“He’s going to kill himself and I’m going to be held responsible.” That was my primary thought at least a dozen times while volunteering for Burton’s CHILL program at Mountain High Ski Resort. The CHILL program takes underprivileged teens to local mountains to learn to snowboard one day a week for six weeks. Equipment and lift tickets come care of Burton. Some of the kids have never seen the mountains before, though many times they live within an hour drive of a range. Because my life... [Read more]

One of the most head slapping-ly logical groups I helped last year was Food Forward. Their brilliant concept boils down to – You have fruit trees in your yard that need picking. We have hungry people in LA. We will come pick your tree for free, give you tax credit, and give the fruit to the hungry. Problems solved. I picked oranges with them in July and ever since then I have been halfway obsessed with unpicked fruit trees of any kind. I walk around my neighborhood in a twist over orange and... [Read more]

Note to those who have already e-mailed me:  No, I’m not a pot user - really I don’t even like being around the smoke. However, I think it’s silly to pay taxes to fight a war against a plant which is less dangerous than alcohol, is a viable medical treatment for certain conditions, and could make us tons of money if we taxed it. Would the legalization of marijuana in the United States be good for the environment? Do I hear a resounding yes from the peanut gallery? Thought so.... [Read more]

I’m sorry. Not just for the title of this project which was…mmm…lacking… but because it’s taken me so long to summarize my volunteering experience. I kind of got back handed by life about a week after I cut my hair and I’m still trying to stand up. The good news is I have almost found my footing and expect to be my old snarky self shortly. At this point I should say something profound about the 50 volunteer projects and how they changed my life. Of course they did - anything I type... [Read more]

Let’s pretend you’re a big clothing retail chain who’s a bit profit minded and unscrupulous because you’re a corporation and you answer to share holders.  Naturally, you wouldn’t want the poor to be seen in your clothes.  It sends the wrong message if your sportswear can be bought by anyone. You definitely don’t want your product ending up in the hands of those in poverty or, heaven forbid, people in the grip of a natural disaster, like say an earthquake in Haiti. Lord knows what would... [Read more]

I think this volunteer episode is better told with bad photography (see below). Disjointed thoughts on my final volunteer mission: It’s fortunate that I was doing this haircut for charity and for this blog or, honestly, it would not have happened. The morning of the scheduled chop I was face down in bed with my hands stretched beside me like a drowned Ophelia mumbling, “It’s for the children. I’m going to look like Peter Pan on Broadway. It’s for the children.” Days earlier I had... [Read more]

Holidays, in general, mean family time. Millions will return home to be with people who, in some cases, they spend little time and have even less in common with - except a shared genetic code. It should come as no surprise then that the Holidays rank as one of the most stressful times of year. One particular familial quirk that might become apparent to you, loyal Celsias readers, is that your parents/grandparents/extended family might not care that much about the environment. On a recent excursion... [Read more]