Crowdsourcing Sustainability Newsletters
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Trees are CO2
Trees are made out of thin air. Literally. I'm guessing most of you were like me and had either never really thought about this before or assumed the substance of a tree came from the soil. But nearly all the mass of a tree comes from the air. A tree's mass...
Land is warming nearly *twice as fast* as the global average
I just discovered this in the IPCC's latest report on land and agriculture and was shocked I'd never heard it before. I did understand that the ocean takes longer to heat up (like how it takes time to boil a pot of water). But I didn't realize just how different land...
Plastic vs trees, Greenland melting, and debate highlights
Hope you're having a great week so far! And staying cool! Did you know that June was the hottest June on record? And July was the hottest month ever recorded? I was on a family vacation for part of this week and haven't had much time to work. When I did, it...
It Only Takes 3.5% of a Population to (Nonviolently) Force Political Change
This is known as the '3.5% rule' and it's based on exhaustive research that looked at 323 campaigns from 1900 to 2006. And from 2000 to 2006, nonviolent campaigns were successful nearly 70% of the time. (Excellent Ted Talk here). "No single campaigns failed after...
Air pollution is in our hearts
Billions of air pollution particles were just found in the hearts of city dwellers my age. This makes my blood boil. The climate crisis aside for a second - this is so basic. We should not allow dangerous pollutants into our hearts. You know, those things that keep us...
Class Of Zero
I wanted to share this incredibly powerful video I recently came across about 350 valedictorians who gave the same, one-minute speech at graduation this year. In the video, you’ll hear directly from the students and founder of the new movement, called “Class of...
The Carbon Bubble
Today I’ll share two stories (that are absolutely terrifying) because I believe they’re so important that they’ll ultimately accelerate the time it takes for the planetary crisis to become the central concern of our society. I’ll also mention an enormous disruption to...
“I don’t care how green you are.”
The following is the concluding section from a recent article by Mary Annaïse Heglar, "I work in the environmental movement. I don't care if you recycle". By and large, she captures how I feel about the climate movement and the attitude we need to adopt....
Confucius Quote and List of Best Articles
I try to remind myself of the following message regularly: "We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one." - Confucius And it still strikes a chord every time I hear it. In fact, I am just going to leave it at that today (I can't...
Loss of Biodiversity and Jay Inslee’s Climate Plan
Two things for you today. A dose of despair/reality-check followed by a genuinely exciting development: A look at just how dramatically our current system has been annihilating life on Earth. US Presidential candidate Jay Inslee is slowly unveiling an amazing...
Top 5 Actions to Eliminate Greenhouse Gas Emissions
A few weeks ago I told you what you need to know about our sea level rise situation. I just added an analogy to it because I like putting things in perspective - so these monumental numbers actually mean something to us. I wanted to start this week by sharing...
How YOU Can Help Stop Climate Change
Hope you've had a great week so far! Back in April I encouraged you to sign up for the "Let's Save the Planet" web series so you could get tips on how to be more sustainable from various experts including myself. Below is my interview with my new friend Gail,...
Greta Thunberg’s Speeches
Happy Friday! Just two things today: 1. Green New Deal Tour In Cities Across the US The Sunrise Movement is laying out a "Road to the Green New Deal" by hosting town halls over the next few weeks. I went to the opener in Boston last Thursday (and met up with...
Kindergarteners and Climate Migrants
Hope you've had a great week so far! Okay, hmmm. Let's start with... Kindergarteners and Climate Migrants Last week I spoke at my neighbor's kindergarten class (the same room I was in 21 years ago actually - kind of surreal). They were adorable, engaged, and...
Green New Deal and Global Warming Interviews and Our Planet
I hope you've had a great week so far - finally feels like Spring here in Boston! ...kind of whacky weather recently, but what else is new? Three things for you this week: 1. Did you catch AOC's recent interview on the Green New Deal? The Green New Deal...
Climate change wreaking havoc and climate action wisdom
I hope you've had a great week so far! Just a couple of things today. Climate change wreaking havoc As I'm writing this, my thoughts and wishes go out to the millions of people who are suffering in Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe after...
Global school strikes and Dalai Lama quote
The following quote is a big part of how I try to live my life: “We are visitors on this planet. We are here for ninety or one hundred years at the very most. During that period we must try to do something good, something useful, with our lives. If you...
Juliana vs US, healthcare industry pollution kills, Ecosia, and Jay Inslee
This week I'm going back to the original structure with a slight twist - it's a bit shorter and I'm tying in or building on the ~90 articles I've written in the last 10 months. Exciting The most important federal court case in the US gets some recognition Last...
“The Man in the Arena,” PG&E bankruptcy, and economists encourage carbon pricing
Just a few things for you today: One of my favorite inspirational quotes. Did you hear climate change caused a major bankruptcy?? (3-minute video on corporations and climate risk). Exciting: 40 of the best economists in the US wrote a joint op-ed telling everyone to...
More Americans waking up to climate crisis
Three things this week: For those who want to wrap their heads around the Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Ed Markey's Green New Deal resolution, David Robert's article is excellent (I am very excited about the GND and will be covering it again in the future...my...
Magnitude and pace of climate change
For those who don't know, I live just outside of Boston, MA in the US. We've had a bit of freezing cold this week, but it was nothing compared to the cold felt in the upper Midwest. If you didn't catch it the first time, here's my quick article on why climate change...
World Economic Forum, Greta Thunberg, and Nobel Prize for climate action
Here's some of the most notable climate and sustainability news, the story of an activist working to bring a Nobel Prize for climate action to life, and an easy action you can take to help. Climate Change DOMINATES World Economic Forum's 2019 Global Risk Report...
Where we stand in 2019
Welcome to the Crowdsourcing Sustainability community! I hope you're 2019 is off to a great start. I thought this would be a good time to do a brief summary of the big picture and where we stand today (it's not pretty), then share some highly encouraging news, and end...
Thank you for sharing and top 4 impactful actions
First off, a BIG thank you Thank you so much for all of you who read and shared last week's 16 Sustainability Leaders article with your friends - it really took off! You can see for yourself how all that sharing helped to spread awareness of the most...
Greta Thunberg speaking truth to power
I just wanted to share these two videos of Greta Thunberg with you. In them she is speaking truth to power. She tells it like it is. You may remember, I mentioned Greta a few emails ago. She's the 15 year old Swedish girl who has sparked school strikes for...