Plastic

I have heard that corporate responsibility regarding the environment is a major issue in industry today.  In the area of non compostable plastic, I don't see it.  It seems that, increasingly, more and more packaging is made of plastic.  Maybe because I'm 62 years old, I notice it whereas younger people take plastic for granted.  One small example:  the inner package of most food items such as cereal, boxed soups, candy, etc. used to be made of paper and could be made of paper again.  Rather than burning our vegetable oils as fuel in our cars, if we are going to use tons and tons of plastic for TV dinners, why not make our plastic biodegradeable.  I don't see any movement in industry in this direction except niche health foods like Amy's and a few others.

Harmony

To live in harmony is vicious and self-serving.  Buddhism teaches us the truth of interdependence but to live interdependently is to live at the expense of other forms of life.  Living in harmony with nature means I am in the picture so I, also, live at the expense of other forms of life.  This is kind of an Original Sin idea in Buddhism.  Whereas in Christianity Original Sin is a sin against God, just to be is to cause pain in the world.  This is why humility is so strongly emphasized in Buddhism; especially Shin Buddhism.  Some vegetarians, especially vegans, see their actions as making them more blameless.  However, how many lives, how many ecosystems have been destroyed to grow their corn.  The entire heartland of America was the home of bison and many other forms of life wiped out by cultivation. 

What is EcoSangha?

EcoSangha will be a site devoted to promoting an awareness of the fact that...to be a Buddhist is automatically to be an Ecologist and a Conservationist.  Several EcoSanghas already exist and we hope this movement will be embraced by Buddhists throughout the world.  This is our first posting although we've been organized for over a decade.  There are EcoSanghas in San Jose, CA; Spokane, WA; and Seattle, WA where we are located.