November is considered Native American Heritage Month. It is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the various cultures, art, and traditions of America’s Native peoples. The native experience and perspective are in no way a monolith, so here are some resources highlighting the diverse groups of people that have long worked to cultivate a more resilient, sustainable future.
Climate Week NYC (September 21-27) is a major, annual summit to spread the message of climate action locally and across the globe. Hosted by the United Nations and the City of New York, it is a way for people to get involved in a fast growing movement towards building a better future. This year, they’re hosting dozens of events , mostly online, to showcase, and teach, the global leadership of young people and grassroots activism. Here are a few Youth, Public Mobilization, and Justice events that you can’t miss:
Another week, another amazing environmentalist to celebrate. In honor of the second week of Women’s History Month I present you a truly inspiring young woman, Ta’Kaiya Blaney.
Blaney is from the Tla’Amin First Nation in Canada and witnessed firsthand the effects of deforestation. The British Columbian logging industry’s rapid pace made it so that her Nation’s elders could no longer build traditional canoes.
Desertification costs around $42 billion per year. You might be asking yourself why are we losing so much money? Whose allowing this to happen? And most of all what is desertification?
Desertification is simply defined by Allan Savory as “a fancy word for land that is turning to a desert.”And when land becomes desert, millions of people are left without food and water, and often forced to flee.
Droughts as a result of climate change and unsustainable farming practices are some of the reasons why 12 million hectares of land are lost each year. We are living in the official United Nations decade for deserts and the fight against desertification (2010-2020). So let’s review the facts. Read more
Looking for something to read this summer? Here are some suggestions of acclaimed books that speak to a diversity of sustainability- and environmentally-related issues and ideas. Pick up one of these books this summer and gain a radically new outlook on the world we live in and how we can help to make it a better place.
1. Lab GirlsBy Hope Jahren
Lab Girl is the debut memoir of Hope Jahren, who has devoted her life to the study of trees, flower, seeds, and soil. The story, as told by Jahren, takes the reader back to her childhood in rural Minnesota where her father allowed her access to his classroom’s lab, in which she found a love for science and learned to perform lab work. However, the book’s core plot hinders on Jahren’s relationship with her lab partner and best friend, with whom she travels across the United States from the Midwest to tropical Hawaii, where she currently lives and works. Lab Girl is highly acclaimed, a New York Times 2016 Notable Book, and a national bestseller.
