How your membership helps:
In keeping with my philosophy of living in alignment with life on Planet Earth, $1 of every membership purchase is donated to Regeneration International, a non-profit organization committed to reversing global warming and ending world hunger by facilitating and accelerating the global transition to regenerative agriculture and land management.
As preeminent environmentalist and author Paul Hawken tells us, we can end the climate crisis in one generation, but taking action, he advises, is nonnegotiable. Hawken identifies regenerative agriculture and the creation of carbon sinks as primary ways to move the needle.
What more can I do?
This is the million dollar question, isn’t it?
All of us want to know how we can participate in creating the future we want our grandchildren to see, and we know it’s got to be something more powerful than changing out lightbulbs.
If this question burns for you, here are some starting-point actions you can take today:
- Find solitude
- That’s right. Solitude is a finite resource, and it is essential for examining what’s important to you and what role you can take in improving your impact on earth. Carve out solitude or communion with nature every day if you can.
- Ask what you’re good at and employ it in the service of a pro-planet project in your area.
- What skills do you have that can be offered in service to the planet? If you don’t operate a regenerative farm, can you volunteer for one? Farms need digital marketing help as much as they need hands, for instance.
- Could you start a composting program in your city? If you don’t want to think this big, start in your own home…
- Be the change in your neighborhood.
- Are you composting?
- Can you convert to renewable energies like solar and electric?
- What kind of native greenery can you plant?
- What kind of footprint do your eating habits make? Can you make a small shift here?
- Get curious.
- Read about cutting edge efforts to create climate health and climate justice, which go hand in hand.
- Ask your friends and neighbors what they’re doing to make the world a better, safer place for all its inhabitants.
- Don’t expect to have all the answers today. But be open and committed to becoming an effective planetary steward in the future by starting today.
Paul Hawken offers this punch list for a homeowner in his latest book, “Regeneration: Ending the Climate Crisis in One Generation:”
- Install heat pumps and stop all fossil fuel use in my home — cooking, heating, and hot water.
- Get an induction cooktop to replace a gas range.
- Convert to an electricity source that is entirely renewable.
- Set an annual clothing budget of seven durable garments per year.
- Create a composting system in the backyard.
- Reduce plane flights by 90 percent and purchase 5x carbon offsets for flights taken.
- Gather and donate all unnecessary belongings and provide for the needs of others.
Wisdom Sits in Places
Obviously the above is just a beginning.
As we learn how best to proceed… let’s make sure to: let hope counter a sense of doom. And let action counter complacency.
In addition to tending to our own contemplative solitude, we can and must take steps to integrate ourselves into our “irl” communities. Get to know your native flora and fauna. Develop connections to people doing good work in your neighborhood. If you need to start really small, take a walk in the local woods to observe and appreciate your place on Earth.
Let’s not be afraid to learn along the way, friends. And let’s keep the conversation going.
#partofthesolution
