Advocacy

ENVIRONMENT
The simple plastic bag has come to symbolize the world’s growing problem with plastic waste. Yet globally, there are seven definitions of what is considered a plastic bag—and that complicates efforts to reduce their proliferation.
By Sumanta Kumar5 years ago in Earth
Creating Art From Waste
I began collecting discarded materials in college when money was tight and the desire to create necessitated a certain kind of thriftiness and imagination. Over time, finding a use for and elevating the value of old conference banners, a used shower curtain or cardboard boxes became an important sub-narrative to the works I make. I’ve been interested in how commodity and material culture impacts and informs my sense of self, my perception of others, and how I assign value to objects. Always though, creating has been about personal healing and truth-seeking.
By Olivia 5 years ago in Earth
The Threads of My Life.... Top Story - June 2021.
Imagine a young girl, 8 years old, out at recess. But instead of running and playing with her friends, I am standing up against the schoolhouse knitting. Any free time I had (and this is still true today) I was stitching, sewing, knitting and embroidering all through elementary school. I learned a lot from my mother and grandmother, but my passion for fiber started early in my life and has been the dominant “thread” throughout my life! No matter what stage I have been in (adolescence, young adult, married with a child) I have always created with yarn, fiber, and fabric. Nothing has stopped me!
By Christine Miller5 years ago in Earth
a deer during lockdown
This one caught me by surprise. It was shot at 6:05am on my way home from dropping my fiancée off at work. The sun had almost finished rising; the streets and the trees still dripping in its golden hue.
By Krysty-Ann Bastable5 years ago in Earth
REUSE not Recycle
The other day I got a knock on the door from someone selling something. I normally don’t bother as they seldom sell something that I want, but this guy was a milkman from McQueens Dairies who was offering deliveries in reusable glass bottles.
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred 5 years ago in Earth
Why I Matter
I know the title sounds... pushy. Grandiose. Whatever word you want to put on it. I've got one prototype that Shark Tank wants for a humane snake deterrent. If I can get that up and running I'd be rich beyond the dreams of avarice. But it's taken six or seven years to get it to the point where it's ready to be assembled.
By Jonathan Blackbow5 years ago in Earth
Feeding America with Leftovers
This article was difficult to write. Seeing these numbers made me feel everything from anger, to sadness, to incredulity. The solution to funding the United States’ hunger problem can be solved for years with the help of just ten people, yet we allow it to continue.
By Brandy Enn5 years ago in Earth
My little lizard friend
From the moment I saw this lizard, I knew he was different. Maybe it was just my overactive sense of empathy or my unhealthy tendency to personify all things non-human, but one lost soul can recognize another.
By Zoe Cote5 years ago in Earth
Taking Care of this Blue Dot
The blue dot. Our Earth wouldn't be the warm, life-giving planet that we know and love without water. As residents of Earth, we are lucky that the oceans cover 70% of the globe.
By A. Grace5 years ago in Earth
Choices Inspire Movements
If we could choose things based solemnly on one factor then, how easy would it be to choose! But the truth is that there are always many things involved in our decisions. We can reach a can of tomatoes or go for the fresh tomatoes, but it is not as simple as that. Because we have to think about the price of the can vs that of the tomatoes, of the time it takes to prepare the tomato sauce vs just opening the can. And it gets even more complicated as we see the tomato sauce in glass jars and in plastic jars, the many brand options, and the quality of the ingredients. For pure environmental reasons we would have to consider where the tomatoes came from, whether they were grown with pesticides, how much demand there is for the product, whether the water used was recycled, whether renewable energy was used to transport it, and many more factors which would be imposible to calculate unless we grew our own tomatoes. How easy would it be if we could just take our jars of sauce and fill them up in a supply machine made of local ingredients? But the truth is that we are far from this alternate reality. Yet, if we want to propell the future, we need to make more environmentaly concious choices when it comes to daily decisions.
By Camila Carsolio5 years ago in Earth
We all make a difference.
It is sometimes hard for me to believe that with billions of people in the world I can some how make a difference , but we do. With every single one of us implementing minor changes in our lives regardless of how little it is , it can significantly have an impact on our planet. I have always grown up with a strong connection to the earth. I first grew up in Nigeria before moving to New York. I spent a lot of time out doors and in the natural world talking to plants and trees. As a kid with a very vivid imagination , I was extremely fascinated by animals and would observe them a lot growing up. I remember getting annoyed with my friends for littering when I taught they could have easily thrown their trash out in the garbage or recycle , or for attempting a vegan/vegetarian diet in high school with little to no knowledge about the life style . This pull and connection that I have with the earth has led me to be more couscous about by carbon footprint on the planet has an adult now.
By Kehinde Oguntoyinbo5 years ago in Earth
Why Are We Here?
At some point in our lives we start questioning our role and purpose in life... hopefully with a child’s curiosity, taking us through our choices and adventures with a sense of wonder, excitement, and joy. Yet, there are times when we lose our way, situations flip upside down, our joy bubbles popped, and we begin forgetting our why.
By Dolphingirl5 years ago in Earth