My parents survived the Great Depression and brought me up to live within my means, save some for tomorrow, share and don't be greedy, work hard for the necessities in life knowing that money does not make you better or more important than anyone else. So, extravagance has been bred out of my DNA.

Our choices at all levels-individual, community, corporate and government-affect nature. And they affect us.

Some solutions are relatively simple and would provide economic benefits: implementing measures to conserve energy, putting a price on carbon through taxes and cap-and-trade and shifting from fossil fuels to clean and renewable energy sources.

Each of us now has 2.27 kg (5 lbs) of plastic embedded in our bodies.

Protecting the biosphere should be our highest priority or else we sicken and die.

The one thing I feel is very hopeful, however, is the overwhelming participation of women in the movement for change.

I see a world in the future in which we understand that all life is related to us and we treat that life with great humility and respect. I see us as well as social creatures, and when I began to look back and say, ‘what is the fundamental bottom line for us as social creatures?’I couldn’t believe it because it seemed so hippy dippy, but it was Love. Love is the force that makes us fully human.