#Eco-Activism

[our-trans-punk-experience]

Shout out to the youth activists of Hawaii!!!

Under what legal experts called a “historic” settlement, announced on Thursday, Hawaii officials will release a roadmap “to fully decarbonize the state’s transportation systems, taking all actions necessary to achieve zero emissions no later than 2045 for ground transportation, sea and inter-island air transportation”, Andrea Rodgers, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the case, said at a press conference with the governor.

[delicatelysublimeforester]

Green Hearts Unite: Celebrating Charity in Afforestation

[nightmaretour]

Anti-technology people who insist they're not ableist crack me up. What about people who rely on machines to breathe, eat, keep their heart functioning, or otherwise stay alive? "Well not that technology, obviously!" Ok what about AAC users, people who use hearing aids, or otherwise use technology to interact with the world in ways they otherwise couldn't? "Not that technology, obviously." Okay, my mobile phone is my memory, my sense of time, my sense of direction when I get lost, my ability to contact someone when I need help. It is my personal freedom because without it I would need full time care and supervision. But yes, that technology, right?

I hate how technology is made and utilised under capitalism as much as the next guy, but to pretend that technology doesn't greatly improve the lives of countless people, or even allow them to continue being alive, is to be willfully ignorant to the existence of disabled people. A world without technology is a world where a lot of disabled people don't get to survive. Capitalism is the problem, not the technology. Technology can (and should) exist just fine without capitalism.

[queerbrownvegan]

Teach kids about climate change. Encourage friends and family to talk about it. Get involved with them. From now for the rest of our lives, we need to nurture deep ecological connections and ecological wealth.

-qbv

[leebrontide]

A legit way to fight the climate crisis from where you're sitting right now

As promised, in honor of Earth Day, I've written some suggestions for how you can write a letter to the editor for your local paper, and reach some people who otherwise might get a more...shall we say restricted view of climate news. Letters to the Editor remain a surprisingly important political vehicle. People see letters to the editor and they feel like they're hearing from their neighbors- real people with authentic, down-to-earth agendas. They're the second most read part of the paper, after the front page. Take that stage!

Step 1- Pick an article in your local paper to respond to. Today is Earth day, and lots of papers will have at least something about climate crisis or environmental protection on it's pages. Local papers are better, because, as you can imagine, papers like The New Yorker get a lot more submissions to compete against, and anyways they don't have the same sense of local opinion.

Don't fret if your local paper leans conservative! That means it has readers we REALLY need to reach! And they may be more open to reading about these issues in a paper than online, which particularly a lot of older, don't feel like "the real world".

Step 2- Figure out what you're going to say! Maybe there's a glaring error in the article you want to address. BUT, if you're not sure, you can look up your local organization that's fighting for these goals. For example, I could look up and find MN350, because I'm in Minnesota. Going to their social media and their webpage/newsletter archive gives me an inside look at what people who are really immersed in these subjects have to say about what's going on.

So, for example, I see that my local group applauds Minneapolis's efforts at going to all clean energy, and has a timeline, but that people on the inside are saying that without a dedicated funding stream, people implementing these changes will have to either hope federal funding stays stable or fight for funding in the city council every year. Ok, now when there's an article about Minneapolis's plans, I have something to say.

Step 3- Draft it up.

The goal here is to be short and to the point.

Opening line: Identify which article you're responding to, and maybe your feeling about it.

First paragraph: What is the specific issue? What is a relevant fact and why does it  warrant public concern?

Second paragraph: What would you say that we do in response, or what would you ask your neighbors to do?  Why?

Third paragraph: What is currently being done to address the issue and how could people who have been persuaded act?

This should be no more than 150 to 250 words TOTAL.

While you're wording it, some things to keep in mind- stats and facts are good, but don't use a lot of acronyms or jargon. Expect your readers to be coming at this with about an 8th grade education.

If you have a sense of what the people you're talking to find persuasive, lean into that. For example, for my letter to the editor, I emphasized that chaotic funding leads to lack of ability to plan ahead or bulk-buy. I know the people I'm talking to like things to be common-sense and detest governmental waste, so that's an easy one.

If you want extra help, I have a list of best practices for communicating about the climate crisis right here.

Step 4- Proofread, then submit it via whatever process your local paper has. The goal, if you can manage is, is to submit something within 48 hours of the original article's publication. That's the sweet spot for most papers.

BONUS ROUND!

You did that, and still have a little energy for the environment left? There's one more thing you can do to super-charge your effort!

Guess what, you can stack the deck in favor of your specific letter being published.

But it will involve using a phone.

That's right, if you REALLY wanna turbo boost this thing, you're gonna call the paper (or have your non-phone-adverse-friend or family member pretend to be you and call the paper).

Call as soon as possible after the editor would have received the material.

Use pleasant persistence to speak with the right person. Don’t stop at a receptionist or secretary. Create enough POLITE urgency about your letter that you get through to the specific reporter or editor who will decide whether or not to print your piece.

Provide the editor with specific local info and urgency. Focus your conversation on why this issue is relevant to their readers.

Get specific feedback and/or a specific commitment from the reporter. If they don’t want to print the letter, find out why and what adjustments you can make to get it printed.

If they agree to print it, find out when you can expect to see it in the paper. The you can tell other people. Even if memaw isn't a big climate activist, she might show your letter to everybody she knows if she knows you wrote it.

And that's the process! I know that's a lot of information to throw at you, but ultimately, it can be pretty quick to crank these things out. And, again, these have been proven to be powerful persuaders. We need as many people as we can to be in this fight, so go and get them!

And always remember, you're not just combating ignorance, you're combating hopelessness, helplessness, and burnout! You can inspire people to think about what's possible.

PS if any of you actually do this, please let me know. It'd make me so happy.

@onbearfeet @basil-gardens @punkypine @rederiswrites @veritatemquarens @radioraja

[wachinyeya]

[queerism1969]

[econeepuff]

THEY TURNED OUT SO GOOD WAWAWAWA

[ziavisuals]

🌏 SAVE THE PLANET 🌎

ITS THE ONLY PLACE WE ALL CALL HOME

[interpol-anonymous]

Update on the formerly missing coworker: wormhole :/

Did you know there are universe of only pokèmon? Because I didn't.

[submission received and posted]

[chromaticramblings]

if you feel guilty about something you love because it contributes to capitalism:

don’t.

capitalism needs you to be tired. it needs you to be so exhausted that you can barely think of anything outside of work, so that you can’t imagine how things could be better.

if you do things you love, you keep that energy for yourself. that’s energy you can turn outwards. that’s energy you can use to grow and help others and be human.

obviously we wanna harm reduce. obviously in an ideal world, that thing you love has zero negative impact. but you can’t work towards that world if you aren’t working on liberating yourself first.

[xanderisrotting]

Behind the label: Reef-Safe Sunscreen

I’m starting a series on my blog where i debunk common labels that brands use to seem more eco-friendly and mislead the consumer. Today’s and the first issue is “Reef safe” sunscreen.

Regardless of your skin color, everyone should wear sunscreen in the sunnier months! Sadly, a lot of sunscreen contains harsh chemicals that can harm aquatic species. 25% of applied sunscreen end up in our waterways. Sunscreen companies are aware of this, and keen to more and more people’s propensity to shop green. Instead of changing their product, they just lie.

The term “reef safe” is not regulated, and this means any company is allowed to slap the label onto any product with no prerequisites. Some “reef safe” sunscreens still contain oxybenzone and octinoxate, the two chemicals that contribute to coral bleaching.

Even if a sunscreen is “reef free”, the coral reefs are only half of the species effected by sunscreens. Fish, aquatic mammals and algae are also affected by sunscreens. Harsh sunscreen chemicals can impair the growth of algae, and that greatly harms the entire food web.

Don’t ditch the sunscreen! Read the labels! Make sure even “reef safe” sunscreens do not contain harmful chemicals (listed in image above). Make sure the only active ingredients in your sunscreen are titanium dioxide (unless it’s spray), or zinc oxide. Even sunscreens without octinoxates and oxybenzones can still contain other harmful chemicals, like my sunscreen.

Moral of the story: “Reef safe” sunscreens are not actually as reef safe as they may say. It’s an unregulated label that can be put on any sunscreen, even if they can harm the ocean. Always read your labels, and make sure there are no ocean harming chemicals. the ocean isn’t just their home, it’s ours too.

[delicatelysublimeforester]

Taking a Stand: Climate Action on World Environment Day

[unnamed-atlas]

Finally finished sweet tooth s3. Having incredibly mixed feelings

[queerbrownvegan]

None of us are alright and the idea that climate anxiety is a sign of weakness disregards our most basic sense of empathy.

qbv

[kainebell]

I’m replaying Rising Tides and, like, I get that the main goal of this book was to be educational since it was part of a green mobile gaming event. So I understand why the writers played it safe by centering the book around activism, the power of journalism, and the ways that big companies are more responsible for climate change than the average individual. But at the same time, i can’t stop imagining a reality where this book is a fast-paced eco-thriller and not the snoozefest it actually is (mostly because i watched How to Blow Up a Pipeline the other day) 😭 The story suggests journalism is the true driving force of social change when neither Charlie nor MC are journalists, just the subjects of journalism. This puts them in super passive positions, making it a pretty boring game to play bc you don’t actually get to do much, just read about what other characters are doing. Buuuut if it were about guerrilla activism, Charlie and MC could’ve been in far more active positions within the story, which could have been actually entertaining and supported by the leftist ideas that are at the heart of the story the writers were trying, and kind of failing, to tell