pesticides don’t wash off. If they did, they would be useless as a pesticide.
Protecting Our Water Supply. For the first time in history, over half the United States has declared drought. In California, twenty percent of electrical consumption is used to bring water to quench the thirst of southern California. Everyday, southern California imports a staggering 1.5 billion gallons of water. The message is loud and clear. We are living in challenging times. Challenging to our health and to our environment! Instead of asking “Why me?” A better question would be “What can I learn from these challenges? and “How can I be stronger in the face of these challenges?”
Grass irrigated with drip so requires very little water
Americans need to develop a new resolve to take control of the food supply. This can be as simple as planting a small edible garden in your yard. What about all the water it takes to grow a garden? Drip irrigation uses less than 60 percent water over traditional sprinklers. Gardens can now recycle and reuse the same water over and over. Nothing is more nutrient dense that growing and consuming food from your own garden! Better nutrition leads to feeling better and having more energy. What about exercise? Twenty minutes of brisk walking three to four times a week will do wonders for your health.
Detoxing Our Bodies and Our Minds. I must also mention the role the mind plays in all of this. Many consider juicing fresh fruits and veggies as a “Detox, which is getting rid of the toxins that like to hang out in our bodies. Have you ever considered a “Detox” for the mind and spirit? Humans have a unique ability to store “toxins” in the mind, what we will call negative thoughts. Many times, this is a choice and when we realize we have the responsibility to detox our brain and spirit, the appropriate action has to be figured out. Many will detox the brain be reading and meditating on the pure, positive and the powerful. This is a great way to start. How about reading life stories of people who have faced incredible struggles and faced mountains and rather than stopping at the foot of the mountain, they scaled it to the top? Ours is never to judge others, as we never know how hard they struggle as they make their way to the top. All of us have comfort zones and the comfort zone is a nice place to visit, but you don’t want to live there, as all the growth in life comes from when you are outside of your comfort zone.
We may see lots of darkness in our world, but it is still our world and if we don’t take care of our bodies, mind and earth, where else are we going to live? We may see the darkness in the world, but ours is to infuse light into the darkness and be the change we wish to make in the world. Love is light and infusing more love into the world will make a difference to our loved ones, our planet, and us!
Mike Garcia is the founder of Enviroscape LA. His mission is to make the world a nicer place to live, one yard at a time. His company accomplishes this by using the best available plant materials and implementing the newest irrigation, pond and lighting technologies in the landscape industry. Enviroscape LA is an award winning pond, landscaping design and construction company dedicated to making your backyard and pond eco-friendly and energy efficient.
You can find out more information about his work and especially drip irrigation here:
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