Sustainability: No Planet B

GEN-ZiNE

Volume 1. Issue 4.

Sustainability: No Planet B

GEN-ZiNE 1

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CONTENT 05 Letter from the Editors

A warm welcome to the fourth issue of GEN-ZiNE, Sustainability: No Planet B

13 Recycling as a Myth

06 The Neoliberal Nightmare

Environmentalism is intertwined with economics.

How do we live with capitalism when it destroys our world?

15 Save the 100%

09 Zero Waste Lifestyle & Accessibility Sustainability is rooted in resourcefulness, creativity, and passion––not $200 organic dresses and $40 natural shampoos

18 A Sense of Urgency

The reality behind where your recycled products go and why recycling is not as green as perceived

Is Gender Equality the Solution to Climate Change?

A report by AmbassCo on GEN Z's urgency towards climate change and responsibility to be a sustainable consumer

26 Eat Like An Environmentalist

29 OAT is the GOAT

32 Second-Hand Shopping

The Low Carbon Diet: We often overlook the destructive impact our diet has on the environment

36 7 Wonders of the World

Earth's most captivating natural creations are being destroyed by climate change

Could the rise of the alternative milk industry take down the reign of the dairy empire?

40 Humanizing Victims of Climate Change If climate change is scientific, why add emotion?

Companies follow the money, and thankfully consumers are leading them to more sustainable ways.

43 Afterword

A closing note + recommended resources to further learning

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GEN-ZiNE

GEN

Sustainability: No Planet B SPRING 2020 EDITORS

ANUSHKA JOSHI SAM GIBBS EDEN BURKOW

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

-ZiNE

SAMI ROSENBLATT DAPHNE ARMSTRONG THE AMBASSADORS COMPANY DEANIE CHEN ANNIE NGUYEN

ARTISTS

MADISON LEDGER TIA KEMP NICOLE KLEIN EMMA LAM SAMI ROSENBLATT SADIE PACZOSA EMMA BOUDIN WILL BIERMANN

REACH US

WWW.GEN-ZiNE.COM @thegenzine thegenzine@gmail.com 4

© 2020 by GEN-ZiNE. All Rights Reserved.

Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. GEN-ZiNE is a registered trademark of Publisher.

To our fellow GEN-Z'ers, Climate change is the most complex challenge of the 21st century. The past decade recorded the hottest temperatures on planet Earth. By 2050 rising sea levels could impact one billion people, all of the coral reefs could die by 2100, we will experience iceless arctic summers within a decade, 2.7 billion people will be exposed to heat waves every 5 years, there is a 170% increase in flood risk, and plants and animals are at risk of losing more than half of their habitats if temperatures continue to rise (WWF).

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This damage is insurmountable and irreversible. Although rising temperatures trend throughout history, humans have had an undeniable impact on climate change by expediting the process by growing the global carbon footprint to more than 36 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide released. To limit global heating to less than 2°C, there is a call to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Otherwise, we, the inhabitants of planet Earth, are headed towards a climate breakdown, fast. This disaster can only be mitigated by the same forces that caused it––humans.

Humans have left their mark all over the world, but the Earth was not designed specifically for us and it shows. We are just another species on the planet. We live and pass just like every other being. We’ve grown, expanded, and evolved, but without consultation to the planet that holds us all.

There are a number of ways the world could end, but there are two that loom over our heads as an imminent threat–– pandemics and climate change. Out of these two threats to humanity, we face one in full force today. There’s not a body on this planet that will leave this unscathed, and we must realize that climate change will do the same. As we are experiencing COVID-19, the world can be united by a single problem and will work to fight against it. But do we want to wait until it becomes a sweeping disaster, or will we be proactive about it?

With both pandemics and climate change, scientists, researchers, and leaders have been aware of the threat and have worked for decades to find solutions and prepare to the best of their ability. But that barely matters unless everyone is on board.

The first climate emergency was first announced in June 1988, and over three decades later we are still fighting for awareness, advocacy, and action. In the same time frame, there have been about 70 outbreaks of disease, novel

viruses, epidemics, and a few pandemics along the way. So, why are we so surprised that forces like disease and climate change can obliterate our planet?

Many of these crises’ affected marginalized communities rather than mainstream communities of power––AIDs and Ebola are prime examples. There is a great problem here: people only care about things when it directly affects them. We aren’t just fighting for ourselves, we are fighting for those who can’t. The people truly affected by climate change are outside of our periphery and are already feeling the impacts harder and faster than we can imagine.

It’s our time to take accountability for our society, for the consequences of the decisions made by the generations before us, and for the decisions we make for the generations ahead.

It’s our time to live with an awareness of our resources, our diverse population, near and far, and the environment we physically use and often harm.

It’s our time to take action and to educate those around us because it’s our responsibility to make a conscious effort to change the health of our planet.

Accountability, Awareness, Action: It’s ours for the taking, as long as we execute our intentions ethically, morally, with care and kindness.

It begins with radical compassion for the lives of others and continues with radical shifts in our habits and beliefs. We are united under the threat of climate change. Future generations will be raised on climate change and inherit a dying world. It’s easy to sink into a place of complacency when you don’t feel a direct impact, but the reality of the world is that we are not protected from everything. In this issue, we uncover major roots and truths to climate change, provide ways to become more sustainable day-to-day, and highlight communities facing climate change head-on.

With Urgency & Action, Anushka Eden • Sam 5

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Neoliberal Nightmare by sami rosenblatt

Environmentalism is greatly intertwined with economics.

How can we continue to exist within Capitalism when it’s crushing our world?

Environmentalism meant nothing to me; until I realized it meant everything. I’ve always appreciated nature and its beauty. I was raised in the concrete jungle of Manhattan, so going beyond the paved streets into any type of greenery, coast or patch of clean, white snow struck me in contrast to the urban milieu. I thought trees were nice to look at, the grass was nice to sit in, and the earth-shattering sublime experience of strolling in Muir woods, or standing before the Grand Canyon was my birthright as an American, but none of these things were worth politicking over.

I didn’t have the facilities to place environmentalism in the context of the rest of our complicated world. To me, the world was already filled with so many maladieswhy would we worry about endangered trees when there were people starving, an AIDS pandemic, and wars on? I actually thought people focusing on climate change and environmental sciences were ignorant… It seemed to me like the kind of dreadlock-wearing, treehugging white people that would rather give time and money to forests than other causes were probably racist burnouts in disguise. I thought I was wise, and quite the humanitarian, for seeing things this way…It took me until college, where I first began to understand the dark underbelly of neoliberalism, to see that this was my internalized capitalism speaking. How foolish I was to not realize that starvation and wars and nearly every other ill of society has an underlying root in sustainability and environmentalism.

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One of the first lessons I can ever remember learning in elementary school was a simple equation:

Land = Power

The phrase was used to help explain a watered-down, age-appropriate version of colonialism for the specific context of studying the American Revolutionary war…

Never could I have predicted the multitudes that this fragment contained. Truly, in every sense of the word, the land is power. Not in the colonial sense, where size matters or warm-water ports do, but in the sense that with a greater understanding of what the earth gives us, we can broaden our understanding of the interconnectedness (or quite frankly, the clusterfuck) of the maladies of our modern world and find the room in our hearts to care deeply and passionately about climate change, environmentalism and all that they encompass.

Neoliberalism, a form of capitalism that prioritizes a free-market gives a new meaning to the word freedom. Just as Neoliberals believe that economic success can penetrate class barriers, (also known as supply-side or trickle-down economics) Neoliberalism itself permeates the American experience, knitting itself deeply into the vast tapestry of our culture.

In A Brief History of Neoliberalism, author David Harvey argues that despite neoliberalism’s economic origins, its reverberant effects can be felt in all walks of society. He points specifically to how Neoliberalism challenges “divisions of labor, social relations, welfare provisions, technological mixes, ways of life and thought, reproductive activities, attachments to the land and habits of the heart.”

Neoliberalism serves to create a new standard of society and what we can expect

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of the government and of the private sector, especially in regard to issues in ethics and sustainability. This emergent political and moral standard is responsible for the instance of (and our response to) the should-be abhorrent corporate behaviors that we have become accustomed to and bombarded by to the point of becoming almost compliant with. The mechanisms of globalization at work have made us blind to the despicable aspects of the corporate production process and corporate behavior.

On any given day, upon walking into any “fast-fashion” chain store like Zara, H&M or Forever 21, we’re pleased to see a “2-for-$20” deal. What (and who) we don’t see are the factory wage slaves who dyed the wool, the plantation wage slaves who produced the dye, the chemical waste being produced to make acid wash jeans, the water-footprint needed to make denim from indigo, or the fact that the fast-fashion company itself is probably paying its average, tax-paying sales associates minimum wage as it accrues large profits and pays hardly any taxes due to off shoring.

However, what arguably might be of more concern is that these practices are no longer shocking as much as they are expected or even worse– that we have become numb to them. We have become so embedded in commodity culture, that we even rely on it to self-soothe. Hyper-consumption distracts us from these pitfalls of society. We might not have affordable health care, higher education or pharmaceuticals but at the very

ar t by s am i r os e nbl at t

least we can easily buy cheap goods in bulk on Amazon with our fingertips using exploitative Apple iPhones. As a structure of thought and ideology, Neoliberalism influences our conscious choices but has grown into our subconscious as an invisible hand shaping our culture. We fill our internal void, created by lack of spiritual wholesomeness exterior to commodities, by cramming it with material crap. Now, this is the part where you think I’m going to say that the solution to filling this spiritual void is to go out to nature, and surprise surprise, I’m not. Yes, I believe enjoying nature is an important part of enjoying life on our beautiful planet, and the subliminal power of it has certainly given me a sense of spiritual wholesomeness in my own life, but this again, is not the heart of environmentalism. There is more theory yet to be unpacked.

In the literature of business ethics, attention has been given to exploring the question of whether or not corporations are people, or if they can at least be morally responsible. To begin to wrestle with this greater question, a general approach is to first tackle the fundamentals of what it means to be a person, an agent, a patient and even what it means to be responsible at all. Dear God, I promise I won’t even attempt to unpack this in a fun, sexy and in-touch student-run zine. That’s just the appropriate jargon of theorists and philosophers who have been pondering these questions and moral quandaries for longer than I’ve been 7

alive. At the very least, let’s ground ourselves in the realm of questioning ethics, animal rights, and the possibility of corporate moral personhood.

We’ll begin this with the exploration of the factory farm. Beyond the loss of life for the animals being born to die in these instances, the entire system that supports this violent mechanism of murder is catalyst for astronomical damage.

Factory farming pollutes the environment and our drinking water, ravages rural communities and destroys the livelihood of independent farmers, whilst promoting animal cruelty and the increase of corporate and governmental control over our food, the very sustenance of life.

At its root, factory farming is only made possible through the lobbying of career politicians by big business. There is nothing redeeming about these farms. They create toxic waste and the perfect storm for environmental and public health crises.

In addition to being unsanitary workplaces, the purposeful use of antibiotics and hormones in farming to prioritize business over the quality of life of the animals and the humans who consume them will lead to putting those who consume such meats (largely the poor who can’t afford meats of better quality) at risk for chronic disease, obesity, drug-resistant bacteria, and zoonotic disease outbreaks.

At this point, we’re surely asking,

“what can I do?”

Our rugged, American individualism is speaking, empowering us to believe that we can make waves in our free-market capitalist economy. But believe it or not, we can. From a personal place, I implore you to explore veganism, vegetarianism, or at the very least, a flexitarian attitude towards animal products and the industry that supports them. There is often a blatant disregard of the link between contemporaneous consumption of meat and the future killing of animals and what the consequences of that violence entails.

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"We fill our internal void, created by lack of spiritual wholesomeness exterior to commodities, by cramming it with material crap."

If we live in a capitalist economy, we believe on some level in the laws of supply and demand. By consciously prioritizing products of ethical production standards we can slowly but surely remove those worth pushing out. This seems daunting, but I will invoke the power of vegetarian theorist Peter Singer to explain it best. In his words: Some defenders… may still want to argue that one chicken fewer sold makes no perceptible difference to the chicken producers, and therefore there can be nothing wrong with buying chicken. The division of moral responsibility in a situation of this kind does raise some interesting issues, but it is a fallacy to argue that a person can do wrong only by making a perceptible harm...

And now, I will leave you with a quandary, one proposed by one of my favorite lyricists, Robert C. Hunter who wrote on behalf of the Grateful Dead:

Think this through with me Let me know your mind Wo-oah, what I want to know is: Are you kind?

For further research please consider:

https://foodandwaterwatch.org/problems/ factory-farming-food-safety http://www.animal-rights-library.com/texts-m/ singer05.pdf

Lifestyle & Accessibility by daphne armstrong A sustainable lifestyle is rooted in resourcefulness, creativity, and passion––not $200 organic dresses and $40 natural shampoos.

The average American discards 4.4 pounds of trash to landfill everyday.

That may seem inconsequential, but with 327 million people residing in the United States, that adds up to 728,000 tons of trash dumped into a giant hole in the ground every. single. day. (enough to fill 63,000 trash trucks!)

This is problematic because landfills are emitters of greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane, which heat up our planet. In 2009, Bea Johnson, a French-American woman living in California proposed an alternative way of disposing of trash. Her idea: avoid making trash in the first place. Bea Johnson is widely known at the matriarch for the zero-waste lifestyle, which she popularized with her blog “Zero Waste Home.” The goal of a zero-waste lifestyle is to send nothing to landfill.

An intentional sustainable lifestyle is no small feat. It takes planning, motivation, and dedication. Bea Johnson received criticism because many argued that her lifestyle that includes a surplus of free time to shop in bulk, make DIY recipes, and make meals at home, which would be inaccessible to people who work long hours. Another perceived barrier to entry is cost. I was initially intimidated by the $200 organic cotton dresses and the $40 all natural shampoo that I thought I needed to purchase to be sustainable.

However, a sustainable lifestyle can not be purchased and it is not inaccessible. The pillars of a sustainable lifestyle are accessible to all. They are rooted in resourcefulness, creativity, minimalism, and passion. A sustainable lifestyle is about progress, not perfection. It is about being intentional in all aspects of your life to cut back on things that do not serve you or the planet. The zero waste movement has extrapolated on the 3R’s to the 6R’s: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle, Rot. I will explain each and how they play out in everyday life.

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REFUSE

Refusing takes no money and no effort aside from simply saying no thank you. Say no thank you to the plastic straw at dinner, say no thank you to flyers and coupons, say no thank you to a plastic bag at Target. Unsubscribe from all junk mail. Before mindlessly accepting another business card or a plastic pen at a conference, think, “do I really need this?” I like to take pictures of business cards and flyers, rather than using them once then throwing them away.

REDUCE

Reducing is my favorite R! I think it is also the most important step because simplifying your life as much as possible saves so much time in the long run. For example by reducing how many clothes I purchase and own, I save 15 minutes each morning by not thinking about what to wear. I only have 3 pairs of pants, 4 dresses, and 5-6 tops, and 2-3 jackets in my closet. It’s so quick to get dressed because I love each piece and it fits perfectly.

Be absolutely ruthless with your purchases. If you must buy new, invest in quality pieces that you can wear for many years. You do not have to participate in our society of mass consumption. By doing your research and consuming consciously, you will save money, time, and our planet!

RECYCLE

Unfortunately, recycling is not the panacea it is chalked up to be. I live in a house with eight girls and we have some very optimistic recyclers. I routinely find plastic Trader Joe’s Veggie Fried rice bags and Amazon packages and greasy pizza boxes in our recycling bin.

Recycling is resource intense, and less then 9% of plastic in the United States actually gets recycled. This is why refuse, reduce, and re-purpose are so important.

Fortunately, recycling is much more effective when it comes to metals such as aluminum and stainless steel.

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One other impactful way to reduce is cut back or eliminate meat and dairy products. Over the past 3 years I have made the transition from omnivore to vegetarian to now fully plantbased. When I consumed meat and dairy I spent around $60/ week on groceries. Now buying all plant-based in bulk I typically spend $25-30 a week.

Plantbasedonabudget.com is a great resource.

REUSE

Reusing what already exists is not only impactful for the environment, but is a huge money saver. Start with buying second hand. There are plenty of options from thrift shops to upscale second hand stores. For clothes, poshmark.com is also great.

Additionally, avoid purchasing something that you will only wear once. Instead, consider stalking your friends Instagrams and ask to borrow an outfit for your special event.

REPURPOSE

I want to make it very clear: you do not need to buy new to make a switch. Repurposing is a great way to channel your inner creativity. And it’s free! I have a collection of Trader Joe's Salsa Verde jars that I drink my smoothies out of and bring to the bulk store to fill up with everything from grains to laundry soap. I use cotton drawstring bags from a set of sheets I’ve had since freshman year to pick up produce. Other easy ways to reduce are using old clothes and towels as cleaning rags, using old paper bags for gift wrap, and growing garden herbs at home.

College student tip: As students are moving out of dorms and houses for the summer, there is so much waste.

Last May, I scavenged and found an electric tea kettle, a nice reading lamp, 40 hangers, a microwave, string lights that were all destined for landfill.

Another important step in reusing is to switch from disposables to reusables.

Start by evaluating your trash. Find the biggest single-use culprits and attack those first. For me, my two largest areas of waste were in the kitchen and in the bathroom. The next step is to sift out single use items and think of reusable swaps. For example, I noticed I had a stockpile of Starbucks cups and plastic silverware in my trash, so I started leaving a fork and knife and light coffee cup in my backpack. Note: you absolutely do not need to go out and buy all of these single-use-reducing gadgets all at once. I have acquired this collection over three years from either second hand stores or investments after careful research.

art by emma boudin

ROT

40% of food in U.S. households goes straight to landfill. That’s astounding! Food waste is a big culprit in methane production. If you have a more permanent residence, I would consider purchasing or making a compost bin. If you are a transient college student like me, I suggest putting your food waste into a bowl in your freezer (the freezer ensures no smells). Once a week you can bring it to your local farmer’s market or if you live at USC there is a compost facility behind Parkside apartments.

Generally you can compost all food waste except meat, dairy, and oils.

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A final criticism of the zero-waste movement is that many people think that their individual actions are on such a small scale that they will not make a difference. This is simply not true. Aside from the physical impact your seemingly small action has on the planet, My sustainability journey started from a two minute conversation about why my roommate Catherine bought veggie samosas instead of chicken. She told me about the moral and environmental hazards of the meat industry which was a catalyst for me doing my own research. Your small sustainable behavior may spark a conversation that could change someone’s life. Because of my interaction with Catherine, I am now deeply passionate about sustainability. I even started a small business selling stainless steel red party cups to replace the single-use, non-recyclable red plastic party cup that is pervasive on college campuses.

A sustainable lifestyle is accessible to everyone. You do not need a lot of money to refuse, reduce, reuse, repurpose, recycle, rot. The time it takes to plan ahead yields a return of more time, saved money, and a simpler life. Sustainability is a collective responsibility we all share. Zero-waste chef, Anne Marie Bonneau, says “We don’t need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly.” Don’t let the terminology “zero-waste” intimidate you. I am three years into my sustainability journey, and I am still far from perfect. It is not so much about the outcome of being 100% waste free, as it is about the process taking charge to simplify your life and aligning your behaviors with your values.

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by sam gibbs Let me set the scene: you’re on your lunch break in between classes, you decide to grab an iced-coffee from your local coffee shop. As you finish your coffee, you toss the plastic cup into the nearest recycling bin. You go about your day, unbothered by the fate of that cup.

What if I told you that THAT cup, along with hundreds of thousands of tons of plastic from the United States alone gets shipped to economically developing countries every year? What if I told you that the US has had to switch the country it ships this plastic to because these countries are starting to feel dire effects from the overflowing plastic? The United States ships plastic to poorly regulated countries in order to get rid of it. But wait, what happens to this plastic when it gets to these countries? Do we, as mass consumers of plastic, have a responsibility

to understand the process of recycling and how it affects third world countries? Recycling as we know it is a myth, and I am going to uncover the true nature of this process.

According to a study done by The Guardian in 2019, the equivalent of 68,000 shipping containers of American plastic recycling were exported from the USA to developing countries that mismanage more than 70% of their own plastic waste. To mismanage plastic waste means it was dumped or inadequately disposed of in places like open landfills. As an example, Malaysia, a country that is one of the biggest recipients of the US’s plastic, mismanaged 55% of its plastic waste.

The United States has been exporting its plastic to other countries for years. In 2015, China and Hong Kong handled more than half of the recycled waste, which can be estimated at about 1.6 million tons of plastic every year. At first, these countries developed a harvesting industry to use this plastic in products to sell back to the US. However, much of the plastic collected was contaminated with food or dirt, or simply not able to be recycled, which means it had to go into landfills.

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Due to this, China enforced a ban on dirty plastic waste in late 2017. Therefore, the US moved onto other countries like Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Bangladesh. These countries were chosen because of their cheap labor forces and limited environmental regulation. But still, some of these countries began to ban plastic imports because of increasing concern about the health and safety of their citizens. The US has currently been sending its waste to Cambodia, Laos, Senegal, Ethiopia and Kenya. These countries have never handled US plastic before. The US chooses countries that cannot afford the proper infrastructure or labor needed to deal with this waste in the right way. Countries like Cambodia and Senegal also have little to no environmental regulations in place, which largely means the waste brought into their land is polluting a place that is already struggling with this problem.

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"These countries were chosen because of their cheap labor forces and limited environmental regulation."

Another issue with the export of plastic is the health effects on the people that are working with it in these countries. The toxic fumes resulting from the burning of plastics or plastic processing can cause respiratory illnesses.

Regular exposure can subject workers and nearby residents to many toxic substances, the effects of which can include developmental disorders, endocrine disruption, and cancer.

The impact does not stop there. The shift to bringing plastic to Southeast Asian countries has also resulted in contaminated water supplies, crop death, and the rise of organized crime in areas where most imports come in.

You must be wondering, how does this plastic (i.e. your plastic coffee cup) end up all the way in Asia? There is a trading network that spans 14

the globe, crossing oceans and continents.

The network has been at a breaking point, simply because there is too much plastic to move. Waste plastic is a commodity, and recycling brokers search across the US and elsewhere for buyers who will want to melt the plastic down, turn it into pellets, and make those pellets into something new. In order to properly dispose of plastic and re-use it, it costs a good amount of money. This is due to the fact that most companies follow environmental regulations and labor laws.

However, recently, many countries have turned on the recycling industry because unethical operators have started to spring up, operating as cheaply as possible, with no regard for the environment or local residents.

What matters more in this scenario? The cost of recycling or the cost of someone’s life and home?

It seems to me that there are many problems within the recycling industry and the processes that go into it. However, what can we do as mere consumers? We can try and limit our plastic consumption as much as we can.

America alone generates 34.5M tons of plastic waste each year, which is enough to fill Houston’s Astrodome stadium 1,000 times.

If we cut down on our plastic use, there will be less of a need to ship the waste to poorer, less equipped countries. The inherent ease of recycling bins allows us to not feel guilt about where that plastic actually ends up. This is a reminder that the smallest of things can have large effects on people who do not have the resources to have better lives.

So, next time you toss your coffee cup into the recycling bin, remember that it will likely end up on a beach somewhere far, far away, waiting to be dumped into a landfill or burned up only to harm someone else, the air they breathe, and their home country. Think twice before using plastic, recycling is not as guiltfree as we are led to believe.

Save the 100%: Is Gender Equality the Solution to Climate Change?

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by anushka joshi If equality of the sexes was not enough to convince people why we should empower women, maybe saving planet Earth will.

Although every human on Earth will soon feel the effects of climate change, there is a discrepancy between the people who have contributed the most to climate change and the people who reap the largest consequences of climate change. China, the United States, and India emit close to 50% of global emissions each year, and the primary source of emissions is 72% energy––electricity and heat, manufacturing and construction, transportation, and fossil fuel consumption. These are the signs of a developed nation, perhaps the consequence of an overpopulated city. However, the people who are most affected by global warming are impoverished and rely on natural resources to survive. This group is broken down even further, as women make up the majority of the world’s poor.

The people who can barely afford electricity are the ones who suffer from climate change the most. Climate change is a controversial conversation for many, and woven into it are narratives of gender inequality which create an even more difficult conversation. Climate change is a force that perpetuates gendered violence and continues to marginalize and oppress women. If women are supported in the ways that they have been begging for, such as through education and ownership of their bodies, perhaps it will save our climate. Although climate change has been examined through a scientific and economic lens, it is beneficial to approach it as a political and social problem too. Humanizing climate change allows for less mainstream solutions, and also exposes the far reach of existing problems like gendered violence and systemic sexism.

Climate change affects 100% of people, but because of existing gender inequality, men and women experience climate change differently. Women in developing countries are particularly vulnerable to it because these women have fewer rights, less money, and fewer freedoms. In those moments of extreme loss, women are often hit the hardest. Women in developing countries are responsible for gathering and producing fuel, collecting water, and sourcing fuel for heating and cooking. They are dependent on the natural resources surrounding them, and with droughts and floods these tasks become more difficult. Women commonly face higher risks and greater burdens from the impacts of climate change in situations of poverty and due to existing roles, responsibilities and cultural norms. According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, “targeted investments in gender equality and women’s empowerment yield returns in environmental conservation, poverty alleviation, social policy and achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). By tackling climate change with a gender lens, women’s rights are also addressed, tackling rather than exacerbating existing gender inequalities.” Empowering women and combating climate change 15

SAVE THE 100% SAVE THE 10 THE 100%SAVE THE 100% 100% SAVE THE 100% SAVE As economies develop in poorer countries, men turn away from farming jobs leaving the women to take on agricultural labor. SAVE THE 100% SAVE THE 10 Wilkinson explains how as women are the primary farmers of the world, they produce 60-80% of food in lower-income countries. THE 100% SAVE THE 100% The crop is farmed on small plots that the women rarely own themselves. Women in these communities have fewer rights and 100% SAVE THE 100% SAVE freedoms than men. Most commonly they have restricted land SAVE THE 100% SAVE THE 10 rights, lack of access to financial resources, training and technology, and limited access to political decision-making spheres THE 100% SAVE THE 100% often prevent them from playing a full role in tackling climate change and other environmental challenges. Because these women 100% SAVE THE 100% SAVE also receive less education than men, they do not have the same farming education and training to yield crops effectively. The SAVE THE 100% SAVE THE 10 solution to the inefficiency in feeding the growing population is to clear more forest ground and utilize more land for farming. THE 100% SAVE THE 100% However, cutting down trees reduces the oxygen that absorbs greenhouse gases. Rather than clear-cutting, the proper solution is 100% SAVE THE 100% SAVE to help women farm more efficiently to reap 20-30% higher return on crops. The higher yield on crops is a more productive use of SAVE THE 100% SAVE THE 10 land but also provides the female farmers with money for healthcare, food, education, and financial independence. THE 100% SAVE THE 100% Supporting female farmers is not just a win for the climate and 100% SAVE THE 100% SAVE gender equality, but it could increase the agricultural output in these low-income countries by 2.5 to 4%, and reduce world SAVE THE 100% SAVE THE 100 hunger by 12 to 17% (UNFCC). An investment in women and girls creates a ripple effect felt by entire communities and countries.

100% SAVE THE 100% SAVE Another way to benefit women and the environment is to provide SAVE THE 100% SAVE THE 10 birth control. The fight for ownership over the female body runs deep throughout history, and even in the modern-day 21st THE 100% SAVE THE 100% Century, women do not have full control to make decisions regarding their bodies. If women were granted birth-control, rapid 100% SAVE THE 100% SAVE global population growth would be curbed immensely. By 2050 the population would be at about 9.7 billion, rather than the SAVE THE 100% SAVE THE 10 projected 10.7 billion (Business Green). A high birth rate usually THE 100% SAVE THE 100% signifies low life expectancy, low living standards, and low social and educational status for women. By slowing the birth rate it 100% SAVE THE 100% SAVE would not only tighten up the reigns on population growth, but it would improve the health of a country. Women's and children’s SAVE THE 100% SAVE THE 10 health, nutrition, and education make up the holy trinity to a healthy community, and by slowing population growth, it would THE 100% SAVE THE 100% SA simultaneously can boil down to three distinct actions: by supporting women professionally, reproductively, and academically, the population will slow and greenhouse gas emissions will lower drastically.

allow for a more even distribution of resources across families.

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Since women have to drop out of school at a young age because their bodies are not properly addressed in society, they miss out on yet another human right––education. Not only would keeping girls in school postpone their reproductive years and slow population growth as aforementioned, but it unlocks an untapped population of brainpower and opportunity. However, education has proved itself as a form of birth control too as explored through the southern Indian state of Kerala’s birth rate relationship to literacy levels. In India, 39% of girls aged 15 to 18 receive no education, but in Kerala, there is a 93% literacy rate among women which is similar to Australia. The high education rate correlates to a low birth rate, as families in Kerala have on average 1.7 children per couple, and the rest of India has 5.5 children per couple. The right to education leads to a bigger purpose and opportunity than just having a family. By supporting young women in the pursuit of education, it unleashes the knowledge and capability of women to contribute productively to society. It creates an opportunity for twice the brainpower to be present at the table, and to create climate change solutions that represent both men and women. The women in these communities that are not receiving a formal education have the knowledge and understanding of how to adapt to their changing climate solutions, yet their voices remain unheard. Women are agents of change in their communities and have the power to influence “agricultural supply chains, community behavior, and household spending” (Business Green). In their communities, women serve as decision-makers, stakeholders, educators, carers, and experts, and their contributions can lead to successful solutions to climate change with the right resources. Two brains are better than one.

The solutions presented to empower women are not specific to only solving climate change. The issues revolving education and control over the female body are long-standing issues, and the solutions presented work to alleviate those issues. The impact that these solutions have greatly benefit not only women and their communities, but the climate at large too. These issues through the lens of climate change are yet another reminder that issues relating to gendered violence are not limited to just women, but have a much larger impact that crosses over into different contexts.

Climate change affects us all. It would be a mistake to leave half of the population out of the conversation. At the top, we need advocates for the voiceless women, and on the ground, we must lift women. From practice to policy, women need to be considered every step of the way. If equality of the sexes was not enough to convince people why we should empower women, maybe saving planet Earth will.

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Eat like an Environmentalist: The Low Carbon Diet by deanie chen Sustainable eating. What even is that? In a world where the trendiest and most extreme diets get the most air time, whether it be keto, paleo, vegan, etc., the least extreme choice with the greatest impact on the future often gets overlooked. Beyond motivations for weight loss or ending animal cruelty, people often overlook the destructive ability of what we choose to eat on the planet we call home.

If I asked you if you care about the environment right now, most of you would probably say ‘yes’. I would wager that most of you try to recycle, to use reusable water bottles, and to avoid straws when you can. And yes, these are all incredibly valid and important ways to treat our planet better. But our diets and what we choose to put in our bodies, rather than the packaging that holds them, rarely enter the conversation in conjunction with saving the environment. 14.5% of global climate changing gases are due to meat and dairy production--that’s more than all forms of transport combined. From growing crops to processing, transporting, selling, storing, and throwing away food, everything we eat has an impact on the environment and the climate.

The meat industry, following the burning of fossil fuels, is the second biggest contributor to climate change, and yet, why are none of us talking about it? In 1900, two-thirds of our protein came not from animals but from plant foods. By 1985, that statistic was reversed, with more than two-thirds of our protein coming from animals, primarily beef cattle. Currently, Americans eat more than 2.5x the global average of meat and more than 1.5x the daily protein requirement, a degree of excess that has dire consequences that the mainstream media fails to address. In addition to the negative health effects of this overconsumption of meat, red meat in particular, the industry itself entails an inefficient use of water and land, while the animal waste and greenhouse gas emissions pollute waterways and the atmosphere. 33% of our ice-free land is used for farming, 70% of all freshwater is used in agriculture, and the majority of forest loss comes from agriculture too. Our current food system is responsible for 60% of biodiversity loss globally.

A study published by the National Academy of Sciences found that if citizens in 28 high-income nations, like the United States, followed the dietary recommendations of their governments, greenhouse gases related to the production of the food they eat would fall by 13% to 25%. The amount of land it takes to produce food to feed the same citizens could drop by 17% (LA Times).

However, I am not about to suggest to you to go vegan, or vegetarian, or to cut out your favorite foods entirely.

This is not a fad diet, but a diet that has significant long term effects on the future of this planet and on future generations. Sustainable eating, by dialing back some excess, is both feasible and significant in its effects––for your health and that of the environment.

I have outlined a few tips on small changes that make sustainable eating a diet that works for a variety of lifestyles. The boundaries are fluid, making it a diet that can be easily adapted to busy lives and a range of diet restrictions.

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LIMIT MEAT CONSUMPTION Try replacing that steak on your plate with a grilled chicken breast or wildcaught fish. Not only are these healthier meat options, but you can actually reduce your environmental footprint by a whopping 44 pounds of CO2 (per pound of meat)!

For people in wealthy countries, try limiting red meat consumption (lamb or beef) to one 3-ounce serving per week, or one 6-ounce serving once every two weeks. Pork, poultry, and fish are both less environmentally damaging and better for your health and can be eaten a little more frequently. Make sure to shop locally for these options when you can, and keep an eye out for Fair trade, Freedom Food, and MSC and ASC (seafood) logos. For seafood lovers, use seafoodwatch.org to see which options are the most sustainable.

WASTE LESS FOOD ◊ The average household wastes 30% of food it buys. ◊ Compost your food (tip: put it in the freezer so it doesn’t smell).

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LOW FAT AND SUGAR ◊ It takes 88 gallons to produce just five pounds of sugar. ◊ Fertilizer-heavy cultivation often results in chemicals leaching into freshwater rivers and streams. ◊ It is virtually impossible to completely avoid sugar, but you can greatly reduce your consumption by avoiding processed food and relying on whole grains. ◊ Eating foods like whole grains (which take up as much energy as starchier foods) makes you feel fuller and helps transition to a lower protein diet.

CHECK THE PACKAGING

ADD COLOR TO YOUR PLATE

◊ Look out for Fair-trade (protecting farmers and workers in developing countries), Freedom Food (animal welfare), MSC and ASC (seafood), and RSPO (palm oil).

◊ Eat more plants, they should fill ⅔ of your plate: vegetables, beans, and nuts. Create a filling diet not based on heavy protein, but nutritious plants. ◊ Buy fruits and vegetables seasonally to reduce waste. ◊ Buying local produce to reduce transportation costs. ◊ Swap those meat-based meals for beans or legumes.

They’re high in protein and can be thrown into a variety of tasty vegetarian or vegan recipes.

Also, do not be afraid to learn more, to do your own research, and to share what you learned to the people around you. To make an impact, it’s not about drastic measures, but rather about taking individual measures to create a culture in which eating sustainably becomes normal. 2018 marked the record high for meat consumption in the United States, and it would be in all of our interests to discontinue that trend.

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art by emma lam

Oat, almond, soy, rice, coconut, and many more alternative milks have replaced the dairy consumption of Generation Z. Gen Z is a much more healthconscious, animal welfare-concerned, and environmentally mindful wave of consumers who live their lives with purpose. We are a generation of consumers who want to preserve the planet – recognizing the impact of our choices. Currently, society is changing in such a way that drinking cow's milk is not the main question, but rather – which alternative milk option will I have today? We are aware of what we put into our bodies and how it affects the environments around us. Subsequently, the rise of alternative milk is dismantling the established, worldwide dairy industry.

by eden burkow Could the rise of the alternative milk take down the reign of the dairy empire?

Today, the global market for dairy alternatives is becoming increasingly larger, and in turn, becoming a billion-dollar industry. In Spring 2018, there was an Oat Milk drought. Oatly, the Swedish company that invented the premier beverage “couldn’t keep up with demand” as they supplied all of New York and the rest of the US’s oat milk (Hitchens). Oatly’s rapid rise after first launching in 2016, became the hottest commodity of 2018. Millennials and Generation Z alike have become more assertive in their decisionmaking process, and have chosen to stay away from the consumption of dairy. According to the Dairy Farmers of Americas’ (DFA) 2018 Financial Report, the dairy industry is experiencing a significant decrease in sales. Between the years 2017 and 2018, there was a drop-in roughly $1.1 billion dollars in sales; this decline in dairy purchases is most likely due to the powerful rise of alternative milks, and the popularity they have gained over the past decade.

Today’s wave of consumers are changing the landscape of the dairy industry. Our choices are dictating the marketplace, and plant-based alternative milk options now dominate both grocer and coffee shops, especially across the United States.

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The drought that oat milk enthusiasts experienced in 2018 is not just because they are hooked on the taste of the beverage – there is a mindset linked to their oat milk desires. According to Oatly’s Sustainability Report in 2017, the production of oat milk results in 80% lower greenhouse gas emissions, and 60% less energy compared to the production of cow’s milk. Also, the physical space of producing oat milk is 80% less land than dairy milk. We have turned drinking alternative milks into a social movement, as we become more in tune with our carbon footprint. Millennials and Generation Z value products because of the lifestyles they promise us. Oat milk is viewed as “more than a dairy alternative,” Millennials and Generation Z are referring to oat milk, and the alternative dairy industry as a “lifestyle” (Tingley). There is a major mental lifestyle shift for wanting to consume plant-based milk. This shift isn’t about cows milk, it’s about our culture offering many alternatives that have a variety of benefits because we are demanding to change the dairy industry that is seen as normal in society. It’s a fundamental shift towards becoming more environmentally aware, health-conscious, and innovative consumers and participants in society. We choose to have a variety of alternatives because we are actively pushing back against the normal conventions and going against the dairy industry model. This proves that oat milk has a more sustainable, environmentally conscious impact on the planet, and oat milk lovers are about making positive decisions for the world.

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According to The Green, Blue, and Grey Water Footprint of Crops and Derived Crop Products, plant-based milk uses less water than dairy milks. And oats are the leader as they use the least amount of water than all other plants/seeds/grains turned into milk (Hoekstra). Consuming and purchasing oat milk means having a strong awareness of water usage and how that damages the planet. My generation has become more environmentally aware that their decisions dictate the course of milk production in the upcoming years. By making choices that are more in line with positively impacting the planet, we have changed the dialogue surrounding alternative milk production. This new culture we have created is focused on betting our world so it can live with us and the generations that come after us.

Today’s consumers are choosing alternative milk because they are cognizant of the impact the dairy industry has had on the planet. The large quantity of alternative milk beverages now offered is a positive reflection of our demand for a sustainable effort in milk production. Initially, alternative milks were produced simply as a way to help those that were lactose intolerant, those who were health-conscious, did not enjoy the taste of milk, or wanted to be more aware of their carbon footprint. The transition to consume alternative milks has become the norm. Our efforts now to choose to consume alternative milks, and get everyone on the same page, is because we are so aware of our impact on the planet, that we understand that the gravity of our decisions, specifically our food choices, and how they can negatively affect our bodies and our environment, alike.

art by nicole klein

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by anushka joshi

art by nicole klein

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Companies follow the money, and thankfully consumers are leading them to more sustainable ways.

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Today, the fashion industry makes up 10% of carbon emissions globally, and that number could rise to 25% of the global carbon budget by 2050 if consumer behaviors do not respond. Nowadays, it is as important to appear socially conscious as it is fashion-forward. As the stress of climate change increases, 74% of 18-29 year-olds lean towards shopping from sustainably conscious brands, which proves that sustainability is no longer just a perk, but a priority to consumers (ThreadUP). In a generation where consumers value socially conscious shopping as much as being unique, thrifting has found its home. That 70’s disco-esque shirt is not actually from the mall, but it is an original swooped up at the thrift store for $7. After decades of sitting on a dusty shelf, clothes can now be seen curated on a clothing rack. As the saying goes, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.

The trend of sustainable shopping comes after the fast-fashion takeover of the 2000s. Fast fashion refers to purchasing replica items of trends for lower quality and lower price. This concept was born out of a desire to fill consumer's needs immediately, instead of waiting months for a runway style to hit the department stores. Many members of Generation Z and Millennials grew up in the fastfashion boom. It provided instant gratification while shopping and affordable prices. However, the cheap quality, environmental impact, and the high chances of someone wearing the same clothing were deterring factors. Since 2000, clothing production has doubled and that is no coincidence with the rise of fast fashion. There is a massive turnover of owning clothes due to the constant outpouring of products streaming from the fast fashion industry. Traditional fashion labels used to put out 2 collections a year, but companies like Zara put out 16. The impact this has on the environment is unparalleled. Up to 85% of textiles go into landfills each year, which is enough to fill the Sydney Harbor.

An allure to fast fashion was being able to get high-end styles at a fraction of the cost. But through consignment stores and companies like TheRealReal, consumers can buy used luxury items at a fraction of the cost. For example, a Louis Vuitton bag that would regularly retail for $1,210 is listed for $625 on TheRealReal. Shoppers can also opt to rent clothing through Rent the Runway.

Knowing that someone has used the clothing before and the lower price tag caters to the consumer's desire to wear clothes once or just a few times––a result of our desire for individuality–then sell it without feeling guilty about sunk cost or material waste.

Each year, 108M tons of non-renewable sources are used to produce clothing, and the textile waste crisis is accelerating, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. One garbage truck’s worth of textiles is landfilled or incinerated every second. Goodwill NYNJ alone saved 38 million pounds of clothing from

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the landfill last year. The collective impact of all of the consignment/second-hand stores and businesses around the country are sure to make an impact on the total waste each year.

Millennials and Gen Z’ers are more socially conscious than the generations that preceded them and they are more inclined to shop sustainably. This value-driven economy is changing our consuming experience as a whole. The fashion industry used to be led by top-down influence, coming from fashion designers and runway shows. Today, it is driven by bottom-up forces, meaning influencers and the prominence of social media (Forbes). With Generation Z having a buying power of more than $500 billion already, companies will have to adjust to their needs. With young shoppers swarming to second-hand shopping, the resale economy has already begun to slow down fast fashion.

As consumers become more environmentally conscious, these numbers will grow and large corporations will begin to notice the shift––and will make changes in their own companies to become more sustainable too. Companies follow the money, and thankfully consumers are leading them to more sustainable ways.

According to a ThreadUp Fashion Resale Market and Trend Report in 2019, 72% of secondhand shoppers shifted spend away from traditional retailers to buying more used items. The fashion industry adapted to the fast fashion market, and it will confidently accommodate to the new demands–both from consumers and the world at large. Mass-market retailers like Macy’s and JC Penney are adding resale boutiques to their store layouts, further expanding the secondhand apparel market. Mass market/fastfashion brands like Urban Outfitters have added “vintage” sections and their “one of a kind” pieces are promoted on their Urban Renewal line. There are popular brands that are sustainable from the start like Re-Done, and Reformation. According to Fortune, the resale market has grown 21 times faster than the retail market in the past three years. As consumers become more environmentally conscious, these numbers will grow and large corporations will begin to notice the shift.

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Business practices are shifting to become more unique and sustainable. Nearly 9 out of 10 senior retail executives are finding ways to get into the resale business. As per the same ThreadUp report, these executives are first motivated by revenue boosts, then sustainability, and finally customer loyalty.

Whether or not their first reason is environmental responsibility, these large companies will make a huge impact. This year, if everyone bought one used item instead of a new item, that would save the amount of CO2 as 500,000 cars being taken off the road for a year, enough energy to light up the Eiffel Tower for 141 years, enough water to fill up 1,140 Bellagio fountains, and the weight of 1M polar bears of trash (ThreadUP). The average secondhand shopper replaced 8 new apparel items with used items in the past year. As the number of secondhand shoppers increases, the carbon savings will grow exponentially.

The future of second-hand shopping will disrupt the fashion industry as we know it today. While the fashion industry at large is worth more than $2 Trillion, the secondhand market is projected to hit $41 billion by 2022. As of 2018, the second-hand economy was valued at $24 billion and is projected to grow 1.5 times the size of the fast fashion market within the next 10 years. Second-hand shopping has unlocked an endless supply chain of buying and reselling clothes and continues to benefit all parties involved through the constant exchange of goods. Thrifting is a tradable asset, which means that there is still value even after the first time it was purchased.

We have moved into a sharing economy, and the popularization of second-hand shopping is an extension of that. However, the sustainability of the resale market is not limited to clothing and it is inspiring new shifts. Companies have begun to design new products that are meant to be shared.

Airbnb is looking to build homes that are designed to be shared and not owned. IKEA will start renting furniture instead of just selling it, and companies like Rent the Runway and ThreadUP are exclusively producing lines of clothing that are only for renting or reselling. Just as technology and the internet forced companies to rethink their business models, sustainability efforts will do so as well.

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The Seven Wonders of the World are usually associated with monuments and sites that commemorate great creations by man. However, planet Earth boasts plenty of natural beauty–– and creations that its inhabitants depend on for our livelihood. As climate change rips across the globe, it takes down many of Earth’s most prized possessions. The following are seven natural wonders of the world that are under threat, and the consequences of destruction.

WONDERS AMAZON RAINFOREST

The Amazon Rainforest is a vast region that spans across eight countries in South America. This beautiful landscape contains 1 in 10 known species on Earth, 1.4 billion acres of forest (which is half of the world’s remaining tropical forests), and 4,100 miles of rivers, among other things. The health of the Amazon reflects the health of the planet. The rainforest contains between 90 and 140 million metric tons of carbon which helps stabilize both local and global climate. Due to deforestation and climate change, many of the ecosystems within the Amazon will be affected. The warming temperatures lead to droughts and flooding that make it harder for vegetation to grow and harder for animals to survive. These droughts also lead to forest fires that burn large amounts of trees, irreversible damage. Local farmers must adapt and change their agricultural practices to be more sustainable in order to help save the Amazon as well as their own food supply. These new and improved practices will increase food security among local communities while also reducing the need to turn forest space into agriculture.

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writte anushka j sam g art by m ledg

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en by joshi and gibbs madison ger

MOUNT EVEREST

Mount Everest is the highest mountain to rise above sea level on Earth. It is the ultimate destination for climbers and requires an immense amount of risk, preparation, and skill to summit. It is an incredibly long and dangerous trek–– over 300 climbers have died on Everest since expeditions began 100 years ago. Much of the bedrock that climbers rely on is held together by ice––and as global temperatures rise, the security of the mountain is further threatened.

During the 2019 climbing season, fixing the ropes triggered an avalanche and rock slide that took the lives of 16 people in one incident. These unstable conditions result in an increasing amount of fatalities. Bodies on the mountain are essentially mummified due to Everest’s high altitude and cold temperature, and a trail of human bodies is left as a reminder of human impact on nature.

A natural wonder of the world, frequently enjoyed by many, could eventually close off to the public if deemed too dangerous due to climate change.

WORLD DEAD SEA

The Dead Sea is in fact dying. The sea has been shrinking rapidly as the surface level recedes 3 feet per year. This is largely due to mineral mining from the sea, and the manual diversion of the Jordan River--one of the largest sources of water to flow into the Dead Sea. Now the Dead Sea receives less than 10% of the original 160 billion gallons that flowed through annually to maintain surface levels. The Dead Sea is 4-9x brinier than the ocean, and is an unsuitable environment for any living organism to survive in. When the water recedes, fresh groundwater wells up and dissolves layers of salt, creating large underground cavities, above which sinkholes form. A sinkhole is a hole in the ground caused by the collapse of the surface layer. On the grounds of the Dead Sea, the sinkholes can reach up to 82 feet (25 m) deep and 131 feet (40 m) in diameter, and nearby holes sometimes join to form giant ones. More than 4,000 sinkholes exist today. While there have been no deaths caused by the sinkholes, they pose a threat to travelers and off-shore roads, businesses, and buildings.

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ICE CAPS & GLACIERS

Since 1906, the global average surface temperature has risen by more than 1.6 degrees Celsius, and even more in polar regions. When temperatures increase, ice caps and glaciers around the world begin to thaw and melt.

This leads to more water flowing into the sea, which warms the water and increases its volume. In the past hundred years, this combination of things has caused sea levels to rise between four and eight inches. Prior to this, the average rate of global sea level rise was much lower; now, it is one-tenth of an inch per year. This increase could lead to dramatic changes to the world’s coastlines. More than 100 million people globally live within three feet of mean sea level. Not only would rising sea levels affect coastlines, but it will affect millions of people, both in vulnerable and wealthy countries. The erosion of coastlines can lead to the destruction of sources of drinking water and the production of crops. The ice is melting and fast. The vanishing ice has challenged species such as the Adélie penguin in Antarctica, where some populations have collapsed by 90 percent or more. The melting ice also forces many species to move to higher, colder places. The changing landscape means some species will adapt, while others may go extinct, like the polar bears.

AIR QUALITY

The air around us is what gives us life. The air around us now, however, is becoming increasingly polluted and unbreathable, due to pollutants stemming from the burning of fossil fuels. The increase in carbon emissions enhances the growth of pollen-producing plants, meaning more pollen in the air. This could contribute to an increased amount of sickness from allergies in the population. Smog and pollen together means many more “bad air” days, which puts many people at risk of developing infections and illnesses. In recent times, the threat of COVID-19 has dramatically slowed economic activity around the globe. It has put life as we know it on pause. This pause — in business, education, socializing— has resulted in certain localized improvements in air quality. The lock down and reduction in economic activity in China led to an estimated 25 percent reduction in carbon emissions within four weeks. However, these local reductions are not solutions to the problem. Now is the time, as we are on pause, to change our economic systems to be more sustainable and climate-friendly. We cannot simply go back once this virus is eradicated. The world’s leaders need to show the same, if not increased, commitment and unity towards fighting climate change as they have to fighting this pandemic.

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GREAT BARRIER REEF

The Great Barrier Reef is the largest living structure on Earth. While it is a host to biodiversity, its existence is essential to humans too. Coral Reefs serve as a form of protection to coastlines from storms and waves, medical research, purification of water, and more. However, Coral Reefs around the world are dying, and climate change is the biggest threat. Coral bleaching is when the algae is expelled from coral polyps, and results in a loss of color and the ability for coral to produce food. Coral bleaching is a common response to the rise of ocean temperatures, and an increase in ocean acidification. The ocean absorbs carbon dioxide, and as we’ve created more CO2 than our atmosphere can handle, our oceans are taking a hit too.

Human activity such as overfishing, dragging boats, and run-off pollution kill the reefs too. By 2050, coral reefs around the world could be wiped out. The Great Barrier Reef has had its third major bleaching event in 5 years as of March 2020. The health of the ocean depends on coral reefs, and the health of humanity depends on the ocean. 80% of the oxygen we breathe comes from the ocean. As coral reefs disappear, so does the buffer between the ocean and coastlines. Cities may lose their protection against big storm surges, fishing and tourism industries could be eliminated completely, not to mention the massive loss of life in the ocean’s ecosystem.

DROUGHT

A drought is a duration of a prolonged water shortage. The supply can be lacking in atmospheric, surface, or ground water, and can have a severe effect in as quickly as 15 days. Unlike a natural disaster that occurs as a large and sudden event, droughts are described as “creeping disasters”. In the past 40 years, droughts have affected more people around the world than any other natural disaster. Droughts are caused by natural forces and cycles (El Niño, anyone?). But dry spells are increasing in frequency and intensity, and man-made causes have more to do with it. Rising temperatures have impacted dry regions to become even drier, and wet regions to become wetter. Our high demand for water has put a strain on natural resources, and exacerbates drought conditions. Deforestation is the process of removing trees and plants, and in the process eliminates the moisture from the vegetation water cycle and degrades the quality of soil––further endangering crops. A drought can limit the production of crops, and even access to water in vulnerable areas. 40% of the world relies on agriculture as their income, and everyone in the world relies on farming for food. Droughts pose a threat to an increase in wildfires, food shortages, and lost income.

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design by tia kemp 40

by annie nguyen Let’s talk about stories. Gen Z is sometimes referred to as having “Peter Pan

Syndrome'', or the inability to just grow up. Well, OK Boomer - we were born to die. The crisis climate looms upon us as impending doom, so my most sincere apologies if I didn’t exactly plan to live as long as you. I must say, however, “Peter Pan Syndrome” certainly sticks out as a phrase and well, I think it illustrates one important factor I don’t think we’re discussing enough when it comes to climate change - the importance of incorporating narratives.

Conversations surrounding climate are currently victim to psychological and emotional disconnect.

Emotions are a crucial factor in risk perception, but unfortunately they are generally not included in conversations around climate change. Climate change has historically been difficult to connect to due to the abstract, large scale of the concept.

Humans are able to comprehend relatively “small” concepts, such as the difference between the value of $5 versus the value of $500. However, we can’t really imagine or visualize the difference between $5,000,000 (five million) and $5,000,000,000 (five billion). Likewise, we can intellectually acknowledge the massive expansiveness of outer space, but we are unable to truly understand its size in relation to our own Earth. The difficulty to grasp large concepts is applicable to climate change. We understand what to do if tomorrow’s weather is 78 degrees Fahrenheit and partly cloudy, but we can’t visualize what a 3 degree overall increase in atmospheric temperature will do to our daily lives. We tend to emotionally disengage with things we do not comprehend.

art by nicole klein

However, emotional disconnect on climate change is unacceptable. If we don’t ever truly comprehend outer space or what five billion dollars will buy, life will go on. On the other hand, inaction on climate change would come at the risk of the consequences of environmental destruction, environmental racial discrimination, and political turmoil. But climate change is scientific, why add emotion? Because science is human. Eco anxiety is rocketing, and some climate scientists are even developing a new form of PTSD. Including emotion and narratives will not diverge from intellectual credibility; it will simply humanize data and allow the scientific discussion to be more inviting. Pathos partnered with logos in language will allow more people to form a heightened intellectual mindset on climate change and make climate change more three-dimensional. Incorporating stories is not encouraging the eradication of factual information, it’s simply proposing ways in which adding emotions will maximize the impactfulness of carefully researched data.

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The earth will be fine. It is and always will be a ball of matter floating in space. We won’t be.

Sure, the polar bears dying are tragic. Perhaps it’s a little selfish, I don’t really care. I mean, I care, but I care about humans a little more so I’m just a little confused as to why I keep getting shown footage of fuzzy white bears when I could be shown actual people. I’m concerned about how people are starving. How marginalized low income communities are, unfortunately but unsurprisingly, the first victims of environmental racism. How everyone can be affected mentally and economically on an individualized but systematic scale. Yes, the earth is being destroyed but more importantly, homes are.

Want to help solve climate change? Start with focusing on humans. Humanize victims.

Incorporating more human-revolved linguistics makes the conversation more personal, intersectional, and ultimately productive. Climate hits hardest for those in disadvantaged communities, such as those in North Carolina homed around overflowed pig waste lagoons following Hurricane Florence. A friend from my hometown told me about people from her home in the African country of Eritrea have had to migrate because the heat waves have gotten so hot that agriculture failed and water has become scarce.

She’s worried about her relatives, and so am I. Let’s talk about how indigenous Inuit people are losing their traditional hunting and gathering lifestyle because of melting ice.

Here’s what humanizing victims of climate change may look like. Take from the example of photographer Gideon Mendel, whose series “Submerged Portraits" successfully illustrates individual faces to the victims of climatestrengthened natural disasters, such as the 2011 Thailand flood. One of his portraits highlights a Thailand citizen shoulder deep in flood water carrying a grocery bag above him as he walks.

The image is simple, but powerfully emotional. Into lo-fi music? Check out Samsa’s ‘Anthropocene’, a love song set in a climate dying world. A couple

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lyrics go as follows: “And melt each other’s hearts on thawing glaciers in the cyrosphere // The worst part is this wasn’t always something we couldn’t stop” and “Maybe we’ll hold hands as we get swallowed into Earth’s core // Or we could sing a Christmas carol like a little chorus choir // By a thousand Christmas trees lit up from a forest fire”.

It’s unique, socially critical but also romantic (and also a bop). These are models for holistic engagement in climate conversations.

It’s funny to me: climate change is perhaps one of the only political topics urged to be left to the “experts”. However, a warming atmosphere and increasingly extreme natural disasters will not exclusively affect those with environmental PhD's or climate researchers. Changing climate mindset should be like changing other political conversations, such as those surrounding race, class, gender, etc, and should be approached in a similar manner since it is intersectional with such topics.

These topics demographical discussions are still obviously talked about on a fairly daily basis, reiterating their urgency and prevalence. Climate change is not similarly embedded into casual conversation enough to be deemed as urgent.

Currently, conversations around climate change seem to be reserved for the educated elite, who make use of standard academic linguistics and generally indicate comfortable socioeconomic success. Unfortunately, the consequences of climate will not be reserved for those who can author long academic paragraphs. The longer the academic community fails to concede their inability to move towards persuasive discourse, the longer the threat of climate change will be able to brew, enabling our population to become more tolerant of worse circumstances. We should all be talking about climate change through narrative lens in casual settings. Be specific, and speak human. If not, future generations will not awe or applaud our academic titles or publications; rather, they will frown in disappointment.

AFTERWORD

We have 10 years to radically reduce global emissions to save earth from its demise to becoming an inhabitable planet. 10 years. That number scares me. It represents a large portion of my life, but on the scale of the existence of earth and humanity, it is terrifyingly small. Planet Earth has existed for 4.5 billion years, while homo sapiens have only inhabited it for 200,000 years. It would be a shame if we let our beautiful home (that we share with millions of other species) go to ruins on our watch. But our short attention span is mismatched with the snail pace of environmental problems.

Climate change has slowly crept up on us, but now this is a blaring emergency with a clock counting down to doomsday.

The 2020’s… a decade of reinvention rather than innovation. A time to counteract the hi-speed life we’ve developed, and become the decade of slowing down. But even then it goes beyond the next decade––we must foster a long term view of responsibility. The long view and acceptance of slow changes is the mindset we must adopt when addressing climate change––and it opposes our resting mindset today.

We value instant gratification and impatience. But as quoted in The Clock of The Long Now, “a finite game is played for the purpose of winning, an infinite game for the purpose of continuing the game.” As individuals we live a finite game, but together as a society we must shift for the infinite.

Inheriting a dying planet is an intergenerational injustice, and I refuse to pass it down to the next generation without doing anything about it. I wish I could live uninhibited by the consequences of my actions, but that is simply not the case. The entire world right now is being asked to adopt radical shifts in our behaviors and values. Members of Generation Z are entering the “real world” and are being trained to be the incumbents of power. I don’t want to be the generation that has to learn how to change, I want to be the generation that makes the change.

Commit to being the voice for the voiceless and an agent of change. Let’s get to it. a.j.

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KEEP LEARNING Read

• No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference by Greta Thunberg • Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari • Earth is Hiring: The New Way to Live, Lead, Earn and Give for Millennials and Anyone who Gives a Sh*t by Peta Kelly • The Uninhabitable Earth by David Wallace-Wells • Rising by Elizabeth Rush

Listen

• “Mothers of Invention” for feminist solutions to climate change • “The Climate Change Podcast” by America Adapts • “World on Fire” with Naomi Klein by The Digg • “TILclimate Podcast” by MIT Climate • “Climate Cast” by NPR

Watch

• Cowspiracy & Food, Inc. & What The Health • An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power • American Factory • The Game Changers • Chasing Coral

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GEN-ZiNE