“A good neighbor is a priceless treasure.”
–Anonymous

I’m sure everyone would agree: a nosy and noisy neighbor is hardly desirable. But being a good neighbor, ah, there’s the rub! In the next five pages, our “Good Neighbor Guide” will help you become the priceless treasure in your neighborhood. Whether you help others when in need, recycle your goods for the benefit of your neighbors and our planet, help them hop on the holistic path, or do all three, heed this advice and you’ll be an instant neighborly success.

Kinder Karma for Your Community
in Ten Simple Steps
Michelle Keenan breaks it down, and gives a bonus to boot!

Many times, karma is seen in a negative light—what you’ve got coming to you for an action or inaction at someone else’s expense. But, it’s a positive effect and feeling, too—the result of a kind word or good deed. And what benefits more from good karma than community, be it your community of family and friends, your community of neighbors, or the larger community—from your city to the globe. While these ten steps to move your community/communities to kinder karma are simple, doing them is what can be difficult. Just remember, practice makes perfect.

1. Be gentle to yourself, with people in general, and gentle to the Earth. It can be as simple as replacing one snack of sugary, processed food with some crunchy vegetables or bringing your own grocery bag to the store and responding, “My own.” when asked, “Paper or plastic?”
2. Do the little things that are often easy to forget: smile at people, open doors, help someone cross a busy intersection or offer directions to the lost driver or pedestrian even when you’re in a hurry. You may think of these things as just small courtesies, but these gestures might make someone’s day.
3. State positive comments and avoid gossip. If you feel you’re on the verge of spilling the beans, pause a moment and let the need to tell pass.
4. Express and show love to friends, family and neighbors, especially when they are going through a difficult time. Don’t just assume they know you care. After all, “surprising” a neighbor or family member with a reminder of how much you value them could be just enough to avoid any conflict feeling down can create!
5. Convey appreciation everywhere you go with simple “thank yous” and smiles. It might mean getting off your cell phone at the checkout line, but you can pick up right where you left off in the conversation one minute later—as long as it’s not to share the latest gossip.
6. Be aware, pay attention and really listen. Try rephrasing what a friend or neighbor is telling you back to them throughout the conversation, and they’ll know you’re taking in the information.
7. When appropriate, go beyond just waiting for someone to ask for help, and offer your assistance. Ask if there’s anything you can do to help that day, that week, or in the upcoming month. Think about those times in the past you packed for a move and could have really used an extra set of hands.
8. Get out the quill and ink to write real notes and letters—like a note in your neighbor’s mailbox inviting them over for tea. Who knows, someone may publish your letters later in life, making you famous!
9. Love, laugh and hug…a lot!
10. Remember the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. It’s a classic for a reason.

For bonus points: Never underestimate flower power. Picking, buying, or giving flowers may not necessarily be a true act of kindness, but it sure makes the world a happier, prettier place…there’s even a study to prove it! (Visit www.epjournal.net/filestore/ep03104132.pdf for the study from Evoluntionary Psychology.)

Take Your Eco-Karma Up a Notch
Learn how to go green, not only for you, but for your community, too, with Michelle Keenan.

Okay. We’re all aware of the need to cut carbon emissions and energy consumption. And we’re all aware that replacing our traditional bulbs with compact fluorescents is an easy step to take—after all, when Walmart decides it’s time to start selling CFLs, you know global warming has truly gone mainstream.

But, for those of you wanting to kick up your eco-karma another notch, you may be asking, “What are some other, bigger steps I can take?” Well, you can start going green not just as an individual but as a community. Here are some ideas you might not have considered before:

Share Tips
You can watch the celebrity-narrated documentaries and go down lists of green living tips that number anywhere from one to 100 ideas all day long. But, think about it; often the brainstorming light bulb really goes off (accidental pun) in groups.

After returning from the Simple Living America conference in Washington last year, ex-Ashevillian life and business coach Elizabeth Barbour and her husband started a “Simple Living” dinner club. They invited friends and neighbors in the area that they thought would be receptive to the idea. They met monthly to discuss issues relating to “going green.”

Barbour explains: “We held a potluck at each couple’s house and discussed a range of topics, including recycling, composting, changing light bulbs, insulating our homes, etc. It was fun and we knew we were doing our part to educate ourselves and others and impact the environment, our home and our community in positive ways.”

Beautify the Neighborhood, Consciously
Mary Love of Southern Energy Concepts says there are a lot of things you can do as a neighborhood to make a positive impact on the environment, one simple step being never burning your trash. “And make sure your neighbors don’t burn trash either,” says Mary. “Burning trash can be toxic. It’s illegal, unhealthy and un-neighborly.” She also suggests encouraging “good, old-fashion raking instead of using leaf blowers. The decibel level, pitch and emission definitely contribute to both noise and air pollution.”

And if you live in a close-knit neighborhood, Mary suggests sharing power tools and creating a common mulch area. “A common mulch area is a great thing to do, and it helps bring the neighborhood together for a reason that benefits everyone. Get people together to plant trees, too.” Anything you can do to beautify your neighborhood and bring people together is sure to have positive, long-term effects.

Adopt the Philosophy that One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure
Sure, there’s the green and blue bucket kind of recycling that you and your neighbors can take part in, but there’s other “waste” to think about, like discarded clothes, books, household items and even plants, that can be recycled back into the community during swaps. That way the items don’t even have to go to a far-off facility before they’re reused or re-purposed; they can travel just as far as from your closet to your living room.

Rather than buying everything new, seek other’s treasure. If you’re a gardener, find other folks with a green thumb and share plants with each other. You can help thin plants, help propagate plant species, and beautify each other’s yards by having a plant swap.
Or, host or participate in a clothing swap, book swap or general housewares swap. Whatever the items being traded, it’s a great, fun way to get friends and neighbors together. You eliminate your clutter and get something new-to-you that perhaps you even secretly coveted for a while.

Emily Miller, an Asheville-area leasing agent and local comedienne, lives in a community-oriented neighborhood in West Asheville. Miller is a proponent of clothing and book swaps, as well as potluck dinners, to save on the pocketbook while still enriching her life and bettering the life of our Planet. “I’m also a fan of re-gifting books right off my shelves,” she says. “I’ve enjoyed so many wonderful books, and I love seeing someone else get the same enjoyment from them.”
If there’s not a clothing swap to be had or found in your neighborhood but you need some new duds, find that totally cool retro treasure at a local consignment shop and wear it as is or go one step further and re-purpose it into something even better.

Form a Force
Learn more about your neighborhood association or consider starting one if one isn’t already in place. Many associations have clean-up days and meetings to decide what issues, including “green” possibilities, are important to them.

The associations can keep track of what issues are being discussed when and spread the word among residents when items of interest are on the docket. Bringing people together on issues makes community leaders sit up and take notice, which gives us as citizens a much stronger foothold to advocate for the eco-changes we desire.

Michelle Keenan is a freelance writer, traveler and photographer for hire living in Asheville, NC. She can be reached at michellekeenan@yahoo.com.

There Goes the Neighborhood
Maggie Cramer offers some pointers, and hopefully jokes, on how to convert that out-of-sync-with-holistic-living neighbor.

*Disclaimer: Maggie Cramer is not a licensed neighbor-converter expert and assumes no responsibility if her tips don’t work and actually make your neighbors head inside and shut the curtains tight to avoid you.

After reading my articles in the past few issues, you’ve probably noticed I have a not-so-healthy obsession with pop-culture, in particular, making reference to television programs. I know it needs to stop, but this reference is too good to overlook: HGTV has a program entitled What’s with That House? and when I was brainstorming ideas for this month’s issue, the unique and eclectic houses popped into my mind, only in a little different form. How many of you find yourself asking,
“What’s with that neighbor?” For example, “How come they think our solar panels are weird?” or “Why do they always stand on their porch and snarl at us during our get-togethers?” Chances are, they just haven’t been tuned-in to the great benefits of holistic and eco-friendly living. But, that’s where you come in. Here are some pointers on how to convert your…

…anti-yoga neighbor:
So, they’ve rejected your invitation to bond as neighbors and tag along to your yoga class, and they think there’s no way to work up a sweat other than pumping iron or jogging around the neighborhood, no matter the temperature outside. Next time one of your fellow yogis has a birthday, be sure to throw a party at your house and invite your yoga-phobic neighbor. They’ll be shocked someone celebrating that milestone “can look that good!” and never turn down an invite to class again.

.…anti-solar neighbor:
Perhaps you’ve gotten a number of complaints from the neighborhood association about your roof-mounted solar panels, complaining that they block a neighbor’s balcony view or don’t flow with the overall look of homes on your street. Next time you meet a neighbor at the mailbox and they show off their son or daughter’s acceptance letter into an ivy-league university, show them your electric bill with equal enthusiasm. Or, abide by the old adage “Kill them with kindness,” and get them a fancy gift for their next birthday with all the money you’ve saved since going solar.

…anti-gathering neighbor:
Without fail, the day after your weekly clothing swap, fruits of your labor gardening goods swap, or neighborhood action campaign group meeting, you get a lovely note from your neighbor complaining about “noise” and the number of cars and bicycles parked around the cul-de-sac. Listen to your mom’s words of wisdom: they’re jealous. Be sure to invite them over; after all, isn’t bringing people together what the meetings are all about? If they still aren’t happy with your meeting of the minds, put their name in the hat for hosting the next neighborhood holiday party. They’ll be sure to show up at the next meeting to find out what they’re signed up for. And, who knows, maybe you’ll get them addicted to your vine-ripe tomatoes!

…anti-composting neighbor:
The negative comments you hear about your compost pile are likely unending: it’s too smelly, too unsanitary, etc., etc. There’s a couple of routes to go with this one. When your sunflowers are mile-high and the neighbor’s just a little over an inch, surprise them with a bag of “Miracle Mulch.” When they rave about the results of the organic fertilizer and inquire about the what-they’re-sure-is-expensive price, clue them in. Or, invite them over for a great organic feast every once in a while with just one hitch: they’ve got to clean up and take the scraps to the compost pile. Who can resist free food?

Help your neighbor go green or discover yoga or organic foods? Share your story at submissions@newlifejournal.com.

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