Green Living – Living in Greater Harmony
For George and Maia Ballis, green living was not a trend. It was a calling rooted in love for the land, for justice, and for the invisible threads that link personal and planetary health. After years of organizing for labor and water rights through National Land for People, they turned their attention inward, asking:
What if the revolution starts in our kitchens, our gardens, our everyday habits?
At Sun Mountain Research Center, nestled in the dry chaparral of the Sierra foothills, George and Maia began a new phase of their life’s work — living in conscious relationship with the Earth. Out of this lifestyle emerged Taking Back Our Lives: A Green Living Report, a guide to living in harmony with what they affectionately called “Big Mama.”
“Spiritual balance cannot be separated from physical balance.
We also have to lower ourselves into deep connection with Mother Earth in order to fashion a more balanced relationship with our air, water, land, food, neighbors, and our livelihood.”
—George Ballis
Long before “sustainability” became mainstream, the Ballises were building super-insulated homes with non-toxic materials, solar cooking, harvesting rainwater, composting, and making their own household products. They documented what worked — and what did not — so others could learn alongside them.
At a time when the average U.S. household contains over 2,000 synthetic chemicals, they offered a different path: one grounded in simplicity, presence, and reverence. From cookware to water use, fabric choices to menstruation products, Taking Back Our Lives blends rigorous research with lived experience.
This project is a values-based artifact that helped shape the ethos of People, Food and Land. Its legacy continues as we advance regenerative systems, circular economies, and holistic approaches to health, ecology, and justice — from the home to the farm, and beyond.
