corrugated roofing from old newspapers or magazines and cardboard, made durable by infusing it with asphalt. It’s placed atop existing roofs, which means no discarded shingles. Each day, 40 to 50 tons of recycled paper goods find new life in Ondura products, available at most home improvement stores. Sound inside Buick Lacrosse and


Verano vehicles is dampened via a ceiling material made partly from reused cardboard shipping boxes. Paint sludge from General Motors’ Lansing, Michigan, Grand River assembly plant becomes durable plastic shipping containers for Chevrolet Volt and Cruze engine components. Some 200 miles of absorbent polypropylene sleeves, used to soak up a recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexi- co, were converted into air deflec- tors for the Volt, pre- venting


212,500 pounds of waste from entering landfills.


Old Tires Transformed The Rubber Manufacturers Association reports that Americans discard 300 million tires each year, each one having consumed about seven gallons of oil in its manufacture and poised to add to Earth’s landfills. Lehigh Technolo- gies’ micronized rubber powder (MRP), made by freeze-drying discarded tires and pulverizing them into a fine pow- der, changes the equation. MRP is now used in many items, from new tires, roads and building materials to shoes. It feels good to place used items in the blue bin instead of the trash, knowing that more and more companies are helping to put these resourc- es to good use.


Connect with freelance writer Avery Mack at AveryMack@mindspring.com.


inspiration Power of Silence The Healing by Robert Rabbin O


ne day I disappeared into Silence…


It was more than grace, an epiphany or a mystical union; it was my soul’s home- coming, my heart’s overflowing love, my mind’s eternal peace. In Silence, I experienced freedom, clarity and joy as my true self, felt my core identity and essential nature as a unity-in-love with all creation, and realized it is within this es- sence that we learn to embody healing in our world. This Silence


belongs to us all—it is who and what we are. Selfless silence knows only the present moment, this incred- ible instant of pure life when time stops and we breathe the high-al- titude air we call love. Let us explore Silence as a way of knowing and being, which we know, which we are.


When I return from silence I am less than when I entered: less harried, fearful, anxious and egotistical. Whatever the gift of silence is, it is one of lessening, purifying,


softening. The “I” that returns is more loving than the “I” who left.


~ Rabbi Rami Shapiro


Silence is within. It is within our breath, like music between thoughts, the light in our eyes. It is felt in the high arc of birds, the rhythm of waves, the innocence of children, the heart’s deepest emotions that have no cause. It is seen in small kindnesses, the stillness of nights and peaceful early mornings. It is present when beholding a loved one, joined in spirit.


In Silence, we open to life and life opens to us. It touches the center


of our heart, where it breaks open to reveal another heart that knows how to meet life with open arms. Silence knows that thoughts about life are not life itself. If we touch life through Silence, life touches us back intimately and we become one with life itself. Then the mystery, wonder, beauty and sanctity becomes our life. Everything but wonderment falls away; anger, fear and violence disappear as if they never existed. Knowing Silence


is knowing our self and our world for the first time. We only have to be still until that Silence comes forth from within to illuminate and em- brace us, serving as the teacher, teaching and path, redeeming and restoring us in love.


In this truth-


filled moment, we enter our Self fully and deeply. We know


our own beauty, power and magnifi- cence. As the embodiment of Silence, we are perfection itself, a treasure that the world needs now. Right now the Universe needs each of us to be our true Self, expressing the healing power of our heart, in Silence.


As a lifelong mystic, Robert Rabbin is an innovative self-awareness teacher and author of The 5 Principles of Authentic Living. Connect at RobertRabbin.com.


natural awakenings March 2013 23


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