Climate Rage is Sexy

'Tis the season, with Earth Day having just happened and while still being able to see it here on our April calendars, for heightened awareness on all things Mother Earth. 

I ran across a Substack post by Amy Westervelt entitled "Climate Rage is Sexy." Interesting timing given we just had Women's History month and I also recently finished the book Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women's Anger by Soraya Chemaly. Rage apparently is all the rage. With good reason! With our "sheltering in place" this last year due to Covid, it gave us grand opportunity to be captive audience to the heightened awareness on racial and social injustice over the past year. Add in a rather contentious election in 2020, a lot of "-isms" have been in the forefront of all our minds. Media and social media screamed all of the above this past year.

Even Mother Earth seems a tad pissed off when you look at our rising climate issues, the wild fires of the past 18 months, the pandemic, the melting of polar ice sheets, growing food waste and plastic pollution, biodiversity degradation....the list goes on. So, yes, Amy Westervelt is right, and the rage is on when it comes to climate change.

Here are some visuals, created from Amy's "Climate Rage is Sexy" text that I found at Future Earth's Facebook Page. Just like Saroya Chemaly wrote in the above-mentioned book, "When a girl or woman is angry she is saying 'What I'm feeling, thinking, and saying matters.'.... We are living in what feels like an age of pronounced rage and near-constant outrage." [Locations 188 & 208 in the Kindle version.]

I think it's time for us all to embrace our climate rage--for it is through doing so that we will take action. The time is now for doing so!

Images from https://www.facebook.com/futureearthcatalog/posts/921697871909203 and credited to Credit: “Climate Rage is Sexy” by @amywestervelt via Hot Take

9 Gen-Z Eco Activists

One of the many treasures in the book No Planet B: The Teen Vogue Guide to the Climate Crisis (Edited by Lucy Diavolo, 2021) is the chapter in the Activist Section titled "Nine Teen Climate Activists Fighting For the Future of the Planet." Like much of the book, it's from environmental articles posted in Teen Vogue--this one by Marilyn La Jeunesse, published in the magazine on July 24, 2019. In her article/chapter, she highlights 9 Generation Z activists making bold moves to make a difference in our world.

Here's what these young activists are known for, their age as of this writing, and where you can go to find out more about them!

Greta Thunberg, 18

Perhaps the most well-known on this list, Greta has received numerous awards and recognition (including her Nobel Peace prize nomination in 2019) for her school strikes on climate justice and is an avid spokesperson on this issues in many global forums. You can see her timeline of her activism on this website and she is active on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube.

Katie Eder, 21
As a Stanford student, the Executive Director of Future Coalition (a youth activist organization), and an avid environmentalist since 6th grade, Katie probably never gets bored. She's organized climate strikes, 50 Miles More (to promote the end of gun violence) and helped from the #AllEyesOnJuliana campaign in June 1, 2019 day off press conferences(when she was approximately 18/19 years), which supported the climate lawsuit Juliana vs. the United States government.

Jamie Margolin, 19
Jamie is the cofounder and co-executive director of Zero Hour, another activist group for our Generation Z'ers on climate change and justice. She's a plaintiff on the climate lawsuit in Washington state of Our Children's Trusts' Youth v. Gov. She is also the author of Youth to Power: Your Voice and How to Use It (2020). She is also open about her experience as an LGBT person. You can find her at Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Nadia Nazar, 19
Nadia joins Jamie as cofounder, co-executive director, and art director of Zero Hour. With these pursuits she has also organized the DC Youth Climate Strike and the lead from Maryland for the U.S. Climate Strikes. She testified in front of Congressional committee on climate change in February of 2019, and she is also a student at Maryland Institute College of Art. You can find her on Twitter or on her art-inspired website.

Isra Hirsi, 18

She and Haven Coleman co-founded (and are co-executive directors of) the U.S. Youth Climate Strike in 2019. She is also the daughter of U.S. Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. She was active this election to help educate voters on the presidential candidates' views on climate change. She is also a Foodprints for the Future Ambassador for Earthday.org. You can find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Alexandria Villaseñor, 16

Alexandria began her activist career following Greta Thunberg and the school strikes. Alexandria is the founder of the climate change organization Earth Uprising and is also involved in the U.S. Youth Climate Strike. You can find her at Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Haven Coleman, 15

She and Isra Hirsi co-founded (and are co-executive directors of) the U.S. Youth Climate Strike in 2019. She founded the ARID Agency for climate and social justice in 2020. She's also been very active speaking about, promoting, organizing, and leading climate events. You can find her on her website, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Xiuhtezcatl Martinez, 20 (bday may 9)

As an Indigenous climate activist, Xiuhtezcatl began speaking out at climate summits back when he was 6 years old. He's the Youth Director of Earth Guardians, author of We Rise: The Earth Guardians Guide to Building a Movement that Restores the Planet, and a hip hop artist with an environmental slant. He is also a plaintive in Juliana v. the U.S lawsuit. You can find him on Facebook and his website.

Jayden Foytlin, 17

Jayden also is an Indigenous (and Cajun) climate activist and one of the 22 plaintiffs in Juliana v. U.S. She is also an avid protestor of the Bayou Bridge Pipeline which would cary oil from the Dakota Access Pipeline to Louisiana. 

Images from:

Book cover from https://www.amazon.com/No-Planet-Vogue-Climate-Crisis/dp/1642592595/ref=asc_df_1642592595/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=475689877582&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=10868309235414858719&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007872&hvtargid=pla-1155211154062&psc=1; 

Graphic created at www.canva.com using photos from the following:

1. Greta Thunberg: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/11/greta-thunberg-schoolgirl-climate-change-warrior-some-people-can-let-things-go-i-cant 

2. Katie Eder: https://www.forbes.com/profile/katie-eder/

3. Jamie Margolin: https://earthoptimism.si.edu/about/2020-summit/speakers/jamie-margolin/

4. Nadia Nazar: https://www.ioes.ucla.edu/person/nadia-nazar/

5. Isra Hirsi: https://www.earthday.org/foodprints-for-the-future-ambassadors/

6. Alexandria Villaseñor: https://twitter.com/alexandriav2005

7. Haven Coleman: https://havencoleman.com

8. Xiuhtezcatl Martinez: https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/magazine/entry/xiuhtezcatl_martinez/

9. Jayden Foytlin: https://www.ourclimatevoices.org/2018/jadydenfoytlin

Earth Day 2021: Restore Our Earth

Earth Day is officially April 22nd. However, this year, with the 2021 theme being "Restore Our Earth," those at EarthDay.org are combining with leaders at Education International, Hip Hop Caucus, and Earth Uprising to create a 3-day Call to Action: April 20--22nd. Given that, we are right in the thick of things, and I'm posting a bit early so you can take full advantage of what is morphing into Earth Week.

All 4 of these organizations are creating 3 parallel climate action summits set to happen two days prior (on April 20th & 21st) as a lead in to Biden's global leaders climate summit on Earth Day. Topics of these summits will be climate literacy, environmental justice, and youth-centric environmental issues. Activists will come in all forms: educators, artists, musicians, researchers, and it will become an official "Second Annual Earth Day Live." If 2020 showed us nothing, it's that we can do a whole lot of learning via zoom!

The Timeline:

April 20th:  A 4-hour digital summit with plenty of the leading young climate activists will stream. Leaders like Greta Thunberg, Alexandria Villaseñor (Founder of Earth Uprising), Licypriya Kangujam (9-year-old Climate & Environmental Activist), and many more will voice what they hope Biden will address at his climate summit. This level of listening from top presidential leadership is new.

April 20th evening:   The Hip Hop Caucus (and partners) will hold their "We Shall Breathe" virtual summit, looking at environmental justice through the lens of the pandemic and racial justice. 

April 21:  Education International's "Teach for the Planet: Global Education Summit" will be held virutally with a variety of activists from across the globe. Their focus will be on environmental education, especially as it is tied to addressing climate change.

April 22nd: Running congruently to the Biden administration global climate summit will be the live Earth Day digital event sponsored by Earthday.org. Livestream will happen starting at noon Eastern time with a variety of workshops, discussions, and performances all centered around this year's theme. 

Anytime:  For 51 ways you can do something today, tomorrow, or any day, check out Earthday.org's list!

Watch. Take part. Learn. Do something. Make a difference. Restore our Earth. Celebrate Earth Day.

images from https://www.earthday.org/restore-our-earth-social-graphics/

John Kerry, Al Gore, TED Talks Daily, & The Paris Climate Agreement

About a year and a half ago, back before there was a global pandemic, I was gifted tickets to see John Kerry at the Baltimore Speaker Series on Sept. 24, 2019. The Myerhoff Symphony Hall was a dynamic setting to see this former US Secretary of State, Vietnam Veteran (with multiple awards including 3 Purple Hearts, a Silver Star, and a Bronze Star Medal), former Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, US Senator, author, and the 2004 Democratic nominee for President of the US (who lost to George W. Bush). He spoke so eloquently and intelligently on many of his past experiences as well as on climate change.  It was a refreshing and rewarding evening hearing his thoughts on so many poignant topics we were facing in 2019.

I happened upon John Kerry again about a month ago on one of my new favorite podcasts: TED Talks Daily. He was featured with Al Gore in a longer than typical TED Talks Daily episode. The reason? It was February 2021 and as the US had just rejoined the Paris Agreement. Yay! As Biden's choice for Special Presidential Envoy for Climate he was having a sit down with former Vice President and climate expert, advocate, and Nobel Laureate Al Gore to discuss the return and all that's at stake with climate change here in 2021 and. going forward. 

Again, it was a refreshing and rewarding conversation, and just perfect to pay attention to here in the pre-season of Earth Day ahead! You can watch below, at TED, or find it through Apple Podcasts. 

Video from https://www.ted.com/talks/john_kerry_and_al_gore_the_us_is_back_in_the_paris_agreement_what_s_next?rss=172BB350-0207, Image from https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/us-is-back-in-paris-agreement-whats-next-john-kerry/id160904630?i=1000509851375

Earth Day Bitmoji Board o' Books

Anyone who has been hanging around for any amount of time over here knows that I am a major fan of Bitmoji Boards as an edtech way of sharing resources.

Here is a great that I ran across for Earth Day, created by @MissHecht. You can find this and approximately 80 more of her Bitmoji creations at her LinkTree Account. She has one on Recycling, Biomes, and Animal Adaptations too, which might also serve your environmental needs here this Earth Day. You can also buy her (aka Bridgette) a cup of tea as a way of saying thanks, or follow her Creative Teaching with Miss Hecht page on Facebook.

 

Bitmoji Boards created by @MissHecht and you can find them to make a copy of her amazing boards at https://linktr.ee/misshecht

Environmental Justice Resources

From the EPA website, "environmental justice" is not as simple as a Websters definition. In fact, it has 3 defining points:

Sadly, over the eras, many of our black, brown, indigenous, and impoverished people have been living in the places where most of our environmental hazards have occurred. Some are due to bad luck and poor living conditions. Some are due to white communities adopting a NIMBY attitude (aka: "Not In My Backyard"). And sadly some have been purposeful governmental choices... making injustice far from a coincidence and rather by design. Due to this, environmental racism is a real thing.

A lot of conversations have been happening over the last year or so particularly centered around racism. Nationally, it certainly came forefront to us all as we sat at home, gazing at our televisions and the news as there wasn't much else to do in 2020 in the middle of a pandemic and we saw the stories of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor surface. Likewise, we have also been talking about a lot of diversity, equity, and inclusivity issues at my school--more this year, but it's been a growing conversation over the last several. Books like Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho (and his YouTube videos), White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo, and How To Be Anti-Racist by Ibram X. Kendi have been on my reading list over the last two years.

Given all of that, I was particularly struck when I ran across this extensive compilation of anti-racist resources for nature lovers. That was a thing? Why yes, it is--because of environmental justice (and injustice). Compiled by Wilder Child (a great website and now one of my new favorites to follow on Facebook as well), the resource list is entitled "Decolonizing Nature Connection: Resources for Raising Anti-Racist Nature Lovers." In addition to environmental justice by way of everything mentioned above, interestingly enough, nature is not necessarily as accessible as one would imagine! Environmental injustice has made being out in the great outdoors a more "white thing" than I ever thought. I mean, nature is free, right. And yet, I'm learning, it's not as free as I thought it would be.

The resources are plentiful and all through the lens of environmentalism. It provides a lot of interesting choices for my 52 Weeks/52 Books goal this year. In fact, my next book ready to read in my Kindle app is J. Drew Lanham's book The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man's Love Affair with Nature, one from the "Decolonizing Nature Connection" list. I'll be reporting back later on that read after I finish it.

If all of this leaves you wanting to dig more than into Wilder Child's growing list and you find yourself interested in doing a deeper dive into the conceptual background of Environmental Justice, check out these two articles:

• Yale Experts Explain Environmental Justice
  
• Vox's There’s a Clear Fix to Helping Black Communities Fight Pollution" by  Rachel Ramirez (2.26.2021)

Collage created on Canvas.com using pictures fromhttps://images.app.goo.gl/fbEiM9kfthK3Q6FHA, https://www.teatown.org/what-is-environmental-justice/, and https://comingcleaninc.org/environmental-justice, definition of Environmental Justice is a screenshot from https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/learn-about-environmental-justice, Dr. Robert Bullard quote image created on canvas.com, screenshot of "Decolonizing Nature Connections" by Wilder Child from https://docs.google.com/document/d/18-D6-ZZA5rmgiapiokAFMte3isYK8dVqXswE8d16xlQ/edit?fbclid=IwAR3LHO0HsmE0trGYJ9PYUsooCPu2GcJdiTUs3wXS-prKv98Gs9nOyLAG1Sc

Nature Is Part of Our Nature: A Reminder of the Benefits of Being Outdoors

Spring has sprung and the weather is warming. Thank the Lord almighty! The long winter with the Covid connection on top was getting to be too much. 

I'm gleefully ready to move on from the winter blues (made worse this year from the pandemic) and and probably an inkling of seasonal affective disorder. Spring is the perfect time to reset our internal clocks and sync them with the biorhythm of our circadian clocks. We finally get to feel the sun on our faces, warmth rewarded with short sleeves, and I'm finding myself outside and writing in a state of supreme bliss in my favorite office!

I often find myself circling back to this topic of the therapeutic nature of nature. Where we get our Vitamin D from more sun than our vitamin bottles, and we can rejoice in Vitamin N: Nature. 

Yes, theoretically we can do this in the winter too, but I am indeed a winter wimp, smiling more in the sunshine and warmth.

Nature certainly is part of our nature. This image showcasing a slice of a tree stump and a fingerprint really does put the finger on the pulse (pun intended).

These articles highlight the multitude of ways 4 mentally, physically... of ways being out in nature can "do a body good" psychologically, spiritually, physically, mentally, "decompressionally," educationally, developmentally, with your sleep health, and more 

• The Positive Effects of Nature On Your Mental Well-Being

• ScaryMommy's Blog Post: "We Should Try To Take The ‘1000 Hours Outside’ Challenge––Here’s Why"

• Outside Play is Crucial for Emerging Readers and Writers
• Exposure to Morning Sunlight Profoundly Affects Mood, Health, and Nighttime Sleep

• 11 Scientific Benefits of Being Outdoors

And just a few from the GTG Archives:

• Nature = Necessity Not Amenity
• The Benefits of Being Outside
• Why We Need Environmental Education
• Linking Nature, People, & Mindfulness
• Go Outside

So do yourself a favor: Find a nice healthy snack, a lovely lemonade, a tasty green tea, or just a big thermos of water and go find yourself some nature. Maybe a hike, a picnic, a sit spot, or a lounge chair. Soak up the sun, watch some birds, listen to the pounding of woodpeckers and other bird calls, watch some scampering squirrels or chipmunks, marvel at the glistening of sun on a body of water....and bask in the benefits of being outdoors. 

Images from: May you find yourself: https://www.facebook.com/chelsey.bahe/posts/10164989735150581; Tree seasons from http://www.felicia-levy.com/2017/10/14/seasonal-affective-disorder-sad/; Tree-fingerprint from https://www.facebook.com/flowwellbeingnetwork/posts/226598855788156

Happy Easter Weekend 2021

It is in the spirit of spring weather that I send you warm wishes for a joyous Easter. 

Be healthy, safe, and breathe in the beauty of the outdoors.

Image created at canva.com

Eunice Foote: Foot at the Front Door of Climate Change

Closing the door here on Women's History Month as we make our way to April, we're going to take a sneak peak at Eunice Foote, one of the first to actually have her foot in the door and finger on the pulse of climate change.

Eunice is a little known female environmentalist and women's rights activist, however surprisingly, she was one of the first to introduce the idea of global warming and climate change.

Born 202 years ago in 1819, Eunice Newton Foote (of Seneca Falls, New York) was a physicist, inventor, and women's rights advocate. Through experimentation over time, Eunice studied the sun's rays effects on different gases using an air pump, glass cylinders, and thermometers. From there, she wrote up her findings in a paper in 1856 entitled Circumstances Affecting the Heat of the Sun's Rays. It was presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science's annual meeting by male scientist Joseph Henry rather than by Eunice Foote herself. The reason for this is not clear given she presented a different paper of her own the following year.

However, it was Irish physicist John Tyndall who is often credited for the discovery of the greenhouse effect (which is the foundation of global warming and climate change) in 1859--three years after Eunice's paper!

What is likely is that Eunice's work was probably unknown by Tyndall, due probably to the fact that women of that era were not revered in the science fields. Secondarily, the primary folks in the field at that time were Europeans, not Americans. Thirdly, Eunice held the status of amateur scientist, making it yet another reason why her name did not circle in all the right places. Additionally she did have some flaws in her study, yet despite that, she was the first to make the full connection. Given that recognition is due where it is due, Eunice was noted (posthumously)  to be the first to notice carbon dioxide and water vapor absorbed heat--linking to how our atmosphere would lead warming the planet with increased carbon dioxide.

To learn more and further tip your hat to Eunice Foot as the "Mother of Climate Change," read these articles and watch either of the animated video or short film below:

• NOAA's Climate.Gov's article written July 17, 2019 by Amara Huddleston "Happy 200th Birthday to Eunice Foote, Hidden Climate Science Pioneer"

• Comox Valley Record's "Science Matters: The Woman who Discovered Global Warming" written by Canadian broadcaster and environmental activist David Suzuki on March 11, 2020

• All That's Interesting's March 27, 2020 article by Natasha Ishak entitled "Meet Eunice Foote, The Mother Of Climate Science Whose Work Was Ignored Because Of Her Sex"

• The New York Times article "Overlooked No More: Eunice Foote, Climate Scientist Lost to History" by John Schwartz on April 21, 2020 (and I love that this article references Katherine Hayhoe on this topic--one of my favorite climate scientists!)

Photograph of Eunice Foote from https://www.comoxvalleyrecord.com/opinion/science-matters-the-woman-who-discovered-global-warming/, sketch & writing picture from https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://allthatsinteresting.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/typing-woman-vs-footes-research-featured.png&imgrefurl=https://allthatsinteresting.com/eunice-foote&tbnid=95oF71LWBr2nHM&vet=1&docid=5qhn66NSg3KgYM&w=1100&h=585&source=sh/x/im, Videos from https://youtu.be/09yKxAB9IlM and https://youtu.be/WxgAOKzOcBU

Earth Hour Tonight & "You're The Voice"

"You're The Voice" is perfectly named for this anthem, put together by the group 1 Million Women. Although it was released in 2015, it may not be something you have seen before. 

Sharing it here during March & Women's History Month & on the day of Earth Hour is also well-timed. So many times throughout the course of history, women's voices have been silenced. Yet here, it serves as the perfect foil--countering the silence and being the voice of change, climate action, hope, and leadership.

It also is the perfect anthem for Earth Hour, a long-standing, environmental and global grassroots movement dating back to 2007. Make your voice heard tonight, Saturday, March 27th from 8:30--9:30 in your time zone by turning out your lights. Also, be sure on the 27th to check out Earth Hour's virtual spotlight. To learn more, check out my previous GTG post from 3/20/2021.

Earth Hour's Virtual Spotlight Video: Share it forward!

Image created on canva.com and Video from https://youtu.be/7-3FuApUbnc and https://youtu.be/hvBsgfn_cvY

Women's History Month, Environmental Style

I can't let March go by without a conversation or two about Women's History month, especially as it is tied to environmentalism. Truthfully, I don't believe in "The Months" as a way of teaching anything. It often pigeon-holes people to thinking that Black History should only be discussed in February, Women's History in March, Asian Pacific History in May, LGBTQ Pride in June, Hispanic Heritage from Sept 15-October, and Native American History in November. I'm sure there are many more "months" out there. Truthfully, all of these marginalized groups should be daily-remembered in any unit of study. 

Case in point, I was sharing Computer History with my 2nd graders the last two weeks and I detailed my "places it happened scavenger hunt" of Sillicon Valley from Summer of 2018. That was the expedition I navigated while my husband drove all around (God love him) soI could see the places history happened: the Hewlett-Packard garage, the garage of "the Steves" (Wozniak and Jobs) where Apple was born, Google, Facebook, meeting Carl Sjogreen of Seesaw, and more. What I discovered as I was preparing to share my photos and the backstory of computer history through those pics was all of the people that were missing. I was sharing it in March, so did that mean I should only be sure to include the famous women innovators in the tech field of Silicon Valley? No! So I made sure to share a collection of women of all ethnicities and a number of non-white men as well. We definitely had an open conversation on the "who's missing in these pictures?"... followed up by "look at all of the amazing things women and non-white men did as well."

This is how all concepts should be shared in 2021. And it's something we talked about in my Master's program, well over 20 years ago as well.

But, "The Months" do help give structure to those who aren't already thinking along the lines of being inclusive across races, genders, sexualities, nationalities, economics, and more. So for that reason, I think it's necessary to specifically pay tribute to a few of these women environmental leaders and change makers. 

I've listed the ladies names & major accomplishments under the resource that discusses them where you can go to learn more about how these fabulous females made a difference. I wasn't at all surprised to see repeated names on the list. With the first mention of her name, I included a brief description of what each woman (along with her birth and possible death date). Over half of the list was new to me, and it really highlights how fundamental and phenomenal each of these women are!

A Mighty Girl's Guardians of the Planet: 16 Women Environmentalists You Should Know (6.5.2020)

• Anna Botsford Comstock (1854 - 1930) -- environmental educator, author, first female professor at Cornell University 

• Kate Sessions (1857 - 1940) --"Mother of Balboa Park" who is responsible for gardens & park & tree planting in San Diego 

• Rosalie Barrow Edge (1877 - 1962) -- founder of the Emergency Conservation Committee & world's first refuge for birds of prey. 

• Marjory Stoneman Douglas (1890 - 1998) -- author of The Everglades: River of Grass and avid conservationist

• Margaret Thomas Murie (1902 - 2003) -- known as the "Grandmother of the Conservation Movement" & key player in passing the Wilderness Act

• Rachel Carson (1907 - 1964) -- marine biologist, author of Silent Spring which helped push for the creation of the EPA and the elimination of DDT

• Dian Fossey (1932 - 1985) -- American primatologist who studied gorillas in Rwanda

• Jane Goodall (b. 1934) -- British primatologist & world expert on chimpanzee in Tanzania and animal welfare advocate

• Sylvia Earle (b. 1935) -- marine biologist, oceanographer, first woman Chief Scientist at NOAA, and founder of Mission Blue

• Wangari Maathai (1940 - 2011) -- Nobel laureate, first woman in East & Central Africa to earn her doctorate degree, and Kenyan founder of the Green Belt Movement to empower women and plant trees in deforested areas of Africa.

• Biruté Galdikas (b. 1946) -- primatologist who studied orangutans in Borneo and created a rehabilitation center for reintroducing orangutans into the wild

• Winona LaDuke (b. 1959) -- Native American activist, founder of the White Earth Land Recovery Project and Honor the Earth

• Erin Brockovich (b. 1960) -- public health and safety activist who exposed groundwater contamination in Hinckley, California

• Berta Isabel Cáceres Flores (1971 - 2016) -- indigenous environmental justice activist for the Lenca people of Honduras

• Isatou Ceesay (b. 1972) -- known as the "Queen of Recycling" in The Gambia, creator of the One Plastic Bag movement, & women's empowerment through environmental advocacy

• Greta Thunberg (b. 2003) -- Swedish teenager who is a dedicated climate change activist 

Heal the Bay's "Five 5 Women Environmentalists Who Changed the World" by post by Mariana Estrada (3.8.2021)

• Wangari Maathai

• Berta Isabel Cáceres Flores 

• Isatou Ceesay 

• Winona LaDuke 

• Vanessa Nakate (b. 1996) -- Ugandan founder of the Rise Up Movement & climate change activist

University of Connecticut's 5 Women Who Have Revolutionized the Environmental Movement (4.12.2018)

• Rosalie Edge

• Sylvia Earle

• Wangari Maathai

• Lois Gibbs (b. 1951) -- public health and safety activist who brought attention to the Love Canal, New York neighborhood that was built on top of a toxic waste site and founder of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice

• Vandana Shiva (b. 1952) -- Indian ecofeminist, biodiversity expert, author, and creator of the international college for sustainable living: Bija Vidyapeeth

Greenpop's 10 Woman Environmentalists You Should Know About (7.29.2020)

• Jane Goodall

• Sylvia Earle

• Wangari Maathai

• Rachel Carson

• Vandana Shiva

• Isatou Ceesay

• May Boeve (b. ~ 1984) -- environmental activist & cofounder of the climate change awareness website 350.org which is dedicated to reducing levels fo carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

• Marina Sylva (b. 1958) -- environmental & social justice activist, politician, and Brazilian Amazon Rainforest advocate

• Greta Thunberg

• Vanessa Nakate

SF Environment's Celebrating Women Environmentalists During Women's History Month

• This article is a comprehensive list of 41 environmental activist American women! Surprising too are that there are still new names! 

• Included in the list: Jane Adams ~ Mollie Beattie ~ Frances Beinecke ~ Julia "Judy" Bonds ~ Reverend Sally Bingham ~ Carol Martha Browner ~ Rachel Carson ~ Aurora Castillo ~ Ruth Chickering Clusen ~ Heidi Cullen ~ Laurie David ~ Marjory Stoneman Douglas ~ Dianne Dillon-Ridgley ~ Sylvia A. Earle ~ Rosalie Edge ~ Lois Gibbs ~ Dr. Dianne Glave ~ Maria Gunnoe ~ Dolores Huerta ~ Celia M. Hunter ~ Lisa Jackson ~ Lady Bird Johnson ~ Elizabeth Kolbert ~ Winona LaDuke ~ Maya Lin ~ L. Hunter Lovins ~ Sophie Maxwell ~ Margaret “Mardy” Murie ~ Donella H. "Dana" Meadows ~ Irma Muñoz ~ Barbara Y.E. Pyle ~ Marjorie Richard ~ Linda Sánchez ~ Susan D. Shaw ~ Hilda Lucia Solis ~ Sandra Steingraber ~ Wilma Subra ~ JoAnn Tall ~ Kimberly Wasserman Nieto ~ Dr. Beverly L. Wright ~ Elizabeth Yeampierre

All banners created on canva.com

Top banner images from https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=11863--Pictured in order: Rachel Carson, Jane Goodall, Marjory Stoneman Douglas, Wangari Maathai, Sylvia Earle, Berta Isabel Cáceres Flores and Greta Thunberg

Middle banner images from https://greenpop.org/10-woman-environmentalists-you-should-know-about/--Pictured in order: Vandana Shiva, Marina Silva, May Boeve, and Vanessa Nakate

Bottom banner images from https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=11863--Pictured in order: Kate Sessions, Isatou Ceesay, Dian Fossey, Rosalie Barrow Edge, Erin Brockovich, Winona LaDuke, and Margaret Thomas Murie

Earth Hour: March 27, 2021 @ 8:30-9:30 pm

A week from today, next Saturday, March 27th, is Earth Hour. This has been one of my go-to annual events. Since 2007, starting solo in Sydney, Australia, then going global, lights go out locally the last Saturday of March from 8:30-9:30 pm in your time zone. 

Like "the wave" this time-zone-centric "lights out" approach helps bring an awareness to climate change. 

As with just about everything else this last year has had to adapt and change in their approach. Gatherings couldn't happen last year for Earth Hour, so instead, it went online and you could go to a "candle'ed approach" to Earth Hour in your own homes.

This year too, innovation must prevail. Earth Hour 2021 inspires everyone to still click off your lights for that hour, but then also to go online and take action to spotlight our planet, making this year's Earth Hour their first "Virtual Spotlight." So just in the past the spotlight was on turning off the streets, building, landmarks, and more to draw attention to climate change, this year, that awareness will be highlighted online with a social media blitz. The goal, to flood the Internet with their Earth Hour video they'll be posting on all of their social media pages. Share it forward and spotlight the importance of Earth Hour and planet Earth by posting, re-tweeting, emailing, DM-ing, and more on all of your social media platforms. Their goal....to make it the most watched, most trending video of the day, passing the message far and wide.

Where will you find this Earth Hour Virtual Spotlight video?  

All of the following next Saturday, on March 27th:

• Earth Hour's website, Facebook, Instagram, & Twitter pages.
• And here at Green Team Gazette and my Facebook & Twitter pages.

Images from https://www.earthhour.org/take-part and https://www.instagram.com/earthhourofficial/

Green Your Day o'Green: Happy St. Patty's Day

As we have all learned during this last year, levity, fun, and humor have been the things that have severely missing. Given the weight of the last post, I thought celebrating the green o'St. Patricks Day may be the way to go. 

Go green this green holiday with these 20 ideas of  how to green up your St. Patty's Day in the greenest of eco-ways on this Irish day!

1. Don't go buying new green for your wearin' o'the green. Check out your closet and go with something you already have.

2. Want something new-to-you to wear? Visit a thrift shop and take advantage of the "reuse" industry.

3. Bow out of the glittery green hair sprays and face paints that are far from natural. Go re-usable with necklaces, hats, and accoutrements to jazz up your St. Patty's Day style.

4. Same for all of the plastic festive wear. #PlasticIsNotFantastic

5. Looking for some festive wear for your table? Use the real stuff or purchase the biodegradable variety of cups, plates, napkins, and silverware.

6. Make sure all recyclables get into your recycle bin.make sure beer cans, bottles, and other recyclables make it into the correct bin.

7. Drink eco-friendly Irish coffee.

8. Even better....take your own reusable mug.

9. Start the day instead with a green smoothie or some lovely green tea.

10. Make green the theme for your meals. Get a hefty dose of those leafy greens or other veggies in your meals du jour.

11. Going traditional feasting fare: go organic, local, grass-fed corned beef.

12. Or, move away from the meat-heavy traditional foods as meat-eating animals require a lot of environmental resources.

13. Get your green by getting outside and getting some Vitamin D, some Vitamin N(ature), and some exercise.

14. When indoors, turn off or unplug anything electronic you aren't using. Save that phantom electricity.

15. Same goes for the lights!

16. Go green with your cleaners (though, let's be honest, who's cleaning on St. Patrick's Day? Not this li'l leprechaun!)

17. Support green, eco-friendly businesses and restaurants. GreenAmerica.org is a great place to go to size that up.

18. Drink organic green beer....or at least support a local brewery.

19. If you are hitting the Irish pubs, skip the plastic straws in your beverages.

20. Likewise, if you are out and about, consider ride sharing to get home safe and sound.

All of the ideas are inspired from the following articles if you want to dive in and read more!

Kiss Me, I’m Eco-Friendly! 5 Tips for a Truly Green St. Patrick’s Day

Putting the Green in St. Patrick’s Day

REALLY Go Green with Eco-Friendly St. Patrick’s Day Activities 

How to Green Your St. Patrick's Day

15 ShamROCKIN' Ways to Go Green this St. Patrick's Day (and every day)!

Art created at canvas.com 

One Year: Through The Eyes of a Quarantine

As we hit the one year anniversary of when many schools and communities in the United States went on shutdown March 13th, 2020 due to the novel coronavirus, the phrase "through the eyes of a quarantine" came to mind. This led near-instantly to Lin Manuel Miranda's song from Hamilton coming to mind:  "Through the Eyes of a Hurricane." I played around with modifying it:

In the eyes of a quarantine

We are homebound.

While the virus swirls,

A pandemic.

March 13 of '20, a quarantine

Locked us all down

In every town.

Near nation-wide, a long year now.

That's about as far as I got.

A year ago, I didn't have an inkling that we'd be here, in this way, an entire year from then. Silly us, as we prepped through the end of February and the start of March for the potential for remote learning, none of us thought it'd be more than a few weeks or a month at most. When glimmers of conversation cropped up in the news it could be until 2021, I found it unbelievable and despairing. 

And here we are now. A year later.

Some schools and children have been on remote learning for an entire year, or darn near close.

Last spring, I wrestled with remote learning. Then I learned this fall that hybrid learning and teaching to half the class in the classroom and the other half simultaneously via zoom is actually harder. Last April, who would have thought those words would be coming out of my mouth! As teachers and students alike, we have worn our masks--or 2 simultaneously--all day long every day since August. Essential workers in our own classrooms. 

Whether remote or hybrid (or perhaps some schools even full back in--ours is going that route after our Spring Break), we've become worn out. We've watched numbers spike and dip down then spike up again. We've started seeing variants make their way like a wave across the planet. We've missed out on a lot of golden moments and memories and milestones. It's been a really long time since I've seen my mom outside of a computer screen. In fact, all of 2020 and then some. 

And we've also been frustrated as we see people we know (either in our paths or on social media), doing their own things, taking trips or having parties, making us feel like some of us are working so hard to do the right thing, while others gallivant and "live life because its meant to be lived," yet in the middle of a pandemic, it doesn't feel right or just. This leaves some of us "pangry" [pandemic angry--yes, it's a thing], and that too has an exhaustion associated with it. Especially as variants crop up and we feel the never-ending-ness of this pandemic.

But...we've seen the glimmer of hope too. For some, that comes with a new president. For even more, it's associated with the virtual "light at the end of the tunnel" with vaccines and the science and money backing them. More hope coming forth too as more and more of those vaccine make their way into arms. As a teacher, I'm thankful to be bumped up on that list with both vaccines behind me--and in me.

I ran across an article entitled "What the Quarantine Can Teach Us about Zero-Waste Living, Saving the Planet, and Hope" by Sophie Hirsh on GreenMatters.com with the environmental sites I follow. A Google search will lead you to a bounty of similarly themed articles about what we can learn from this time. The eco-tie-ins are many:

During the pandemic, we've eaten at home more--meaning real food, healthier options, and reasonable portion sizes (versus the super-size portions of many restaurants, which then leads to waste or even obesity). We've learned to make do with what's at home because a trip to the grocery store can feel cumbersome with masks or the need to order online. The same is true as we've been less likely to go out shopping and coming home with things we don't need. Inadvertently, many of us have lived a more minimalistic lifestyle. We've seen we can get away with less... and it also has created innovative work environments, making us rethink work and school. We've also seen evidence in the early days of the planet restoring itself with cleaner air and animals reclaiming some urban areas which encroached on their natural habitats. Despite it being a drastic measure, clearly, it's doable. And we are starting to see some of those eco-initiatives come through in Biden's presidency. 

I purposely chose the masked Mona Lisa in my opening art because it feels symbolic of the year. Part of the allure of Leonardo da Vinci's famous work is the mystery of Mona Lisa's smile. Eyes and smiles go together. Part of the intrigue over the Mona Lisa painting is in her eyes, which seem to follow you. It has a name: the Mona Lisa effect. 

Over the last year, especially teaching in a mask (and seeing the daily Zoom thumbnail of myself), it's true that you definitely can have smiling eyes. But, the true connection in the smile is the part that's now-been-hidden behind the mask for a year now. Paralleling a lot of human connection that has been missing in our adapted lives this past year. 

As more and more people get vaccinated, we are able to come a little bit more out of our hidey-holes. We can start to re-gather together into shared living space as Spring starts to flower and warm. May we carry forth some of the importance lessons we've collectively learned. May we really be able to "see".... and may we smile and embrace joy, despite the loss of a hard year.

Art created at canva.com; Mona Lisa masked pic in stock art on canva.com; 3 pandemic pictures from the following: https://www.weareiowa.com/article/news/nation-world/merriam-webster-top-word-of-2020/507-451a352e-c31c-402f-85ee-8938bf785861, https://www.thejakartapost.com/life/2020/12/01/pandemic-chosen-as-word-of-the-year.html, and https://leslieannetarabella.com/2020/12/nothing-good-about-2020.html/

A Bounty of Books, All About Nature

I love books. Picture books. Novels. Nonfiction. Biographies. Mysteries. All of them. Of course, we all have our preferred genres, but gravitating towards books is something I always do.

I think it's the teacher in me. At my previous school, my class library was second in size to only the school library when it came to numbers. Now, sadly, many of those are in boxes in my garage or other classrooms as I now have a mere office versus a classroom. Additionally, I spend most of my time at school not even in my office, but visiting other classrooms, doing my edtech thing. 

As for my house, my own kids have certainly graduated past picture books, so those shelves too have been thinned. But books are still part of my blood, and this year I'm striving to read at least one a week (novels and nonfiction, not the picture book variety). And, most of my books these days are on my phone in my Kindle app.

But given books are as much a part of me as my personality, that's why I love lists like this, where there's a bounty of books.  Kudos to Penny Whitehouse at MotherNatured.com for compiling this list of "100+ Enchanting Nature Books for Kids." 

Seeing this list, and loving how each title is linked and ready to be shopped, I want to dive in and go order a bundle. Here's where willpower is tricky when you have a book obsession like me! 🙃

Image from https://mothernatured.com/parenting/nature-books-for-kids/?fbclid=IwAR0wtgVfCgJTcMhfDaucoAAkmC8ofQ1VyI360Qe63WGHmK3Agg1ozlln1bI

Thomas Crowther's TED Talk on Biodiversity & Restor

Much like the soothing sound of the birds and crickets that open this TED Talk, Thomas Crowther's voice is equally relaxing as he details the importance of biodiversity for our planet. In his talk "The Global Movement to Restore Nature's Biodiversity" from October 2020, he details the research on reforestation. 

As he says, restoration and reforestation is not the single solution to climate change. It isn't just about offsetting emissions, but it is one of many solutions to help bolster our current ecosystems. 

Additionally Crowther discusses Restor, an open data platform that will launch fully later this year to crowdsource data on restoration projects. This will ultimately accelerate both the acquisition of environmental data and knowledge to lead to environmental progress. By learning from each other, this "digital ecosystem" helps inform future actions and projects. Backed by Google and other science and tech partners, we see once again how innovation is what will help make the global environmental changes we need.

Video from https://www.ted.com/talks/thomas_crowther_the_global_movement_to_restore_nature_s_biodiversity?language=en, image screenshot from restor.eco

Richard Byrne's Discovery, Discussion, Demonstration Framework

As the Lower School Technology Specialist, I'm always on the look out for the latest and greatest tech tools for the classroom. Digging into new tools, especially in this hybrid/remote learning world we are living in has continued to be one of my passions, and I'm always on the lookout for new ways to help my teachers engage their students. 

Because of all of that, Richard Byrne has been one of my go-to's throughout the years, and I've written about my adoration for all he does to help teachers integrate technology. I get his weekly newsletter  detailing his latest posts on Free Technology for Teachers. He also writes Practical EdTech.com too.There are always edtech gems in there that get my wheels turning. 

In one of his latest newsletter, he mentioned the Discovery, Discussion, Demonstration framework that he uses when encountering new technology and trying to determine if and how he will use it in school. Good hints here (as always) even for the most seasoned tech teachers. He included this video post from last May 2020. When you go to this video on Youtube (which I posted below), you also will get the link to the slideshow he used. 

Thank you Richard for all these spectacular tools!!

Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUpXRdbnDVA, Logo from https://www.facebook.com/FreeTech4Teachers/, 3D slide from Richard Byrne's presentation: https://www.canva.com/design/DAD79cxlAP8/64SCuXaa2TnRckDTRt0Txg/view#15