Wow, is it just me or has the @ecoTrain really got off to an inspiring start this year! Our passengers have been keeping us well fed with their unique stories, advice, and positivity. This week we have also been focusing the question of the week on the topic of Child Protection and the issues around it. I will post tomorrow to bring together what we have been posting, and share the ideas we have come up with to help this important cause.

Until then please peruse the following list of truly amazing posts from the #ecoTrain this week. There is something for everyone here, and if you struggle to find posts that grab your interest then I think you might be in for a real treat! As always, please let us know which posts you like the most, and be sure to follow the passengers that you enjoy reading. When you follow someone their posts appear on your Feed so you can read more of the people you connect with.

Please click the titles below to see the entire post.

Hive account@eco-alex

THE EARTHSHIP HUT BUILD: DAYS 2-5. Why tyres make the ultimate eco-building material and how to build with them

Today I would like to explain just why Earthships work SO well, and give a bit more detail about building tyre walls. The first week or two of any small Earthship build is mostly concerned with tyre ramming and some void packing of the walls with mud. This knowledge is one of the most important aspects of Earthship construction in terms of an Earthships performance and durability. Luckily, building a house from tyres is WAY less technical and complected than any traditional brick and mortar build.
Steemit Open Mic Week 67 - Bajrangi Hanuman Bhajan With Self Accompaniment

And now for something completely different! This is a slightly high tech endeavour and is my first attempt at not only recording myself and guitar with a mic and very limited audio hardware, but also trying out a green screen approach so that I can accompany myself on the drum. Since I live on the side of a mountain in India its hard to find people to play with!
Put Apart The I: The Path To Enlightenment, Initiation 5 of 9

We have all used the word Ego, but how many of us really know what the ego actually is!? Understanding who we really are, and what influences act upon us is the next step on our path to enlightenment. When we speak of our Ego, who or what are we talking about? Just what the ego is depends on your perspective, and to really understand it we need to look from a spiritual perspective. The Ego is born as we learn to identify with ourselves as separate from other people and life. The Ego is born at around the time that we learn to understand our own name or recognise ourselves in the mirror. We are unable to remember much if anything before we developed our ego, and that is a part of the divine plan. We cannot remember our total unity and connectedness because our ego made it that way.

Hive account@stillgideon

No Internet Month Diary 2017 (part 9 - I witness a murder)

19th December

Yesterday I had a massive headache as I drove down to Arrabe. I had to sit in the car with my head in my hands for a while. It was just outside the butcher shop.

A young bull was in a trailer, kicking at the bars. He knew his time would soon be up. I think he could sense it. He stopped kicking for a moment and looked at me imploringly, as if to say – Please help me. Get me out of here! I thought about setting him free, imagining him running through the streets of the town...

'Sorry my friend' I said with my eyes. 'I can't help you. Not today, not now.'
'Some friend' he snorted, and resumed kicking at the bars.
No Internet Month Diary 2017 (part 8 - Avoiding Adverse Side Effects)

When Kate says we need more nuclear power to save us, I take what she says seriously – even though I feel that she is wrong – maybe she's right...

Let's suppose that she's right...

Could it be that right now, we have the obvious solution to the world's greatest crisis, right in our hands? Could it be that the only thing preventing true progress is the prejudice and preconceived ideas of ignorant, uninformed people – such as myself – who have been led to believe, by bad press sponsored by the oil and coal industry – and a few unfortunate incidents and accidents – Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Chernobyl, Fukushima... which would be avoidable in the future and who's risk, even today is less than the quantifiable deaths and damage caused by pollution from oil and gas?

Hive account@trucklife-family

Why is it so Important to Meet People Where They are At?

Sometimes it's so hard to take a step back.

Watching from the outside it's easy to see the direction that someone maybe taking, yet they remain oblivious to that.

It's really important to accept people for who they are and not turn all self righteous and try to tell them how you think they should be doing things.

Life should not be about leading people by the hand!

We're living in a time when some people find it very difficult to truly think for themselves, they are so bombarded by advertising, by expert opinions on what success and happiness are and how to achieve them. This carefully crafted advice is being used to keep people in check. It's a follow on from school where we were conditioned to believe that all our learning has to come from external influences, from others who know better.
BE THE SOLUTION, NOT THE PROBLEM

What is happening in the world today?

War, famine, deforestation, adverse weather conditions, life threatening illnesses and disease.

We ask ourselves why?

Yet others distance themselves from this reality, try and block it out. But we can't ignore what is happening, we are all connected this effects us all.

We need to change what we can in our own lives, live more in harmony with the earth.

We live in a time where we have become obsessed with cleanliness. In order to keep ourselves and our homes clean we are in fact dirtying our environment. We are using products that are polluting the rivers and streams, that our damaging the ozone. These same products are toxic to us, to our families. We are willingly bringing poison into our homes.
Some of My Lifes Most Powerful Lessons

13 years ago I went to Australia, it was a journey that would open my eyes and change my life.

I was in my late twenties and in my mind I thought I knew alot about the Country already. I watched some Australian soaps, seen all the amazing beaches, the endless good weather and the happy healthy people. I'd read a little about Aboriginal Culture, about their peaceful way of life, their respect for the land and the amazing art that they created.

I was so excited to go, so I applied for a 1 year working visa and off I went.I already had a few connections over there after making friends whilst I lived in London. I visited the east coast briefly and then I headed over to Western Australia.

At first everything was great, Western Australia is beautiful. Alot of the coast was wild and untouched and the South has Kari forests that have such a magical quality to them. One could easily stay here and live the dream.

Hive account@sharoonyasir

A Letter to the Newbie Steemians

If the three kings were trying to get into Bethlehem coming Saturday, they might have a hard time getting through the Israeli checkpoints and, depending on which direction they would come from, possibly also the Israeli West Bank Wall. Building walls has always been a favorite past time of the rich and mighty, usually as protection against foreign invaders or the poor. As impressive as it looks, apparently the only building visible from space, but some say, even that is a myth, the Great Wall of China in the end did not live up to its purpose, the protection of the Chinese mainland from the Mongols. The USA want to defend their empire against the influx of migrants from Latin America with a wall.
Day 183- SteemitEducation Homework- What is the most important thing, according to you, to teach children of all ages?

Children are extremely special and beautiful and I realized this more after becoming a mother. Earlier, I nurtured a more biased behavior towards kids, and was mostly nice to the kids I found cute and adorable. However, when I became a mother, my attitude towards kids changed a lot and I became nicer to all kids. I realized that every child is worthy of love and affection.

This brings me to the @steemiteducation homework for this week: What is the most important thing, according to you, to teach children of all ages?

There is not one, but lots of important things that we need to teach kids of all ages, but right now, there is one important thing on my mind which I teach my son and try to teach any kid that I come across- acceptance and compassion.
Things I am Grateful for in 2017

I was without my laptop for the last 5 days and could not use Steemit properly from phone so I felt really lost without Steemit when I wanted to use it. I got my laptop yesterday and felt alive again. Although I did create a blogpost from my phone about 30 hours ago, it wasn’t as fun as it is to post using my laptop. So when I did not have my laptop and wasn’t blogging properly, I was reading the posts of many different people on Steemit. It was my way of staying connected to the forum even if I could not actively participate in stuff.

Hive account@clara-andriessen

You are an unfolding flower

I was thinking about writing an Article about true love, but rather than yapping what is what I remembered someone leaving a comment " You should write some literature " and so I did. Last night I decided to write a small story about love so I can share it with you guys. And here it is.
The very last day of the Yuletide celebrations: Three kings day or twelfth night

Happy Three kings day/Twelfth night/Epiphany/little Christmas or as it is called in Holland: Thirteenth day!

Whatever it has been named it is thirteen days from the day the sun started moving up again, so I think 'Thirteenth day' is a pretty accurate name for it. Yay for the Dutch!
And... Like with all Christian celebrations, it is all woven in with the pagan festival, trying to overwrite it by naming it 'Three kings'. Originally, like the name thirteen day suggests, it is the end of the period of 13 holy nights, which is a cosmic event rather then a religious Christian one. Although the Christ energy is also doing its work in the 13 holy nights, while the veils between heaven and earth are thinner.

Hive account@mountainjewel

You, Yes You! Can Build Your Own Home: Earth Ships, Cob, Earth Bag and More! Inspiration Saturday for Non-Builder Builders!

There is a great misconception in our society, a society of experts, that in order to build one must be what we call a Builder.

Usually this is a person of great experience in the field. Conventional experience. The materials must be easily purchased at the store and, in this case, verge on being not only toxic to human health and the earth, but also expensive and unsustainable.

Today I want to help dispel this myth, that in order to build one’s own house, one must be a builder. We are living proof of this and there are many more examples.
How to Get the Fruit you Want from the Trees you Already Have: An Invitation to Grafting with Scions

Have you ever eyed that crab apple in your backyard and wished for a Golden Delicious or a juicy Bartlett Pear? Or that wild cherry tree that only produces fruit for the birds- have you let yourself imagine perfectly ripe red cherries or even apricots on its branches?
Our Mushroom Trip: Eating & Building Soil Locally from Mushroom Mountain

This mushroom trip was not what you might expect….

Yesterday we visited a certified organic mushroom producer near us, Mushroom Mountain. We were mainly seeking the byproducts of mushroom production; “logs” of myceliated sawdust and grain. We are always looking for ways to increase organic matter in our soil and diversify our fungal and bacterial communities. Bringing the genetics of choice edible mushroom in predigested organic matter seems like a good idea to us. So off we went.

Hive account@gardenbsquared

A new season of Birding in Suriname - Please join me on my birding adventures to spot as many birds as possible. Season 2 episode 1
Welcome to season 2 of Birding in Suriname. Last year I shared more than 50 birds here on Steemit. This year I hope that I can share even more. 2018 started well. I spotted a couple more species and Steem rose to new heights. I hope that you will join me this year on my birding adventures.

The Illegality of War - An interview with Chris Coverdale by Tony Farrell
In the beginning of 2013 I was lucky enough to film Chris Coverdale being interviewed by Tony Farrell about the illegality of war. All wars have been illegal for 90 years now.
After World War 1, the Kellogg-Briand Pact of 1928 has been signed. This treaty, signed by all major nations, Is a renunciation of war. It was promised that all international disputes would be settled peacefully. It was this treaty that formed the basis of the Nuremberg trials in which it was judged that Germany, Italy and Japan had broken that treaty.
Chris Coverdale is a peace campaigner who believes that war criminals like Tony Blair should be arrested and tried in front of a jury for breaching the International Criminal Court Act.

Hive account@vangelov

Building a Steemit Retreat in Bulgaria? A wild but doable idea. What do you think?

I woke up with a great idea today, although it's just a simple idea I thought about sharing it with the fellow steem heads and community to see what you guys think about it.
Forcing Happiness is quite unhealthy in the long run.

I'm' not sure if you guys have noticed how most youtube "Stars" and other social stars tend to over force Happiness. You can see that by looking at how over-amped they tend to get. Especially if someone has seen "Logan Poul". But overall those are examples that you guys can check out for yourself to see what I'm talking about.

Let's get to the topic at hand.
Steemit, Defying the laws of an ancient economy?

These days I've been asking myself a lot of questions regarding Steemit. The main one being " How is this possible?". And let me elaborate. A new era of economy ?

We've been using our Fiat economy since the ages of kings. This old system has been untouched and unscaled for so many years.
Yet now I see a new contender that is gathering force to beat the living hell out of the fiat system.
The benefits of social groups within Steemit and Why you need to be part of one.

I've been part of a group "EcoTrain", for more than 4 months now. I can't imagine how steemit would have turned out as an experience if I wasn't part of it.

I wanted to dedicate this article to social groups and how I see them, also sharing some personal experience.

Hive account@schoonercreek

Chickens- The Ultimate Garden Tool. How to Create Low Maintenance Beds by Letting the Birds Do the Work for You.
We have used chickens to create 100% of our growing areas on our farm.
We are market gardeners, which means we grow and sell produce, herbs and flowers at local farmers markets for a "living". We have been doing this professionally for about 8 years, but my experience with similar work goes back to childhood, where I grew up working with my parents at their plant nursery and landscaping business. I am here to tell you today how you can use chickens as the ultimate garden tool. We have been doing this successfully since day one and have had such a great time with it that I want to share it with you!
Are You Going to Earthskills???

It was 2005; my true love and I attached a camper shell on the back of our '86 GMC, threw in some bookshelves, a cooler, a Coleman camp-stove, some TP, and a mattress. We put our money together and said let's go down south to Rivercane Rendezvous and see where the road leads us...

It changed our lives forever. We met some of the greatest people we've ever met and had the time of our lives. We continued to go back for many years and learned many skills that we continue to use today. That first gathering is where I learned how to spin wool into yarn. There are gatherings/events all over the country (world?) today and I want to tell you about some of the ones we've been to.
Herbal Allies 1. Cheerful Chickweed

This is one of the most wonderful little wild salad greens... and it can be found in winter!
Succulent, delicious, crisp and juicy leaves, with a lettuce-like flavor. Packed full of essential nutrients... Sometimes when you find her she is growing in a huge patch! This is a favorite here at our farm.

We have eaten many a salad with chickweed as the main ingredient. (Pairs well with Autumn Olive Berries, Smoked Salmon and Red Wine Vinaigrette, such was the salad we ate when we were on top of a mountain in North Carolina so many years ago.... The Autumn Olive shrubs were growing above a blanket of chickweed!)

Starting a CSA. Diversify Your Farmstead Business

Have you thought about starting a CSA? It can be a good way to connect with your local community and diversify your farm and homestead business, fostering resiliency and independence.

A CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is typically some sort of arrangement between you (the producer) and the customer that involves them "buying" a portion of your produce at the beginning of the season before you grow it. Then, for a period of time the customer receives a "share" of the produce as it is harvested. This arrangement is not new. It has been popular for tens of decades in Europe and Japan and elsewhere.

Hive account@kiaraantonoviche

Reducing Red Meat in 2018 - A Matter of Health, Ethics, & Sustainability

With a new year comes new resolutions and for 2018, I am determined to begin cutting back on my meat consumption!

People cut meat from their diets for a variety of reasons - ethical, health, sustainability, etc. My reason is a combination of them all though it is mainly for the sustainability aspect. The rate at which we produce our resources and the methods we use to do so are lackluster to say the least. It takes much more water and land to produce beef than it does poultry… and exorbitantly more than plant life!

Hive account@likedeeler

The Three Kings Are Generous Today
Thank God, it´s Three Kings today, the end of Christmas terror is near.
While traditionally challenged Germans have been throwing out their dying trees since a few days now, in hardcore traditional families the tree will be held hostage until Three Kings, wether the tree likes it or not.
So from tomorrow on, even the most die-hard Christmas fanatics will stop singing those dreadful songs, provided they are not members of the calendarly challenged Russian-Orthodox Church, celebrating Christmas tomorrow.

Hive account@solarsupermama

Raising Revolutionary Boys

Point of clarity: In a lot of places in this article, I use the word "boys" because I'm writing this article about raising boys, but a lot of these concepts apply to both boys and girls.

I want to revisit the series I did on raising revolutionary children in light of recent events and talk a bit about the responsibility we have as parents to raise boys who will help smash the patriarchy. As I discussed in the last post about recent abuse, the patriarchy is at the root of sexism, racism, homophobia, xenophobia, and destruction of the planet. The patriarchal obsession with power and money is the source of most of our problems.