candace clark is a ph.d. candidate at tuskegee university and an impressive voice in the environmental justice space. learn how she built climate-sustainable housing out of recycled trash, why her community-given name is kandeaux the farm plug, and why she cares about climate change in the first place.

sometimes, before a call to action, we need a call to inspiration. come get inspired!

learn more about candace’s mission by visiting her website.

full transcript:

krantz: hi there, i’m hannah krantz.

fayaz: and i’m aleena fayaz. we are two students at the george washington university who care about the environment. but we know how easy it can be to fall into a negative doom spiral when reading the news about climate change, trust me, i’ve been there.

krantz: when we think about our futures we worry about access to clean water, food, climate resilient homes, combating the excessive heat and extreme weather and so, so much more. so we wonder: what’s being done about this, what real changes are being made so that we can have a safe future? and most importantly, how can we solve these issues through the lens of environmental justice, acknowledging what groups are disproportionately affected by these disastrous effects of climate change?

fayaz: our generation needs a flood of innovative ideas and new mindsets for surviving and thriving in the climate crisis. we can ground ourselves and hope for the future by looking at young people who are not only making a difference in their communities right now, but also whose ideas truly have the potential to 2022年卡塔尔世界杯官网 .

krantz: in this episode, we bring you one outstanding voice in the climate space: candace clark. candace is going to teach us about the importance of black voices in climate solutions, how she learned to build climate sustainable housing out of recycled trash, and why she even cares about climate change in the first place. let’s get inspired.

fayaz: candace, thank you so much for coming to the show. if you wanna give us a brief intro just about who you are, what you do.

clark: for sure. so i’m candace clark, better known throughout the hood as kandeaux the farm plug. i am a beautiful black woman from the south side of chicago. i’m now currently a phd student at tuskegee university and my research specifically is anchored in agricultural policy, and even more specific than that, land use policy around the intersections of land use policy and sustainable, affordable and efficient housing.

krantz: that is outstanding! when were you first aware of the climate crisis, to get on the really specific path of education that you’re on?

clark: almost immediately i’m called to, you know, pay homage to my ancestors. there was also a really beautiful natural space, called the japanese garden, and it’s inspired by yoko ono. and it’s one of the places that makes chicago a sister city to osaka, japan, and it’s a place that you know, my father and my brother and i, we would ride our bikes and we would just spend a lot of time at this garden. and i know one year i came back and you know, of course i’m trying to walk around, i went to the garden and it was like totally flooded. you know, i’m saying like the little waterfall was damaged, algae blooms all over the place, the fish and aquatic life was not as vibrant. it was just a moment that was really shocking for me, because i’m like, oh my god, these are my real childhood memories. and i think about all the young people on the south side or the east side, who you know, may want to go to the beach or may want to relax or may find a sense of meditation and rejuvenation by going to the water, but what are they going to be seeing when they get there?

fayaz: so candace, you mentioned this term “farm plug,” and that you’ve been bestowed this name? what does that mean? what is the farm plug?

clark: so every time i try to say what it is, the next time i say that it changes a little bit. i’m not gonna lie. because it’s as real and true as i’m sitting here in front of you. it is a living thing and it’s dynamic. on a foundational standpoint, a farm plug is an intersectional advocate of the environment, of the community, and of earth, that sees agriculture and farming in like everything that you may do. it’s kind of wild right, but people call me farm plug because i will be outside and i would hear people talking about things and i would almost always connect it back to agriculture, right? so when i say outside, i mean in places like, for example, when trayvon martin happened, everyone’s protests and everyone’s marching, and i’m sitting here. i remember being outside, i remember feeling all of these feelings and looking around. i’m like, man, all these people are marching and we’ve been marching, and we’ve been doing this, and it’s not i’m not seeing the type of change that i would like to see. right. so i started doing more research and i’m like, well, every single form of discrimination in the history of discrimination was always connected to a natural resource, no matter what it always comes back down to the land. if we want to be free, right, if liberation is our end goal, then our liberation as humans is deeply deeply invested in the liberation of earth as an entity.

clark: okay, well, what is the history of black people in agriculture? so when i started to uncover more and more research, it became clear to me that during the freedom rides in the south when people were going to try and register all these black people to vote, that these black people were not welcome in the south. they couldn’t stay in hotels. they didn’t have diamonds that they could go to. the green book, there were only specific places that they could stop and be safe. it was the farmers and the land owners, the black land owners who had the capacity to support the civil rights foot soldiers as they matriculated through the south. and so literally, if we did not have black people who own land, there would not be a civil rights movement. if there was no civil rights movement, there would be no environmental movement, which was deeply deeply based on the civil rights movement, the decade right before it. when i started to see what it really meant to be a black person, let alone a black woman in agriculture, it just became everything that i talked about, everywhere that i went, to the point where people are like, “alright, i farm plug we heard you.” 

fayaz: when you say farm plug, your primary role is connecting, then? what is that problem you’re trying to solve, or who are the people, moreso, that you’re trying to serve?

clark: farm plug has three main pillars, right? and those three main pillars are educate, thrive and connect. each one of those pillars is deeply inspired by a theory or a person. i’m really really really deeply invested in this idea of not settling for survival, because that’s something that we’re going to do anyway. we should be fighting and advocating for the opportunity to thrive as black people in this place.

krantz: that is a really important reframing.

clark: if you are committed to a thriving lifestyle, your next goal, the next thing you really got to do, your charge, is to go out and connect with other people to make these things a reality. we need to make science cool. we need people to care about the information that is going into the policy that are deciding the fate of everybody on the face of the planet. and what farm plug is doing, what i’m doing as a farm plug is, i’m really kind of just living my life really, really loud. and i am telling stories of other people who are earth cultivators, earth workers, who are in policy and all these things doing things that black people don’t typically see. my solution is: nothing is really cool without black people. so we need to get more of us in these spaces, telling these stories and bringing our culture into the solutions that people are vying for in the face of climate change.

fayaz: so, i saw that statistic from the food and agriculture organization that states by 2050 we’ll need to produce 60% more food to feed a world population of around 9.3 billion. that’s a lot of people. so how does your role as a farm plug help us reach that goal? what are your thoughts on at that point? i mean, it’s pretty stark.

clark: we educate, we drive and we connect shawty, that’s what we do! right? so another kind of scary and wild statistic to add on to that is that it’s been projected that the united states only has about 60 harvests left. so the state of our soil is so depleted that if we continue doing what we’re doing, we will only be able to quite literally grow food across the country for the next maybe 55 to 60 years. to combat all of these things— education is the key to everything. if a person does not know, they will not do right. you can’t inspire someone if you can’t connect with them, right? and so for me, when we think about regenerative agriculture or sustainable agriculture, my job is to first of all remind all of my white allies in the space that they’re not the first people who said these things, right? you have the whole indigenous native american population who were in the united states for hundreds of 1000s of years. we don’t know how long. but they managed, quite literally managed and stewarded in this place in a way that maintained a form of harmony and balance that we have totally obliterated. and not only just indigenous people here, but really indigenous people all over the world. for black and indigenous people to really see ourselves in that and to enter this space, unapologetically, by reclaiming our culture.

krantz: so you said science needs to become cooler. i am very blown away by the coolness of earthships.

fayaz: it sounds utopian, almost like it’s part of some alien jetson you know, futuristic model. so please tell us everything we need to know about an earthship and how your role in the earthship makes it possible.

clark: so earthships are essentially, what i call a 21st century post apocalyptic dwelling that is made from upcycled tires, cans, and bottles. it is a house that is fully sustainable and self-sufficient on its own made from trash! this super cool dude, his name is michael reynolds, he saw an article that was talking about aluminum cans and how you know, as we enter the microwave age, more single use items, trash is gonna be a bigger issue. so he shifted his entire architecture model to figuring out, well, if this is going to be an issue in the future, how do i capitalize on this to make it not an issue? in april of 2021 with all of the uprisings and george floyd and black lives matter, they decided to roll out a bipoc scholarship, which was basically: if you’re a black indigenous person of color, if you could get to new mexico, and you’ve received the scholarship, you don’t have to pay for anything. typically it’s around like 2500 to $3,000 to participate in the academy. and so i had the privilege to be the first recipient of that scholarship.

clark: i was like, i shouldn’t have to pay rent. i shouldn’t have to struggle, nobody should have to struggle when we have this technology, right? they (earthships) are the embodiment of six key main points. it’s water, food, electricity, waste, comfort and garbage. the house catches water, so it catches rainwater, it has a greenhouse in the front of it where you can grow your own food. it does waste management. so every time you flush the toilet, it literally runs through the botanical beds and your boo boo is basically feeding your plants. 

fayaz: woah!

clark: yeah! it embodies it utilizes geothermal dynamic heat. it’s an earthship, it’s a home that’s basically in the ground. so you don’t have to worry about, you know, paying for an h-vac system because quite literally the warmth of the earth is what will support you. it also talks about solar energy. so we have solar panels on it. and again, with food, you can grow your own food in those in that greenhouse in the front and then garbage right garbage is a problem. but it’s a house made from garbage. so you’re turning that problem into a very, very real solution.

krantz: earthships are one of the coolest things i have ever heard of in my entire life. only 21 years of life so far, but i feel that few things will beat it. what did these look like? when you walked in there, what did you see?

clark: i mean, they are gorgeous, you know what i’m saying? so imagine, you know, you got different color bottles. if you got a don julior or a bombay bottle, you know, it’s that sapphire gives you that blue hue. well imagine that, in a wall at times, with the sun blasting behind the siding behind it into your living room. you know what i’m saying? like that’s what it looks like. that’s why i say 21st century post apocalyptic, because it can definitely go anywhere from super luxurious or to super super rookie. there is an earthship on every continent except antarctica. you can build it yourself, but if no one from earthship biotecture academy is present and guiding you through that build, you can’t legally call it an earthship. so my dissertation will be building one in tuskegee, but i will be doing the first all black cohort.

fayaz: well, how much does this cost? how long does it take? can you kind of dig into the timeline and the process of making an earthship?

clark: i mean you it’s either one of two things: you either got a bunch of friends and a bunch of time, or a bunch of money. and even if you got a bunch of money, it’s still gonna cost more because of the labor. earthships can be anywhere from as cheap as $2,000 and majority recycled, upcycled and reclaimed materials to anywhere from anywhere to a hundred thousand to a million dollars. it can be beautiful, and you can use brand new everything if you want to. so as we started to face more issues with feeding ourselves, getting water, having electricity, a home that already has a rainwater catchment as a greenhouse in it, and has solar panel electricity hooked up to it is wanting to do nothing but increase in value. that’s why i say post apocalyptic because they can truly withhold these challenges that we’re about to start seeing more and more.

krantz: so you’re building the first ever earthship with an all black cohort, and you’re doing it in tuskegee. so, what black specific issues do you hope to combat by creating this community?

clark: i mean, so many things. but basically by the time i finished the earthship academy, i understood how my house was built. i understood how my water worked, i understood my plumbing. i understood electric loads, how to calculate them. i understood so much about building a house and owning the house, that i’m like everybody needs to know about this. everyone needs to know these basic principles. and then when i learned about how much wealth can be generated from your bare hands, it’s almost like you know, black people, we can afford to not know this information, especially when you have gentrification, people being pushed out of their communities left and right. you know, it’s real out here. nobody’s saving us, so we need to be equipping ourselves with the skills to build whatever new community, whatever new society, whatever new utopia, you know, we want to actually see. we have to be the ones who know how to work the drills, work the hammers, use those nails to build it.

fayaz: i’m a young person, hannah’s young person, and you are a young person too, working in this field, really pioneering this solution that inspires us to carry it forward. why should young people care?

clark: i think a lot of the time, we make it too much of an individual thing. this is collective. so if you care about your — even if you want to be selfish, and you want other people to care about you, you should care about climate. like in every regard. whatever you think is important, imagine it existing without clean water, food, or fresh air. if it can still exist, you’re in outer space and you are hella rich and i’m probably not talking to you.

krantz: sometimes before a call to action, people need a call to inspiration. you have just illustrated that so excellently. i want to go build an earthship.

fayaz: yeah, me too. we’re off!

when he toted around his dad’s five-weight fly rod, the grown-ups told him he “ain’t gonna catch nothing.” and yet, wiggins returned from the bays and estuaries near his home with bucketsful of sea trout. 

“where’d you catch all them fish?” they’d ask. “i can’t catch them with a fly rod,” he replied. “bye.”

wiggins was a fishing guide for a dozen years, poling his flats boat and pointing out flopping trout, redfish and mullet. then for 23 years, he starred in a tv show called “addictive fishing,” produced by childhood friend kevin mccabe. wiggins first screen-tested the show in his son’s kindergarten class. the jabbering children hushed to watch. 

“from age seven to 70, we had an audience,” wiggins said, and he still does. his show evolved into “blair wiggins outdoors,” streamed on bally sports sun and youtube. kids still scramble up to him and elders doggedly hobble over for photos.

when he hooks a fish on tv, wiggins famously hollers, “there he is!” he calls prize catches “mogans,” mixing the southern nickname “biggans” and the northern vernacular, “monsters.” 

over the decades, the mogans became harder to find. as wiggins hauled fish out of the indian river lagoon, he observed the coastal ecosystem changing. first came the vanishing critters. as a kid, wiggins recalled, he encountered millions of fragile starfish dotting parris island channels. “i haven’t seen one in 30 years,” he said.

the same holds true for seagrass, shellfish, horseshoe crabs, sea trout and mullet. wading near the south banyan isles and pineda, scraggly seagrass scratched his little-boy legs like prairie grass, and fanned out just as far. brevard county was known as the sea trout capital of the world, wiggins said. “you could go out off of any given dock, any bank, throw out a shrimp on a popping cork and catch a trout anywhere in brevard county.”

when the seagrasses first disappeared, it was a little easier to fish—the trout were stark in the waters. today, it’s tough to find them at all, he said.

in the past, hundreds of mullet would leap out of the water in a five-minute span. the splashes are now silent.

nearly a half a century after he bought that tiny outboard, and more than two decades after he became a tv fishing star, wiggins is moving into his third act. rather than extracting marine life from his childhood waters, he is putting it back. he and fellow citizens along the indian river coast are planting millions of hard clams, part of burgeoning initiatives across florida to reintroduce historic shellfish to clean up waterways and restore life up the food chain. 

oysters and hard clams, cradled in their self-built shells, clean water as they develop. clams gobble algae through a siphon and expel feces, a fertilizer for seagrass and food for shrimp. once they’re settled on the bottom, they clasp sea grass, rooting it into the soil. each clam filters 20 gallons of water a day. reintroducing shellfish to waterways is a natural solution, a return.

death by 1,000 cuts

quahog clams once thrived throughout florida’s coastlines. native american mounds along the spruce creek reveal an abundance of oysters and clams, along with saltwater fish. but by the 21st century, the populations were devastated. todd osborne, a researcher at the university of florida’s whitney laboratory for marine bioscience, calls it death by 1,000 cuts.

as the four-mile pineda causeway was built in 1973, carving into the indian river and banana river lagoons, blair wiggins and his father chugged along south across from patrick air force base. the pair glared at the hulk of concrete. “take a good look around son,” his father said. “because there’s the beginning of the end.” 

“he was right,” said cari wiggins, blair’s wife and the director of “blair wiggins outdoors.”

the pineda causeway was one of 13 causeways constructed across the indian river lagoon. around the state, the raised roads choke water flow by creating a narrow opening. the bottleneck impedes water exchange and marine life migration. pockets of decaying matter gather in its corners, fueling algal blooms. blair calls them: “dams with roads on top.”

“they funneled into a small opening and everything quit moving,” cari wiggins said. “water is not going to want to flow sideways.”

the collapse of clams can also be traced to the commercial shellfish industry. at its peak in the 1980s and ‘90s, semi-trucks idled at boat ramps to pick up croker bags of native clams. 

the intense harvesting was the “nail in the coffin” for wild clam populations, osborne said. he estimates harvesting data only cover a third of actual numbers because cash was involved.

osborne said at the peak, the wild clam harvest was like the wild west; clammers collected the shelled critters in the thousands. unload. get paid. do it again.

“the clam boats that you saw, you could have lined them up side by side and walked to merritt island,” cari wiggins said.

hard clams burrow in seagrass. as the clammers dragged spiked clam rakes along the bottom, they inadvertently dredged up seagrass and crushed the smallest clams and horseshoe crabs.

“every morning i would get up and go to the boat ramp, literally it was a sea of grass floating on top of the water from where they had been digging with their rakes,” blair said.

listen: uf biogeochemistry professor todd osborne on how humans have engineered “an efficient way of poisoning the lagoon with excess nutrients.”

pollution is another part of the complexity of harm. it flows from industries and local backyards into the water. synthetic fertilizers and septic tanks are two of the culprits. 

“we’ve engineered a really beautiful and safe human landscape.” osborne said. “we’ve also engineered a very efficient way of poisoning the lagoon with excessive nutrients.” 

while shellfish filter the water, larval clams are especially sensitive to pollution and cannot ingest it, said mike sullivan, who owns a st. augustine shellfish farm and seafood market/restaurant called commander’s shellfish camp.

clams, sullivan said, are like canaries in coal mines for the sea.

“clams die if the water quality is bad or is getting bad. they can’t survive,” he said. “that’s why they’re not repopulating in a lot of these areas that have been fished out.”

sullivan is the largest clam producer on the east coast of florida, with about 75% of the region’s “clam leases” that the state administers for inshore coastal waters, according to the marine scientist mark martindale, director of the whitney laboratory.

coastal water pollution has reached the point in florida that not many waterways remain safe enough to grow hard clams for people to eat. along the northeast florida coast, sullivan’s spot on the matanzas river is one of the few.

a meeting of the minds between scientists and locals who’ve fished the waters longer than it takes to earn a phd led to a promising solution for what ails the indian river lagoon. restore the shellfish even if people can’t eat them. reintroduce thousands and millions.

restoring the once plentiful shellfish, osborne and wiggins conclude, would represent a major step toward renewing clean water.

a bottom-up approach to clean water

the indian river lagoon clam restoration initiative began as a grassroots movement. 

“we had an idea, and a network of people that came together to say, ok, let’s just do it, and see what happens.’ and we got attention, and it was working,” osborne said. “and then the money came, so it has definitely been a bottom-up approach.”

partners including the st. johns river water management district and the florida fish and wildlife conservation commission (fwc) provide staff, scientific oversight, boats and permitting. in 2019, epa’s national estuary program awarded additional support. every 10 cents puts another clam in the water, osborne said. but what’s crucial about the project, he said, is that the public is the main stakeholder.

“it’s more important that the people that live here and experience this every day, are front and center,” osborne said. “because you don’t need someone from tallahassee telling you what to do over here.”

living on the river is much more motivating than a remote vision, he explained.

beginning in 2019, scientists collected hard clams from mosquito lagoon. osborne describes them as “super clams,” because they had survived both brown tide and toxic algae bloom crises. 

“they are adapted to this ecosystem as it is now,” osborne said.

at the whitney lab’s bivalve hatchery in st. augustine, scientists began spawning the clams and raising them in a nursery that spring. after nine months, when the clams were about the size of golf balls, scientists and volunteers released them into the mosquito and indian river lagoons. 

the clams are grown on licensed shellfish aquaculture leases; blair is among those who offer lease space. nets shield the clams from predators like stingrays, though florida crown conchs that also love to eat them occasionally drill through. the conchs can devour 20 percent of the clams on a bed.

cedar key’s model, “clamelot”

across florida on the rural gulf of mexico nature coast, a gravestone stands outside city hall in the tiny fishing village of cedar key. etched in gray are the words: “in loving memory dedicated to the commercial net fishermen of this community.” the gravestone was erected on july 1, 1995, the summer after florida’s voters banned gill-net fishing by constitutional amendment. the vote followed a major push by sport fishers to stop commercial netting they said was harming fish populations, though researchers later found that the campaign had been misrepresented. the few fishing villages left in florida, including cedar key, seemed doomed to lose a way of life.

instead, a rebound emerged. federally funded job retraining converted net fishers and others put out of work by the ban to become clam farmers. leslie sturmer, a shellfish extension specialist, relocated to cedar key to assist. locals accepted the practice, she said, as the technology is simple, maintenance is low and the relatively clean coastal waters are perfect for clams.

cedar key launched the first clam aquaculture leases on florida’s gulf coast. the legacy began. now, the town, located about 60 miles west of gainesville, provides some 90% to 95% of florida’s eating clams. the clams are cultured in water-side clam shacks and planted on the lease sites around the cedar key coast. the booming industry, which sturmer calls “clamelot” after the legendary camelot, provides a local incentive for keeping water clean. 

the clams in the indian river lagoon, on the other hand, aren’t edible. the water quality is too poor, blair said, and the pollution pulses through these filter feeders. 

“eventually down the line, i would love to be able to go out there and harvest a five-gallon bucket of clams, come back and then have a great clam bake at the house like i used to,” blair said, “but until it gets right and we get our clams and our water back, the farm-raised clams are good enough for me.”

seeding hope in seeding clams

this spring, wading outside the river rocks restaurant in rockledge, volunteers poured 100,000 hard clams from red-ribbed bags into the indian river lagoon. 

the shards collected across the sand, crunching beneath feet. “this is how the indian river lagoon used to feel,” blair said. 

the river rocks spot is among hundreds carefully chosen in the region. when people go out for lunch there, they can see the restoration project’s placard and poles in the water or spot volunteers slugging around bags of clams.

“we wanted to engage the public so that they could see what we were doing,” osborne said.

the area was a former productive aquaculture lease, with clam shell remnants speckling the shoreline. the scientists replant clams where they once lived. 

across the state in southwest florida, sarasota bay watch follows a similar strategy. the nonprofit began releasing scallops into the bay in 2009. however, the sensitive scallops couldn’t survive the poor water quality. in 2016, the group shifted to clams. the southern quahogs are heartier, said ronda ryan, sarasota bay watch executive director. they survived florida’s devastating 2017-2018 red tide.

the nonprofit also releases clams where seagrass is sparse in the bay. “the hope is that putting clams in the water will help clear the water and improve the capability for photosynthesis and thus increase seagrass,” ryan said.

osborne agrees.

“the goal here is to reestablish seagrass, because seagrass is the functional base or foundation of the ecosystem,” he said. “everything out there either eats it, lays their eggs in it, hides in it or lives in it. without it, it’s like a desert.”

a greater purpose

in 2019 when the indian river lagoon restoration project began, water samples didn’t detect any clam larvae. but in this spring’s spawning season, osborne said, hundreds of free-swimming clam larvae — known as veligers — showed up in the samples.

“we know that at least what we put out there has spawned,” osborne said.

the project has released 13 million clams since its inception, with nearly a million in this year alone. by october, the volunteers and scientists will plant three million more. the next phase, which the fwc is sponsoring, will add 12 million clams to the lagoon’s troubled waters in the next two years. 

osborne paints a vision for the future he and other scientists and volunteers are working to create: once the quahogs clear out the algae, water clarity will improve and sunlight will reach the darkened, dying seagrasses. 

pinfish, a prominent bait fish, nibble off of clam siphons, unclogging them. 

clams are the base, sullivan said, and with their flourishing, others along the ecological chain will, too.

on a recent friday, three generations of women converged in the shallow water near river rocks restaurant: a grandmother, annette bushnell, 57; her daughter, cami waldon, 36; and a granddaughter, kaylee waldon, 14. annette and cami donned straw hats and giggled as they hauled the quahogs. 

 “we’ve heard rumors that the indian river lagoon was once clear, and we’d love to try to make that happen again,” cami said. “i like releasing the clams, knowing that they were going to serve a greater purpose.”

bushnell said she appreciated working arm and arm with the community, passing the bags between one another. her father lived on a houseboat, and her grandmother owned a boat named “tattletail.” in washington state, the family clammed with her grandparents.

brine pulses through blair’s veins too. a sea breeze saturates his lungs.

his family’s fishing legacy traces back five generations, he said; on his dad’s side, back to his great-great grandad in southern alabama, and on his mom’s side, back to the seminole indians of florida.

the solution to florida’s water woes can’t be just about the shellfish, he acknowledges. for all the work he, his neighbors and the scientists are doing to restore clams, an even greater effort must be made to stem the pollution torrent killing the lagoon. 

he and other locals can wade in florida waters and chuck clams out — an action.

born and raised on the indian river and its lagoon, blair said for him, it is now dead. he aims to revive it.

this story is part of the uf college of journalism and communications’ series watershed, an investigation into statewide water quality marking the 50th anniversary of the clean water act, supported by the pulitzer center’s nationwide connected coastlines reporting initiative

this story was featured in our series, slipping through our fingers: the future of water.

but at the same time, around 100,000 people took to the streets of glasgow to advocate for more climate action. around the globe, people marched for the same cause.

soon after the conference, the house of representatives passed the build back better bill, approving over $2 trillion in spending, much of which is allotted to combat climate change throughout the next decade. yet to be approved by the senate, the bill’s spending overall is more than a trillion dollars less than president joe biden’s original proposal. among the list of ideas proposed by the bill is the first-ever civilian climate corps, a federally funded program to provide america’s youth with environmental protection and reclamation jobs. both cop26 and the bill reveal insights into what the future of climate change advocacy looks like for youth around the world.

in conversation with me on november 22, washington post climate reporter and planet forward advisory councilmember tik root analyzed what happened in the conference, or maybe more appropriately, what didn’t happen, and how the future of climate action may be shaped by cop26 and the build back better bill. 

podcast transcription:

helen bradshaw  0:02  
the united nations climate conference, cop26, wrapped up on november 12 in glasgow. i’m planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 helen bradshaw. and in the aftermath of the climate discussions, i sat down with washington post climate solutions reporter tik root to learn his key takeaways from the conference, and what the future of climate action could look like for young adults.

our first question is, what do you think are the most important and potentially impactful promises to come out of cop26?

tik root  0:38  
i mean, i think they accelerated the pace at which they’re going to be making ndc reporting commitments. i believe it went from five years to one. so i think there’ll be some increased reporting on that front. but i think the story of cop is largely what’s what’s not there? more than more than what is there? and i think there’s, i think there was pretty, pretty widespread disappointment with with the deal, that deal that was reached out to conference. you know, there was some language about fossil fuels. but i think, you know, advocates would say that it’s, it was pretty watered down from from some of the original calls. and most importantly, you know, there was a, there was a call for, for countries of the global north to meet its commitment over $100 billion a year in funding for the global south. but it doesn’t appear that there was a increase in that, in that funding, which i think would be really, which which country i’d say is really necessary to keep some of the climate finance and emissions targets on track. so overall, i’d say that people were fairly disappointed with what came out of glasgow, but it will be, it’ll be interesting to see how they deal with that going forward.

helen bradshaw  2:15  
so in response to a lot of what was happening, there were many protests led largely by youth, indigenous people and people from the global south. do you think young people can or should play a role in holding governments accountable for their claims of action?

tik root  2:30  
i mean, i think that can be a question, you know, is answered by your question. they were there. and i think greta thunberg said, a bit of a tone for the conference at the beginning with her, bla bla bla, quote, which i think you saw, you know, boris johnson reiterate and a few others. so, i mean, they’re clearly having an impact, and they’re clearly being, being taken relatively seriously as, as participants in this process. you know, whether they can have a more direct role? that’s an interesting question. i know that the un calls for increased participation in a lot of its unfccc documents and in the paris agreement, but i think there’s not a lot of concrete plans as to make that happen.

helen bradshaw  3:21  
can you think of any ways that young activists in particular can work to hold their governments accountable or to make them adhere to the claims of action that they’ve created?

tik root  3:29  
yeah, no. i think you i think you’ve seen, you’ve seen people like greta thunberg and the friday’s for future, you know, garner significant media attention and significant, you know, attention globally. and so i think, i think you start to see it, definitely register on, you know, global leaders who are reiterating the phrases or some of the demands, and i think you’ve seen some of these small country nations as well make their voices heard, you know, what, what leverage they ultimately have on the final decision, as i guess up to the negotiators, but they’re certainly not unnoticed t would seem.

helen bradshaw  4:14  
along those lines, similar, just in vein to talking about young peopl, the house passed the build back better bill on friday. i know in an article recently for the washington post, you touched on the new civilian climate corps proposed by the bill, if this becomes a reality, how do you think it’ll impact young people?

tik root  4:30  
it will be really interesting and the expansion of, i mean, the biden administration called it for the creation of a civilian climate corps and in many ways, it’s an  expansion of the [unintelligable] corps to include a lot of climate focused jobs and you know, dating back to fdr, ccc, you know, they tried to harken back to that program, which was, you know, fairly beloved in its time. i think it’s going to be an employment opportunity and employment option for many youth around the country, if it passes, if it gets implemented, you know, it’s unclear exactly what the timeline would be but you know as soon as a couple years from now there could be an option for kids coming out of high school and college to join the ccc… again.

helen bradshaw  5:21  
do you see it being a largely youth-run organization in the sense that, you know, its majority comprised of youth? or what do you think the breakdown of that could look like?

tik root  5:31  
yeah, my understanding is there’s likely going to be age requirements. i haven’t seen exactly what that might look like. but my understanding is it’s very much geared towards youth and young people.

helen bradshaw  5:43  
the us is responsible for nearly a quarter of the world’s co2 emissions, despite only making up less than 5% of the total world population, based on the steps outlined during cop and the potential for the build back better bill to become law is the us promising to do their fair share to combat climate change?

tik root  5:58  
i mean, i think the data shows that pretty much every country is on track to not meet their – the the ndcs and the emissions targets that they promised, i believe that includes the us, but even if they were on track, it doesn’t, it’s not enough of emissions reduction to keep us below a 1.5 degrees celsius of warming. and so i guess the question is, if the paris agreement, you know, tries to keep 1.5 in sight, and the us and other countries targets wouldn’t allow that, and they’re not on track to even meet those targets, i guess it’s you know, yeah, i can let other people say whether that means you’re doing enough to combat climate change, but there definitely appears to be that. and glasgow didn’t change that and i think this is one of the biggest disappointments people have this glasgow’s that it kept the world on track to blow past 1.5 and possibly even two degrees celsius of warming, which is not what the paris agreement calls for.

helen bradshaw  7:14  
you can find tik’s most recent work in the washington post. for planet forward, i’m helen bradshaw.

transcribed by https://otter.ai

luke strominger writes:

as a floridian and beachside resident, i value the importance of the environment in our everyday lives. without a sustainable environment, our economy will depreciate. each year millions of tourists travel to visit our pristine beaches, resulting in economic prosperity across the state. issues like sea-level rise and severe weather threaten the economic success brought by them. finding innovative market-based approaches and utilizing natural solutions to their greatest potential is key to solving these issues. for these reasons, i’m excited to visit glasgow and attend cop26 and gccs with the american conservation coalition. 

world leaders gather at cop26 to collaborate tackling climate change on a global scale. time and again these international discussions have inspired grand quotes and foreboding predictions over fruitful action. therefore, it’s incredibly important for the conservative point of view to be not only present but heard. conservatives seek pragmatic and commonsense solutions that can be acted upon now without the strain of bureaucracy. one of the leading conservative voices at cop26 is rep. john curtis, founder of the conservative climate caucus. he will be leading a delegation there, showing that both ideological groups are engaged on the climate. historically, conservatives have led on these issues. one such accomplishment was the enactment of the environmental protection agency under the nixon administration. 

there will be over 100 exhibitors and 200 events at cop26. given this, i plan to learn from and share my experiences with attendees and exhibitors, who are taking action in their communities. every region of the world has its own environmental challenges and natural solutions. it’s important to understand them in order to formulate an effective overall strategy. this is especially true when discussing a global approach to climate change. 

through my experiences in florida, i’ve seen how limited government, free markets and natural solutions have all intertwined to form an effective conservative approach. targeted state funding has helped protect our natural solutions, like the everglades, and increased our resiliency to sea level rise and hurricanes. the free markets have helped mitigate effects, such as mote marine laboratory, which has restored 100,000 corals in florida’s coral reef, an ecosystem that has suffered in part due to climate change. 

having said that, local action is the basis for global cooperation on climate change. actions like cleanups, forums, and events with local officials all play a role. it not only increases one’s knowledge of the issues surrounding their area but also motivates others to continue spreading awareness leading to the multi-tiered approach demonstrated in florida. if this is a focus of discussion at cop26, i believe we can truly 2022年卡塔尔世界杯官网 by having an understanding that tackling climate change should not be a one size fits all approach but a global partnership that takes every region’s challenges and solutions into account.

clay robinson writes:

arizona is ground zero for environmental action. the grand canyon state is growing at an exponential rate, both in population and industry, increasing our need for innovation in the energy sector and new technology for water storage and conservation capabilities. as an activist with the american conservation coalition, i look forward to visiting glasgow to attend cop26 and gccs to engage with on these issues and bring what i learn back to arizona.

as a native californian, i’ve experienced water shortage first-hand and the effects it has on the agriculture industry and residential population. for a majority of my childhood, i lived in a severe drought and learned at a young age to conserve water. when i moved to arizona, i had an understanding that water conservation would be just as important, especially in the desert. as arizona continues to grow, we need to manage our water efficiently and create new technologies that reduce waste.  

then there’s the emerging energy question: can arizona sustain its growth while providing quality, clean, and cost-effective energy supply? this is where cop26 and gccs will prove to be crucial to our future activism and policy advocacy in the state. the opportunity to hear from world leaders and organizations committed to solving the same environmental issues we face in arizona at this summit will be an invaluable experience.  

we have the opportunity to capitalize on the momentum happening in arizona. i’ve already seen how a market-based approach has been successful. arizona farmers are developing technologies that reduce water consumption, arizona’s competitive economy has invited several electric vehicle companies to produce the next solution in transportation, and our universities are working to sequester carbon from the atmosphere using carbon capture technology. innovation is alive and well in the grand canyon state, but there’s still more we can do.

there is not a one-size-fits-all solution to climate change. that’s why we need a market-based, innovative approach that focuses on issues in a local context. the american conservation coalition and its partners in the united kingdom and australia can play a key role at the summit by offering a competing perspective to the progressive narrative — one that works and has been proven to be successful. 

how can the conversation in glasgow help arizona find climate solutions to water and energy? global engagement will lay the foundation for local action in communities across our country, including arizona, because it presents a unique opportunity to learn from leading scientists, activists, and government officials who have taken action on these issues. the experience in glasgow will prove to be invaluable to our work in arizona as we build our strategy to advocate for water security and clean energy.

moving the planet forward will require more than rhetoric—it means taking action. the alarmist attitude will not solve climate change. rather, it will be a combination of common sense solutions and bipartisan conversations that will change the direction of our environment, especially in arizona.

—

about the authors:

luke strominger is a 2020 graduate of the university of central florida, and clay robinson is a sophomore at arizona state university. both are activists with the american conservation coalition and based in florida and arizona, respectively.

aquaculture is “the breeding, rearing, and harvesting of marine plants and animals.” which can be facilitated in bodies of water and in large tanks on land. however, the intent behind aquaculture isn’t merely to create mass networks of fish-farms. rather, the idea is to build sustainable, individualized farms that cultivate specific species complementary to their environments. with 90% of the world’s large fish stocks being threatened by overfishing, this developing field is becoming increasingly relevant. 

aquaculture is in its infancy in oman; the country has pursued projects in earnest while acknowledging aquaculture as a crucial “key pillar” to diversify its economy. however, resource allocation and policy work remain. still, many remain eager to see how it could evolve. rumaitha al busaidi is an omani marine scientist who has supervised a number of successful aquaculture projects in the country. according to her, aquaculture has the potential to serve dual purposes both economically and environmentally, helping the country to slowly diversify its economy away from oil and gas. 

following a devastating cyclone in 2007, many traditional farms began hemorrhaging profits as their groundwater inputs had become salinated. al busaidi believes that building sustainable fisheries at these sites can help farmers and oceans recover from the major hit. tilapia fish do not occur naturally in oman, but aquaculture has helped farmers to explore a new source of revenue.

“how do you utilize a source now that’s no longer viable 100% for full-scale agriculture and use it to kind of close the loop and use it for another resource? that’s when fish [farming] came about,” says al busaidi.

oman is merely a case study of the potential of aquaculture, as it is gradually becoming a dynamic industry across the globe. 35 countries produced more farmed than wild-caught fish in 2014, according to the national oceanic and atmospheric association. the u.s. aquaculture industry produced 626 million pounds of seafood in 2017, according to paul hawken’s drawdown. 

while the solution can clearly create food, the potential to scale back the effects of climate change is especially fascinating. seaweed, for example, has been hailed as an unexpected source of biofuel. the marine plant gets the bulk of its weight from oil that can be converted into biofuel for cars, trucks, and even airplanes. the world’s energy needs could be met if 3% of the world’s oceans were set aside for seaweed farming, according to drawdown. 

one of the most notable things about aquaculture is that it has split off into a number of promising sub-technologies. “oyster-tecture,” for example, is an emerging field within aquaculture that focuses on “artificial oyster reefs and floating gardens to help protect coastal communities from future hurricanes sea-level rise and storm surges,” according to drawdown.

meanwhile, oysters are also able to absorb large amounts of carbon and, more importantly, filter out nitrogen. maryland state is dedicated to the restoration of oyster reefs on its eastern shore while oyster farming. each year, its harris creek reefs are estimated to remove an amount of nitrogen equivalent to 20,000 bags of fertilizer—a service valued at more than $1.7 million, according to the chesapeake bay foundation.

alas, aquaculture isn’t exactly a climate plan buzzword. much of the text of the green new deal and the biden plan for climate change and environmental justice centers on land-based approaches. in oman at least, aquaculture farms are nowhere near becoming the norm. 98% of fishing fleets in the country are traditional fisheries run by local fishermen, according to al busaidi. however, she maintains that the promise of a highly-developed aquaculture industry shouldn’t be ignored, especially when it comes to engaging young people in the conversation. 

“it’s a profession that a lot of young people are moving away from because it’s not cool anymore to be a fisherman,” says al busaidi. “much of the work is around determining how we make aquaculture cool again. how do we make fisheries cool?” 

cool-factor or not, aquaculture could be the oceans’ saving grace. environmentalists have asked how to save the oceans from overfishing, pollution, and the increasingly visible effects of climate change. however, maybe that inquiry should be turned on its head. maybe seas and oceans can be developed to be self-sufficient, and ultimately capable of protecting the planet. 

the field requires quite a bit of bolstering, but in the interim, countries can explore dedicating resources toward specialized aquaculture farms, while distancing themselves from the fishing practices that have resulted in today’s environmental dilemmas. the rise of aquaculture is a testament to the fact that when it comes to new technologies and community-oriented sustainability solutions, discovery is nonstop.

i’d like to add that most plus size sustainable fashion is quite literally earth tone linen sacks, and not in a chic way https://t.co/t8lmvooh03

— ?????? ??? (@lek_9677) september 13, 2020

it’s no secret that apparel waste, fast fashion, and climate change are linked. research from the ellen macarthur foundation showed that the average consumer bought 60% more clothes in 2014 than in 2000, but kept each garment for half as long. the world resources institute estimates that it takes about 2700 liters (approximately 713 gallons) of water — nearly 9 bathtubs’ worth — to produce just one cotton shirt. in case it wasn’t concerning enough, the fashion industry is already responsible for 8% to 10% of annual global carbon emissions, according to the un environment programme. 

clearly, the adopted solution needs to be one that everyone can participate in. for plus size women, online thrift and vintage stores are innovative options. this trend operates heavily through instagram, where accounts like @luvsickplus and @shop.fatties run “story sales” and post secondhand and vintage finds, asking followers to “swipe up” to purchase. one key advantage is that plus size women can take control of sales and market clothing they know others might actually like because they’ve selected the stock themselves. online thrifting isn’t plus specific, but plus size women are slowly starting to embrace it as an affordable option.

online thrift platforms like depop and thredup, have also begun to accommodate plus size thrifting. these sites use a more formal approach where users can purchase from “shops” or pick from stock like any other online store. there are also filtering tools for searching these sites, which makes it easier to shop the size inclusive brands we know and trust. the long term possibilities are promising, economically speaking. by 2021, the online secondhand shopping sector is set to grow by 69% according to thredup’s 2020 resale report.

still, the online thrift and vintage option is imperfect. it can be challenging to find the right size or pay an affordable price. the clothing isn’t always on trend. mainstream fashion hasn’t included plus size women for very long, so there hasn’t been much time for a large stock of secondhand plus clothing to develop. i fall at the beginning of the plus range and still find it difficult. 

however, i would be remiss if i didn’t acknowledge that this development has its strengths. online thrift and vintage shopping are solutions that when they work, seem to work pretty well. the trend could definitely make sustainable fashion more accessible to plus size women. 

alternatively, so would normalizing the production of sustainable clothing in extended sizes. the growth potential for online thrifting is exciting, but in the same breath we must ask: why are women encountering this issue in the first place? as long as sustainable brands won’t provide for all women, some are going to continue to default to fast fashion even if they’d rather not. most people want to do their part, ideally without a crisis over whether or not they can squeeze into tighter pants for the sake of the environment.

the western world in this context refers to the portion of the world usurped by colonizers, like much of europe and north america, which has generally placed economic vitality above all. it’s astounding that it took until 1970, only 50 years ago, for many people in the americas to start acknowledging the importance of the environment. what was happening before then? those not in the western world, and those whose cultures persisted prior to the time when colonization and globalization usurped their lands (often people of color), generally acted as though every day was “earth day.”

these cultures understand the concept of only taking what is needed from the earth and playing an active role in contributing to their ecosystem’s health. these cultures see the world as common personhood inseparable from the individual, rather than a distinct entity from which resources are to be extracted.

for example, in their daily routine the kashia band of pomo indians, a native american group of california, have traditionally used native species for foods, sustainably use their local natural resources to create tools like baskets, manage the land through controlled fires, and “only take what is needed.”

another ancient culture that still exists today, which also emphasizes living in-sync with the environment, is that of many hindu people. hinduism has at least 90 holidays each year celebrating various aspects of life and nature including changing seasons, certain animal deities, and harvest times demonstrating that some cultures have literally performed a celebration of the earth at least two days a week on average. many hindus today have very modern lifestyles, heavily influenced by the western world, yet still maintain environmentally friendly aspects of their culture like practicing vegetarianism, using herbal remedies, and using zero-waste clay and leaf containers.

in the amazon, studies have shown that 11.8% of amazonian terra firme forests are sustainably-managed anthropogenic forests resulting from the in-tune management practices of indigenous people over more than five millennia. these people gained vast knowledge over time on how to cultivate and sustainably manage forests to suit their needs while maintaining essential biodiversity. within the first century of european colonization, the amerindian population was slashed by 90% and over time the forests and wilderness felt the effects of their new “caretakers” who promoted unsustainable economic development. as such, between 1970 and 2014, we saw a 60% decline in the size of vertebrate populations worldwide, despite the establishment of earth day.

while earth day was certainly not intended to be a green-washing campaign, it has unsurprisingly turned into one. one day a year, the western world gives tribute to the earth but people fail to take enduring action for the earth’s benefit. the result: false hope that sufficient change is occurring, which leads to continued environmental degradation and catastrophes that affects all of us as people.

we now see the detrimental effects of colonization as the starting point for its even more problematic grandchild: unsustainable economic development. one may argue, “the western world isn’t the one cutting down trees in the amazon and mining in africa,” or “look at how polluted india is.” however, in return we must ask, “what caused this destruction or pollution?” the actual root cause of the destruction and pollution is unsustainable economic development caused by consumer demand in the western world, and with our exponentially increasing appetite for disposable goods that are produced in or use raw materials from those countries.

while the effects of unsustainable economic growth are environmentally detrimental, can we learn lessons through our globalized world from native cultures who are more knowledgeable given their millennia of experience in thriving in-sync with the environment? wouldn’t it make most sense to follow their way of life and their relationships with the earth? while the outlook for environmentalism seems dreary, following the teachings of these other cultures is the solution. these are the people who should be consulted in the conservation movement given their millennia of environmental leadership.

take a moment to think about the top three environmentalists in the media. perhaps people like jane goodall, al gore, rachel carson, david attenborough, or greta thunberg come to mind.

notice, likely none of the people you thought of are non-western or even people of color. upon pondering the idea further, it may even be difficult to come up with the name of a single famous environmental activist who is not from the western world, despite the amount of land historically conserved by non-western people internationally. while these individuals may not be as well-known as jane goodall, they should be.

the western world must put an enduring spotlight on the people of cultures who have had resounding success in environmental conservation since the birth of humanity, often people of color, and learn from them. otherwise, we risk earth day and environmentalism fizzling out as a green-washing fad, without any concrete action taken and — even worse — the destruction of our home planet.

technology isn’t perfect. nevertheless, it is undoubtedly one of our most powerful tools for creating innovative solutions to address the problems we have created. recently, technology has created a number of user-friendly ways to materialize eco-friendly concepts. by simply choosing to integrate some of these solutions in your own life, you too can help spread solution-orientated social norms, without much physical effort at all. 

not only do these following solutions help reduce your carbon footprint, but they also promote a culture of convenient climate-friendly behaviors and consciousness among your fellow peers. these solutions help people to visualize their own progress as well, showing us the ways in which we are improving— uplifting our spirits in a time when it’s needed most.

1. ecosia

the first accessible and eco-friendly solution for creating a greener planet is ecosia: a search engine that magically transforms the revenue from advertisements in your search results into planted trees. ecosia does this by donating more than 80% of its profits to nonprofit organizations which then carry out reforestation projects. 

the idea of planting trees has understandably been long popular. not only do trees effectively absorb the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, but they also (theoretically) help to alleviate poverty by providing food and income in areas lacking resources. the german company plants its trees through various projects like the eden reforestation project, focusing its work on biodiversity hotspots across 15 different countries. although there has been some skepticism online about the integrity of their claims, ecosia aims to be as transparent as possible, and regularly publishes their tree planting payments and financial reports on their website. you can personally track how many trees you’ve ‘planted’ by watching the number steadily increase on the side of your browser. internet users can quickly download the extension from the chrome web store to set ecosia as their default search engine.

as of august 2019, it is estimated that the company has planted over 70,000,000 trees since their launch in 2014, the equivalent of offsetting the carbon emissions from over 6 million flights from new york to berlin.

2. oroeco

oroeco is both a website and an app that rewards you for taking action to fight climate change. it works by putting a “carbon value” on daily decisions (what you buy, eat, energy consumption, transportation) which are then used to calculate a user’s personal carbon emissions, as well as their monthly carbon footprint. these calculations are made using data from uc berkeley’s coolclimate research group.

most of us are much more motivated by the immediate actions we can take to combat climate change, the ones that have instant rewards. using oroeco, you can have both the satisfaction of taking action and getting rewarded for it. a feature of the app allows you to compete with your facebook friends as well as earn rewards (though virtual and real-life prizes) for reducing your carbon emissions. let’s say your footprint for the month of november is especially high, as you took two flights to go visit your family for thanksgiving break. through the app, you can directly purchase carbon offsets to make up for your emissions!

ian monroe, the founder of oroeco, points out that climate change is a “collective action problem that we all contribute to through our lifestyle choices” and that while governments do play an important role in making our choices cleaner, people also “need incentives in the right places to nudge [them] towards cleaner choices on a daily basis.”

3. bikemap

tired of high gas prices and crowded bus commutes? ever considered investing in a bicycle to get around quickly and healthily? the app bikemap compiles gps and user data to share the best and safest cycling routes all around the world, giving you yet another good reason to hop on your saddle.

bicycles are on the rise, and for good reason! they offer affordable transportation, reduce traffic, and decrease carbon emissions, all while keeping the rider in shape. project drawdown estimates that if bike infrastructure was successfully implemented by 2050, it would result in a reduction of 2.31 gigatons carbon dioxide, and in $400.47 billion net operational savings. we could all use a little more fresh air in our lives, and apps like this one help promote the culture of climate-friendly transportation, which in-turn, coincidentally, makes our air fresher! the safer and easier it is to bike around, the more people will be motivated to do it. through the app you can also connect with other cyclists, potentially helping you expand your community and share routes with other riders and friends. 

4. howgood

howgood is a sustainable food and household product rating company, that aims to increase transparency about where our food comes from. the app shares where grocery store items are grown, the practices that are used to raise animals, if the workers are paid fair wages, and more, ultimately helping customers understand the “real story” behind food labels. the company uses the world’s largest database on sustainable food to generate a ‘sustainability score’ for food products, which users can search up by scanning the barcode of products found in stores.

“we wanted to create a simple tool for consumers to get the information they need on food choice right at the point of purchase,” explains founder alexander gillett.

one of the easiest ways in which individuals can take daily action to reduce their impact on the planet is by changing what they consume in their diets. a plethora of research shows the overwhelming environmental degradation caused by industrialized agriculture, particularly the meat and dairy industries, which is why what we chose to consume is so important. the more informed consumers are about what they buy, the better, as they are more likely to make smarter, more sustainable choices.

5. your social network— like, comment, and share!

when considering all these various technological solutions, its important to evaluate how our own social media networks can also act as a vessel of change. you may not realize it, but just like with every dollar you spend, the things that you post and share on social media have an impact.

i want you to think about how many friends you have on facebook, then combine that number with the followers you have on instagram, twitter, maybe even linkedin. got it? okay. you have the potential to influence each and every one of these people. 

you may think that the actions you make as an individual don’t have an impact, but think about all of the people who are viewing the choices and actions you make online. 45 percent of teenagers are online “almost constantly” receiving high quantities of information about what their friends are up to. studies show that over imitation, the action of copying everything another person does is a universal human trait.

therefore, harnessing the social networks that so many young people have and are influenced by is a great way to promote sustainable alternatives in our day-to-day activities.

an example of a positive way that you can use social media is by tagging and supporting projects such as the lionsshare fund. the lion’s share initiative asks brands who use images of animals in their advertising to donate a portion of their income to conservation projects. the united nations development program then uses that money to protect animals in the wild, preserve habitats, and save species from extinction. and it’s working. the revenue generated from this innovative and partnership orientated idea has already helped decrease elephant poaching in mozambique and safeguard the some of the last sumatran tigers. so next time you see an animal in an advertisement remember to ask the brand if they’re a part of @lionssharefund!

want to increase your positive impact right now? start by sharing this article. with one click, more people like you will be inspired to work in ways that protect our planet.

—

sources:

https://climatechange.ucdavis.edu/news/can-seaweed-cut-methane-emissions-on-dairy-farms/

https://caes.ucdavis.edu/news/articles/2018/may/can-seaweed-cut-methane-emissions-on-dairies

http://www.fao.org/in-action/enteric-methane/background/en/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/08/forests-of-seaweed-can-help-climate-change-without-fire/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/food/the-plate/2016/11/seaweed-may-be-the-solution-for-burping-cows/

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-bad-of-a-greenhouse-gas-is-methane/

brigitte has been trying to implement changes with her local neighborhood association in order to keep algae levels in check to no avail. no one was listening.

hopefully this video sheds some light on the issue of algae blooms and on one natural solution: brigitte’s small but mighty friends, water fleas (daphnia). 

sources:

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/10/algae-bloom-lake-erie-toxins-spd/

https://www.cdc.gov/habs/illness-symptoms-freshwater.html

https://www.epa.gov/nutrientpollution/harmful-algal-blooms

https://www.epa.gov/nutrient-policy-data/control-and-treatment

https://dnr.wi.gov/lakes/plants/factsheets/copperfactsheet.pdf

“lady daphnia’s world.” for love of lakes, by darby nelson, michigan state university press, 2012, pp. 72–80.