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December 18, 2001
The best things in life are free...
The best things in life are not things.
A blessed Christmas to all from Alternatives' staff.
If you need some seasonal inspiration for yourself or your group, click here to visit Alternatives' free archives. - http://www.simpleliving.org/Archives/index.html
Other web sites to consider...
New Celebrations Newsletter: www.NewCelebrations.com
Counting the Cost E-zine: www.countingthecost.com
If you have thoughts to submit for "Whose Birthday?" 2002, send them soon while they're vivid.
****************************************************
The Center for a New American Dream has launched Turn the Tide, a program of nine simple actions that we can take that have a measurable, positive impact on the environment -- and it lets us see that impact immediately.
Through easy-to-use web technology, we can see the collective impact of a congregation's actions as well as the impact of our individual actions.
Saving water, trees, and sea life, and preventing pollution will be calculated so we can see it right away! This is a great chance for us to make a personal difference to the environment as a community. For more information and to sign up, contact Cassandra, (301) 891-3683, or cassandra@newdream.org, or visit the web site at http://www.newdream.org/cnad/user/turn_the_tide.php.
An article about Turn the Tide appears in issue #1 of "Alternatives Reader," a new e-zine (electronic magazine) on Alternatives' web site.
Watch this space for its launch date in early January.
********************
The best things in life are free....
The best things in life are not things.
More Than 1000 Quotations!
Over 475 Illustrations!
For Personal Inspiration
For Electronic and Paper Publications
Royalty-Free for Non-Profits
Foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "The Circle of Simplicity"
For an "Art Tour" of selections from the collection's graphics, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/ArtTour.html
For selected quotations, visit: http://simpleliving.org/Archives/Lent/LentCal2001.html
To read the foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "Circle of Simplicity," click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Editorial.html
The easy-to-use collection in a packet sells for $15; the CD-ROM, $15; both paper version and CD-ROM in a binder with tab dividers, $30.
For more information or to order, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
Then click on "Alternatives' Spirit of Simplicity."
***************************
I appreciate your work! Lawrence Baylot, Severna Park, MD
I love everything about Alternatives! Thanks for all you do. Joy Crosby, Hickory, NC
I would be happy to receive your newsletter. Thank you and thanks, too, for your good work. Blessings of peace, Phyllis Turner Jepson, Coordinator Local/Regional Coordinator's Office, Pax Christi USA - A National Section of the International Catholic Peace Movement
To read more Current Customer Comments, click here. http://www.simpleliving.org/cgi-bin/blurb.pl
To read past comments, click here. http://www.SimpleLiving.org/Archives/index.html#Feedback
Peace,
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
We read the Gospel as if we had no money, and we spend our money as if we know nothing of the Gospel. -John Haughey, S.J.
Yes, you can still order resources for Christmas. All orders to U.S. ZIP codes placed by noon, Monday, December 17th, will arrive before December 25th.
For children's Christmas books, visit... http://www.simpleliving.org/catalog/Christmas3.html
For various Christmas resources, visit... http://www.simpleliving.org/catalog/Christmas.html
For "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" visit... http://www.simpleliving.org/catalog/Christmas.html
For Alternatives' Christmas resources, visit... http://www.simpleliving.org/catalog/Christmas4.html
********************************
Eight touching, full-color 12"x18" laminated posters -- with beloved verses from the Sermon on the Mount. With study guide, $20. BEATPos
A Guide to Giving Your Money for Social Change
Chuck Collins and Pam Rogers with Joan P. Garner
Americans donate over $150 billion to charity annually. Giving has never
been more popular, possible, or -- for many -- confusing. There are oceans
of need, mountains of requests, and not nearly enough time for the careful
consideration needed to give thoughtfully and effectively.
The authors -- all longtime activists and givers -- show that traditional
charity most often reinforces the status quo and maintains the dynamics of
dependency and control. The progressive ethic of giving endorsed in these
pages, on the other hand, offers detailed and ingenious ways to attack the
root causes of social problems. With its enthusiastic theme of "Change, not
charity!" this book supplies the tools that make giving one of the most
meaningful and satisfying ways you can spend your money.
Complete with colorful, step-by-step explanations of how to be a deliberate
and progressive giver, it leaves no financial stone unturned. As much fun
as it is inspirational. 285 pp. $18. ROBIN
Putting Your Financial Values into Spiritual Perspective
Rosemary Williams
Money is never neutral. It triggers powerful emotions and conflicting messages -- especially for women. The "money messages" we were taught can pop up at any moment, in decisions large and small. Look at finances in new and freeing ways with this complete "workshop in a book."
Each thoughtful essay, reflective worksheet, and journaling exercise is designed to help you understand the meaning of money in your life. Whether your funds are significant or minimal, this will help bring your financial life into alignment with your core spiritual values. 220 pp. $16. WBM
For more information or to order, click here: http://www.simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
Then click on the title of interest.
For more books on money, click here: http://www.simpleliving.org/catalog/Economics.html
*********************************************
We read the Gospel as if we had no money, and we spend our money as if we know nothing of the Gospel. -John Haughey, S.J.
More Than 1000 Quotations!
Over 475 Illustrations!
For Personal Inspiration
For Electronic and Paper Publications
Royalty-Free for Non-Profits
Foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "The Circle of Simplicity"
For an "Art Tour" of selections from the collection's graphics, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/ArtTour.html
For selected quotations, visit: http://simpleliving.org/Archives/Lent/LentCal2001.html
To read the foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "Circle of Simplicity," click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Editorial.html
The easy-to-use collection in a packet sells for $15; the CD-ROM, $15; both paper version and CD-ROM in a binder with tab dividers, $30.
For more information or to order, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
Then click on "Alternatives' Spirit of Simplicity."
***************************
I look forward to continued email mailings. Thanks again, Candy Montalvo, Fremont, CA
This was a particularly helpful newsletter. Thank you for the good work you and all the folks at Alternatives have been doing for years. It seems critically important, especially now when spiritual truth-telling is not what people want to hear. Peace and Light, Skip [S. Londos]
i love the site and all the wonderful insights therein. thanks, lisa ham
To read more Current Customer Comments, click here: http://www.simpleliving.org/cgi-bin/blurb.pl
To read past comments, click here: http://www.SimpleLiving.org/Archives/index.html#Feedback
Peace,
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Let us measure the success of America not by its number of billionaires but by the number who are not hungry, or homeless, or in need of medical attention. --Journey into Freedom
*******************************************
Yes, you can still order for Christmas. All orders to U.S. ZIP codes placed by noon, Monday, December 17th, will arrive before December 25th.
For children's Christmas books, visit... http://SimpleLiving.org/catalog/Christmas3.html
For various Christmas resources, visit... http://SimpleLiving.org/catalog/Christmas.html
For "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" visit... http://SimpleLiving.org/catalog/Christmas.html
For Alternatives' Christmas resources, visit... http://SimpleLiving.org/catalog/Christmas4.html
Let Us Simplify Your Gift Giving As You Spread the Word of Simpler Living.
We will send RESOURCES or GIFT CERTIFICATES (for any amount) or GIFT MEMBERSHIPS (and a current Resource Guide) to the recipients of your choice. Please indicate "This is a gift." Gift Memberships and Gift Certificates have no shipping charges.
*******************************************************
Many voices in our consumer culture invite us to get more, have more, do more. They promise us more happiness, greater security, more fulfillment.
Not all of these voices are false. Not all of these promises are empty. But we all know that happiness, security and fulfillment are more complex needs than the advertisements suggest. And, they're not the most important needs we have.
Most of us have a deep-seated need for a life of meaning and purpose. Most of us are looking for ways to multiply our personal and spiritual assets so that we can focus on what truly does give life meaning: service to others, justice for those who are marginalized, peace in our communities and in our world.
You can benefit from Alternatives positive message of simple living, and receive discounts on resources you can use in small group settings at church, community, civic or home studies. Alternatives for Simple Living can help you on your personal faith journey for fulfillment in many ways.
Alternatives develops and offers books, videos and other resources that help you and other people of faith live simpler, more responsible lives. It produces and promotes an annual Christmas booklet called "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" that urges us to focus less on "stuff" and more on traditions, relationships, and alternative giving. It invites readers to reflect upon the true purpose of the season - celebrating Jesus coming into this world.
Alternatives' nationwide volunteer bureau, called SLOw Down Network, helps groups connect with speakers and workshop leaders. Our extensive web site makes hundreds of free articles available anytime for personal inspiration and for editors to use.
For over twenty-five years Alternatives has lead the movement to challenge the gospel of consumerism so prevalent in the United States. Alternatives is operated by a small, committed staff. The operation is lean and frugal. We authentically work to embrace the message we espouse every day.
Now is the time to help support this vital effort. I sincerely hope you will consider a tax deductible gift which will be used to help reach others.
Can we count on you for a generous gift today?
Please respond by phone, email, mail or fax.
Sincerely,
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
**********************************************************
Let us measure the success of America not by its number of billionaires but by the number who are not hungry, or homeless, or in need of medical attention. --Journey into Freedom
More Than 1000 Quotations!
Over 475 Illustrations!
For Personal Inspiration
For Electronic and Paper Publications
Royalty-Free for Non-Profits
Foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "The Circle of Simplicity"
For an "Art Tour" of selections from the collection's graphics, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/ArtTour.html
For selected quotations, visit: http://simpleliving.org/Archives/Lent/LentCal2001.html
To read the foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "Circle of Simplicity," click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Editorial.html
The easy-to-use collection in a packet sells for $15; the CD-ROM, $15; both paper version and CD-ROM in a binder with tab dividers, $30.
For more information or to order, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
Then click on "Alternatives' Spirit of Simplicity."
***************************
I plan to give your resources as gifts. Different, honest, simple. -- Hester Petty, St. Paul, IN
I plan to use your resources in our Christian Ed program. Thanks for getting the items here quickly! -- Oakhurst Presbyterian Church, Decatur, GA
I plan to use "Simple Living, Compassionate Life," "Simple Living Guide," "Speaking for Ourselves" and "The Christmas Game" for myself and the church. Your resources are helpful, relevant, challenging, spiritual, Christ-centered! Thank you. --Karen Hunter, Seattle, WA
To read more Current Customer Comments, click here.
http://SimpleLiving.org/cgi-bin/blurb.pl
Peace,
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Become the change you wish to see -Gandhi
YES, you can still order for Christmas. All orders to U.S. ZIP codes placed by noon, Monday, December 17th, will arrive before December 25th.
For children's Christmas books, visit: http://SimpleLiving.org/catalog/Christmas3.html
For various Christmas resources, visit: http://SimpleLiving.org/catalog/Christmas.html
For "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" visit: http://SimpleLiving.org/catalog/Christmas.html
For Alternatives' Christmas resources, visit: http://SimpleLiving.org/catalog/Christmas4.html
****************************************************
If you would like to contribute to the 2002 edition of our most widely-read, family-oriented booklet, "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" please send ideas before January 15, 2002. That gives you time to prepare something during the holiday season when it's really on your mind. An item may be new or not, original or not. If it's by someone else, include a complete description of the source.
We can use...
We print about 150,000 copies and reach many more through our website. We intend to translate much of it into Spanish. Lead writers are Jim and Kathy McGinnis of the Peace and Justice Institute, St. Louis.
The article by volunteer Christine Leonard Osterwalder in the 2000 edition was picked by "Horizon," the national women's magazine of the Presbyterian Church (USA). The cover photo by volunteer Phil Claeys, "Prayerful Santa," was carried on the United Methodist News Service website and was reproduced in dozens of publications.
To order Christmas Campaign Kit, visit... http://SimpleLiving.org/catalog/Christmas4.html#CCK
To see the cover and to read excerpts from "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" 2001, click here... http://SimpleLiving.org/xb/xbcover.html
To read past issues, click here... http://SimpleLiving.org/Archives/XB/XBindex.html
To read the popular "Ten Tips for a Simpler, More Meaningful Christmas" click here... http://SimpleLiving.org/main/MR/10tips.html
******************************************
Become the change you wish to see -Gandhi
More Than 1000 Quotations!
Over 475 Illustrations!
For Personal Inspiration
For Electronic and Paper Publications
Royalty-Free for Non-Profits
Foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "The Circle of Simplicity"
To read the foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "Circle of Simplicity," click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Editorial.html
The easy-to-use collection in a packet sells for $15; the CD-ROM, $15; both paper version and CD-ROM in a binder with tab dividers, $30.
For an "Art Tour" of selections from the collection's graphics, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/ArtTour.html
For selected quotations, visit: http://simpleliving.org/Archives/Lent/LentCal2001.html
For more information or to order, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
Then click on "Alternatives' Spirit of Simplicity."
*********************************
"Whose Birthday," "Faith the Cow," "Whoever You Are" are all excellent. I plan to use them as resources for congregational programs, junior sermons and Sunday School. Keep up the good work. --Niskayuna Reformed Church, Schenectady, NY
"Whose Birthday" helps facilitate discussion about family ideas for volunteering and giving. --Gerald Frank, Bluemont, VA
"Gifts that Make a Difference," "Earth Score, "Whose Birthday" 2001 all exceeded even the descriptions. I plan to use them to simplify gift giving, to help the environment and to assist my spiritual growth. Service was prompt and efficient. -- Iris M. Dreyer, Aransas Pass, TX
To read more Current Customer Comments, click here.... http://SimpleLiving.org/cgi-bin/blurb.pl
Peace,
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Where there is too much... something is missing. -Jewish proverb
YES, YOU CAN STILL ORDER FOR ADVENT! All orders to U.S. ZIP codes placed by noon, Tuesday, November 20th, will arrive before the first Sunday in Advent, December 2nd.
For "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" visit http://.simpleliving.org/catalog/Christmas.html
For Alternatives' Advent-Christmas resources, visit http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Christmas4.html
For children's Christmas books, visit: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Christmas3.html
For various Advent-Christmas resources, visit: http://SimpleLiving.org/catalog/Christmas.html
**************************************************
If any links in this message don't work in your web browser, please re-key or copy-and-paste the address into your browser.
The Alternative Christmas Game offers a fun way for children and adults to share their holiday memories, expectations and hopes. It offers a forum for people to begin thinking about their celebration of Christmas, as well as a way to learn from one another. The game deals with many of the traditional alternative Christmas themes, such as gift-giving and commercialization. Playing the game encourages further thought and discussion on what gives the season meaning among family members and others.
Play "The Christmas Game" anywhere - at home, at church, while traveling, while visiting friends or relatives. This compact booklet can be kept in a purse, car glove compartment, coat pocket. It fits in most standard size letter envelopes. It can be easily shared with friends and relatives in cards or letters, or given as a gift at Sunday School, church, reunions, parties, meetings.
This non-competitive game is designed to help people talk to each other in a fun and meaningful way. A great alternative to TV! It sells for $2; 5-9 copies, $1.50 each; 10-24, $1 each; 25-49, 75¢ each; 50+, 50¢ each.
"The Christmas Game" also comes in the Christmas Campaign Kit, a sampler of ten items. This $15 value is only $10 postpaid. It also includes "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" "Carols with Justice," "Let's Talk About Christmas" family discussion worksheet, "Ten Tips for Simpler, More Meaningful Christmas," alternative giving cards and stationery.
To order Christmas Campaign Kit, visit: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Christmas4.html#CCK
To see the cover and to read excerpts from "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" 2001, click here - http://SimpleLiving.org/xb/xbcover.html
To read past issues, click here. http://SimpleLiving.org/Archives/XB/XBindex.html
To read the popular "Ten Tips for a Simpler, More Meaningful Christmas" click here. http://simpleliving.org/main/MR/10tips.html
**************************
Inside: "It is true, then: all things are possible with God. May your world be filled with the hope, possibility and promise of this glorious season." (See in color in "Whose Birthday" 2001, p. 5.) 8 cards, envelopes. $6.50.
MAC
To see more alternative greeting cards, click here - http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Cards.html
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Some of the most meaningful calendars we have ever seen!
Helping the needy help themselves -- with farming techniques, blankets and beans, lessons in self-government, sheets of corrugated tin.
These are the tools of hope shared month by month, life by life, in this calendar.
An ideal gift for anyone wishing to support the struggle against global suffering and injustice. Each page 12 x 12-1/2, full color. $10.
CWSCAL
Culture Jamming. Subvertising. Irreverant media literacy. Each page 11-1/2 x 11-1/2, full color. $15. ADCAL
Constructive daily lifestyle reflections and suggestions; special days, celebrations, moon phases and seasonal lore. Proceeds to non-profit, Earth-healing programs. Each page 8-1/2 x 11, black & white. $6. ASPICAL
Extraordinary photos by Returned Peace Corps Volunteers. Each month contains a country profile; each day, holidays from around the world -- the most complete list we've ever seen. Profits are donated to development and educational projects here and abroad. Each page 9-1/2 x 12-1/2, full color.
$10. PCCAL
To see more, click here - http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Calendars.html
************************************
Where there is too much... something is missing. -Jewish proverb
More Than 1000 Quotations!
Over 475 Illustrations!
For Personal Inspiration
For Electronic and Paper Publications
Royalty-Free for Non-Profits
Foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "The Circle of Simplicity"
The easy-to-use collection in a packet sells for $15; the CD-ROM, $15; both paper version and CD-ROM in a binder with tab dividers, $30.
For an "Art Tour" of selections from the collection's graphics, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/ArtTour.html
For selected quotations, visit: http://simpleliving.org/Archives/Lent/LentCal2001.html
To read the foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "Circle of Simplicity," click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Editorial.html
For more information or to order, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
Then click on "Alternatives' Spirit of Simplicity."
*****************************
I plan to use "Whose Birthday" for worship ideas. --Leonard Benson, New Carlisle, OH
I plan to use "Buy Me Nothing, I'll Still Love You," Alternative giving cards, "The Christmas Game," "Simplify and Celebrate," and "The Shoemaker's Dream" for a program entitled "Christ is the Heart of Christmas." I continue to simplify and focus. --Donna Shields, Bethel Lutheran, Winchester, VA
I plan to distribute "Whose Birthday" at meetings and promote its use. I have used it for several years and want others to use it. I'll tell others about the books "Yards of Purple," "Hundred Dollar Holiday," "For Every Child" and others. Appreciate what you stand for! The service rep was a pleasure! Thanks for the help! --Presbytery of Lake Huron, Saginaw, MI
To read more Current Customer Comments, click here - http://simpleliving.org/cgi-bin/blurb.pl
Peace,
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
All orders to U.S. ZIP codes placed by noon, Tuesday, November 20th, will arrive before the first Sunday in Advent, December 2nd.
For "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" visit http://SimpleLiving.org/catalog/Christmas.html
For Alternatives' Advent-Christmas resources, visit - http://SimpleLiving.org/catalog/Christmas4.html
For children's Christmas books, visit: http://SimpleLiving.org/catalog/Christmas3.html
For various Advent-Christmas resources, visit: http://SimpleLiving.org/catalog/Christmas.html
********************************************************
Quality books at reduced prices! Ideal for personal growth or as gifts.
For cover art and details, copy-and-paste the title's address into your web browser. Ignore the regular prices in the catalog and the web site. These discounts apply only to copies in stock.
David Beckmann & Arthur Simon
225 pp. Was $11, now $8. GT
Alan Durning
http://SimpleLiving.org/catalog/SimpleLiving.html#HowMuch
200 pp. Was $12, now $8. HOW
Johann Cristoph Arnold
193 pp. Was $10, now $7. CHILDLEAD
Francis Moore Lappé, author of Diet for a Small Planet
Paul Martin DuBois
338 pp. Was 23, now $15. QUICK
Johann Christoph Arnold
248 pp. Was $20, now $15. (cloth). SEEK
Paul Rogat Loeb
http://SimpleLiving.org/catalog/BuildingComm.html#SoulofaCitizen
365 pp. Was $16, now $10. SOUL
Alan Thein Durning
224 pp. Was $15, now $10. PLACE
For more specials, visit SimpleLiving.org/cgi-bin/Specials.pl
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The price of anything is the amount of life you pay for it. -Henry David Thoreau
More Than 1000 Quotations!
Over 475 Illustrations!
For Personal Inspiration
For Electronic and Paper Publications
Royalty-Free for Non-Profits
Foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "The Circle of Simplicity"
For an "Art Tour" of selections from the collection's graphics, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/ArtTour.html
For selected quotations, visit: http://simpleliving.org/Archives/Lent/LentCal2001.html
To read the foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "Circle of Simplicity," click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Editorial.html
The easy-to-use collection in a packet sells for $15; the CD-ROM, $15; both paper version and CD-ROM in a binder with tab dividers, $30.
For more information or to order, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
Then click on "Alternatives' Spirit of Simplicity."
*****************************
I really would like to keep in touch with your "special ministry," so count me in for the e-mailing. Grace and Peace, Frank "Skip" Danforth, West Chatham, MA
Hello Folks! We are new to your organization / catalog; but we sure do admire what you do. Brian Reeves, Santa Rosa, NM
Thanks for all your good work. --Naomi Reynolds, former editor, The American Baptist Quarterly
To read more Current Customer Comments, click here - http://simpleliving.org/cgi-bin/blurb.pl
Peace,
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations. -from the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederation
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Readings for Advent and Christmas
Rediscover the reason for the season with great spiritual writers and poets, past and present.
During the hectic weeks before Christmas, Christians of every persuasion long to prepare their hearts for Christ's coming. The four weeks of Advent leading up to December 25 is making a comeback as growing numbers of people reject the shopping mall frenzy.
This unique collection brings together Advent meditations from favorite classic and contemporary spiritual writers. Ecumenical in scope, these 40 essays and poems celebrate the miracle of Christ's birth, and infuse it with rich meaning for today. Whether dipped into at leisure or used for daily devotions, they guide the reader into deeper dimensions of Christmas joy. Click on Additional Details next to this title for excerpts and a list of authors. 200 pp. $15 [updated price] (cloth). WFTL
The Rights of the Child in Words and Pictures
Foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu
Whoever we are, wherever we live, these are the rights of every child under the sun and the moon and the stars.
In November 1989, the United Nations formally adopted 54 principles that make up the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child -- from the right to a name and a nationality to the right to education and play and special protection for disabled children.
And now in this extraordinary book, 14 of the most pertinent rights are retold in a simple, evocative text that can be understood by every child. Each right has been interpreted in a stunning double-page spread by some of the world's most acclaimed artists, including two American award-winners: Jerry Pinkney and Rachel Isadora. $17. FEC
Mem Fox; Leslie Staub, illus.
(Ages 3-7)
Every day all over the world, children are laughing and crying, playing and learning, eating and sleeping. They may not look the same. They may not speak the same language. And their lives may be quite different. But inside, they are just like you.
Here is a story from beloved author Mem Fox that weaves its way around our Earth, across cultures and generations, celebrating the bonds that unite us all. 32 pp. $6. WYA
To see the cover art or to order, visit: SimpleLiving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
You'll also see details on numerous other new titles for various ages.
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In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations. -from the Great Law of the Iroquois Confederation
More Than 1000 Quotations!
Over 475 Illustrations!
For Personal Inspiration
For Electronic and Paper Publications
Royalty-Free for Non-Profits
Foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "The Circle of Simplicity"
For an "Art Tour" of selections from the collection's graphics, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/ArtTour.html
For selected quotations, visit: http://simpleliving.org/Archives/Lent/LentCal2001.html
To read the foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "Circle of Simplicity," click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Editorial.html
The easy-to-use collection in a packet sells for $15; the CD-ROM, $15; both paper version and CD-ROM in a binder with tab dividers, $30.
For more information or to order, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
Then click on "Alternatives' Spirit of Simplicity."
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Thanks to Herb for his beautiful hymn, and to you for sharing it! I'll share it with our church network, and also the San Diego Coalition for Peace and Justice; we have a faith-based committee, also. Blessings, LKW (Linda K. Williams)
Thank you so very much for making such a comforting prayer/hymn available online. Herb Brokering is to be thanked profusely for giving us this gift.
I will be using it with a small group bible study I lead on Mondays and know it will be one long remembered. I have shared it with others not in our study giving credit to the writer and to your web site for I know this will be appreciated by those I am in touch with regularly. Sincerely, Jeanette Daniel
Thanks for the [membership] reminder (and thanks for saving paper by doing it e-mail). As we speak I'm sharing the Brokering Hymn. Thanks for being there. Barbara Werdelin, South Berwick, ME
Thank you very much for the information about Alternatives resources. And the hymn by Brokering is a real blessing. Peace, Betty Ann Driver, Teachers College Columbia University, New York, NY
To read "A Hymn for Use at Time of Tragedy," visit...
http://SimpleLiving.org/main/eNewsCurrent.html
Then click on Alternatives Alert! Oct. 2, 2001.
To read more Current Customer Comments, click here.
http://SimpleLiving.org/cgi-bin/blurb.pl
To order Christmas Campaign Kit, visit...
http://SimpleLiving.org/catalog/Christmas4.html#CCK
Peace,
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
October 30, 2001
There are two ways to get enough. One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less. -G.K. Chesterton
Our Consumer culture is out of control!
Once, we shopped to buy what we needed, period. Now that we don't need much, we shop for other reasons: to impress each other, to fill a void, to kill time. A mere 20% of the Earth's population uses over 80% of its natural resources. Our overconsumption is killing the planet.
BUY NOTING DAY is a simple idea with deep implications. It forces us to think about the "shop-till-you-drop" imperative and its effects on the rest of the world. On Buy Nothing Day, enjoy a break from the shopping frenzy. Relish your power as a consumer to change the economic environment.
Visit www.adbusters.org.
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visit... http://simpleliving.org/Archives/TreasCeleb/TOCGifts.html
The "Gifts" section of "Treasury of Celebrations" includes:
Treasury of Celebrations includes sections on Making Choices, Gifts, January-April holidays, May-August, September-December, Advent, Christmas and Rites of Passage.
A copy of the whole 288 page book on paper is now only $12 (originally $20). Click here to go the description in our catalog. http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Celebrate.html
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Now the text of "Whose Birthday" 2001 will come to you by email, when you order a reprint license for only $15 (up to 300 copies) or $25 (over 300 copies), code XBr-A. Use as much or as little of the booklet as you like, whenever you like.
Just call or send email. This offer is not yet on our web site.
Other reprint ideas: The "Spirit of Simplicity" Advent-Chrsitmas calendar/bulletin insert from the booklet is available for 10 cents per copy (50 or more) printed on recycled paper; or you can copy is and pay a royalty of 5 cents per copy. Or get the text by email with a royalty payment for 200 or more copies. The email text gives you more flexibility to reformat or serialize the calendar.
Also available by email: CAROLS with JUSTICE -- booklet $2, reprint license $10 (up to 500 copies); $20 (500+), code CwJr-A. Make your copies from the booklet (includes full musical arrangement) or from the email text file.
The text file is free upon request when you order a reprint license.
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There are two ways to get enough. One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less. -G.K. Chesterton
More Than 1000 Quotations!
Over 475 Illustrations!
For Personal Inspiration
For Electronic and Paper Publications
Royalty-Free for Non-Profits
Foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "The Circle of Simplicity"
The easy-to-use collection in a packet sells for $15; the CD-ROM, $15; both paper version and CD-ROM in a binder with tab dividers, $30.
For an "Art Tour" of selections from the collection's graphics, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/ArtTour.html
For selected quotations, visit: http://simpleliving.org/Archives/Lent/LentCal2001.html
To read the foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "Circle of Simplicity," click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Editorial.html
For more information or to order, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
Then click on "Alternatives' Spirit of Simplicity."
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Just want you to know that we really appreciate getting your publications and any other materials you have on Simple living. Although, I must admit that it is difficult to be austere in this culture. KEEP UP your good work! Thanks -- Kathy & Harold Saunders, Severna, MD
I do think we, in the US, live too extravagantly for this small planet Earth. I've explored your web site some, and would like to continue to hear from you. -- M. K. Hafner, Randolph Center, VT
To read more Current Customer Comments, click here... http://simpleliving.org/cgi-bin/blurb.pl
To read past comments, click here... http://simpleliving.org/Archives/index.html#Feedback
Peace,
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
We may not have received your web site order!
We just learned today that if you have ordered from Alternatives' on-line order form through our web site catalog BETWEEN OCTOBER 9TH and 26TH -- for reasons beyond our control -- we did NOT receive your order. Please call us toll free -- 800/821-6153 -- to place your order. We will process it immediately.
(If you ordered through our eStore / shopping cart called Ultra Shop, we did receive your order.)
If you are unsure how you placed an order from our web site, please call and we'll check.
This does not apply to orders placed through the mail, by fax, phone or regular email.
We have been assured that the technical problem has been fixed and that you can begin ordering from our web site catalog again now.
Our sincere apologies for any inconvenience this has caused. Thank you for your patience.
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
All things are possible once enough human beings realize that everything is at stake. -Norman Cousins
BILL McKIBBEN has written about the natural world for publications ranging from The New York Review of Books and the New York Times to Outside and Rolling Stone. A former staff writer for the New Yorker, and now a Fellow at Harvard University, he lives with his wife and daughter in the Adirondack Mountains of northern New York.
All of his book are available from Alterntives for a limited time.
Descriptions follow.
To see more about these or to order, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
Or reply to this email or call 800-821-6153.
The Age of Missing Information
Which provides more "information" -- 93 cable television channels showering us with beguiling factoids or a weekend in the woods? In this brilliant, provocative exploration of ecology and the media, McKibben demolishes our complacent notion that we are "better informed" than any previous generation. Witty, unsettling, and insightful, this is a virtuoso argument for the notion that less is more. After reading it, you'll never look at your television -- or the world -- the same way again. 265 pp. $14. AMI
The End of Nature: 10th anniversary edition
First published in 1989 in seventeen languages on six continents, The End
of Nature has changed the way many people view the planet. Now the author
presents a new introduction for this classic work on our environment crisis
reviewing the progress made and ground lost in the fight to save the Earth.
The book also includes an invaluable new appendix of facts and figures that
surveys the progress of the environmental movement. 235 pp. $14. END
Hope, Human & Wild: True Stories of Living Lightly on the Earth
In these lyrical, penetrating essays, environmentalist Bill McKibben offers
an optimistic response to his best-selling The End of Nature. He journeys
from the Adirondack Mountains to Brazil and India to profile the efforts
of caring communities to preserve the wilderness and reverse environmental
devastation. These inspiring accomplishments offer hope for our planet's
future. 240 pp. $15. HHW
Hundred Dollar Holiday: The Case for a More Joyful Christmas
Limit holiday spending to $100. That's about 1/8th of the amount a typical household in the USA spends at Christmas - $4,000! The goal isn't to save money, it is "to emerge with some real sense that Christ has come into your world." Severely limiting spending forces us to engage our creativity and focus on the season, not on the stuff. This wonderful little read is filled with great ideas and good stories. McKibben tells us not to stop giving, but to give things that matter. This book makes a fine gift. 96 pp. $12. HDH
Long Distance: A Year of Living Strenuously
In his late thirties, celebrated essayist, journalist, and author Bill McKibben -- never much of an athlete -- decided the time had come for him really to test his body. Cross-country skiing his challenge of choice, he lived the fantasy of many amateur athletes and trained -- with the help of a coach/guru -- nearly full-time, putting in hours and miles typical of an Olympic hopeful. For one vigorous year, which culminated in a series of grueling, long-distance races, he experienced his body's rhythms and possibilities as never before.
But the year also brought tragedy as his father developed a life-threatening illness. Forcing a deeper exploration of both body and spirit, this action-packed memoir is transformed into a moving account of two men coming to terms with the limits of the flesh. 191pp. $23 (cloth). LD
Maybe One: A Case for Smaller Families
In The End of Nature, Bill McKibben sounded an early alarm about the dangers of global warming, and science has proven him right. Here he takes on an issue of paramount importance for Earth and profound significance for parents: deciding to limit the size of one's family.
In this illuminating and provocative book, he makes an informed, well-reasoned case for single-child families. The father of a single child himself, he shares the personal dilemma he and his wife faced after their daughter's birth, and their ultimate decision not to have any more children. He dismantles stereotypes about only children being psychologically disadvantaged and shows how smaller families can actually help both children and parents. And he examines what an America of single-child families would mean -- and the effect a more stable population could have on everything from our schools to Social Security.
At a time when we may be nearing the limits of the Earth's capacity to support human life, voluntarily choosing to have only one child could make a critical difference to our future -- and the future of our planet.
A compassionate, hopeful look at a sensitive and controversial subject, Maybe One will influence our thinking for years to come. 255 pp., $13. MO
Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway? 2001
Seven new reflections are by best-selling author Bill McKibben.
"Whose Birthday...?" can be used in many settings -- at home, school, church. The content is new each year but the message is the same -- to equip people of faith to resist the pressures of a commercialized Christmas and to help them celebrate this season with greater integrity. It contains Biblical reflections, articles, calendar and ideas for alternative giving. 36 pp. $3 postpaid. XB01
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All things are possible once enough human beings realize that everything is at stake. -Norman Cousins
More Than 1000 Quotations!
Over 475 Illustrations!
For Personal Inspiration
For Electronic and Paper Publications
Royalty-Free for Non-Profits
Foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "The Circle of Simplicity"
For more quotations, visit: http://simpleliving.org/Archives/Lent/LentCal2001.html
For an "Art Tour" of selections from the collection's graphics, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/ArtTour.html
To read the foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "Circle of Simplicity," click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Editorial.html
The easy-to-use collection in a packet sells for $15; the CD-ROM, $15; both paper version and CD-ROM in a binder with tab dividers, $30.
For more information or to order, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
Then click on "Alternatives' Spirit of Simplicity."
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Please send me a copy of the 2001 version of "Who's Birthday is it Anyway?" My family has enjoyed the activities in the calendar in the past, and we are looking forward to another meaningful celebration of Christ's birth. Thank you. Dara Gjersvik, Alden, MN
I will add your web site to my bookmarks. Thank you. I like what you are doing and believe in it! S. Stefanie Weisgram, OSB
To read more Current Customer Comments, click here: http://simpleliving.org/cgi-bin/blurb.pl
To read past comments, click here. http://simpleliving.org/Archives/index.html#Feedback
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Word-of-mouth works! Please send this issue to the folks on your email list, along with a note like, "Thought you'd enjoy reading this." If you're not on our regular email list, send us a note for a free subscription. If you change your mind, unsubscribing is easy. Send us a note saying "Personal email only."
Thanks for your help!
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Yes, our web site was down last Wednesday because one of our host's servers crashed. Thank you for patience.
This issue is coming early because we have our semiannual board of directors' meeting Monday and Tuesday.
If any of the links below won't work for you, please copy and paste the page address into your web browser.
Ask questions like these. At a family meeting write down your decisions. Then post them.
At Christmas time so many peoples' brains seem to get disconnected. For whatever reason -- habit, family pressure, guilt about being a bad Dad, whatever -- people put themselves through incredible stress and end up in big debt.
Instead of assuming that everything will be just the same this year and that everybody will be happy about it, talk to those who will be involved. Instead of gritting your teeth when you see Christmas decorations going up before Halloween, sit down with your family, contact your relatives and friends -- those you normally celebrate with -- and talk.
Talk about what each of you really wants at Christmas, talk about expectations, talk about who is going to do what. Maybe the person -- usually Mom -- who is assumed to do most of the work, wants more help.
Maybe there's something else that folks really want to do but are afraid to rock the boat. Their humble idea may become a great new family tradition. Write down your ideas and post your plan in a central place, whether your celebration is religious or secular.
Mark your calendar for your own "Let's Talk About Christmas!" Day.
Beat the rush after Thanksgiving. Talk early. Contact Alternatives for a "Let's Talk About Christmas!" Worksheet, part of Alternatives' Christmas Campaign Kit.
It can be hard sharing feelings and ideas about simplifying Christmas when friends and family don't 'get it.' Our Christmas Campaign resources help to urge others to focus at Christmas on traditions and relationships instead of stuff.
In addition to Alternatives' most widely read annual booklet for families, "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" the kit includes new cards, stationery for holiday letters and even a bumper sticker.
The post card and matching stationery, "Buy Me Nothing. I'll Still Love You," can also be used for mailings or bulletin boards.
A sampler of all ten items, a $15 value, is only $10 postpaid. It also includes a booklet of "Carols with Justice," "Let's Talk About Christmas" family discussion worksheet, "The Christmas Game," "Ten Tips for Simpler, More Meaningful Christmas" and an Alternative Giving card used to honor people through gifts to charity. All of the items in the kit are available individually and at discounted quantity prices.
To order Christmas Campaign Kit, visit http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Christmas4.html#CCK
To see the cover and to read excerpts from "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" 2001, click here: http://SimpleLiving.org/xb/xbcover.html
To read past issues, click here: http://SimpleLiving.org/Archives/XB/XBindex.html
To read the popular "Ten Tips for a Simpler, More Meaningful Christmas" click here: http://simpleliving.org/main/MR/10tips.html
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Visit http://simpleliving.org/Archives/TreasCeleb/TOCxmas.html
The "Christmas" section of "Treasury of Celebrations" includes:
Treasury of Celebrations includes sections on Making Choices, Gifts, January-April holidays, May-August, September-December, Advent, Christmas and Rites of Passage.
A copy of the whole 288 page book on paper is now only $12 (originally $20). Click here to go the description in our catalog: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Celebrate.html
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When a group of professional people asked a group of 4-to-8-year olds, "What does love mean?" one replied, "Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." -Warren McLaren
More Than 1000 Quotations!
Over 475 Illustrations!
For Personal Inspiration
For Electronic and Paper Publications
Royalty-Free for Non-Profits
Foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "The Circle of Simplicity"
For an "Art Tour" of selections from the collection's graphics, visit http://simpleliving.org/catalog/ArtTour.html
For selected quotations, visit: http://simpleliving.org/Archives/Lent/LentCal2001.html
To read the foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "Circle of Simplicity," click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Editorial.html
The easy-to-use collection in a packet sells for $15; the CD-ROM, $15; both paper version and CD-ROM in a binder with tab dividers, $30.
For more information or to order, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
Then click on "Alternatives' Spirit of Simplicity."
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Thanks for your ideas on alternative Christmas marts. I held one at our church last year and it was a great success. We have also altered our family gatherings, with extended kin, to make the holidays more meaningful and less about materialism. Thanks! Cheryl Hasegawa
Thank you for your web site!! I have been simplifying my Christmas for the last 10 years, but it hasn't been received very well by my family. I'm hoping that your catalog will have some helpful ideas. -- Cassandra B. Lista, Santa Rosa, CA
To read more Current Customer Comments, click here.
To read past comments, click here.
Peace,
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
If any of the links below won't work for you, please copy and paste the URL into your web browser.
The serial of "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" 2001 on our website has begun. A new installment appears each Wednesday.
Click here for this week's installment. http://simpleliving.org/free/XBFrame.html
Bookmark this page for a weekly lift! Bill McKibben's reflections run October 10th through November 27th. The calendar "Spirit of Simplicity" begins November 28th.
The entire booklet is available on paper for $3 (postpaid). Quantity pricing goes as low as $.70 each.
To see the cover and to read excerpts from "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" 2001, click here: http://SimpleLiving.org/xb/xbcover.html">
To read past issues, click here: http://SimpleLiving.org/Archives/XB/XBindex.html
For the popular "Ten Tips for a Simpler, More Meaningful Christmas" click here: http://simpleliving.org/main/MR/10tips.html
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visit http://simpleliving.org/Archives/TreasCeleb/TOCAdvent.html
The "Advent" section of "Treasury of Celebrations" includes:
Treasury of Celebrations includes sections on Making Choices, Gifts, January-April holidays, May-August, September-December, Advent, Christmas and Rites of Passage.
A copy of the whole 288 page book on paper is now only $12 (originally $20). Click here to go the description in our catalog: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Celebrate.html
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from the Institute for Peace and Justice
So many words have been written and spoken these past few days. Our concern, as a community of faith, is based on two precepts. First, our Institute was founded on the precept, "If you want peace, work for justice." And secondly, consistent with the precepts of all the great religions, "in the face of escalating violence, escalate love."
The Institute for Peace and Justice, 4144 Lindell Boulevard #408, St. Louis, MO 63108 (314) 533-4445, Fax (314) 715-6455 e-mail: ipj@ipj-ppj.org
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The plain fact is that we are starving people, not deliberately in the sense that we want them to die, but willfully in the sense that we prefer their death to our own inconvenience. -Victor Gollancz
More Than 1000 Quotations!
Over 475 Illustrations!
For Personal Inspiration
For Electronic and Paper Publications
Royalty-Free for Non-Profits
Foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "The Circle of Simplicity"
For more quotations, visit: http://simpleliving.org/Archives/Lent/LentCal2001.html
For an "Art Tour" of selections from the collection's graphics, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/ArtTour.html
To read the foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "Circle of Simplicity," click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Editorial.html
The easy-to-use collection in a packet sells for $15; the CD-ROM, $15; both paper version and CD-ROM in a binder with tab dividers, $30.
For more information or to order, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
Then click on "Alternatives' Spirit of Simplicity."
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dear gerald, we just received the notebook. it looks like such a great and generous resource. many thanks. blessings vicki (Vicki Robin, co-author of "Your Money or Your Life" responding to "Alternatives' Spirit of Simplicity")
I am happy to be in your list. Alternatives for simple living is a great, fundamental idea. I hope to hear from you regularly. Sincerely, Aspasia, Brazil
To read more Current Customer Comments, click here.
To read past comments, click here.
Peace,
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Due to a most unfortunate accounting error by our host server, our web site has been unavailable off-and-on recently. Thank you for your patience.
ADVIENTO -- Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?
Preparing for Christmas tends to be a time of stress. Try some peace this season with "Adviento." "Adviento" is the Spanish edition of "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" - Alternatives' most widely read resource.
For 30 years, Alternatives for Simple Living has provided people with ideas to celebrate responsibly. The new edition for 2001 features well-known author Bill McKibben. Designed for individuals, families and small groups, the booklet also includes an Advent calendar. "Adviento" is available in quantity pricing as low as $1 per copy.
McKibben's seven Reflections Through Advent to Epiphany can be read quietly or aloud for private or group meditation. Bill McKibben is a Fellow at Harvard University and a well-known speaker. His books include "Hundred Dollar Holiday," "The End of Nature," "The Age of Missing Information," and most recently "Long Distance: A Year of Living Strenuously."
Single copies of the Spanish booklet are $2 each postpaid; 5-19 copies, $1.75 each; 20-49 copies, $1.50 each; 50-299 copies, $1.25 each; 300 or more copies, $1 each. Shipping charges are added. Copies of the 1997-2000 booklets are half price.
EL ESPIRITU DE LA SENCILLEZ CALENDARIO PARA ADVIENTO Y NAVIDAD
The booklet's calendar - "Spirit of Simplicity" - offers thoughts and actions for each day in Advent and the twelve days of Christmas to help people remember the reason we celebrate. The calendar is also available separately as a bulletin insert in Spanish or English. It may be ordered from Alternatives ($1 each; 50 for $5) or copied and a royalty paid.
MUESTRA EN ESPAÑOL -- Spanish Sampler
Nine items are included in a SPANISH SAMPLER for $5 -- several 40 day calendars for Lent, and 1997-2000 "Advent" booklets of biblical reflections (including "10 Tips for a Simpler, More Meaningful Christmas" ["Adviento," 1997-2000 panfletos de reflexiones biblicas (incluyendo "Diez consejos para una Navidad mas sencilla, pero con mas significado")].
NUESTRA BODA -- Wedding Alternatives
The average American wedding costs over $20,000. If you believe you can find value and meaning without going into debt, if you want a wedding filled with true family values, try 'NUESTRA BODA' [Wedding Alternatives].
Create a beautiful wedding that reflects your values and doesn't cost the Earth. "Nuestra Boda" offers alternatives to engaged couples, clergy and others alternatives to the bridal magazines and professional bridal consultants. "Nuestra Boda" encourages couples to use their imaginations as they incorporate their values and family and ethnic traditions to plan meaningful wedding celebrations. It's a practical planning guide with personal stories from people who chose more than a status quo wedding.
This resource is available in Spanish soft cover, as well as English soft cover and English packet. All three editions are similar in content. The Spanish and English packet (ideal for photocopying) are $10 each; the English soft cover is $12 from Alternatives.
Click here to view Alternatives' Spanish titles. http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Spanish.html
Editor: For your convenience, a detailed release is available on-line at: http://simpleliving.org/main/MR/SpanishRes.html
REVIEW COPIES and art are available upon request.
To REPRINT parts or all of Alternatives' popular annual "Adviento" booklets contact us.
NEW! -- bilingual book
The Christmas Gift -- El regalo de Navidad
Francisco Jimenez; Claire B. Cotts, illus.
A true story in a farm labor tent camp...
With honesty and rare grace, this award-winning author shares his most poignant Christmas memory in this unusual gift book. Illustrated with paintings both powerful and tender, his spare telling celebrates the true spirit of Christmas - and illuminates how children draw strength from the bonds of their families.
$15 (cloth). TCG
To view "The Christmas Gift" or Bill McKibben's books, click here. http://simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
Then click on the title of your choice.
To view McKibben's Hundred Dollar Holiday, click here.
Foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "The Circle of Simplicity"
For an "Art Tour" of selections from the collection's graphics, click here. http://simpleliving.org/catalog/ArtTour.html
For selected quotations, visit http://simpleliving.org/Archives/Lent/LentCal2001.html
To read the foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "Circle of Simplicity," click here. http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Editorial.html
The easy-to-use collection in a packet sells for $15; the CD-ROM, $15; both paper version and CD-ROM in a binder with tab dividers, $30.
For more information or to order, click here. http://simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
Then click on "Alternatives' Spirit of Simplicity."
Editor: For your convenience, a release about "Spirit of Simplicity" is available on-line at: http://simpleliving.org/main/MR/QuotesArt.html [NOTE corrected URL]
It's not a perfect hymn and this is not a perfect world. Please use for personal devotions, or a service, or any other way you find helpful. Please pass it on to others who might find it comforting as well.
Cordially, Herb Brokering
The 2001 Bombing
Tune: O Sacred Head Now Wounded
Herbert Brokering
Dear God, behold the crying, the anger in our eyes,
and danger reappearing as we cannot surmise.
Behold your world is mourning, we bow we bend we kneel.
O hear our grief unspoken and mysteries we feel.We mold our steel to weapons, you turn them to plow shares.
We plan retaliation, you give us rules to care.
We bury dead remorseful, you raise us from the dead.
May we when finished crying believe the words you said.Dear acorn in the forest, awake and face the light.
Dear children who are weeping, God holds you through the night.
For when the dark is over, there wakes a morning sun,
and what was dead is rising, and life again begun.Dear Lord you chose the hillside to say the words we cry.
You know the hurt between us, you know the reason why.
When all our tears are finished and minds again hold still,
surround us with your mercy and lead us with your will.For all who now go weeping with tears so deep inside,
give them a glimpse of seeing into the other side.
Forgiveness is the power you give us from the tree,
now open dim some beauty ahead for us to see.
Thanks for the work you do to promote a better world-village. -- Chaplain Dwight Mays, Altavista, VA
I plan to distribute and display "Whose Birthday" at upcoming church events. You provide good resource in the process of simplifying my life. -- Kathy Frost, Twin Cities, MN
I found you accidentally on the web. I was looking for information about simplifying, and I happened upon you, thank God :) Trish Clark, Troy, NH
Peace,
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Due to a most unfortunate accounting error by our host server, our web site has been unavailable most of the past week. So I am repeating abbreviated information about our new release from last week. Thank you for your patience.
Foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "The Circle of Simplicity"
"Alternatives' Spirit of Simplicity: Quotes & Art for Simpler Living and Global Justice" shares the joy of simpler living, the urgency and practicality of sustainability, and the need for social justice. It includes humorous, serious, religious and secular quotations and images.
This collection encourages and equips individuals and editors in the quest of living more simply for their own happiness and for the health of Earth and all its creatures.
For an "Art Tour" of selections from the collection's graphics, click here. http://simpleliving.org/catalog/ArtTour.html
For selected quotations, visit http://simpleliving.org/Archives/Lent/LentCal2001.html
The paper version is printed on chlorine-free, recycled paper. The CD ROM allows editors of paper-based and electronic publications to "cut and paste" images and quotations electronically.
To read the foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "Circle of Simplicity," click here. http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Editorial.html
These materials are designed for publications (paper and electronic), such as newsletters, church bulletins and web sites. Also, they are suitable for personal inspiration, for sharing with friends and for spreading the word about simpler living... anywhere and everywhere!
The loose-leaf collection contains 200+ pages. On the CD-ROM, resolution is 300 dpi, accommodating both Mac & PC formats.
Any of the quotations and images in this collection may be published on paper or electronically (including web sites) on a non-profit basis to promote voluntary simplicity and social justice.
The easy-to-use collection in a packet sells for $15; the CD-ROM, $15; both paper version and CD-ROM in a binder with tab dividers, $30.
For more information or to order, click here. http://simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
Then click on "Alternatives' Spirit of Simplicity."
Editor: For your convenience, a release about "Spirit of Simplicity" is available on-line at: http://simpleliving.org/main/MR/QuotesArt.html [NOTE corrected URL]
(from Alternatives' "Sing Justice! Do Justice!")
>From Selah Publishing Co. -- In light of the recent tragedy, we find that these two hymns might be appropriate for your worship services. They may be used free of charge and without prior permission through the end of September, 2001. Please include the credits when reproducing these hymns.
For other use, contact Selah at (800) 852-6172, or at licensing@selahpub.com
These hymns are available typeset to the suggested tunes at Selah's web site in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. A link to this file is found on our home page at www.selahpub.com.
To download the file, click and hold on the link on our home page to download the small (84k) PDF file. It should take less than a minute to download these files with a normal dial-up connection. If you have problems doing this, Selah will e-mail you the PDF file by return e-mail (contact us at editorial@selahpub.com).
Let justice roll on earth
bringing new hope to birth
until wrongs cease.
We, who have known God's care,
now hear the call to dare
to live out everywhere
God's way of peace.
That we may meet this hour
renew in us the power
your grace imparts;
wisdom to recognize
injustice and its lies,
ears tuned to hear the cries
of broken hearts.
Transform the way we live,
enlarge our hearts to give
and give again;
proclaiming liberty,
setting your people free
to live with dignity,
free from their pain.
In evil's fear-filled night,
O God, let there be light,
let justice roll!
Life-giving Trinity,
you call your church to be
agents of jubilee:
a world made whole.
-Rosalind Brown, 1996.
664 6664 (suggested tune: MOSCOW)
(c) 1998 Selah Publishing Co., Inc., www.selahpub.com
-------------------------
God, you see your loved creation
tortured, torn by violent hands,
watch unsleeping, while we ravage
peaceful homes and fruitful lands.
God, you hear your peoples' groaning,
crushed beneath oppression's weight,
listen where their cries for mercy
rise to you from flames of hate.
God, you know in deep compassion
all earth's sorrow, all its pain,
suffer with your wounded children
long as want and fear remain.
God, come now with power to save us,
as you came in Christ your Son.
Call us, send us in your service
till your kingdom's work is done.
Grant us eyes that see with pity,
ears that hear your children's cry,
hearts that ache for others' anguish,
hands your gifts of love supply.
-Herman G. Stuempfle, Jr.
87 87 (suggested tune: RESTORATION)
© 1998 Selah Publishing Co., Inc., www.selahpub.com
To see other books on Peace & Justice, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/PeaceJustice.html
"Sing Justice! Do Justice!" is attractive and challenging. Good quality poetry and hymnody. -- Louise Carlson, Timenium, MD
I plan to read "Kids Creating Circles of Peace" to children. I wanted material to help children in character building. Your material is good to help make people better and more loving. Glad you're there. --Claire Applegate, Stafford, TX
Peace.
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
"Spirit of Simplicity" Spreads the Word with Few Words
Humorous and serious visuals and brief, powerful quotations are very effective ways of promoting social change, especially as North Americans are developing shorter attention spans.
A new collection, "Alternatives' Spirit of Simplicity: Quotes & Art for Simpler Living and Global Justice" shares the joy of simpler living, the urgency and practicality of sustainability, and the need for social justice. It includes humorous, serious, religious and secular quotations and images. This collection encourages and equips individuals and editors in the quest of living more simply for their own happiness and for the health of Earth and all its creatures.
For an "Art Tour" of selections from the collection's graphics, visit http://simpleliving.org/catalog/ArtTour.html
For selected quotations, visit http://simpleliving.org/Archives/Lent/LentCal2001.html
The paper version is printed on chlorine-free, recycled paper. The CD ROM allows editors of paper-based and electronic publications to "cut and paste" images and quotations electronically.
To read the foreword by Cecile Andrews, author of "Circle of Simplicity," click here http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Editorial.html
These materials are designed for publications (paper and electronic), such as newsletters, church bulletins and web sites. Also, they are suitable for personal inspiration, for sharing with friends and for spreading the word about simpler living... anywhere and everywhere!
The collection is available through Alternatives' quarterly Resource Guide (catalog) and web site (simpleLiving.org).
This loose-leaf collection is expandable. The quotations and the illustrations are organized by topics and intermingled for appealing reading.
The 200+ page, loose-leaf collection contains more than 475 images and over 1000 quotes. On the CD-ROM, resolution is 300 dpi, accommodating both Mac & PC formats.
Any of the quotations and images in this collection may be published on paper or electronically (including web sites) on a non-profit basis to promote voluntary simplicity and social justice.
The easy-to-use collection in a packet sells for $15; the CD-ROM, $15; both paper version and CD-ROM in a binder with tab dividers, $30.
For more information or to order, click here http://simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
Then click on "Alternatives' Spirit of Simplicity."
This new resource is funded in part by American Baptist Church Hunger Program; New Road Map Foundation (www.newroadmap.org); and The Social Ministry and Global Ministry Committees of Our Savior's Lutheran Church, Circle Pines, MN.
Alternatives is a non-profit organization that "equips people of faith to challenge consumerism, live justly, and celebrate responsibly." Alternatives serves everyone.
Contact Alternatives at 1-800-821-6153 or 712-943-6153, fax 712-943-1402, or e-mail Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org. The address is 109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054. Visit Alternatives' Web site: simpleLiving.org ###
Editor: For your convenience, this release is available on-line at: http://simpleliving.org/main/MR/QuotesArt.html
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Sarah M. Foulger
This remarkable collection of heartfelt and imaginative stories is perfect for sharing aloud with persons of all ages. A story for each Sunday in Advent - cycles A, B and C - and for Christmas Eve. Questions are included to encourage reflection and discussion. 128 pp. $13. YOP
To see the cover art or to order, click here. You'll also see details on numerous other new titles for various ages.
To see other books on Advent and Christmas, click here. http://SimpleLiving.org/catalog/Christmas.html
Share Alternatives' free Resource Guide or "Whose Birthday" one-page color flyer with others at meetings, conferences, etc. The guide contains many new resources, as well as established works on simpler living for children and adults. For free copies, reply to this email or call 800-821-6153 anytime.
Click here for a listing of the current "bundle" from Alternatives' Resource Club.
Then click on "Fall, 2001, bundle."
I plan to use "Unplug the Christmas Machine" in adult education on Sunday morning in November. I love your ideas. Very impressed with service. I underpaid and you sent it anyway! P.S. I sent the rest! -- St. Matthias Church, East Aurora, NY
I plan to use Whose Birthday 2001 with my Adult Sunday School class. It's easy to use. You have quick service. I enjoy the way you present an alternative. It was so easy to use your service. --David Radcliffe, Red Deer, AB, Canada
SUPER "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" and "Update..." thorough, interesting, so MANY good ideas to consider and act on. Thank you all! -- Richard "Dick" Webster, Worthington, OH
I LOVE your publications. --Dorothy "Dottie" Burnham, Knoxville, TN
The selections from you [in the Resource Club] are great. Your service is great. --Jill Bremer, Olympia, WA
Web Site Ordering Tips
Simply by clicking on a titles' code at the end of the description in the catalog, you go directly to a blank order form. (The code should appear in color and underscored.) If you need to return to the item description, click your browser's "back" button. To return to the order form, click the "forward" button. If you don't know the item code, just give the title.
Likewise, if you're in our eStore, click on a title's item code and you go directly to an order form. That title will be filled in. To go back to the eStore, click on your browser's "back" button. To return to the order form, click on the "forward" button. While in the eStore, you can check your shopping cart (order form) at any time by clicking "view shopping cart" at the top of any eStore page.
If you have questions about ordering on our web site, please email or call.
Thanks. Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Your help is needed and much appreciated.
Please post the following brief message on any internet bulletin boards, with any internet news groups, etc. as soon as possible. Simply copy the message, insert your organization's name where indicated (if appropriate), and paste the message into your posting. Last year we received numerous orders through such postings.
Please send a note to your WebMaster urging her/him to link our site to yours if s/he hasn't already done so. A Link or Button will make it possible for someone viewing your Website easily to pull up a description of the "Whose Birthday" booklet on our website. [The specific address from the Whose Birthday cover page is http://SimpleLiving.org/xb/xbcover.html]
If you have questions or concerns, please contact me. We'd appreciate knowing where you do your postings.
MESSAGE:
Life Too Stressed? Christmas Losing Its Meaning?
Want to Simplify Your Celebration?
Here's Help - the 2001 Edition of "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?"
Preparing for Christmas tends to be a time of stress - scurrying, shopping, fretting. Try some peace this season with the year 2001 edition of "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" from Alternatives, a partner of [your organization].
Designed for individuals, families and small groups, this booklet includes Biblical reflections by author Bill McKibben, articles, worshipful ceremonies, activities, an Advent calendar and suggestions for remembering those in need. "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" is available in quantity pricing as low as 70¢ per copy.
For 30 years, Alternatives has provided people with ideas to celebrate responsibly. For a current free catalog of resources for responsible living and celebrating, call anytime 800-821-6153, fax 712/943-1402, or e-mail: Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org or visit on-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
[End of message]
For excerpts from "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" 2001, featuring Bill McKibben, visit http://SimpleLiving.org. Click on Resources: Whose Birthday. To read the entire booklet, order a copy on paper, or read a new installment each week at the same place on the website beginning in October.
The popular "Ten Tips for a Simpler, More Meaningful Christmas" is available at http://simpleliving.org/main/MR/10tips.html
A wealth of free Alternatives' material is on-line for easy downloading! Visit http://SimpleLiving.org. Click on Information: Media Releases. For many inspiring articles, click on Information: Feature Articles. Or go directly to http://SimpleLiving.org/Archives
Thanks for your help!
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Send a Message! with Alternatives' New Christmas Campaign Kit
It can be hard sharing feelings and ideas about simplifying Christmas when friends and family don't 'get it.'
Our Christmas Campaign resources are easy ways to urge others to focus at Christmas on traditions and relationships instead of stuff.
In addition to Alternatives' most widely read annual booklet for families, "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" the campaign kit includes new cards, stationery for holiday letters and even a bumper sticker.
The greeting card and matching stationery, "Bearing Gifts Does Not Make Us Wise," includes brief information on alternative giving. The post card and matching stationery, "Buy Me Nothing. I'll Still Love You," can also be used for mailings or bulletin boards.
A sampler of all ten items, a $15 value, is only $10 postpaid. It also includes a booklet of "Carols with Justice," "Let's Talk About Christmas" family discussion worksheet, "The Christmas Game," "Ten Tips for Simpler, More Meaningful Christmas" and an Alternative Giving card used to honor people through gifts to charity. All of the items in the kit are available individually and at discounted quantity prices.
Bill McKibben's seven new reflections in "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" can be read quietly or aloud for private or group meditation. Bill is a Fellow at Harvard University and well-known speaker. His books include "Hundred Dollar Holiday," "The End of Nature," "The Age of Missing Information," and "Long Distance: A Year of Living Strenuously."
Alternatives provides other resources appropriate for reevaluation of Christmas and for simpler living all year. For a current free catalog, call anytime 712/943-6153 or 800-821-6153, fax 712/943-1402 or e-mail Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org. Visit http://SimpleLiving.org. ###
[Editor: For your convenience, this release is available on-line at: http://simpleliving.org/main/MR/Campaign.html]
I really support your mission. I try to live simply and tame the Christmas monster too. --Lisa Swanson Faleide, Maddock, ND
I visited your web site and now have it on my favorite list. -- Rev. Joel Westby, Williston, ND
Peace. Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Bill McKibben Headlines "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" for 2001
Noted speaker and writer Bill McKibben has written seven biblical reflections for the year 2001 edition of "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?"
Designed for individuals, families and small groups, the booklet also includes worshipful ceremonies, activities, an Advent calendar and suggestions for remembering the needy. For over ten years, Alternatives has provided people with ideas to celebrate responsibly in this Advent-Christmas Resource. "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" is available now in quantity pricing as low as 70¢ per copy. A single copy is $3 postpaid.
Bill McKibben is a Fellow at Harvard University and a well-known speaker. His books include "Hundred Dollar Holiday," "The End of Nature," "The Age of Missing Information," and most recently "Long Distance: A Year of Living Strenuously."
The booklet's full color cover is a poignant reminder of Christmas priorities. Art inside depicts the Madonna and Child in different cultures.
The booklet includes articles and worship aids for family or small groups at home or church.
The booklet's calendar - "Spirit of Simplicity" - offers thoughts and actions for each day in Advent and the twelve days of Christmas. The calendar is also available as bulletin inserts in English or Spanish. A free copy of the popular "Ten Tips for a Simpler, More Meaningful Christmas" is available upon request.
Alternatives produces customized versions of the booklet for some 25 denominations and dioceses. Any group can have a customized version.
Contact Alternatives for details before September 1st. "Adviento," shorter Spanish edition of the booklet, is also available.
"Whose Birthday" also comes in Alternatives' "Christmas Campaign Kit," 10 items (a $15 value) for $10, postpaid. The kit includes booklets, cards, even a bumper sticker.
Alternatives provides other resources appropriate for reevaluation of Christmas and for simpler living all year. For a current free catalog, call anytime 712/943-6153 or 800-821-6153, fax 712/943-1402 or e-mail Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org. Visit simpleLiving.org. ###
To see the cover and to read excerpts from "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" 2001, click here: http://SimpleLiving.org/xb/xbcover.html
To read past issues, click here: http://SimpleLiving.org/Archives/XB/XBindex.html
To read the popular "Ten Tips for a Simpler, More Meaningful Christmas" click here: http://simpleliving.org/main/MR/10tips.html
To see another Christmas title by McKibben, "Hundred Dollar Holiday," click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Christmas.html
For a limited time we now carry McKibben's classic and new titles. They'll be on the web site soon.
The End of Nature (10th anniversary edition)
235 pp. $14. END
Age of Missing Information
265 pp. $14. AMI
Maybe One: A Case for Smaller Families
255 pp., $13. MO
Hope, Human & Wild: True Stories of Living Lightly on the Earth
240 pp. $15. HHW
Long Distance: A Year of Living Strenuously
191pp. $14. LD
Readers have told us recently:
I love your Advent resource! -- Rev. Cheryl Larsen Lawing
Thank you for your ministry. -- Larry K. Nelson, Pastor, St. Mark's Lutheran Church, Pleasant Hill, CA
Peace. Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
August 14, 2001
At an industry conference in Brussels, Belgium, Sony Corp. made a presentation on the need to counteract the activism of environmental groups who are pressing for regulations that would require electronic equipment manufacturers to take financial responsibility for their products through their entire life, including disposal. The Sony presentation mentioned Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, and the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition.
These groups advocate a new approach to waste management called extended producer responsibility (EPR) for electronic equipment. EPR takes a "cradle to grave" approach to products, providing companies with an economic incentive to make their products with less hazardous ingredients and easier to recycle.
In their presentation, Sony call for a unified strategy by the electronics industry to deal with the group's efforts, including:
Sony also called on the industry to work with "reliable" groups to establish local recycling programs for computers and electronic equipment, as a way to preempt government regulation.
But activists don't plan to let this industry plot slow them down as they continue to call for responsibility by the producers of electronic equipment. Ted Smith of the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition points out, "It seems that industry has spent an inordinate amount of time fighting the tide instead of doing what they need to do to clean up the industry."
For more information on efforts to clean up the electronics industry, go to www.SVTC.ORG. (From "Everyone's Backyard: for health, environment and justice," winter, 2000-2001, 703-237-2249.)
To see resources on Earth Care, click here. http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Environment.html
Thanks for pricking my conscience. My full pantry and freezer are daily reminders to not only thank Our Father for His munificence to me and my family, but to do more to share His bounty. Keep after us, because if you don't, who will? Peace, Mary May Melancon
Dateline NBC is planning an hour-long special about the history of consumer culture in America. We want to show how consumer behavior has changed since the 1940s.
Ideally we would like to tell the story of one family. We hope that by tracking the fortunes of one family across three / four generations that we can distill discussion of the wider issues of investment, spending and debt into a more human, palatable form.
My dream narrative would involve a family, maybe immigrants that came to America in the 30s, worked hard to become members of America's "affluent society", spent big and saw subsequent generations both reject and embrace their achievements. To make a good news story we need drama and tension.
Maybe one son ran off to become an eco-warrior whilst his sister took over the family business. Maybe one generation went bankrupt while the next one made millions.
Our piece is not setting out to judge the relative merits of people's life choices. We merely want to track the impact of consumer culture over the past fifty years: its advantages and disadvantages.
Any help you could give me on this would be greatly appreciated. I would welcome any and all suggestions. I can be reached at 212-664-4754. Thank you for your attention. Liz Brown
Thanks.
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Helping Kids See Beyond Their Backyard
Jan Johnson
Media and advertisements lead children to believe affluence is the norm. We need to let our kids see how the rest of the world lives. Johnson urges parents to cultivate their children's empathetic imagination. She offers practical advice on expanding kids' awareness of the poor and oppressed in the world and in their own communities. She shows parents how to integrate compassion-building activities into everyday family life.
Volunteering together provides an opportunity to combine service to others with family time.
Personal and family devotions and questions for reflections are included in each chapter. She also provides a comprehensive resources section which lists organizations, events, and print, video, and Web sources parents can go to for more ideas.
165 pp. $12. GCK.
Teenagers today have more money and independence than ever before.
Their lives have become the object of obsessive focus by corporate America.
Public television's highest rated public affairs series, Frontline, explores the culture in which today's American teenager is growing up & how they've come to view themselves and their parents. 60 minutes. $18. MERCOOL
To see these and other New Titles, click here. http://simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
To see other books on Parenting, click here. http://simpleliving.org/catalog/ChParent.html
To see other books on Media Literacy, click here. http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Media.html
To see other videos, click here. http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Videos.html
Web Site Ordering Tips
Simply by clicking on a titles' code at the end of the description in the catalog, you go directly to a blank order form. (The code should appear in color and underscored.) If you need to return to the item description, click your browser's "back" button. To return to the order form, click the "forward" button.
Likewise, if you're in our eStore, click on a title's item code and you go directly to an order form. That title will be filled in. To go back to the eStore, click on your browser's "back" button. To return to the order form, click on the "forward" button. While in the eStore, you can check your shopping cart (order form) at any time by clicking "view shopping cart" at the top of any eStore page.
If you have questions about ordering on our web site, please email or call.
In response to our recent e-newsletter TEN TIPS FOR SIMPLER, MORE MEANINGFUL CELEBRATIONS: Holidays & Rites of Passage (like Weddings, Birthdays, Graduations), readers wrote...
Thanks for the tips. Good stuff. We will share it with both congregations with whom we are working. Rev. Phil Hoy
THANK YOU! These are great! SUSAN Giesecke, TX
Thanks!
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
July 31, 2001
* "Fewer than 25 percent of parents think their children manage money extremely well, according to a survey. And half of teenagers aged 14 to 16 say they've received little or no financial advice from their parents," according to "Financial Values: To Advertisers, Money Talks--And So Do Frogs," in Lutheran Brotherhood "bond" magazine, January-February, 2001, page 5.
"By one estimate, more than $2 billion is spent annually on advertising to children. Kid Screen, a publication devoted to teaching children through entertainment, advises advertisers to... structure messages that connect with kids on psychological and emotional levels.... There's an industry of psychologists and marketers dedicated to researching how children respond to advertising, persuading them to spend money on this product for that brand. That includes Infant Research with cooperating parents.
"What have psychologists and advertisers learned? They know that kids ages 3 to 7 tend to accept whatever they see or hear at face value. They know that kids 8 to 12 are impressed by sports heroes and celebrities. They know that humor gets attention. In fact, a 1998 ad agency study 'to determine what works, and what doesn't' with 6 to 17 year olds found that the number one ad was for a product that, theoretically, wasn't aimed at those ages... Budweiser beer. Kids loved the talking frogs."
Visit "Kids & Money: Your Money, Your Message" at
http://www.luthbro.com/lb_programs/kidsandmoney/index.html. (page no longer there)
Then visit with your child or grandchild, and use the time for a little money talk. Lutheran Brotherhood is a fraternal organization.
For more books on money, click here. http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Economics.html
Dear Friends, I have heard that some leaders of the Jewish Community were encouraging their members to consider "giving away" their tax rebates this Fall to benefit the poorer citizens who were not receiving a tax rebate because they didn't qualify. Given the fundamentally selfish nature of the rebate and tax cuts, I decided to encourage my parishioners to direct all or at least a significant portion of their rebates to the ELCA World Hunger Appeal. Thanks, Pastor Robert Jones, Spirit of Joy Lutheran Church, Cottonwood, AZ
...or to any denominational hunger program or worthy nonprofit working for social justice.
Thanks!
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Reviewers of Bill McKibben's reflections in "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" 2001, are saying...
"This whole piece is really WONDERFUL... So incredibly beautiful and true! ... good tie-in with today's issues.... Beautiful! Powerful!""Beautifully written, thought-provoking, moving... thoughtful and persuasive."
A third, a seasoned Catholic writer and editor, "Good... good... good connection... good."
Your Group Can Benefit from Customized Copies of "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?"
Orders are now being accepted for customized copies of the 14th edition of "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" for Advent 2001. This booklet is Alternatives' most widely read resource.
The featured writer for 2001 is best-selling author Bill McKibben, a Fellow at Harvard University and well-known speaker. His books include "Hundred Dollar Holiday," "The End of Nature," "The Age of Missing Information," and most recently "Long Distance: A Year of Living Strenuously."
Designed for families and small groups, "Whose Birthday...?" can be used in many settings -- at home, school, church. The content is new each year but the message is the same -- to equip people of faith to resist the pressures of a commercialized Christmas and to help them celebrate this season with greater integrity. As in the past, it contains Biblical reflections, articles, activities and ideas for alternative giving.
This resource is so well received, contains such valuable material and yet costs so little. We normally produce some 25 customized versions of "Whose Birthday...?" for various denominations and dioceses. We can produce one for a group, a single congregation or others.
Sponsors have three pages inside and their name on the front and back covers. Alternatives provides free editorial help and promotion materials.
Copy is requested September 1st for November 1st delivery.
Reservations are requested by August 15th. Minimum order for customization is 1000 copies.
Ecumenical, national catholic and denominational versions are now in stock.
For excerpts from "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" 2001, click here http://SimpleLiving.org/xb/xbcover.html
For past issues, click here http://SimpleLiving.org/Archives/XB/XBindex.html
For the popular "Ten Tips for a Simpler, More Meaningful Christmas" click here http://simpleliving.org/main/MR/10tips.html
Thanks!
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
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For more information click here. http://simpleliving.org/main/MR/altXmas.html
An Alternative Christmas Community Festival is a concrete, exciting way to offer ideas and support for those who want to have more meaningful Christmas celebrations. It is also a positive way to introduce the need for change to people unaware of the problems connected with the way we celebrate Christmas.
Alternatives offers two helpful Christmas Festival and Workshop Guidelines for planning fall events.
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For more information click here. http://simpleliving.org/main/MR/Speakers.html
The SLOw Down Network -- short for Speakers, Leaders, Organizers and Discussion groups -- consists of over 750 volunteers who stand ready to speak or lead workshops at churches, service clubs, schools and other gatherings about Simple Living and about Alternatives. They consult on organizing events, like Third World Craft Fairs, and help people start Simplicity Circles and study/action/accountability groups.
Alternatives provides free materials -- catalogs, flyers, resources -- upon request for displays at conferences, meetings, conventions and other events.
Editor: For the names of speakers in your area, contact us.
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FEATURE ARTICLE
For more information click here. http://simpleliving.org/main/MR/SLOpower.html
Alternatives' North American SLOw Down Network started in 1997. The network now has over 750 volunteer members and is growing by over 100 per year.
"People throughout North America seem really hungry for information about living more simply," said Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator of Alternatives for Simple Living. "Our hope is that people can learn ways to simplify their lives so that they are not overtaken by stress, debt and guilt. Our SLOw Down Network offers help." Iversen said.
"We provide tools for simplifying, such as books and videos. But the best motivation to change comes through face-to-face sharing, education, support and accountability. That's how volunteer empowerment happens.
And the results? Here's exciting news from SLOw Down volunteers in Illinois, Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Indiana, Florida, New York, Colorado , Virginia and Pennsylvania.
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For more information click here. http://simpleliving.org/main/MR/UnplugXmasSparks.html
"We were inspired by Alternatives to write 'Unplug the Christmas Machine,'" says author Jo Robinson. This classic and its leader's guide have been used to lead thousands of workshops on simplifying Christmas.
"Unplug" is a true phenomenon! Started in 1978, "Unplug" still helps keep the movement for a simpler Christmas strong and healthy. It touches so many lives at such an important time.
This complete guide to putting love and joy back into the season contains thoughtful suggestions, creative exercises and answers to often-asked questions.
The "Leader's Guide to 'Unplug the Christmas Machine' Workshop" helps leaders create a four hour workshop that helps participants clarify their beliefs and make realistic plans for more joyful, meaningful celebrations.
Alternatives is a non-profit organization that "equips people of faith to challenge consumerism, live justly, and celebrate responsibly."
Through its mail-order resource service, Alternatives sells books on simple living and related topics, both for Christmas and for year-round use. For a current free catalog, call anytime 712/943-6153 or 800-821-6153, fax 712/943-1402 or e-mail Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org. Visit on-line: simpleLiving.org.
Thanks.
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Want to Simplify Celebrations?
Here's Help -- the 2001 Edition of "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?"
To see the full color cover and to read excerpts, click here.
http://simpleliving.org/xb/xbcover.html
Preparing for Christmas tends to be a time of stress. Try some peace this season with the year 2001 edition of "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" from Alternatives for Simple Living.
For over ten years, Alternatives has provided people with ideas to celebrate responsibly in this Advent-Christmas resource booklet. The all new year 2001 edition features well-known speaker and author Bill McKibben.
Designed for individuals, families and small groups, the booklet includes biblical reflections, worshipful ceremonies, activities, an Advent calendar and suggestions for remembering the needy. "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" is available now in quantity pricing as low as 70¢ per copy. McKibben's seven reflections can be read quietly or aloud for private or group meditation. Bill is a Fellow at Harvard University and well-known speaker. His books include "Hundred Dollar Holiday," "The End of Nature," "The Age of Missing Information," and most recently "Long Distance: A Year of Living Strenuously."
Articles present meaningful Christmas alternatives and worship aids. The booklet's calendar - "Spirit of Simplicity" - offers thoughts and actions for each day in Advent and the twelve days of Christmas. The calendar is also available as bulletin inserts in English or Spanish.
Single copies of the booklet are $3 each postpaid; 5-19 copies, $2 each; 20-49 copies, $1.50 each; 50-299 copies, $1 each; 300-999 copies, 85¢ each; 1000+ copies, 70¢ each. Shipping charges are added above four copies.
Alternatives produces customized versions for some 25 denominations and dioceses. Orders of 1000+ copies placed by September 1st can be customized. A free copy of the popular "Ten Tips for a Simpler, More Meaningful Christmas" is available upon request.
Alternatives provides other resources appropriate for reevaluation of Christmas and for simpler living all year. "The Christmas Game" provides hours of family storytelling. "Carols with Justice" adds an element of social justice to many traditional carols. For a current free catalog, call anytime 712/943-6153 or 800-821-6153, fax 712/943-1402 or e-mail Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org. Visit on-line: simpleLiving.org. #####
Editors: For more information and interviews, contact Gerald Iversen.
* REVIEW COPIES and art are available upon request.
* If you would like to REPRINT parts or all of "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" contact us. Resources produced by Alternatives are printed on recycled paper.
NOTE: For a wealth of Alternatives' material, visit SimpleLiving.org.
Click on Information: Media Releases and Feature Articles.
For your convenience, this release is available on-line at:
Thanks.
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
FREE, helpful information on September-December holidays!
Go to http://simpleliving.org/Archives/TreasCeleb/TOCSepDec.html
The "Autumn" section of "Treasury of Celebrations" includes:
Treasury of Celebrations also includes sections on Making Choices, Gifts, January-April holidays, May-August, Advent, Christmas and Rites of Passage.
A copy of the whole 288 page book on paper is now only $10 (originally $20). Click here to go the description in our catalog.
http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Celebrate.html
Or to see Treasury of Celebrations in our eStore (shopping cart), go to http://simpleliving.org/ushop1/index.cgi?task=show&cat=Celebrating
For more resources on Building Community, click here.
http://simpleliving.org/catalog/BuildingComm.html
If you would distribute copies of our Resource Guide at conferences, meetings, etc., we will provide free copies. Call or email.
Thanks.
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://simpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Jean Kilbourne
Many advertisements these days make us feel as if we have an intimate, even passionate relationship with a product. But as Jean Kilbourne points out in this fascinating and shocking expose, the dreamlike promise of advertisng always leaves us hungry for more. We can never be satisfied, because the products we love cannot love us back.
Drawing upon her knowledge of psychology, media, and women's issues, Kilbourne offers nothing less than a new understanding of a ubiquitous phenomenon in our culture. The average American is exposed to over 3,000 advertisements a day and watches three years worth of television ads over the course of a lifetime. Kilbourne paints a gripping portrait of how this barrage of advertising drastically affects young people, especially girls, by offering false promises of rebellion, connection, and control. She also offers a surprising analysis of the way advertising creates and then feeds an addictive mentality that often continues throughout adulthood.
366 pp. illustrated. $14. CBML
To see the cover art or to order, click here.
http://simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
To see more titles on Media Literacy, click here.
http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Media.html
David Suzuki and Kathy Vanderlinden
Discover fascinating facts about yourself, plants and animals, the air you breathe, the water you drink, the Earth you walk on, a and the sun that gives you energy. In this collection of full-filled activities, you will find out how to:
Whether you are cooking a delicious veggie chili, making your own soil or creating a mini oil spill, you'll find out more about the world you live in and how to make it better.
130 pp. illustrated. $11. EC
To see the cover art or to order, click here. http://simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
To see other books on Earth care, click here. http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Environment.html
For more titles on the subject of Simpler Living, click here. http://simpleliving.org/catalog/SimpleLiving.html
Web Site Ordering Tips
Simply by clicking on a titles' code at the end of the description in the catalog, you go directly to a blank order form. (The code should appear in color and underscored.) If you need to return to the item description, click your browser's "back" button. To return to the order form, click the "forward" button.
Likewise, if you're in our eStore, click on a title's item code and you go directly to an order form. That title will be filled in. To go back to the eStore, click on your browser's "back" button. To return to the order form, click on the "forward" button. While in the eStore, you can check your shopping cart (order form) at any time by clicking "view shopping cart" at the top of any eStore page.
If you have questions about ordering on our web site, please email or call.
Thanks.
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://simpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
June 19, 2001
We recommend a contribution to Bread for the World Institute to receive its 11th annual "Hunger Report: Foreign Aid to End Hunger." The report shows that for an equivalent of only a penny a day per American, the United States can lead an international drive to cut hunger in half by 2015.
The report includes: Called to Leadership; Hearing the Constituency to End Hunger; U.S. Development Assistance; Foreign Aid That Works for Hungry People; Trade + Aid: Making Globilization Work for Everyone; Realizing Africa's Potential; Hunger Hot Spots 2000; and What You Can Do.
Especially telling is "U.S., not Africa, Owes the Greater Debt" by Coretta Scott King.
Call 800-82-bread, e-mail: Institute@bread.org or visit www.bread.org.
The number of malnourished OVERfed people in the world, which is rising rapidly, recently equaled the number of malnourished UNDERfed people (1.1 billion). Tragically, much of the more rapid increase in the overfed population is occurring in the poor countries themselves due to American-style advertising and the introduction of western fast food chains. These are found in countries in which the 1.2 billion chronically malnourished people (World Bank figures) who are forced to survive on less than one dollar per day.
The U.S. is home to more than 100 million malnourished people. A quarter of these are "morbidly so" -- in other words, in danger of death.
Changing to healthy diet reduces the risk of cancer as much as giving up smoking does.
To read more of "The Other Face of Malnutrition" by Claude Good in
"Prism," January-February, 2001, visit:
http://www.esa-online.org/esa-online/prism/feature/other.html
(article not currently available)
Also learn how Sunday School children are saving 1000 pounds of food with the $5 of pennies they collected.
Prism Magazine offers the free Prism E-pistle bi-weekly e-newsletter.
For a subscription to Prism, click here: http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Magazines.html
Thanks.
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://simpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Alternatives' summer Resource Guide is now available. It contains new resources, an Advent-Christmas preview, as well as titles for adults and children.
To see other New Titles, click here.
http://simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
If you would distribute copies of our Resource Guide at conferences, meetings, etc., we will provide free copies. Call or email.
In preparation for our annual Christmas campaign this fall, we are offering several quality titles for the last time at significant discounts (in stock copies only):
* Christmas in All Seasons
Geneva M. Butz
The liturgical seasons and holidays take on new meaning as we listen to these stories of real people. Hear the pastor of an urban congregation in Philadelphia share fresh and vibrant narratives of the children in the neighborhood, the homeless who come to share a holiday meal and the many visitors drawn to the church's famous "living creche." At times funny, at times deeply moving, this collection of stories offers many examples of the true meaning of Christmas - "God with us." 136 pp. NOW $6. WAS $11. CIAS
* Adbusters EnvironMental Calendar 2001.
Culture jamming. Subvertising. Irreverent media literacy. Full color. NOW $5. WAS $15. ADCAL
* A Student's Guide to Volunteering
Theresa DiGeronimo
Use this guide to get your congregation's youth group working in cahoots with the social ministry committee to effect long term positive change in your community. An expansive directory of organizations, a state by state list of National Volunteer Centers and a step-by-step how-to on accomplishing a task by volunteers not being done in your community are only a few of many reasons to get this resource. 190 pp. NOW $5.50 WAS $11.
SGV
* Guide to World Hunger Organizations: Volume II
Michael Williamson, editor
This revised edition of the classic Guide to World Hunger Organizations analyzes over 30 organizations, including each one's purpose, finances and effectiveness. 100 pp. NOW $3.75. WAS $7.50. GWHO2.
* Leisure: A Spiritual Need
Leonard Doohan
This book compares authentic leisure to the leisure dictated by a $300 billion a year industry that often leaves consumers tense and spiritually stunted. Doohan contends that leisure is an attitude that can be integrated into every aspect of our lives -- work, recreation, prayer, family life, community building and national ethos. 100 pp. NOW $3. WAS $5. LEISURE
* eye to eye women
The New Internationalist, intro. by Anita Desai
This beautiful oversized book of photographs and fiction tells of life in Africa, Asia and Latin America through the words of the regions' top women authors. Marilyn French describes it as "a beautiful feast of a book." We learn from Kebbedesh that she feels "so happy to be teaching my sisters, to be producing skilled sisters. I feel joy and happiness when I see the results of my teaching." Kebbedesh was given to a man at age 8 to be a wife, a marriage that was consummated in its first year. She escaped and was beaten. Again and again. This is a book that can teach compassion, especially the compassion Beuchner defines as "that sometimes fatal capacity for feeling what it is like to live inside another's skin knowing that there can never really be peace and joy for any until there is peace and joy finally for all." 127 pp. WAS $29. NOW $15. EYE
Click here for more SPECIALS. http://simpleliving.org/cgi-bin/Specials.pl
For FREEBIES, click here.
http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Freebies.html
Web Site Ordering Tips
Simply by clicking on a titles' code at the end of the description in the catalog, you go directly to a blank order form. (The code should appear in color and underscored.) If you need to return to the item description, click your browser's "back" button. To return to the order form, click the "forward" button.
Likewise, if you're in our eStore, click on a title's item code and you go directly to an order form. That title will be filled in. To go back to the eStore, click on your browser's "back" button. To return to the order form, click on the "forward" button. While in the eStore, you can check your shopping cart (order form) at any time by clicking "view shopping cart" at the top of any eStore page.
If you have questions about ordering on our web site, please email or call.
Word-of-mouth works! Please send this news to some of the folks on your e-mail directory, along with a note like, "Thought you'd enjoy reading this." If you're not on our regular email list, send us a note for a free subscription. If you change your mind, unsubscribing is easy. Send us a note saying "Personal email only."
Thanks.
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://simpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
John de Graaf, David Wann, & Thomas H. Naylor; David Horsey, illus.
affluenza, n. a painful, contagious, virally-transmitted condition of overload, debt, anxiety, and waste resulting from the dogged pursuit of more.
Based on two highly acclaimed PBS documentaries, Affluenza uses the whimsical metaphor of a disease to tackle a very serious subject: the damage done - to our health, our families, our communities, and our environment - by the obsessive quest for material gain that, since World War II, has been the core principle of the American Dream. The authors show that problems like loneliness and rising debt, longer working hours and environmental pollution, family conflict and rampant commercialism are actually symptoms caused by a single "disease": affluenza, the never-ending search for more.
Thankfully, affluenza can be cured. If it turns out you do have the bug - the book includes a self-diagnosis test so you can find out - the authors detail a number of treatments that offer hope for recovery. They show readers how millions have already enriched their lives by getting rid of the excess baggage, the cultural clutter, and the exhausting race to keep up with the Joneses. Affluenza offers prescriptions that deliver greater value for the money, time, and energy spent each day; for augmenting individual efforts with political remedies; for inoculating ourselves against advertising; for using technology and inspired design to minimize the side-effects of overconsumption; and more. 275 pp. $18. AFFLUBK
For more information, click here http://simpleliving.org/catalog/SimpleLiving2.html
For information on the videos "Affluenza" and "Escape from Afluenza," click here http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Videos.html
Barbara DeGrote-Sorensen & David Sorensen - authors of "'Tis a Gift to Be Simple" & "Six Weeks to a Simpler Lifestyle"
Learn what we value and manage our time accordingly. This is not another book that shows us how to make the best use of our daily planner or how to de-clutter our house. It teaches families how better to manage their time so that they have more time to connect as a family, to eat dinner together, to live in accord with their Christian values.
First families can define their values by asking "What do we really want as a family?" Next "What's stopping us from connecting?" Then take steps to bring the time management in line with these values by asking "how can we create connectedness?" Finally, the authors encourage us to move beyond the family to bring these values out into the world. 128 pages, $11. EFTT.
To see the cover art or to order, click here.
http://simpleliving.org/catalog/SimpleLiving2.html
To see other books on Kids and Their Adults, click here.
http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Children.html
To see other New Titles, click here.
http://simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
Web Site Ordering Tips
Simply by clicking on a titles' code at the end of the description in the catalog, you go directly to a blank order form. (The code should appear in color and underscored.) If you need to return to the item description, click your browser's "back" button. To return to the order form, click the "forward" button.
Likewise, if you're in our eStore, click on a title's item code and you go directly to an order form. That title will be filled in. To go back to the eStore, click on your browser's "back" button. To return to the order form, click on the "forward" button. While in the eStore, you can check your shopping cart (order form) at any time by clicking "view shopping cart" at the top of any eStore page.
If you have questions about ordering on our web site, please email or call.
Thanks.
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://simpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Introducing "Responsible Shopper," a powerful new tool for corporate accountability
by Alisa Gravitz, Executive Director, Co-op America
Given the recent changes in Washington, D.C., our work together -- using economic strategy to create a more just and sustainable society -- is more important than ever.
If national politics end up in gridlock, or worse, we need to make sure we are using our voices in our communities and our economic power as consumers and investors to keep moving the social justice and environmental responsibility agenda forward.
Take the issue of corporate responsibility, for example. We can't wait for Washington to lead. We need to use the strategies of economic action even more powerfully -- informed and selective buying, green purchasing and fair trade, social investing and community investing, shareholder action and boycotting -- to stop corporate irresponsibility and create more just and sustainable economic models.
That's why I'm pleased to announce the launch of Co-op America's new program, Responsible Shopper. It's a web based program designed to make it easier for you to make informed purchasing choices and demand that the corporation's improve their social and environmental performance. It's a program that will make it easier for each of us to exercise our grassroots power.
These are the principles we used to create responsible shopper:
"The Big Idea after the Cold War was to Privatize the Public Sector. Now It's to 'Publicize' the Private sector -- to get its wealth to work for social ends." -Newsweek
Co-op America Quarterly, Spring, 2001, provides you with an in-depth introduction to responsible shopper.
Information from the National Green pages is on Alternatives' web site.
Click here http://simpleliving.org/catalog/FullText/CoopAmQtr.html
To subscribe to Co-op America and receive National Green Pages and Co-op America Quarterly, click here http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Magazines.html
For more about Responsible Shopper, visit www.responsibleshopper.org.
Alternatives for Simple Living is a Business Member of Co-op America.
Discover! in the National Green Pages 2001 from Co-op America
Information on...
Discover! in the National Green Pages...
Thousands of products and services, including
Thanks.
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://simpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Though Advent is months away, now is the time to begin planning for it.
Soon we will release the 14th edition of Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?, our Advent-Christmas resource. The booklet for 2001 includes biblical reflections by well-known author Bill McKibben, family/small group activities, ideas on alternative giving, an Advent-Christmas calendar and more.
Please help to promote the Christmas booklet by distributing color flyers or catalogs to your constituents and colleagues. Or share them at a conference or convention.
The flyer comes flat or folded. It fits in a #10 envelope as a "stuffer." It could easily "piggy-back" on a mailing you're already sending. Let us know how many flyers you can use and we'll send them at no charge.
To order materials, please call, fax, e-mail as soon as you can.
Your help in getting the word out about celebrating a simpler, more joyful and meaningful holiday is very important. We really appreciate the work you do on behalf of Alternatives' ministry of lifestyle integrity.
Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway? Promotional Material ORDER FORM
Yes, I want to help promote Alternatives' popular Advent-Christmas booklet, Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?
Please send me by (date) ______________ the following at no charge to distribute to my constituents and colleagues.
_____ copies of the flyer: __ flat; __ tri-folded
_____ copies of past editions of the booklet
_____ copies of the Promotion Kit: news release; flyer/poster; worship bulletin, newsletter, fax, e-mail blurbs; pulpit announcements; newsletter "ads."
_____ copies of Alternatives' Resource Guide (catalog)
Name:
Denomination / Diocese / Organization:
Address:
Telephone/Fax: ( )
E-mail:
Instead of me, this mailing should go to:
Comments, questions, method of distribution (We'd like to share your ideas with others.):
Thanks.
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Holidays & Rites of Passage (like Weddings, Birthdays, Graduations)
Suitable for Posting on the Office Bulletin Board, on the Refrigerator, and for Sharing with Friends and Relatives
1. Plan ahead. Instead of going on auto-pilot, hold a family meeting to decide
what the group really wants to do and who's going to do what.
Observe appropriate preparatory periods before Christmas and Easter, possibly
with a study/action/prayer guide or calendar.
2. Focus on relationships with family, friends and other people, and with God, rather that on "stuff." Spend your time, energy and money nurturing people, not things.
3. For symbols of holidays, look to faith, not to commerce. Do Santa and bunnies tell the story you want to tell? Let's tell the real stories of our faith and values.
4. Avoid debt and gluttony. Refuse to be pressured by advertising to over spend or over eat. Build community with a meal of mostly locally produced food - planned, prepared and cleaned up by the whole family.
5. Avoid stress. Give to yourself. Don't assume that things have to be the same way they've always been. Make changes slowly but persistently. Don't try to change everything and everybody all at once. The resistance may make you feel defeated and lonely.
6. If you need to give gifts, give appropriate ones. Get to know the recipient. Give what they want to receive, not what you want to buy. Give children one thing they really want, rather than many gifts. Set a price ceiling. Put gifts out shortly before opening them. Take turns opening them, not all at once, so that each gift can be admired and each giver thanked.
7. Give alternative gifts. Give at least 25% of what you spend to the needy individuals or groups locally, nationally or internationally. Instead of conspicuous consumption, show conspicuous sharing.
8. Give of yourself, not just "stuff" - a coupon book for future services (such as baby-sitting or an "enchanted evening") or something baked, sewn, handmade, composed, etc. Consider more time for volunteering rather than entertainment. If you need to give cards, make your own.
9. If you need to buy gifts and clothing, buy those from developing countries at alternative gift markets, not from commercial importers, so that the artisans receive a fair price for their work. Avoid mass produced knickknacks, novelties and toys. Fancy, expensive clothes are signs of status, not respect for God. In church they show an inappropriate blend of culture and faith. Decline to compliment people for their finery. Avoid a "ritual display of plenty."
10. Choose simplicity of decoration over extravagance. Avoid plastic and imported flowers and trimming, fancy papers and bows, and consumables (such as balloons and foam plates).
For more help and a free catalog of ideas, contact Alternatives for Simple Living at 800-821-6153. ©1999 Alternatives for Simple Living.
For more resources on Celebrating, click here.
http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/Celebrate.html
Also available from Alternatives:
If you would distribute copies of our Resource Guide at conferences, meetings, etc., we will provide free copies. Call or email.
Word-of-mouth works! Please send this news to some of the folks on your e-mail directory, along with a note like, "Thought you'd enjoy reading this." If you're not on our regular email list, send us a note for a free subscription. If you change your mind, unsubscribing is easy. Send us a note saying "Personal email only."
Thanks.
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
FREE, helpful information on Rites of Passage! Go to...
http://Simpleliving.org/Archives/TreasCeleb/TOCRites.html
The "Rites of Passage" section of "Treasury of Celebrations" includes:
Treasury of Celebrations also includes sections on Making Choices, Gifts, January-April holidays, May-August, September-December, Advent, and Christmas.
A copy of the whole 288 page book on paper is now only $10 (originally $20). Click here to go the description in our catalog.
http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/Celebrate.html
Or to see Treasury of Celebrations in our eStore (shopping cart), go to
http://simpleliving.org/ushop1/index.cgi?task=show&cat=Celebrating
For more resources on Celebrating, click here.
http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/Celebrate.html
For more resources on Building Community, click here.
http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/BuildingComm.html
If you would distribute copies of our Resource Guide at conferences, meetings, etc., we will provide free copies. Call or email.
Word-of-mouth works! Please send this news to some of the folks on your e-mail directory, along with a note like, "Thought you'd enjoy reading this." If you're not on our regular email list, send us a note for a free subscription. If you change your mind, unsubscribing is easy. Send us a note saying "Personal email only."
Thanks.
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
NEW TITLES
Hal Brill, Jack A. Brill, and Cliff Feigenbaum
Is it possible to invest your money wisely for your own future, as well as
for the broader community? Can you uphold your social and environmental values?
Yes!
Written by three top experts in value-based investing, this user-friendly
and widely acclaimed guide shows how your money can generate positive results
for you -- as well as your children, for the community, and for future
generations. Fully updated from the Bloomberg original, the book reveals
the tremendous growth of socially conscious investing. It tracks the latest
trends, issues and performance, and includes profiles of 15 new social funds
and hundreds of new resources and Web sites. Packed with stories, worksheets,
and lists of companies, it proves that values-based investors can actually
outperform the market and be a force for social change. 375 pp. $19. IWYV
To see the cover art and other books on Economics, click here.
http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/Economics.html
For more information on SRI (Socially Responsible Investing), courtesy of The National Green Pages from Co-op America, click here.
http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/FullText/CoopAmQtr.html
Mark A. Burch - author of Simplicity & Simplicity Study Circles
While the voluntary simplicity movement has grown widely in recent years, it is still often stereotyped as being mainly concerned with a thrifty lifestyle. But simple living has much deeper implications then just cleaning closets and selling off a second car.
Burch considers not only the deeper rewards of voluntary simplicity for individuals, but how simple living can be an essential part of the solution to the larger problem of sustaining human communities and the planet into the distant future. 205 pages, $16. STEP
For the cover art and other titles on the subject of Simpler Living, click here. http://simpleliving.org/catalog/SimpleLiving.html
Or go to...
http://simpleliving.org/ushop1/index.cgi?task=show&cat=Simple+Living
To see other New Titles, click here. http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
Web Site Ordering Tips
Each title's item code should appear in color and underscored in the catalog at the end of the title's description. Simply click on that code. You'll go directly to a blank order form. If you need to return to the item description, click your browser's "back" button. To return to the order form, click the "forward" button.
Likewise, if you're in our eStore, click on a title's item code and you go directly to an order form. That title will be filled in. To go back to the eStore, click on your browser's "back" button. To return to the order form, click on the "forward" button. While in the eStore, you can check your shopping cart (order form) at any time by clicking "view shopping cart" at the top of any eStore page.
If you have questions about ordering on our web site, please email or call.
Two new FREEBIES are "Kids 2001 Activity Calendar," available by
request with a purchase of $10 or more, and GrabBag (a new book
valued at $10 or more of our choice), available by request with a purchase
of $50 or more.
For FREEBIES, click here. http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/Freebies.html
Thanks.
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
We have selected many of the best books on Simple Living and devised an expandable library for you or your group.
Each of the two parts contains about 15 resources, some for children, some for adults, some seasonal, some year-round, some from Alternatives, some from other publishers, some faith-based, some general. Each part is priced at $150 - less than the price of the resources if purchased separately. Buy both parts now, or select one and get the other next year.
Click here for a complete listing of Alternatives' Simple Living Library.
http://Simpleliving.org/main/Library.html
You can keep your library up-to-date by also subscribing to the Alternative Advisors. If you subscribe for one year at the same time that you buy your library, we will give an additional 5% discount on the library.
"The Alternative Advisors"--Alternatives' "Standing Order" Resource Club
Benefits to You
Click here for a listing of the current "bundle" of resources.
http://Simpleliving.org/main/Library.html
Contact us now to join!
If you've received this message from a friend and are not on our regular email list, send us a note for a free subscription. If you change your mind, unsubscribing is easy. Send us a note saying "Personal email only."
Thanks.
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
April 17, 2001
Build a Better World! Activities for Children from Church World Service. A four-session curriculum for Vacation Church School, camps and Sunday School settings. Features hope-filled stories of children assisted through the world of CWS along with a related Bible study, a variety of hands-on activities, and reproducible take-home sheets. Its lively color illustrations feature our mascot giraffe, Imani, a guide to the exciting opportunities available to build a better world for all God's children through CWS (24 pages, with poster, UP TO 10 COPIES FREE, bulk rates available. To order call 800-297-1516 or write CWS, PO Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515.
For children's resources from Alternatives, click here
http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/Children.html
There are four children's pages. Be sure the click "Next Page."
Will Conscience Be Honored by the 107th Congress?
On May 16th, 2001, citizens from around the United States will test the US Congress' commitment to faith, bipartisan politics, peace and freedom.
During that single day, as the culmination of a nationwide letter writing campaign, individuals will press their Representative and Senators to recognize their freedom of conscience and religious practice by enacting the Religious Freedom Peace Tax Fund bill.
The National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund (NCPTF) is campaigning for the right of conscientious objectors to pay their full federal taxes without paying for the military. Members and supporters will participate in this lobby day on May 16th.
"We hope that many more members of Congress will embrace these ideas during the 107th Congress, since they cost nothing and will facilitate the freedom of conscience and religion of all citizens," some said Marian Franz, Executive Director of NCPTF.
Individuals wishing to join in the lobby day should come to the Methodist Building, 100 Maryland Avenue, North East, Washington D.C., at 9:30 AM on May 16th for a briefing and some refreshments. Those who can't come are encouraged to write a letter to their Representative and Senators.
For further information (and draft letters), please contact 202-483-3751
(or www.peacetax.com address doesn't seem to exist any more).
For resources from Alternatives on taxes and economics,
click
here. http://simpleliving.org/catalog/Economics.html#TaxShift
To see other books on Peace & Justice, click here.
http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/PeaceJustice.html
Word-of-mouth works! Please send this issue to the folks on your email address book, along with a note like, "Thought you'd be interested in this."
If you've received this message from a friend and are not on our regular email list, send us a note for a free subscription. If you change your mind, unsubscribing is easy. Send us a note saying "Personal email only."
Thanks.
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
April 10, 2001
Changing the way we celebrate is an important step in adopting a more responsible, sustainable lifestyle. It is essential to bring moderation and perspective to celebrations that are too often self-indulgent. A major part of our work is distributing resources designed to help people look at celebrations in more responsible ways.
By becoming a member, you help us challenge the way our consumer society continues to usurp our holy days and exploit people and the environment. With your help, more and more people experience the joy that comes from celebrating and living in ways that affirm all God's creation. We invite you to join us in support of this vital work.
Look what your membership makes possible!
Join now and receive a free copy of the 2001 edition of "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" featuring Bill McKibben, author of "Hundred Dollar Holiday," "The End of Nature," "The Age of Missing Information" and other best-sellers
Please become a member. We depend on memberships for a significant part of our budget. Memberships are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Pledge a membership using a credit card by calling toll free. Or reply to this email. We'll send an invoice.
For more information, click here.
http://Simpleliving.org/main/Membership.html
Thanks.
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Duane Elgin, author of the classic "Voluntary Simplicity", Introduction
by Vicki Robin, author of "Your Money or Your Life"
Here is a breath-taking view of the future that is relevant to anyone
seeking to navigate through our profoundly changing world. Based on 30 years
of research
by one of the foremost thinkers about the future, PROMISE AHEAD is the sequel
to Duane Elgin's bestselling 1981 classic, Voluntary Simplicity, which changed
the lives of thousands and was called the "bible" of the simplicity
movement by the Wall Street Journal. In PROMISE AHEAD, Elgin looks beneath the
headlines
to reveal the deeper currents that are now changing our lives.
Elgin sees two powerful sets of trends converging in the coming decades.
The first set he calls "adversity trends." These include a massive
human
population, global climate change that threatens our food supply, the mass
extinction of species, the rapid depletion of crucial natural resources,
and civil unrest caused by global poverty.
The second set he calls "opportunity trends," which include
the quiet revolution toward simpler and more soulful ways of living, the
use of the internet as
a tool for social awakening and change, the growing efforts toward reconcilation
of racial, gender, religious, and other differences, and the emergence of
a new paradigm of perception that views the universe as a living system of
which we are an integral part.
The outcome of the intersection of adversity and opportunity trends is uncertain.
However, if the human family mobilizes itself to meet this time of unprecedented
challenge, we have the prospect of making a dramatic leap forward in our
evolutionary journey and will have a very promising future.
Promise Ahead calls to all of us to do our part in transforming the world
by becoming practical activists in our own lives and taking control of how
we
consume, communicate, relate to others, and see our role in the larger universe.
It is a call to action for each individual and a beacon of hope to all. 225
pp. $23. PROMISE. $13
For other titles on the subject of Simpler Living, go to...
Anne Marie Witchger and Susan Vogt
Hey Kids! This is a book for YOU! This is a book about real life situations YOU face, like dealing with bullies, getting along with kids who are different, feeling mad and what to do about it. It's a book about you and your friends being Peacemakers. Did you know that the United Nations decided the years from 2000-2010 will be the Decade of Peace and Nonviolence for all the other children of the world? Peace begins with YOU!
Written that the kids of the world may live in peace, this book of story starters and activities for all kids who want to build peace comes from the Families Against Violence Advocacy Network. 40 pages. $5. KCCP
To see other books on Peace & Justice, click here.
Two new FREEBIES are "Kids 2001 Activity Calendar," available by
request with a purchase of $10 or more, and GrabBag (a new book
valued at $10 or more of our choice), available by request with a purchase
of $50 or more.
Simply by clicking on a titles' code at the end of the description in the catalog, you go directly to a blank order form. (The code should appear in color and underscored.) If you need to return to the item description, click your browser's "back" button. To return to the order form, click the "forward" button.
Likewise, if you're in our eStore, click on a title's item code and you go directly to an order form. That title will be filled in. To go back to the eStore, click on your browser's "back" button. To return to the order form, click on the "forward" button. While in the eStore, you can check your shopping cart (order form) at any time by clicking "view shopping cart" at the top of any eStore page.
If you have questions about ordering on our web site, please email or call.
Thanks. Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
FREE, helpful information on May-August holidays!
Visit http://Simpleliving.org/Archives/TreasCeleb/TOCMayAug.html
The "May-August" section of "Treasury of Celebrations" includes:
Treasury of Celebrations also includes sections on Making Choices, Gifts, January-April holidays, September-December, Advent, Christmas, and Rites of Passage.
A copy of the whole 288 page book on paper is now only $10 (originally $20). Click here to go the description in our catalog. http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/Celebrate.html
Or to see Treasury of Celebrations in our eStore (shopping cart), go to http://simpleliving.org/ushop1/index.cgi?task=show&cat=Celebrating
LAST CALL for submissions to "Spirit of Simplicity: Alternative Quotes & Art." Call or email for guidelines.
If you would distribute copies of our Resource Guide at conferences, meetings, etc., we will provide free copies. Call or email.
Unsubscribing is easy. Send us a note saying "Personal email only."
Thanks. Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Alternatives' Spring "Simpler Living" Catalog Offers Many Resources at Reduced Prices.
To make room for new titles, we are offering many quality books at a discount, some for the last time.
Click here to view the SPECIALS.
http://Simpleliving.org/cgi-bin/Specials.pl
For FREEBIES, click here.
http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/Freebies.html
To conserve paper, we limit the number of titles we offer and the number of catalogs we print. More and more of our orders are coming from our web site.
The free Resource Guide contains works on simpler living for children and adults. If you would distribute copies at conferences, meetings, etc., we will provide free copies.
We consider our resources to be tools. We do much more than sell books, videos and other educational resources. We offer tools to change lives for the better.
The three steps of Simpler Living (and social change) are: changing ourselves, sharing with others, and changing the system. Influencing others begins with ourselves!
In addition to our free quarterly Resource Guide, Alternatives has an extensive web site offering hundreds of inspiring articles for individuals and editors to use. Also we have a North American network of over 700 volunteers ready to give talks, workshops, help organize events and simplicity circles and study/action groups.
Voluntary simplicity is far more than frugality. It is a life of integrity. We deal with some 15 related topics, including media literacy, world hunger, building community and celebrating, peace and justice, care of Creation, transportation and eco-tourism, homes and buildings, organic agriculture, alternative giving (donations and volunteerism), economics, food and self-care, and spirituality. We offer tools for each of these areas. We encourage people to get only the tools they need.
Thanks for your help!
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Alternatives' Spring "Simpler Living" Catalog Offers Many Resources at Reduced Prices.
To make room for new titles, we are offering many quality books at a discount, some for the last time.
Click here to view the SPECIALS.
http://Simpleliving.org/cgi-bin/Specials.pl
For FREEBIES, click here.
http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/Freebies.html
To conserve paper, we limit the number of titles we offer and the number of catalogs we print. More and more of our orders are coming from our web site.
The free Resource Guide contains works on simpler living for children and adults. If you would distribute copies at conferences, meetings, etc., we will provide free copies.
We consider our resources to be tools. We do much more than sell books, videos and other educational resources. We offer tools to change lives for the better.
The three steps of Simpler Living (and social change) are: changing ourselves, sharing with others, and changing the system. Influencing others begins with ourselves!
In addition to our free quarterly Resource Guide, Alternatives has an extensive web site offering hundreds of inspiring articles for individuals and editors to use. Also we have a North American network of over 700 volunteers ready to give talks, workshops, help organize events and simplicity circles and study/action groups.
Voluntary simplicity is far more than frugality. It is a life of integrity. We deal with some 15 related topics, including media literacy, world hunger, building community and celebrating, peace and justice, care of Creation, transportation and eco-tourism, homes and buildings, organic agriculture, alternative giving (donations and volunteerism), economics, food and self-care, and spirituality. We offer tools for each of these areas. We encourage people to get only the tools they need.
Thanks for your help!
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Recent news of the Voluntary Simplicity movement. Alternatives supports many organizations, publications and individuals who are working toward sustainability of Earth, God's Creation, our home.
The Eco-Justice Working Group of the National Council of Churches offers Worship Resources for Earth Day -- April 22, 2001, First Sunday after Easter, entitled "Witnessing to the Resurrection: Caring for God's Creation." In addition to sermon notes, it includes Call to Worship, Opening Prayer, Litany of Confession, Assurance of God's Love, Intercessory Prayer, Sending Forth and Suggested Hymns. For a free copy, email ecojustice@ncccusa.org, fax 212-870-265, call 212-870-2386 or write Eco-Justice, NCCUSA, 475 Riverside St., New York, NY 10115. For additional environmental justice materials, go to www.webofcreation.org.
The Eco-Justice Working Group is also sponsoring an environmental Justice Ministries Conference called "On Earth as It Is in Heaven: Witnessing to God's Healing of Creation," May 20-23 in Washington, DC.
Additional environmental resources from Alternatives include:
Click here for more information: http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/Environment.html
Or for children. . .
Click here: http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/ChActiv.html
For environmental bumper stickers, click here: http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/SendMessage.html
To get material for this year's campaign visit www.tvturnoff.org, email email@tvturnoff.org, or call 202-518-556.
The Media Foundation has a striking poster -- Alive Without TV -- in their
current issue of Adbusters Magazine. To download a simpler poster from their
web site, go to
www.adbusters.org/campaigns/tvturnoff/toolbox/poster.html
(link no longer there - but you can search the web for "TV Turnoff Week" and poster
and find several results)
Alternatives also has resources to help maintain less TV, such as...
Click here for more information: http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/ChActiv.html
Or...
Click here: http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/Games.html
For more on Media Literacy and the effects of advertising...
Click here: http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/Media.html
Web Site Ordering Tips
Simply by clicking on a titles' code at the end of the description in the catalog, you go directly to a blank order form. (The code should appear in color and underscored.) If you need to return to the item description, click on your browser's "back" button.
Likewise, if you're in our eStore, click on a title's item code and you go directly to an order form. That title will be filled in. To go back to the eStore, click on your browser's "back" button. While in the eStore, you can check your shopping cart (order form) at any time by clicking "view shopping cart" at the top of any eStore page.
If you have questions about ordering on our web site, please email or call.
Thanks.
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Gabriela Keselman & Pep Montserrat
Awarded "Best Illustrated Book for Children" by Generalitat de Catalunya. Named an IBBY Honour List Book.
It's Mikie's birthday, and he wants a very special gift from his parents. It has to be big, strong, soft, sweet, and warm; it has to rock from side to side, make him fly, make him laugh, and last a loooong time.
His parents haven't the foggiest idea what gift that could possibly be. Just when his parents are at their wits' end, they manage to come up just exactly the gift Mike had hoped for - the simplest, yet most special gift a parent can give.
With illustrations that will make you smile - maybe even laugh out loud - The Gift is a sure "feel good" read for both adults and child. $16
(cloth). THEGIFT
For more information, click here
http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
This video examines what kids are learning from TV violence and how we can lessen its powerful influence in our home, church, and community.
Fascinating clips from a single week of television and revealing interviews:
George Gerbner, longtime TV researcher and professor at Annenberg School of Communications
Quentin Schultze, author of numerous books on media and professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Calvin College
YOU'LL PROBE...
"TV has changed the process of socialization (of our children) in a way that cannot be exaggerated." -George Gerbner. 33 minutes with study guide, $25. TVVIOLENCE
For more information, click here
http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/NewTitles.html
Thanks.
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
February 14, 2001
"Spirit of Simplicity" Sponsorship Available
Alternatives' special project for 2001, "Spirit of Simplicity," is available for sponsorship/underwriting.
"Alternative Quotes & Art" has been the working title for this collection of quotations and images. Alternatives is collecting many humorous, serious, religious and secular quotations and graphic illustrations about Voluntary Simplicity, Sustainability, Social Justice and related topics.
These materials are designed for publications (paper and electronic), such as newsletters, church bulletins and web sites. Also, they are suitable for personal inspiration, for sharing with friends and for spreading the word about simpler living anywhere else!
We intend to publish the collection on paper (loose leaf format for easy use) and on CD-ROM (both Mac & PC on one disk), organized by topics. We plan to intermingle the quotations and the illustrations for a more appealing look.
The collection was rated the #1 need in a recent survey of Alternatives' customers, members and volunteers.
Scheduled for release late this summer, $5000 is needed for production and some marketing costs.
Recognition of the sponsor is negotiable. It normally includes credits in the collection itself and in the extensive national marketing campaign.
Sponsorship is a contribution to Alternatives, a non-profit organization, and is therefore tax deductible. Partial sponsorship will be considered.
Please send offers by March 15.
We have a good start on this collection and we want to add to it, to create an even bigger and better "Alternative Quotes and Art" publication. Your contributions are welcome and will be considered if they relate to Voluntary Simplicity, Sustainability or Social Justice. Submissions may be positive or negative in tone. We're especially looking for constructive items. Submissions are due by March 15th. Contact us for submission guidelines.
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Worship Resources for Lent, Holy Week & Easter
Iona Community Wild Goose Worship Group
Like its predecessor, Cloth for the Cradle (for Advent, Christmas & Epiphany), STAGES contains a wealth of different types of worship resources: litanies, meditations, monologues, poems, prayers, readings, scripts, and symbolic actions. (Note: the wild goose is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.) 235 pp. $19
To order, or to see more resources for Lent and Easter, click here
http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/Easter.html#StagesontheWay
Or go directly to:
http://simpleliving.org/ushop1/index.cgi?task=show&cat=Easter
Christian Response to Suffering
George S. Johnson
This book is about hope...hope that energizes. It is packed with resources and insights that give encouragement for those who are really concerned about hunger, poverty and environmental issues. "It is no ordinary discussion," says Walter Brueggemann. "Johnson teases us into a fresh encounter with the core of faith."
This faith-based book is creatively divided into short chapters with reflection and action sugestions, which make it usable for small groups or adult classes. 144 pp. $8.
To order, or to see more resources on Peace & Justice, go directly to:
http://simpleliving.org/ushop1/index.cgi?task=show&cat=Peace+%26+Justice
Or click here
http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/PeaceJustice.html#BeyondGuilt:-)
Thanks.
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Where there is too much... something is missing. -Jewish proverbAny fool can destroy trees. They cannot run away. -John Muir
Let us measure the success of America not by its number of billionaires but by the number who are not hungry, or homeless, or in need of medical attention. -Journey into Freedom
"Spirit of Simplicity" Guide for Lent & Easter Now On-line
"Spirit of Simplicity," an all new 40-day guide for Lent, and other resources for Lent and Easter 2001 are now available from Alternatives for Simple Living. The guide contains daily thoughts from Ash Wednesday (February 28) through Easter Sunday (April 15) or for some other 40 day period. The guide can be used by individuals, families and other small groups.
To read and download the complete guide, click here
http://Simpleliving.org/Archives/Lent/LentCal2001.html
The brief sayings on the guide include lectionary readings (Sundays and Holy Week), old sayings, facts & statistics, Old & New Testament, modern prophets & other voices, bumper stickers & billboards -- like the ones above -- for discussion and meditation.
For a free catalog, which includes a complete free sample of the Lenten guide, call 800-821-6153 anytime.
For "10 Tips for a Simpler, More Meaningful Easter" click here
http://Simpleliving.org/main/MR/10tipEaster.html
In the style of it's most widely read resource - "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" for Advent and Christmas - Alternatives has issued an expandable collection of past materials for Lent and Easter. "Who's Risen from the Dead, Anyway?" contains five sets of reflections on the Gospel lessons for Lent and Easter (covering all three liturgical cycles), each with activities. Also, Passover and Easter Seders and a generous variety of bulletin inserts, posters and 40-day calendars all come ready for a three ring binder for $10.
To access this packet, click here
http://Simpleliving.org/Archives/XRisen/index.html
To access past calendars and guides, click here
http://Simpleliving.org/Archives/Lent/LentCalIndex.html
For books for Lent and Easter, click here
http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/Easter.html
The Lenten-Easter guide is adapted from a new collection from Alternatives of sacred, secular, serious and humorous sayings and art for personal inspiration and for editors of paper and electronic publications.
The collection is scheduled to be released in late summer, 2001.
For "Quotes & Art" submission guidelines, contact us.
Share Alternatives' Resource Guide with others at meetings, conferences, etc. It contains many new resources, as well as established works on simpler living for children and adults. Call 800-821-6153 or reply to this email anytime for free copies.
Thanks.
Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
FREE, HELPFUL INFORMATION on the holidays in January through April!
Visit http://Simpleliving.org/Archives/TreasCeleb/TOCJanApr.html#Index
The January-April section of Treasury of Celebrations includes:
Treasury of Celebrations also includes sections on Gifts, May-August, September-December, Advent, Christmas, and Rites of Passage.
A copy of the whole 288 page book on paper is now only $10 (originally $20). Click here to go the the description in our catalog. http://Simpleliving.org/catalog/Celebrate.html
Word-of-mouth works! Please send this news to some of the folks on your e-mail directory, along with a note like, "Thought you'd enjoy reading this." If you're not on our regular email list, send us a note for a free subscription. If you change your mind, unsubscribing is easy. Send us a note saying "Personal email only."
Thanks. Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
January 18, 2001
If you'd like to contribute to any of the following resources, contact Alternatives before Feb. 15th!
1. Have a piece of art (line drawing, photo) that depicts the tension between faith and culture? Have a personal experience related to simplifying Christmas or finding in relationships instead of stuff? Have an idea for a worshipful ceremony or a family ritual?
"Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" is our most widely-read, family-oriented booklet. An item may be new or not, original or not. If it's by someone else, please include a complete description of the source.
About 150,000 copies will be printed and it will reach many more through our website for years to come. We intend to translate much of it into Spanish. Lead writer is Bill McKibben, author of "Hundred Dollar Holiday" and other books.
To read past editions of "Whose Birthday," go to http://Simpleliving.org/Archives/XB/XBindex.html
The article by volunteer Christine Leonard Osterwalder in the 2000 edition was picked by "Horizon," the national women's magazine of the Presbyterian Church (USA). The cover photo by volunteer Phil Claeys, "Prayerful Santa," was carried on the United Methodist News Service website and was reproduced in dozens of publications.
2. The book and CD "Alternative Quotes & Art" (working title) -- a collection of serious, humorous, religious and secular quotations and illustrations on voluntary simplicity, sustainability, social justice and related topics for personal inspiration and for publications -- is scheduled for release this fall.
3. Art's tricky. Each year we try to portray visually the tension between faith and culture to help people question the way we celebrate Christmas.
The cover of "Whose Birthday Is it, Anyway?" for 2000 -- Santa kneeling at the manger -- has provoked some interesting, thoughtful responses. Tell us what the art means to you. Your response can be as short or as long as you choose. Or write a caption for the picture. We will publish selected submissions.
The art appeared in Fall and Summer 2000 Resource Guides and in full color on the cover of "Whose Birthday Is It, Anyway?" 2000. It's available on a flyer and a greeting card. For a low resolution view go to http://Simpleliving.org/xb/xbcover.html
If any links in this message don't work in your web browser, then please re-key or copy-and-paste the link address into your browser.
Thanks. All replies need to be received before February 15th.
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Welcome to Alternatives' New Email Service. You'll regularly receive free, brief information in various forms:
Word-of-mouth works! Please send this news to some of the folks on your e-mail directory, along with a note like, "Thought you'd enjoy reading this." If you're not on our regular email list, send us a note for a free subscription. If you change your mind, unsubscribing is easy. Send us a note saying "Personal email only."
To explore our website now, click on our web address below.
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153 * Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
On-line: http://SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
If you prefer to read our catalog on our Website and not receive a paper copy, notify us and we will stop sending one by mail. Or receive only the Fall catalog on paper. If you're not receiving a paper copy and want to, contact us and we'll start sending it.
Free Catalog options:
If you prefer not to receive these occasional messages from Alternatives, just send us an e-mail message that says, "Personal e-mail only."
Please link your Website to us. For help, contact us.
Simply at your service, Gerald
ALTERNATIVES for Simple Living
Resources for responsible living and celebrating since 1973
109 Gaul Dr. * P.O. Box 340 * Sergeant Bluff, Iowa 51054
712/943-6153 or 800/821-6153
Fax: 712/943-1402
E-mail:
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org
Gerald Iversen, National Coordinator
Alternatives is a non-profit organization that "equips people of faith to
challenge consumerism, live justly, and celebrate responsibly." Through its
mail-order resource service, Alternatives sells books on simple living and
related topics, both for Christmas and for year-round use. For a current
free catalog, call anytime 712/943-6153 or 800-821-6153, fax 712/943-1402
or e-mail
Alternatives@SimpleLiving.org.
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This page last updated 27 February 2003