eleven years ago, unity college, a small environmental college tucked into the woods of rural maine, became the first institute of higher education in the country to divest, scrubbing their finances clean from fossil fuels. with the help of climate activist bill mckibben and activist groups, unity college’s story started a movement. today, over 100 schools are divested or in the process of divesting from fossil fuels. from private, wealthy goliaths such as harvard and yale to the entire california public college system, fossil fuels are out the door. 

on this planet forward audio story, i talk to the former president of unity college about how divestment works and the story of how his school became the first to do it. also, he happens to be my dad.

let us take eggs, for instance. eggs go in everything. they are a foundational item that is used to bind things together. they can be scrambled, flipped, fried, deviled, and so much more. the best thing about eggs was that they are — well, were — dirt cheap. in early 2022 a dozen eggs cost around $2 on average. now, eggs are running closer to $4 a dozen for conventional eggs, and it is putting a damper on the typical grocery tab. 

as a college student, i have a part-time job to sustain myself. i have been employed by walmart for three years, so i have noticed these trends concerning the price of eggs. as an online grocery pickup associate, i shop for customers who typically include eggs on their grocery lists. some people purchase organic eggs, while others buy the store brand, but no matter what type of egg is chosen, i noticed they’ve become awfully expensive for such a staple grocery item. this sudden price change intrigued me, so i decided to find the underlying cause.   

bird health meets economics

the economic research service of the u.s. department of agriculture highlights this surge in egg prices in their updated food consumer price index. although many factors may impact egg prices, researchers and reporters alike have found that bird flu is one of the main culprits of egg inflation. bird flu refers to an illness in birds caused by infection with avian influenza type a viruses. according to the centers for disease control and prevention (cdc), domesticated birds (chickens, turkeys, ducks, etc.) may become infected with avian influenza a viruses through direct contact with infected waterfowl or other infected poultry, or through contact with surfaces that have been contaminated with viruses.

during this research journey, i interviewed alexis smith, a graduating senior of tuskegee university’s animal science program. smith is highly interested in poultry and holds an executive position in tuskegee’s pre-vet club. smith explained that there are two types of bird flu, low pathogenic and high pathogenic. low pathogenic avian influenza can cause no sign of disease and if it does, it is mild. however, with mild symptoms, there will still be a decrease in egg production and the virus can still mutate into the highly pathogenic type. whereas the high pathogenic type causes severe disease and has a 90% to 100% mortality rate. this form of the disease can affect multiple organ systems, respiratory, digestive, etc., all within 48 hours. 

one of the worst repercussions of the spread of this disease is the effect on agricultural trade. when bird flu is rampant on a farm among poultry, it affects the number of chickens that produce eggs in addition to the number of eggs that pass inspection. the lack of egg production and egg contamination is hindering the amount that farmers can supply, which is why prices are rising steadily. though fewer eggs are being produced, the demand has not weakened, which explains why the increased prices have remained and not dropped. 

research continues, but there is still no cure for bird flu in birds. bird flu is still rampant and it is continuing to diminish the egg supply, which is causing the price of eggs to inflate. 

egg alternatives

while eggs are vital part of many people’s diets, there are several egg alternatives that people should take note of the next time they are scanning egg prices at the grocery store. according to healthline, there are many substitutions for eggs that can be used for binding, moisture, and consumption purposes. apple sauce, mashed banana, ground chia/flaxseed, silken tofu, as well as commercial egg replacers are all relatively easy alternatives. while it is still hard to replace the beloved egg, it is important to be cognizant that there are other options for some uses. 

all in all, eggs are important, but they are increasingly a stress on people’s wallets. we often think of the economy, livestock health, and food availability as being unrelated factors that impact our lives, but in fact the epidemic of bird flu shows us that they are incredibly related with serious intertwined consequences. whether egg-alternatives are a possible addition to your grocery list or not, more research is needed to identify effective treatments for bird flu and to ease the financial strain on those of us who depend on these animals for food and nutrition.

in a historical context, the charter of indian forestry (1855) offered a model for imperial environmentalism under the british empire in africa in which colonial governments were bestowed the power to seize land that was not otherwise privately owned. (kashwan, 2021, p. 5-6) this toxic relationship between the global north and global south persists today through our globalized economy. for example, ghana is the largest gold producer on a continent that supplies 40% of the world’s gold. (al jazeera, 2022) at the same time, global justice now has reported that african countries in 2015 received $162 billion in foreign aid while $203 billion was extracted from the continent, either directly from multinational corporations or by costs necessary for climate change adaptation (mcveigh, 2017).

extractive economies that reinforce these oppressive systems of command and control have been imprinted into the head spaces of the ruling financial and political elite as the end-all, be-all solution to improving quality of life for humanity. due to these cultural setbacks, youth leaders and advocates around the world are frustrated about the lack of action their governments are taking on climate change. one such group in ghana has been incredibly active in terms of transitioning local and regional economies and communities to more sustainable mechanisms and relationships between people and the planet. 

founded in 2014, green africa youth organization (gayo) pursues a holistic path to mobilize and engage youth voices in ghana in order to challenge climate change and introduce a circular economy to the region. i had a conversation with betty osei bonsu, who is a project coordinator based in accra, about the work she does with gayo. their vision is to achieve environmental and economic sustainability through youth empowerment, skills development, and public education. gayo champions several initiatives that follow these thematic areas including climate change disaster risk reduction and circular economy. in tandem with the 2030 sustainable development goals, these initiatives encourage a multi-pronged approach to climate action and normalization of sustainability in local and regional economies. gayo refers to itself as a gender-balanced organization, in alignment with goal 10: reduce inequality within and among countries. gayo not only pushes for women leadership in environmental spaces, but also seeks to enhance inclusion within waste recovery and management.

the sustainable community project (scp) is meant to establish a zero-waste model for waste management led by community members within ghana. established in accra, cape coast, abuakwa, and pioneered from the ashanti region, edubiase in 2016, this project focuses on several waste-to-value initiatives including: composting, recycling arts, and charcoal briquette. composting is important to a sustainable community because it provides organic fertilizers within towns that can be sold to people within the community for better organic crop yield. meanwhile, recycling arts offer training to create items that can be sold and be reused for the creator or their family. additionally, charcoal briquettes are a biofuel meant to be a sustainable transitional energy source that is substituted for firewood. this work started as a pilot program in cape coast, but expanded into a full initiative in the adansi south district of ghana. these three areas of value addition are meant to establish circular communities by working with media outlets, activists, and local organizations/assemblies to implement this project throughout ghana and beyond. the main objectives for the sustainable community project are to divert waste from landfills, support the works of waste pickers while building community capacity, and promote revenue generation through upcyling what would otherwise be thrown out. ms. bonsu mentioned that the initiative offers other opportunities such as the creation of green jobs and green jobs training for alternative livelihood while maximizing resource recovery so that small-scale waste can be re-purposed and sold as sustainably-sourced products. waste pickers play a major role in the scp as they recover most of the waste. thus, gayo supports them by advocating for their rights, integrating them to work in coordination with the assembly, and providing them with necessary resources.

furthermore, the circular economy project is also focused on training youth, and fostering development so they can act as ambassadors for various gayo initiatives. following this, they have organized over 300 youth individuals within universities through the gayo ecoclub chapters. this is a student-led movement envisioned to raise future climate leaders and young ecopreneurs, create awareness on environmental protection, and increase the employability of youth through professional working experiences. gayo is also building the capacity of these students by pushing for the creation of environmental courses and initiatives through partnership with other institutions and community engagement activities. as a result, students and emerging professionals are able to learn more about climate change and the circular economy while making an impact in their communities.

meanwhile, the youth climate council provides a platform for youth-led individuals and organizations to gather actionable suggestions and to come together as a centralized power to pitch concerns they have to the government. the youth climate council was established by green africa youth organization and its independent partner, youth climate lab (ycl), and with institutional backing from the international development research centre (idrc). i found this project particularly compelling after learning from ms. bonsu that, in her own words, “[people] in the global south…are faced with a situation where youth do not have voices in decision making, are not being represented in government [and] are not included in the formation of climate policies.” a significant part of gayo’s mission is to empower and engage youth throughout the country and the world around comprehensive climate action, environmental education, and community-centric programs.

the youth climate council is a unified climate youth movement which amplifies youth voices and creates opportunities for young climate activists in ghana. the council is embedded within the ministry of environment, science, technology, and innovation, working hand-in-hand with the environmental protection agency ensuring a direct connection between youth and government, and vice versa. the youth climate council’s priority is to provide services to strengthen activism and the impact of its members.

betty went on to say that, “because of this platform, we were able to attend cop26 in order to highlight gayo and other youth experiences in ghana ” around climate action and environmental awareness. following this year’s cop 26, the ghana government pavilion was utilized by gayo and its partners to host capacity-building webinars and events for youth, while sharing initiatives and climate interventions carried out by youth climate activists, organizations, and institutions in the nation. government institutions providing platforms, and the autonomy to decide what actions should be taken, center the perspectives of youth leaders rather than perpetuate archaic systems that are damaging to people and the planet. 

climate action demands intersectional, multi-generational collective action. even though the majority of ghg emissions and environmental degradation has been caused by the generations before us, it is up to youth voices, organizations, and movements to strive for a more sustainable and ethical future. gayo is one such organization achieving this feat in real time, with betty osei bonsu representing ghana and gayo at cop26 calling the world to action. global north countries and institutions, and its respective government entities, need to pass the microphone to leaders such as betty that are already transforming our relationship to the environment while also finding economic opportunities in alignment with environmental justice and sustainability. 

sources

al jazeera staff. 2022. mapping africa’s natural resources. al jazeera. 

bonsu, betty osei. (2021, november) personal communication [personal interview]. 

kashwan, prakash, et. al. 2021. from racialized neocolonial global conservation to an inclusive and regenerative conservation. environment. 63:4, 5-6.

mcveigh, karen. 2017. world is plundering africa’s wealth of ‘billions of dollars a year’. the guardian. 

dive deeper

gayo joins inaugural plastic action champions – green africa youth organization

ghana hosts first local conference of youth in climate change | wundef.com

are you an entrepreneur? apply to join the founder institute ghana and gayo fellowship. – green africa youth organization

the ethic that drives our modern economy is a direct threat to our planet’s biodiversity, with uninterrupted growth correlating to uninterrupted environmental degradation, but does that have to remain the case? the goal of my story is to communicate how we can rethink modern free-market capitalism so it remains within the finite constraints of the planet. our main issue is humans remaining out of touch with the planet, my story of being raised in rural vermont will convey my intimate connection with nature, while highlighting its absence in the lives of the majority of americans. if however, with the price of every product, the ecological costs were considered, citizens who were unable, or more importantly unwilling to interact with the planet would be forced to do so with the purchases made in their daily lives. a market based solution to internalize all the ecological costs of production could make the price of goods and services more in touch with the planets realities and limits.

—

sources:

halstead, t. (2017, june). climate leadership council. retrieved october 7, 2019, from https://www.clcouncil.org/.

hanley, n. (2015). pricing the planet: nick hanley weighs up a study that probes the economic value of nature. nature, 520(7548), 434+. retrieved from https://link-gale-com.esf.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/a411013074/aone?u=sunycesfsc&sid=aone&xid=8c672ed2

max, d. t. (2019, july 9). green is good. retrieved october 7, 2019, from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/05/12/green-is-good.

mytels, d. (1992, winter). between economics & ecology: the business environmental network. whole earth review, (77), 22+. retrieved from https://link-gale-com.esf.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/a12937767/ppes?u=sunycesfsc&sid=ppes&xid=4b6dd0a3

randall, a. (1991). the value of biodiversity. ambio, 20(2), 64-68. retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.esf.idm.oclc.org/stable/4313778

realising the value, enhancing business success: sustainability issues impact business. (2003, november-december). energy & environmental management, s6a+. retrieved from https://link-gale-com.esf.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/a112245356/ppes?u=sunycesfsc&sid=ppes&xid=1906921b

sagoff, m. (2015). economic theory and environmental law. in an environmental law anthology (pp. 224–230).

stroup, r. (2003). free market environmentalism. library of economics and liberty, 1–1. retrieved from https://www.econlib.org/library/enc/freemarketenvironmentalism.html

washington––democrats and republicans had opposing views on the value of coal to the u.s. economy thursday, with democrats calling for more environmental controls and republicans stressing how essential coal is to the energy infrastructure.

democrats at the house subcommittee on energy and mineral resources hearing worried that companies that mine on federal land are not paying their fair share, and that the environmental and social consequences of coal are not being properly considered.

republicans spoke about the success of the program in job creation and how indispensable coal is to the energy infrastructure of america.

the federal coal program is a bureau of land management program that allows private companies to mine coal on federal land. the companies bid for the rights to use the land and pay the government a fee for the land and the coal extracted and a royalty on the coal that is sold. the program is predominantly found in western states like wyoming and was integral in the powering of america throughout the 20th century.

now, critics say the program needs to be modernized and reformed to reflect the true cost of relying on this part of the fossil fuel industry.

subcommittee chair rep. alan lowenthal, d-calif., said the program “ignores the effects of coal on our climate and the future of americans who are losing their livelihoods as coal disappears. these are two things that i’m most focused on.”

but arizona rep. paul gosar, the top republican on the committee, stressed the importance of coal to the u.s. economy. “coal mining is essential to american energy security, providing an affordable, reliable source of baseload power to families across the country,” gosar said. “coal mining also employs over 53,000 people, including regions of the country experiencing economic hardships, like appalachia.”

the differences in focus laid out in gosar and lowenthal’s opening statements were present throughout the hearing. for the few democrats who were present during the hearing, like rep. jared huffman, d-calif., questions environmental and social problems related to mining and the industry. most of those questions were directed at jim stock, an economics professor at harvard and a member of former president barack obama’s council of economic advisors.

“in recent research, i and co-authors estimate that 92% of the decline in coal from 2008 to 2016 is due to the decline in natural gas prices,” stock said. he added that mine closings and consolidation “demonstrate that market forces are driving the decline of coal, despite the many pro-coal actions taken by (president donald trump’s) administration.”

for republicans, the focus was on questioning hal quinn, president and ceo of the national mining association. quinn echoed gosar and other republican’s views that coal is a job creator and a significant part of the country’s energy future. he called the federal coal program a “national and economic success story” and disagreed with the 2016 obama-era decision to place a moratorium on the program.

while the differences across the aisle were clear, lowenthal articulated the shared goal of wanting to learn more and properly address the coal program moving forward. “we could do this in the same haphazard way that we’ve managed the federal coal program over the past few decades,” he said. “or we can consider phasing out the federal coal program in a reasonable, thoughtful way that protects workers, guarantees mine cleanup, and addresses climate change.”

“plastic creates pollution right from when it’s made, and then continues to create pollution,” moore said. “it never goes away.”

moore used the 120 billion disposable coffee cups americans discard annually as an example, citing the clean water action’s rethink disposable program. she explained that alongside the 2.2 billion pounds of waste created by the coffee cups, and the strain on finite resources such as fresh water and trees, this throwaway habit also results in 4 billion pounds of carbon dioxide emissions every year.

the throwaway culture that has developed over the last half-century costs the environment as well as the economy: people discard first-use plastic packaging worth the equivalent of $80 billion to $120 billion annually, according to a report from the ellen macarthur foundation.

furthermore, environmental damages caused by plastic pollution, along with the greenhouse gases emitted by plastic production, cost at least $40 billion annually, according to the report.

so how do we counteract all this waste? the report offered the circular economy as the solution to plastic waste in all sectors. the circular economy’s mission is to move society away from its current reliance on disposability and unsustainable resources by redesigning products and systems in order to minimize waste and pollution.

“if we turn off the tap of plastic production, use, and waste management, we’re only left with real materials — reusables that can be used an infinite amounts of times,” moore said.

moore explained that addressing the production, distribution, and widespread use of plastic is crucial in order to make a long-term impact on both plastic pollution and climate change.

while recovery measures such as cleanups and recycling are important, they are “band-aid solutions” that don’t address the root of the problem, moore said. “you can’t get all (of the plastic) out if it keeps coming in.”

“only 9% of plastic ever created has been recycled,” moore said. “we are overflowing with plastic. recycling is not enough.”

mike schoniger, a business owner who oversees the loading and unloading of shipping containers in the port of los angeles, witnessed the limits of recycling firsthand, explaining that the “sheer volume” of recyclables is the issue. he said that because the united states lacks recycling centers, and china has refused to continue receiving and processing recyclables from the west, materials are now stacking up in shipping containers with nowhere to go.

“i’ve seen trash trucks picking (the recyclables) back up and taking them to (a) landfill,” schoniger said.

to mitigate the recycling backlog, the u.s. has started exporting recyclables to india, vietnam, malaysia, and indonesia, the new york times reports. schoniger warned that these nations do not have the infrastructure to deal with the influx of materials, and worried that it will result in illegal dumping.

“i don’t think their environment can tolerate it,” he said of the countries chosen to bear the burden of america’s waste.

“we all just think as far as the curb. we as consumers look away from our problems,” schoniger said.

moore said she knows that when it comes to plastic waste, out of sight should not mean out of mind, and that she fears the trash our species has accumulated so far “will become a layer in the earth, and (a) mark in history of when we didn’t know better.”

at upstream, moore works to stop issues like the recycling overload through measures that “stop trash at its source.” upstream works with venues, corporations, communities, and individuals to institute the circular economy on three levels: throwaway free places, throwaway free communities, and throwaway free living.

moore’s awareness of the far-reaching impacts of manmade trash began with her upbringing in staten island, new york, where, “you can’t walk on the beach without shoes because there’s so much trash,” she said.

now, at upstream, she co-leads the united states’ branch of a #breakfreefromplastic working group, recruiting new partners and orchestrating the vast web of organizations connected to solving the plastic crisis.

moore said the organizations she collaborates with “range from people working on the frontlines fighting oil production to people working (on the issue of) microplastics.”

moore explained that this multifaceted approach is crucial because every problem plastics cause is interconnected. she emphasized the importance of “collaborating to amplify each other’s stories.”

“we are all fighting the same fight. stopping a pipeline in louisiana is going to stop plastic waste in the philippines,” she said.

a recent victory that upstream collaborated on was the development of a disposable-free dining ordinance that will make berkeley, california, a leader in establishing throwaway free communities. the ordinance requires all takeout containers to be compostable and all dine-in dishes and cutlery to be reusable, while also adding a quarter surcharge to every disposable coffee cup to incentivize people to bring their own cups.

moore said she hopes to develop a widespread “culture change” that will shift people’s relationships with the items they use.

“i believe humans are incredibly adaptable. if all single-use plastics were banned, humans would adapt in a week and it would become the new normal,” moore said.

moore is raising her five-year-old daughter to embrace a waste-free future. she and her daughter buy groceries in bulk, use cloth napkins, and make their own toothpaste in mason jars.

“being throwaway-free is completely normal to her,” moore said of her daughter.

when asked what her biggest hope is for the world her daughter will be inheriting, moore answered immediately.

“i would love if she could walk on the beach and not see plastic.”

we do this often; it’s our “couples thing.” it horrified many of our friends and family when we started about a year ago, but now our finds are a part of normal conversations. given our successes, other friends have given it a go as well. we always exercise caution by only going together and sticking to areas that are pretty well lit. (we’ve only day dove once, but are still not super comfortable with it. odd glances and all.)

it started out as a fun and thrifty hobby we could do after talking to a couple who had actually met in a dumpster. and while it is certainly fun, it also became heartbreaking very quickly to see how many perfectly good items — especially food — get thrown out on a daily basis.

according to the food and agriculture organization, if food waste were a country, it would be the third largest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world, just behind china and the united states. based on what i’ve seen in dumpsters — and to know that this is all in just one midwestern town — that’s not unfathomable: i’ve seen dumpsters full of spaghetti, still steaming from the hot bar it occupied only an hour before.

not all food found in a dumpster is edible, of course — at least not by humans. but there is quite a lot that is. i therefore encourage everyone to give it a shot. (i’m happy to report i’ve lost no friends by talking about it so much.) here is a list of ways that my and emily’s lives have changed thanks to this unusual practice:

we eat healthier

“healthier? no way!”

it’s true! produce expires pretty quickly. for example, the shelf life for brussels sprouts is about three to four days if properly refrigerated. that means that they start showing signs of wear in the supermarket in less time. so where is a grocer going to put them if they are technically fine, but no longer attractive enough to sell? the trash, of course! and with any luck, that grocer will dispose of them in a way that makes it safe for me to scoop‘em right out for dinner!

i’m not saying this to knock grocers; they provide an invaluable service to their communities. but we in the u.s. do have some issues with unattractive, yet healthy, food. thankfully, companies like imperfect produce exist, which combats food waste by “finding a home for ‘ugly’ produce,” as their website states. that is, they take produce from farms that is perfectly good, but won’t sell in grocery stores due to superficial damage, and they sell it for far less than you’d normally pay!

we eat more creatively

when you are suddenly in possession of 50 husks of corn, there are only so many times you can eat corn on the cob before you start to look for more creative ways to prepare it. the same goes for steak, bagels, strawberries, asparagus. (we’re still waiting to have this problem with chocolate.)

we’re saving money

in october of 2018, emily and i spent a whopping $84 on groceries, all thanks to dumpster diving. the only grocery shopping we’ve actually done is for essentials that we don’t usually find: milk, sugar, salt, flour.

we’re reducing waste

we may not be reducing it by a lot, but it feels like we are. it feels oddly satisfying, like a subversive civic duty, to come home from a 15 minute trek with two giant boxes of food. but it’s also very sad: the u.s. department of agriculture in 2014 estimated that 49.1 million americans were living in food insecure households.

thankfully, there are apps out there that work to curb such waste. apps like mealconnect act as liaisons among food donors, food pantries, and food insecure households. (emily and i have discussed starting a similar business.) but while they do exist and do amazing work, nearly half of all food produced still ends up in dumpsters.

we’re actually making money

as the saying goes: one person’s trash is another’s treasure.

in addition to scrounging for food in dumpsters, emily and i have been keeping our eyes peeled for what we call “roadside finds” — or large furniture items people leave on their curbs for garbage day. we take these items, spruce them up, and sell them. we’ve made over $1,000 doing this.

i’m writing this not to brag (ok, maybe a little), but to highlight that these items we’ve sold may also have ended up in a landfill otherwise. but for less than an hour of work for each sale, we’ve been able to clean them up and give them happy homes while making a small profit.

i’d like to challenge you to keep a look out for perfectly good discarded items in your community. they may not mean anything to the person throwing them away, but that doesn’t mean they can’t have new life elsewhere.

obviously, dumpster diving is not for everyone. it takes a lot of suspension of disbelief to shove your (hopefully gloved) hand into a pile of trash. or to not even question what that liquid that just spilled on your arm was. but there are definitely good things that come of it if you can. this hobby has changed my life in many ways, and i hope that after reading this, it might change yours, too.

lushoto is a small city located in the beautiful, biodiverse usambara mountains of the eastern arc mountain range. the usambara mountains are globally recognized as a biodiversity hotspot, with rainforests, numerous endemic species as well as a high density of flora and fauna.[1] however, like many biodiversity hotspots, the usambara mountains are facing numerous increasing threats, mostly human-related and human-caused, including deforestation and climate change.  

in a country that is home to kilimanjaro, the plains of serengeti, and the white beaches of zanzibar, it can be difficult to stick out as a hot-spot tourist destination, yet it is a task that the dedicated people of the friends of usambara, knowing the potential their community and natural beauty of environment hold, are not daunted by. while doing my independent project, i was able to observe not only how naturally beautiful lushoto and its surrounding region are, but also the creative and innovative work that friends of usambara were putting into making the usambara mountains a tourist destination in itself while still promoting environmental, cultural, and economic sustainability of the area.

one of the most awe-inspiring things about the work that friends of the usambara was how much responsibility the organization seemed to take in bettering their communities, protecting their natural environment and biodiversity, and promoting sustainable tourism. the executive director of friends of usambara, yassin madiwa, described the organization as being owned by the community and it was quite evident. the tour guides were well-qualified, knowledgeable local citizens who knew not only the popular tourist destinations in the area, but also the local culture, and community. the tours they offered seem to consciously embed different aspects of the local communities, whether it was exploring local cuisine or even promoting supporting local artisans. the income generated by the organization went back into the community by supporting various projects, including tree planting projects, tree nurseries, school construction, educating farmers, or even developing school curriculums that promote environmentalism.

tanzania relies strongly on the economic income the country receives from the numerous tourists that flock to see the country’s immense natural beauty each year. however, in many ways, the tourism industry, particularly the eco-tourism industry, is destroying its own future and longevity and the country’s rich biodiversity with high-impact and unsustainable practices to meet the desires and demands of tourists, including gas-guzzling car congestion and large, lavish lodges in the national parks. in contrast, friends of usambara instead seeks to “[use] sustainable tourism to conserve the nature and the culture of the usambara mountains” by offering tourists everything from day hikes, agro-community cultural tours, cycling tours, to even multi-day trekking tours.[2] not only are these tours less impactful on the environment than many of the other destinations in tanzania, they are also allowing the local tour guides to share and promote their culture and community in their own terms in a manner that isn’t exploitive of the locals. 

while many perceive fighting against climate change and environmental protection as a burden, friends of usambara saw protecting the environment and biodiversity as a solution and a way to promote not only the growth of the tourism industry but also the economy and well-being of their community.

in one of the most impoverished countries in the world, friend of usambara chose to focus on what resources they did have and what they could control to help protect and promote their beautiful environment for tourists in a manner that did not diminish or harm their communities. all too often in the united states, africans are portrayed in need of western aid to help them develop, however, the work conducted by friend of usambara showed how just how capable and the agency this community has in finding long-term solutions to problems within their own community they weren’t too responsible for creating. this small organization can’t draft international agreements on climate change to help combat industrial carbon emissions, but they can educate local farmers about farming methods that will reduce soil erosion, implement a project to plant 2.5 million trees in a year, educate tourists, or start tree nurseries at local schools.

the time i spent with friends of usambara served as a reminder as to how important individual actors can be in the fight for the protection of the environment. through the work they have done and are continuing to do, friends of usambara has served and educated, not only their own community, but also the tourists who come to the community who will, hopefully, leave with a better, more intimate understanding on environmental issues outside their own region, or even how the way they treat the environment can impact the lives of people a world away.

friends of usambara exemplify the responsibility individuals and each community, no matter how small, must take in the fight against climate change and in the protection of our environment. in a time where it can be so easy to become discouraged by the state of climate and environmental politics, friends of usambara remind us that we too have power in the fight against and the solution for climate change. by engaging communities, focusing on small, achievable goals with the resources available, without sacrificing the quality of the environment or economic gain, friends of usambara help foster a growing sustainability-focused tourism industry. the work, vision, and ambitions of friends of usambara in which they find solutions via their own agency serve as a model that individuals and communities around the world should aspire to emulate.

sources:

johansson, s. g., p. cunneyworth, n. doggart, and r. botterweg. “biodiversity surveys in the east usambara mountains: preliminary findings and management implications.” journal of east african natural history87, no. 1, 139-57. accessed march 9, 2018. nature kenya/east african natural history society.

“friends of usambara.” welcome to friends of usambara. accessed march 9, 2018. http://usambaratravels.com/index.php.

informal jobs are those that lack adequate documentation, and is prevalent in developing countries because of few formal, income-generating employment opportunities. in a way, the informal economy is beneficial because it is an alternative to income. however, there are cases when the market has threatened people’s well-being due to a lack of regulation. thus, it can perpetuate poverty and instability. for this reason, gfi advocates for the integration of the informal sector with the formal sector.

since 2009, the government of peru has recognized recyclers for their activity and promotes the industry’s formalization and integration into the solid waste management systems. gfi currently has a project in peru called peru recyclers leadership initiative. gfi partners with ciudad saludable, an organization in peru that is committed to sustainable development and with significant professional experience in the design, management, implementation, and evaluation of projects. together, they are launching a business development module and leadership academy to help recyclers in peru advance in the formal sector.

gfi now works with ciudad saludable to ensure that the recyclers move to the formal sector successfully by strengthening the value chain. the emphasis is on improving occupational health and increasing economic income through the provision of trainings, uniforms, tools, and other resources.

the work that gfi does is important because they work with partners who are in the communities. gfi does not try to put its name in the spotlight but rather pushes for the local partners to obtain recognition. this is a sustainable approach to programmatic work because the ones who will continuously work on this initiative is ciudad saludable not gfi.

additionally, this project serves to form a long-term source of employment for people in peru. this will give stability to people and will reduce poverty in peru over time, which is related to the first sustainable development goal.

places for improvement in the area include income equality between men and women, livable wage, and increasing social benefits such as health insurance for employers. people should have a stable and reliable source of income to better their livelihoods. addressing the informal sector is an important step in reducing poverty especially in developing countries. this will help move the un sustainable development goals forward.