Issue 1 - The Dawn by terramag.wustl

Volume 1 Issue 1 • Spring 2021 THE DAWN

TERRA • PREFACE

VOL. 1 ISSUE 1 • SPRING 2021

WarmWelcome Welcome Warm Digital Art Arthi Mixed MediaVenkatesan Arthi Venkatesan

TERRA • PREFACE

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VOL. 1 ISSUE 1 • SPRING 2021

Volume 1 Issue 1 • Spring 2021

THE DAWN

TERRA • PREFACE

About TERRA TERRA Magazine is a student publication at Washington University in St. Louis that focuses on the environment, nature, and sustainability. Our hope is to increase awareness of these issues through accurate and creative journalism. Writers, editors, photographers, and illustrators are needed to make this magazine possible. We welcome undergraduate students of all majors and backgrounds to contribute intellectual and artistic content, as well as join us in marvelling over plants and rocks! Articles can cover a wide range of topics and interests. They may be more formal and serious in tone when covering news like scientific discoveries and conservation policy. On the other hand, they may also be entertaining and silly, such as pieces about hidden hiking gems around STL, poetry inspired by nature, or cute squirrel pictures. The sky’s the limit! Want to get involved? Email us at editors.terra@gmail.com Folllow us on Instagram @terramag.wustl

VOL. 1 ISSUE 1 • SPRING 2021

Staff EXECUTIVE BOARD

Anna Haudrich & Will Johnson — Co-Editors-in-Chief Julianne Aronson — Design Director Sai Damireddi, Sammi Fremont, & Raf Rodriguez — Marketing Directors Jordan Neeley — Secretary Padma Doobay — Treasurer

WRITERS

Michael Barash, Selaam Dollisso, Kimberly Hwang, Sasha Kostenko, Courtney Lasserre, Maeve McFadden, Ranen Miao, Anna Riek, Raf Rodriguez, Bennett Rosenberg, Madelyn Shapiro, & Jane Whellan

EDITORS

Gracie Gentzler, Natalie Hall, Brooklyn Hollander, Ranen Miao, Lillian Nystrom, Maria Schmeer, Madelyn Shapiro, & Akiva Stein

ARTISTS

Julianne Aronson, Alexandra Crotty, Lexi Hanson, Sasha Kostenko, Cross Lawn, Lily Leonard, Thomas Price, Maxine Roeder, Arthi Venkatesan, & Jane Whellan

TERRA • PREFACE

Letter from the Editors Dear Reader, We are overjoyed to present to you the very first issue of TERRA Magazine. It has taken time and effort to form this publication, but it was hard work that we were thrilled to partake in and has paid off tremendously. Given the current state of our world — a global pandemic in which we often feel isolated — we have found solace within nature. We know we are not alone in this. There’s a sense of serenity it gives that feels tangible, almost like a hug. We want to ensure that this connection to nature is protected, and in order to do that we must discuss the many avenues through which change must occur. We aim to do this via the spread of information and knowledge — a vital step in materializing the goal of a better, more sustainable future. This approach must be one of intersectionality that spans multiple academic fields and amplifies diversity. In addition to our mission of education, we also wish for this magazine to act as a celebration of our beautiful planet. So while reading this issue, consider going outside and sitting under a sky of wispy clouds. Put your hands in the grass, covered in mildew. Or if you’re inside, close your eyes for a moment to think about your favorite place outdoors. Breathe. Celebrate nature with us. However, we can not discuss this issue without recognizing our staff who have been working tirelessly to present a varied selection of written pieces and artwork. We are honored to have such a talented team of writers, editors, and artists who have all added their own unique voices to such an important cause. We will never be able to

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VOL. 1 ISSUE 1 • SPRING 2021 able to thank them enough for their hard work and dedication in bringing this magazine to life. Please enjoy our first issue which we have chosen to title The Dawn as we strive for it to be the first of many publications informing the Washington University community of the importance of environmental activism. We hope that this magazine will allow you to appreciate this world and will inspire you to make meaningful change. Sincerely,

Anna Haudrich & Will Johnson Co-Editors-in-Chief

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TERRA • CONTENTS

Table of Contents WRITTEN PIECES

PREFACE vii Letter from the Editors Writers: Anna Haudrich & Will Johnson POLICY 1 5

An International Study in Plastic

Writers: Kimberly Hwang & Sasha Kostenko

Let’s Talk About Oil

Writer: Bennett Rosenberg

Artist: Maxine Roeder

STEM 9 Know Your Native Species Writer: Michael Barash Artist: Maxine Roeder INTERSECTIONALITY 13 Environmental Hazards Impacting the Unhoused in St. Louis Writer: Raf Rodriguez Artist: Lily Leonard 15 Braiding Sweetgrass Review Writer: Maeve McFadden Artist: Jane Whellan WASHU 19 22 FOOD 24 29

The Urgency of Fossil Fuel Divestment Writer: Ranen Miao

Artist: Julianne Aronson

Environmental Research Spotlight: Dr. Glenn Stone Writer: Courtney Lasserre

Should We All Go Vegan? Writer: Jane Whellan

Artist: Sasha Kostenko

Writer: Madelyn Shapiro

Artist: Cross Lawn

Vegetarian/Vegan Restaurants to Try in STL

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Table of Contents FUN 32

TERRA Tunes

Writer: Anna Riek

COMMENTARY 33 Amazon Crime Writer: Selaam Dollisso

Artist: Anna Haudrich

POETRY 36 A Reckoning Writer: Anna Riek

Artist: Thomas Price

BACKMATTER 37 References ADDITIONAL ART Cover ii 7 11 17 31 41 Throughout

The Dawn Photography, Thomas Price Warm Welcome Digital Art, Arthi Venkatesan Tranquil Photography, Lexi Hansen Bird Profile: Manhatten Photography, Maxine Roeder Wilderness Photography, Thomas Price All Natural Digital Art, Lily Leonard Northern Lights Over Churchill, Manitoba Photography, Alexandra Crotty Little Details Drawing, Sasha Kostenko

TERRA • POLICY

An International Study in Plastic By Kimberly Hwang & Sasha Kostenko

s the issue of waste management grows ever more prominent worldwide, countries have turned to recycling as a solution: from Switzerland to South Korea to the United States, a range of recycling programs have been implemented with varying degrees of success. Two of these global recycling leaders — Germany and Taiwan — offer many lessons for the U.S. in terms of successful recycling policy.

The Recycling Fund Management Board was established to manage these funds. Companies also began encouraging consumers to return their waste to them and sorted the materials into a range of 13 categories and 33 items to facilitate proper recycling [7].

Taiwan is exemplary in its success. Throughout the 1990s they were nicknamed “Garbage Island” because two-thirds of their landfills were teeming with waste. However, in a short span of 25 years, Taiwan has managed to “achieve one of the highest recycling rates in the world” [8]. Now, trash is rarely seen on the street. So how did Taiwan do it? In 1987, 10 Taiwanese women established an organization called Homemakers United with the goal of improving the environment [10]. They proved to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that “40 percent of municipal waste could be recycled and 35 percent composted.” This union brought about a lot of changes to waste regulations, such as the Waste Disposal Act, which passed in 1988. Previously, product manufacturers had to find associations to fund their recycling. One of the most important plans in Taiwan’s modern recycling system is the “4-in-1 Recycling Program,” which revised the above policy to ensure that manufacturers pay a recycling fee to the EPA in Taiwan [3]. These fees are given to the Recycling Fund, which supports recycling companies in collecting and processing the waste.

In 2019, Taiwan recycled 64 percent of its products [11]. Compared to Taiwan, the U.S. wastes two times as many materials. Taiwan also separates food waste by raw versus cooked in order to use them for compost [10]. Another way Taiwan keeps its country clean is by reducing trash in the first place. People are required to buy designated colored trash bags in order to throw away their trash, so this cost discourages people from producing trash and also funds the waste disposal system.

VOL. 1 ISSUE 1 • SPRING 2021 When the time comes for garbage collection, a yellow truck drives around neighborhoods, playing Für Elise through the speakers to alert the community of its arrival. Following the music-playing truck is another white truck that has sorted bins to allow residents to recycle their trash. These trucks come five days a week [9]. Several volunteers and officials travel with these trucks to ensure this process is done correctly [8]. Residents can also download apps to track when garbage trucks are going to arrive in their neighborhood, making taking out the trash a lot more convenient. The U.S. should adopt this way of trash collecting in order to encourage people to recycle more responsibly and allow volunteers to help ensure that different materials actually go into their respective containers.

These policies emerge from an initiative to hold responsible those producing the waste — manufacturers and businesses — but also to involve consumers in confronting what was once a national waste crisis, as in Taiwan. Germany also hopes to phase out biodegradable waste, preventing landfill gas and other side effects of large amounts of organic material in landfills. Ultimately, Germany’s high recycling rate saves the country raw materials and energy on top of reducing recyclable waste.

Like Taiwan, Germany leads the world with its recycling program, with a 66.1% municipal recycling rate — that’s 317.7 out of 402.2 million metric tons of waste recycled [1]. Often considered a global success story, Germans share in its national pride — a widespread recycling culture is hallmarked by up to six waste sorting bins, including separate bins for clear and colored glass and even a composting bin. These bins, scattered across German cities, cropped up through a successful combination of policies — in particular, the Packaging Ordinance of 1991 and the Closed Substance Cycle and Waste Management Act.

However, their shining example on the global stage isn’t always met with total appreciation. Some consider Germany to focus too much on recycling — and the practice comes with its own problems. Plastic is especially difficult to recycle, due to the complicated qualities of different resins and a variety of other technical and economic issues [6]. This issue leaves room for alternative disposal methods — ones Germany has paid far less attention to. In addition, the consumers themselves play an important recycling role. The moral incentive alone is not always enough, and Germany would benefit from further incentivizing its population to select greener options beyond its existing policies. And finally, while Germany may pursue recycling for its own sake — as a good, righteous thing to do — it is hardly the only answer to the world’s waste management problem, and if anything should be only part of the solution.

TERRA • POLICY

Dumpster Dive Mixed Media Lily Leonard

VOL. 1 ISSUE 1 • SPRING 2021 So would the German model work in the U.S.? Probably not. The two countries share some similarities, true — both capitalist, industrial societies where the consumers are able to impact market trends, with some resemblances regarding population density and industrial access in places like the Northeast. But some crucial differences ruin Germany’s centralized approach when applied in the States. The U.S. is simply larger — many regions stretch for huge expanses across low-density and low-industry access areas. A national collection plan would demand more transportation than in Germany and actually produce greater harm through vehicle emissions across such low-density expanses. Non-recycled, raw materials are also cheaper in the U.S., lowering the incentive to buy the alternative. The nation’s added emphasis on individual freedom and autonomy makes it more difficult to roll out a program demanding strict adherence to a set of rules, and the looser restrictions on the market within the U.S. economy prevent the kind of business and manufacturing guidelines that proved successful in Germany [6].

Because of this dependency, the U.S. has not had a well-developed waste recycling infrastructure [5]. Thus, before the U.S. adopts the recycling policies of Taiwan or Germany, it should first strengthen its ability to recycle its own products. Beyond that, the U.S. can also adopt policies that incentivize good recycling behavior and penalize ones that add to the waste disposal problem. For example, the U.S. can utilize Taiwan’s “smart recycling booths” that add money to transit cards in return for recycled bottles [2] and draw from Germany’s policies as well. The U.S. could still learn from these two global recycling leaders, as long as it takes a more regional approach. Germany’s program demonstrates that while succeeding in one area may be great, a focus on recycling also is not all the country needs. In a problem as big as waste management, individual parts affect each other through a complex system of relationships that cannot be solved on their own. Overcompensating in one area, such as recycling, may have unintended consequences despite its benefits, or ignore areas in need of improvement. That is not to say that what steps the two leaders have taken have not shown that progress is possible, and offer a chance for the rest of the world — and the United States — to take some notes.

Current recycling products in the U.S. items are contaminated when they are put in the wrong trash bin. People also do not actually know that much about what can and cannot be recycled. Therefore, education on proper recycling and the importance of recycling are both extremely important, especially in the U.S. where only 32% of their waste is recycled correctly [12]. The U.S. also regularly sends China a lot of its waste for recycling. However, China banned this in 2018 and the U.S. then directed such waste toward other Asian countries.

TERRA • POLICY

Let’s Talk About Oil

The complexity of moving past an immoral industry.

By Bennett Rosenberg

f you are reading this magazine, chanc- es are you want the oil industry to fall. After all, it is a dirty business that damages habitats and releases trapped carbon into our air, suffocating our planet. The 100 million barrels produced daily contribute 13 million tonnes of CO2 annually [5]. Furthermore, oil poses significant threats to democracy and human rights because it empowers dictatorial regimes on whose stability the oil-importing West depends [4]. By extension, this commodity is linked to civil war, military proliferation, and human rights abuses [7]. Fundamentally, oil is unsustainable, environmentally and socially. Many people agree that it’s time to do away with such a damaging industry.

To make matters worse, studies show that oil is a curse even to the countries that export it. When a poor country strikes oil, its economy is suddenly flooded with currency from foreign buyers. This inflates the value of its currency so much that it becomes cheaper to import goods, causing the manufacturing and agricultural sectors to collapse. This phenomenon is known as the “Dutch Disease” [4]. Further, women tend to be the first to exit the nonagricultural workforce when they are declining, which results in underrepresentation, higher fertility rates, and less education for women. It is not a coincidence that major oil-exporting countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar have some of the most egregious gender inequalities [7]. Oil is also a bane to democracy, as governments rich from oil sales no longer need to depend on taxpayers for revenue. A fundamentally different government-citizen relationship emerges, known as the “Rentier state” [2].

In order to move past our oil dependency, we must first understand that oil affects nearly every aspect of our lives. Contrary to common belief, the majority of oil is not used for electricity but for fuel and petrochemicals. Transportation fuel — for cars, trucks, planes, trains, and ships — accounts for 55% of petroleum consumption [6]. Petrochemicals are ubiquitous in our economy and can be found in plastic, toothpaste, vitamins, asphalt, cleaning products, lubricants, crayons, pesticides, paint, cell phones, packaging, lipstick, and much more. Those products were transported to our stores and doorsteps by trucks and ships that run on oil. Finally, in understanding our deep dependence on oil, it would be remiss to forget its role in warfare and national security: oil powers tanks and warships. Removing our dependency is a daunting task.

How did we become so dramatically addicted to this troubling commodity? Societies have used oil since 4000 BC; for example, Babylonians used asphalt for construction and the Chinese dug wells for petroleum heating fuel. By the mid-1800s, people found uses for petroleum as a lubricant. But with the advent of the internal combustion engine, new fields, and Rockefeller’s research on refining crude oil, opportunities for oil proliferated. It became the default fuel for transportation, especially when the British navy replaced coal with petroleum in 1912 [3]. This preceded a global rush to consume oil as a staple for both wealth and domination.

VOL. 1 ISSUE 1 • SPRING 2021 Oil has become foundational to the modern, globalized economy. Yet governments understand that we must collectively cap its usage and go carbon negative. Why, with all the climate research and urgency to act, are we not swiftly trying to transition to alternatives?

Despite these technologies, oil is simply too cheap, and the alternatives too unreliable, for the mass market to accept an alternative yet. The solution to our oil dependency is as largescale as the problem: the market must change. Never before have we managed to transition away from an energy resource that is cheap and reliable. This transition will require an incredible amount of research and development on alternatives that can outprice oil.

Is it because interest groups buy out politicians? This is certainly a factor — energy lobbyists have defeated environmentalist campaigns for decades. Energy companies spend millions on federal lobbying and climate misinformation [1]. However, the influence of corporations interferes with progress less than we would like to think.

But “waiting for the markets” is lazy. We cannot idly watch as this industry decimates our Earth. We must also focus on dispatching consumerism and redefining business. We need to vote not only with our ballots but with our dollars. We can buy local and buy less. We can support the businesses taking the tough steps to break free from oil (they are out there). We can support policies that regulate and disincentivize oil. Our entire economy must rethink production, consumption, and everything in between to unearth its hydrocarbon foundation. There is no one correct answer. Humanity needs a widespread migration back to its once-sustainable roots. We must learn to live without oil.

The model that has actually established our reliance on oil is supply and demand. Oil is dependable, established, and far cheaper than any alternative. The fact that we have alternatives to petroleum simply does not matter because they are not economical. We have solar-powered planes, gasless trucks, and oilfree cosmetics. Here at Washington University in St. Louis, Dr. Arpita Bose studies photosynthetic microbes that sequester carbon dioxide in the form of bioplastics.

TERRA • STEM

VOL. 1 ISSUE 1 • SPRING 2021

Tranquil

Photography Lexi Hanson

TERRA • STEM

Know Your Native Species Flowering Dogwood - Missouri’s State Tree!

By Michael Barash

I. Leaf Type - Flowering dogwoods have broad leaves: “normal” flat leaf style. This is opposed to needles or scalelike leaves, which belong to other specific families of trees (like pines or junipers, respectively).

id you know that WashU’s campus is a cer certified arboretum?? If you’ve ever seen various plaques with tree names and QR codes around campus, you’ve stumbled upon part of the university’s very own network of tree identification! And it doesn’t take an amateur arborist to figure it out; just scan a tree’s QR code to learn more about it. One of the campus’ most prestigious tree celebrities is the flowering dogwood (Cornus florida), Missouri’s state tree. This guide will teach you the basics of identifying a tree by its physical characteristics, and once you think you’ve got what it takes to identify a flowering dogwood in the wild, check the end of this article for an exciting Terra TreeID challenge!

II. Leaf Orientation on Branch - Flowering dogwoods have opposite leaves: each leaf is paired with another leaf on the other side of the twig at the same height. This is opposed to alternate leaves, where these opposite-facing leaves do not occur at the same part of the twig. III. Single or Multiple Leaves per Leafstalk - Flowering dogwoods have simple leaves: there is only one leaf on each leafstalk. This is opposed to compound leaves, where there are multiple leaflets on one leafstalk.

Although there’s no one way to ID a tree, the National Wildlife Federation has a super easy seven step process that can work for identifying any tree.

IV. Other Leaf Characteristics - Flowering dogwood leaves are broadly elliptic: football-shaped, and just a little longer than they are wide. - Flowering dogwood leaves are unlobed: the outer edge (margin) of the leaf is smooth and without significant separations. The leaves are 3-6” long, dark green in spring and summer, and red in fall. V. Fruit Characteristics - Flowering dogwoods have small red spherical berries which are inedible to humans, but favored by birds. Even before ripening, the flowering dogwood’s berries are visible at branch tips.

VOL. 1 ISSUE 1 • SPRING 2021 VI. Flower Characteristics - Despite the name “flowering”, the tiny yellow-green flowers of flowering dogwoods are very hard to see. Surrounding the flowers are four white or pink bracts, which are specially modified leaves that look exactly like petals. The flowering dogwood blooms in April. The structure has a total diameter of about 3-4”. VII. Bark Characteristics - Flowering dogwood bark consists of dark reddish-brown scale-like segments along the tree’s trunk. Identification tips are compiled from the National Wildlife Federation Field Guide to Trees of North America and the Missouri Botanical Garden [1][2]. Range: Flowering dogwoods can be found as far northeast as New England, as far southeast as Florida, as far southwest as Mexico, and as far northwest as Illinois. In Missouri, flowering dogwoods are found in the southern half of the state, meaning they can be found in both St. Louis and the Ozarks [1]! Flowering Dogwoods in Culture and Scientific Literature: Flowering Dogwoods were America’s gift to Japan in return for the now-famous cherry blossom trees of Washington D.C. given in 1912 as a symbol of peace. In 2012, to replace the flowering dogwoods that were uprooted during the souring of Japanese-American relations during World War II, the United States sent 3,000 flowering dogwoods to Japan on the 100th anniversary of the original exchange [3]. As well, as mentioned before, the flowering dogwood is the state tree of Missouri (and

Virginia too). Hoping for an exciting or historical reason why the flowering dogwood gets this recognition? The actual reason isn’t super exciting: the state’s Revisor of Statutes simply say the flowering dogwood was chosen in 1955 “on account of the beauty of its flower and foliage” [4]. WashU’s Arboretum: WashU’s trees may only enter common conversation status among students the week the gingko leaves turn yellow in autumn, but you can explore and discover secrets about WashU’s arboretum (a botanical garden exclusively comprised of trees) year-round. Encompassing over 5000 trees and composed of over 200 unique species, the arboretum has a ton to explore [5]. When the trees on campus begin to flower, consider taking the arboretum’s self-guided “Arbor Walk” around campus, or hopefully starting again next year, take the semesterly guided Arbor Walk with WashU’s very own horticulturist and grounds manager Kent Theiling! Flowering Dogwoods at WashU: The flowering dogwood is found multiple places on campus; for each flowering dogwood you find in a different area of campus and post to your Instagram story tagging @terramag.wustl and the hashtag #TerraTreeID, you’ll get a repost and an entry to win a super cool houseplant! (hint: for upperclassmen, you might find this tree on a little walk down memory lane).

TERRA • STEM

Red Bellied Woodpecker

Dark-Eyed Junco

Downy Woodpecker

Mute Swan White Breasted Nuthatch

Buffleheads

American Goldfinch

Northern Cardinal

Brant Geese

Hooded Merganser

VOL. 1 ISSUE 1 • SPRING 2021 Blue Jay

Bird Profile: Manhattan Photograhy Maxine Roeder

Red-Tailed Hawk

TERRA • INTERSECTIONALITY

Environmental Hazards Impacting the Unhoused in St. Louis By Raf Rodriguez

hroughout the history of environmental mental activism, the unhoused have consistently been one of the most overlooked groups that are being disproportionately impacted by environmental degradation. Here in St. Louis, one in 386 people is unhoused, with a yearly increase of 18% [3]. As recently as this past winter, those living in encampments in downtown St. Louis were forcibly relocated in response to pressure from developers [1]. As students at Washington University in St. Louis, we must begin to advocate and spread awareness about the ways the unhoused are disproportionately impacted by environmental hazards. The unhoused epidemic is and always will be an environmental justice issue. The unhoused community is at a greater risk of being exposed to hazards than those with secure housing. Many unhoused people sleep outside, near roads, under bridges or even near polluting factories. By living mostly outdoors, the unhoused are at high risk of negative health outcomes, including lung failure and heart disorders, from nearby factories. These issues have become even more concerning recently as the COVID-19 pandemic’s long-term health effects have made those affected more susceptible to air pollution. Despite this, St. Louis has yet to adopt a “Homeless Bill of Rights,” a set of policies which guarantees civil and human rights for those unhoused, including the right to medical care when needed. Therefore, when these issues arise, the unhoused are left nowhere to turn.

In St. Louis, black residents are nearly four times as likely to be unhoused compared to white residents [2]. When analyzing this data, it is important to look toward St. Louis’s equity score, a measure of disparity where 100 means there is no racial disparity and a 0 reflects the largest disparity. Unfortunately, St. Louis has an extremely troubling score of 29. Not only are the unhoused experiencing environmental hazards at a disproportionate rate, but communities of color, particularly those who are black and unhoused, are left extremely vulnerable. This is not only an environmental justice issue. This is a racial issue. Organizations like Tent Mission STL, a group offering crisis support and daily outreach, are mobilizing in efforts to help the unhoused in St. Louis [4]. With temperatures dropping below zero, our unhoused neighbors are left vulnerable and prone to serious health issues. As students in St. Louis, we must become students for St. Louis and donate what we can to help those most in need. Unhoused individuals must always be included in environmental activism.

Find Tent Mission STL on Facebook: Instagram:

Venmo: @tentmissionstl

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STL Unhoused Mixed Media Lily Leonard

TERRA • INTERSECTIONALITY

Braiding Sweetgrass Review Looking at Environmentalism through an Indigenous Lens

By Maeve McFadden

raiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wis-.. dom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer is a book I would recommend to anyone willing to learn and open their minds about human coexistence with nature. In a collection of essays written in stunning prose, the author writes about her experiences within the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. She parallels the colonization of her people’s culture to modern society’s disconnect with plants, a phenomena she sees even within her field of botany.

In the Potawatomi Nation, plants and animals are seen as humans’ greatest teachers — as beings worthy of respect like any other human. One of my favorite parts of the book is in Kimmerer’s essay “Learning the Grammar of Animacy” in which she writes about how people talk about nature: “Saying it makes a living land into ‘natural resources.’ If a maple is an it, we can take up the chain saw. If a maple is a her, we think twice” (57). Kimmerer imagines the possibilities of a world in which birches, rocks, and bears are spoken of like they are people worthy of respect and inclusion.

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Kimmerer notes with disappointment that none of the students in her upper-level environmental biology classes could think of an example where human existence has been or could be positive for nature. Throughout their years of schooling, they have been taught that distance from nature is the best solution, that humans and nature could never truly live in harmony — an idea that she describes as the by-product of colonization. Kimmerer refutes this ingrained belief by using the tradition of braiding sweetgrass as a metaphor. She shows how nature can bring people together in meaningful ways, and how humans can have a constructive relationship with nature. In her essay “Mishkos Kenomagwen: The Teachings of Grass,” Kimmerer remembers a graduate student who completed her thesis on the topic of harvesting sweetgrass, showing how this practice aided the overall health of the plant population. This was a well-known tradition among indigenous people in the region, but the faculty committee scoffed at it, saying that “[a]nyone knows that harvesting a plant will damage the population.” The assumption that humans will only ever destroy nature is one derived from the colonization of indigenous people who lived and loved the land. Nevertheless, the data supported traditional knowledge, demonstrating yet again how indigenous knowledge is continuously overlooked in the field of ecology.

Overall, Kimmerer offers beautiful prose about nature that makes the reader want to go into a forest and exist inside the complexity and growth apparent in every square inch. She writes using a wealth of ecological knowledge and an appreciation and respect for plants as sentient beings, wiser than us. Her essays provide hope for a future in which society’s goals are not focused on extraction of resources, and where indigenous peoples’ voices are heard and their teachings respected. Although Kimmerer challenges the priorities of capitalism, she does not offer any practical solutions to achieve this utopian society she dreams of. Nevertheless, I found that this book gave me a refreshing perspective on how it is possible to have a positive relationship with nature. It is a powerful introduction to learning about indigenous people’s cultures in the United States that can be the starting point to a more inclusive future of environmentalism [1].

TERRA • INTERSECTIONALITY

“Conservationists must develop a new reason for wilderness, a new understanding of the place of humans in the natural world, a new appreciation for the other nations which inhabit this blue-green living planet. Why wilderness? Because it offers an escape for the rat race of San Francisco or Washington, DC? Because it is pretty to look at? Because it’s a place to hike, backpack, or float rivers? Because it protects the watersheds for use downstream? No. Because it is. Wilderness for its own sake. Because it’s right. Because it’s the real world, the repository of the three and a half billion years of organic evolution; because it is out home. The grizzly has the right to live for her own sake, not for any real or imagined value she may have for the human beings. The spotted owl, the wolverine, Brewer’s Spruce, the fungal web in the forest floor have a nature-given right to follow their own intertwined evolutionary destinies without being meaningless pawns in the arrogant games of industrial humans.”

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Wilderness

Sawtooth Wilderness, Stanley, Idaho Words Dave Foreman, excerpt from “Dreaming Big Wilderness” Photograhy Tom Price

TERRA • WASHU

The Urgency of Fossil Fuel Divestment Opinion By Ranen Miao

n February, the University of Southern I ...........California announced that they would

be divesting from future investment in fossil fuels and liquidating all current holdings [16]. They join Cornell, Georgetown, the University of Michigan, George Washington University, American University, the UC system, the New York pension fund, and the country of Ireland in ending financial investments to companies largely responsible for the existential threat that is climate change [25][20][1][18][23]. Other schools have taken smaller, incremental steps towards divestment — including Brown University selling 90% of its fossil fuel stocks, and Stanford, the University of Maine system, and Johns Hopkins divesting from coal [15] [24][17][8]. Washington University in St. Louis (WashU), which “aims to be a national leader in campus sustainability,” has failed to take sufficient action [5]. It is time for us to divest from fossil fuels. Divestment is a strategy that has long existed to deny financial support for morally reprehensible movements. In the 1970s, a divestment movement started at Hampshire College led to 155 universities divesting from Apartheid South Africa (WashU was not amongst them) [4]. Combined with political and economic pressures, at the end of the 20th century, Apartheid was dismantled. While divestment was just “one weapon in the battle against Apartheid,” according to anti-Apartheid activist Cecilie Counts, it challenged “the morality of profits obtained from collaboration with the repressive apartheid regime,” [9].

Today, the divestment model has been reignited as a mechanism of combating climate change by divesting from fossil fuel companies. Divestment has been shown to cause aggregate declines in share prices (though only marginally) [11]. More critically, the movement will “revoke the social license of these firms,” according to Bill McKibben of Middlebury College, causing investors and political leaders to question and stigmatize future investment [12]. The movement has already sparked over $8 trillion in divestment against fossil fuel companies, representing an increasing global recognition that their profits are built on an existential threat to humanity. Green Action and Fossil Free WashU have been pivotal in spearheading campus calls to divest, but have been met with apathy or ignorance – including a member of the Board of Trustees denying that carbon dioxide emissions cause climate change [2][22]. In March, Chancellor Martin offered an explanation of how the Washington University Investment Management Company engages in “ethically responsible investing” through an “engagement model” instead of a “restrictive” one [13]. These terms are linguistic maneuvers that attempt to frame divestment as “restrictive” (a negative term) and investment as “engagement” (a positive). In reality, “engagement” is just coded language for continuing to invest in abominable companies — but, by addressing his article, we can offer an even stronger case for divestment.

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WashU Blowing Smoke Mixed Media Julianne Aronson

TERRA • WASHU The article argues that we “cannot risk jeopardizing the financial support of the university’s mission by restricting its universe of investments to a subset of managers,” and that “our best contribution to the advancement of the greater social good is through the financial support of the university’s mission.” In essence: making money matters more than moral considerations. However, it’s valuable to point out that fossil fuel investments are widely viewed as risky financial investments, and have become “the worst performer in the market” during the pandemic [6][14]. For investors, divestment also only carries a 0.0044% incremental risk penalty, meaning that any financial losses we accrue with divestment will be marginal, even in the worst case scenario [7]. Add on the fact that our endowment’s exposure to fossil fuels “is, in fact, quite limited, especially when compared to the broader market” (in the words of Chancellor Martin), and there should truly be no substantial financial problem issues to fear. But more troubling is the second assertion: the belief that immoral investments are justified if they contribute to the university’s budget. Beyond the practical benefits of withdrawing investments from the fossil fuel industry, there are also important ethical arguments for divestment, the most central being this: it’s wrong to profit off heinous industries. Profit has no relation to morality and is, quite often, fully divorced from it. The Chancellor’s assertion that the endowment has “a natural tendency” to invest in socially responsible businesses “because socially responsible businesses tend to have better outcomes” is logically incorrect. The lucrative profits of the military industrial complex, private prisons, guns, and privatized hospitals should prove otherwise. Perhaps most relevantly, as the New York Times report-

ed in 1977, the United States did “thriving and important business with South Africa” under the Vorster Government, where “the return on investment [...] was 19.1 percent, compared to the world average of 11 percent.” Under the current WUIMC philosophy, those investments would have been acceptable too. 97% of scientists and dozens of scientific organizations agree that climate change is manmade, and it currently costs hundreds of billions of dollars a year [19][10]. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the World Bank have already offered projections that climate change will spur widespread droughts and famines, increase spread of insect-borne diseases, worsen severe poverty, and spark a global climate refugee crisis in the next few decades [21][3]. Perhaps most ironically of all, investing in the climate crisis for profit to advance “the university’s mission” will inadvertently create a far more expensive, dangerous, and difficult world for our students to inherit. We must divest our endowment from all fossil fuels.

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Environmental Research Spotlight: Dr. Glenn Stone D

By Courtney Lasserre

r. Glenn Stone is an environmental ............. anthropologist who has been researching and teaching at Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) for over 20 years. His work revolves around food and agriculture with a focus on industrial and small-scale agriculture, as well as agricultural technologies and their politics. While Dr. Stone spoke passionately about his current work during our interview, he explained that was not always the case: “If you told me when I was a 16-year-old, ‘Oh, you’re going to be an agriculture scholar’, I probably would’ve said, ‘Look, just shoot me now.’”

increasingly started to see agriculture as this huge, complicated, very contested thing . . . It’s big, it’s more complicated, more political, and it’s completely misunderstood.”

During his undergraduate years at Northwestern University, Dr. Stone simply wanted to understand how the world worked. He took several classes on religion, having noticed the influence belief systems have on billions of peoples’ lives. Eventually, though, he realized if not for culture, religions would not function at all: “All these big truths that they had were always framed in cultural terms.” It was at this point that his focus turned to anthropology.

He has also done a significant amount of work around genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and is currently following CRISPR, the new gene editing technology that recently garnered a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for scientists Emanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna [1]. This technology and others like it have important intellectual property implications. Dr. Stone explains that this raises a lot of questions: “What are they going to do with this technology? . . . Who’s going to get to control it? . . . Who owns it and who’s going to regulate it? . . . [and] What are the best things they could do with it and will they do the good thing, or will they just do the money making things they can do with GMOs?”

In the summer after his junior year of college, Dr. Stone worked on an archaeological site. It was not long before he had decided this was the type of work he wanted to pursue. Describing the experience, Dr. Stone reminisced, “I’ve been on an archaeological site for like two days, and I said, ‘This is it. This is what I’m doing.’ It just clicked.” He went on to work toward a graduate degree in the field where he first encountered the complexities of agriculture. “I

Currently, Dr. Stone is working on three major projects. He is finishing up a book that he has described as a “backward-looking history of industrial agriculture,” tentatively titled The Agricultural Bomb. This is a riff on Paul Ehrlich’s 1968 book The Population Bomb which sparked widespread fear that overpopulation would cause extreme poverty, food shortages, and environmental degradation.

Lastly, Dr. Stone is looking into a phenomenon called digital agriculture, which involves the use of mounds of aggregate data to power autonomous tractors and the like all the

TERRA • WASHU / FOOD way down to where they put the seeds into the ground. He looks at this through the lens of surveillance capitalism, a system in which unknown figures profit from the sale of personal details and information. As is the case with genetic modification technology, Dr. Stone mused upon the implications of corporate entities holding such detailed information on farmers: “How are they going to categorize farmers? They’re going to analyze farmers.” Dr. Stone worries this may harm farmers more than help them.

If students are interested in a deeper dive, Dr. Stone also teaches the upper-level seminars Anthropology of Food (Anthro 4215) and Political Ecology (Anthro 4282). Finally, be on the lookout for Dr. Stone’s book chronicling the rise of industrial agriculture, which is expected out later this calendar year, though Dr. Stone emphasizes he cannot make any promises.

Dr. Stone’s overall focus, he says, is “to correct misconceptions about food and agriculture and overpopulation” which have real-world implications for the future of our food systems and the global environment. In his opinion, one of the largest of these misinterpretations is that of smallholder agriculturalists, particularly in Africa: “Bill Gates announced that he was starting a whole new center, in St Louis in fact, to develop technologies to help small farmers . . . in the developing world . . . and most people would just assume that’s a good thing.” One of the overarching ideas of Dr. Stone’s research has been that small-scale agriculturalists are actually incredibly effective and efficient when left to their own devices. It also suggests that the so-called Green Revolution, the transfer of technology intended to increase agricultural production that occurred in the 1950s and 60s [2], actually did little to help the Global South and instead made their work more input intensive. WashU students interested in this work can learn more by taking any one of Dr. Stone’s classes, in particular the immensely popular Culture and Environment (Anthro 361). It is offered each fall and Dr. Stone, slightly jokingly, describes it as a “life-changing experience”.

[3]

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Should We All Go Vegan?

A Look at Some of the Economic, Health, and Accessibility Barriers to a Global Vegan Diet

By Jane Whellan

t is no secret that the livestock industry is one of the largest contributors to climate change and environmental degradation. My own introduction to the environmental menace that is animal agriculture came from Kip Andersen’s 2014 documentary Cowspiracy [1]. Though many of the exact statistics Andersen used are debated, he rightfully calls out the livestock industry for being a leading cause of global greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, habitat destruction, species extinction, and nitrogen-flooded ocean dead zones. A 2011 study by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRT) suggests that about 18% of anthropogenic global greenhouse gas emissions come from livestock agriculture, though other studies have estimated this number to be as high as 51% [2][3]. Furthermore, livestock agriculture requires an abundance of land — 45% of the global surface area, according to the ILRT study. Additionally, this Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) study reports that the livestock sector annually uses about 10% of global water flows [4]. Based on these facts, it’s clear that our meat production and consumption habits need to change in order to save our planet. Many environmentalists, Andersen included, suggest that the only solution to this problem is a change in the global diet: a movement toward large-scale veganism. Seems simple enough, right? If we all stop eating meat, not only will we mitigate the direct environmental impacts of livestock (namely, cow farts, a main methane contributor), but we will also be able

to use the billions of pounds of feed produced for livestock to actually feed humans. The problem is that there are a number of factors that make a global vegan diet less realistic. The barriers to large-scale veganism include economics, health, and the availability of healthy vegan food. Economics: Can the global economy actually undergo the transition to a vegan economy? The livestock agriculture industry is an enormous part of the current global economy. The FAO estimates that livestock accounts for 40% of agricultural output globally, and that this number is only growing [5]. Furthermore, this study found that the U.S. meat and poultry industry generates 5.6% of the country’s global domestic product (GDP), and is responsible for 5.4 million jobs [6]. If so many people’s livelihoods depend on this industry, is there truly a way to transition to a fully vegan economy? According to Dr. Marco Springmann and his colleagues at the University of Oxford, the answer is yes; in fact, they propose that a vegan diet will actually be beneficial to the economy. Their research showed that, while developing countries would mostly benefit from environmental and health standpoints, the U.S. economy stands to save a total of over 30.57 trillion USD annually, or roughly 13% of the GDP, on health-related costs, value-of-life benefits, and environmental benefits by transitioning to large scale veganism [7].

TERRA • FOOD However, even though the transition is possible and may be ultimately beneficial, we will not get there right away. Doing so would require policy changes and the implementation of economic incentives such as taxes or subsidies. These are especially important in developing countries where more people rely on livestock agriculture for food or income. Taxing the meat industry and cutting government subsidies for meat and feed production are good places to start, and governments can also provide subsidies for the production of vegan protein and other nutrient-rich crops. The economic transition would also require a diversified economy so that the losses from the meat sector can be made up for in the production of vegan products. Health: Can humans get all of the nutrients they need from a vegan diet? Many people have made the shift to a vegan diet for health reasons. Take professional tennis athlete Venus Williams, who went vegan after being diagnosed with an autoimmune disease in 2011. In an interview with Health, Williams remarked, “I fell in love with the concept of fueling your body in the best way possible” [8]. It is true that many studies have found health benefits to a vegan diet, but there are some concerns.

A 2009 study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition by Winston J. Craig found that vegan diets are higher in nutrients such as dietary fiber, magnesium, and vitamins C and E, and lower in calories, cholesterol, and saturated fat, among others [9]. Overall, Craig reports that veganism can reduce risk of cardiovascular disease, certain kinds of cancer, and type 2 diabetes. However, Craig also notes that vegan diets can have some nutritional shortfalls. For starters, studies have found that many vegans have a low vitamin D intake, which can lower bone mineral density (BMD). Additionally, vegans have higher instances of vitamin B-12 deficiency, which can cause irregular neurologic and psychiatric symptoms including mood disturbances and dementia. To avoid these negative health impacts, it is very important that vegans follow a well-balanced diet that provides them with all the nutrients they need. For example, Craig recommends consuming calcium, vitamin D, and Vitamin B-12 fortified foods such as fortified soy milk, or taking supplements to ensure proper nutrition. A more comprehensive nutrition guide can be found at vegan.com. Additionally, I would recommend talking to your doctor or a nutritionist to figure out what diet is best for you.

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Accessibility: Is a vegan diet accessible to all people? Many people are under the impression that veganism is inherently more expensive than other diets. And while costs will stack up if you’re going out to vegan restaurants or eating Beyond Meat everyday, the reality is that (like any other diet) the cost of going vegan is dependent on the kinds of foods you eat. Processed and prepared vegan foods tend to be more expensive than non-vegan options, but basic foods such as rice, tofu, and beans are actually cheaper than meat [10]. The real issue, in my opinion, is that not all people have access to healthy, vegan options. Food deserts are geographic areas, typically in low-income communities, where residents do not have sufficient access to grocery stores. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), as of 2016, 5.6% US citizens were living in an area with low supermarket access. This means that at least 500 people, or 30% of the population, is over a mile away from the closest supermarket or large grocery store in urban areas, and over 20 miles away in rural areas [11].

While it is still possible to maintain a healthy vegan diet and live in a food desert, it is significantly harder and can require more time or money. Furthermore, even if vegan products like rice or canned goods are available, it is hard to get all the nutrients we need without access to fresh fruits and vegetables. Thus, a healthy, global vegan diet is likely impossible unless we address issues of poverty and food insecurity. So what does this all mean? In Cowspiracy, Anderson suggests that no one can be an environmentalist without being vegan. I challenge this assertion because the reality is that veganism, particularly a vegan diet rich in all the nutrients we need, is not a possibility for all people. So while, yes, I agree that we all need to make sacrifices in order to save our planet, and one of those should be eating less meat, we should all pick the diet that works best for us and our bodies. And if you feel like going vegan is not a viable option for you right now, it is not something you should feel guilty about. Challenging ourselves to make smaller changes, like eating meat only a few times a week or only giving up red meat, can still make a difference.

TERRA • FOOD

Global Veganism Drawing Sasha Kostenko

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TERRA • FOOD

Vegetarian/Vegan Restaurants to Try in STL By Madelyn Shapiro

ello! As a vegetarian I’ve been hoping ......... to try out some restaurants that cater to vegetarians and vegans by campus. Although I haven’t had too many opportunities to eat out in St. Louis yet, I’m excited to try some of these in the future, and I hope that you enjoy them as well! 1. Seedz Cafe 6344 South Rosebury Demun, MO 63105 Seedz is a completely vegan and plant-based cafe located just a 10 minute drive from campus. They feature a wide range of vegan food, like pizza and burgers, in addition to a plethora of smoothies and fruit juices. It is currently open for outdoor dining and take-out. Website: https://seedzcafe.com/store/

2. Pizza Head 3196 S Grand Blvd Saint Louis, MO 63118 Calling all pizza lovers! Pizza Head offers a variety of pizzas featuring vegan cheese, with all dairy options clearly marked as such. They also have a “Pay it Forward” option where you can buy a slice for someone in need. This restaurant is currently open for pick-up or ordering at the door. Website: https://pizzaheadstl.square.site/s/order 3. Lulu’s Local Eatery 3201 South Grand Blvd St. Louis, MO 63118 Lulu’s features many kinds of sandwiches and wraps, as well as three different types of tater tots! I especially want to try the sweet potato black bean burger. They are also currently fundraising for Safe Connections and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund through selling t-shirts and sweaters. Lulu’s is open for pickup and Postmates delivery. Website: https://www.luluslocaleaterystl.com 4. Tree House 177 S Grand Blvd St. Louis, MO 63118 This restaurant features a mix of vegetarian and vegan options. They have many snacks and shareables like maduros and jackfruit tinga sopes, as well as larger plates like a fried chicken sandwich and jambalaya with cornbread. It is open for indoor dining and online ordering. Website: https://www.treehousestl.com

VOL. 1 ISSUE 1 • SPRING 2021 5. Frida’s 622 North and South Road University City, MO 63130 Frida’s serves a variety of vegan burgers and tacos in addition to many nourishing soups and salads. The restaurant focuses on being eco-friendly and many of the ingredients come from local farmers and vendors. Their website also features guides for shifting to a plantbased diet. It is currently open for indoor and outdoor dining, delivery, and curbside pickup. Website: https://www.eatatfridas.com/menu. html

6. Confluence Kombucha 4507 Manchester Avenue St. Louis, MO 63118 As seen in the name, this brewery and cafe sells several flavors of kombucha (as well as scobies, if you’re interested in making your own). It also features warm dishes like the Kimbap Taco in addition to provisions of tempeh and kimchi. Confluence Kombucha is currently open for pickup and delivery. Website:.http://www.confluencekombucha. com

Suburban Escapism Digital Collage Cross Lawn

TERRA • FUN

All Natural Digital Art Lily Leonard

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By Anna Riek

TERRA • COMMENTARY

Amazon Crime

Opinion By Selaam Dollisso

made an unfortunate discovery about Jeff Bezos recently. I am quite embarrassed to share this information, as it will reveal my shortcomings and quite a large lapse in my intellectual prowess. But it would be irresponsible of me to refrain from sharing this information given I have now reached the same level of enlightenment as the press, with whom I once firmly disagreed. I am willing to accept this to move forward. I was premature and foolish in my thinking. I had too much hope for the future of our planet. I believed it right to judge Bezos fairly in his recent environmentally-conscious activities — to look at them objectively as opposed to viewing them with immediate scorn, jealousy, or engage in unnecessary, or inappropriate, conflation.

I was wrong. I will share with you the naive and idiotic thoughts I once had regarding Bezos’ recent environmental endeavors, so that you might learn from my acute error and forge a life — or environmental career — for yourself that is full of rationality, impartiality, and wisdom. The media’s language this past November suggested that billionaires cannot have good intentions. Ever. This was after Jeff Bezos’ announcement that he would commit $10 billion dollars to fund “organizations, scientists, activists, and NGOs” working to fight climate change and its impacts. This announcement came in the form of an Instagram post, which revealed that the first $791 million dollars had already been allocated to sixteen initial organizations [1]. I saw this list, and recognized names of reputable grantees: the Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, The Nature Conservancy. I saw other names of groups I did not recognize, but upon further research saw that they represented smaller, grassroots organizations that were tackling climate issues through intersectional approaches. I primarily thought this was fantastic news, nothing to gripe about. I thought it odd that article authors were letting their personal opinions about the Amazon CEO encroach on their examination of this personal choice of his. On the less extreme end of the reporting, there was skepticism. But others declared every and any act of billionaire philanthropy —

VOL. 1 ISSUE 1 • SPRING 2021 small or large — as simply a power-play, marketing ploy, or a Swiffer duster meant to clean up a rotten personal image or poor environmental track record. I was not fully on board with this. I wanted to give Bezos the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he had pure intentions. Maybe he was trying to be altruistic in donating an incredible about of his bank account to an important cause. It is apparent that Amazon, being a global shipping company of such a large scale, does not provide a service that is inherently green. Due to its current proliferation, it is fair that company practices should be scrutinized, and any changes that can be made to reduce emissions would be ideal. Amazon’s Climate Pledge is one such initiative, which includes a suite of company changes, but most notable is the company’s pledge to emit net-zero carbon by 2040, ten years ahead of the Paris Agreement goal [2].

people a few more seconds of my time, I realized they were right all along. The information I discovered was beyond disappointing, and when I realized the fraudulent and selfish behavior of this man, I had to do a few things. First, I took off my left shoe and struck myself across the face fifty-seven times, one strike for every year Bezos has lived. I then put my left shoe on my right foot, and the right shoe on my left foot — just to make the day harder for me in general. I then called my mother, and told her I did not want to receive any Christmas gifts until Amazon becomes net carbon-neutral, which now — due to this fraudulence — seems like an indefinite amount of time. I was tempted to burn any Amazon boxes I had lying around—to even collect more from friends — and then bury myself in the ashes.

This same type of scrutiny has been weakly transferred to Bezos’ donation, similar to a paper tattoo character whose arm has lost its way trying to imprint itself on your cheek. I thought it uninspiring to spend futile time shouting online at the billionaire-businessman, accusing him for the potential shady motives behind his donation. I wanted to tell them that Mr. Bezos would not read their angry comment. And not because it was grammatically incorrect, but because the man is busy running the spaceflight company, Blue Origin, and has no time for earthlings. I also just didn’t feel there was sufficient evidence or reason to take even a small division of my precious twenty-four hour day to complain about billionaire philanthropy. Nope! I was wrong! When I gave these fine

What turned me, you ask? Five percent. This percentage cleared the fog from my eyes and allowed me to see this man for who he truly is. The Bezos Earth Fund donation of $10 billion dollars is only around five percent of Jeff Bezos’ net worth: I donate seventy-five percent of my net worth to Jeff Bezos through my Amazon Prime Student membership [3].

TERRA • COMMENTARY / POETRY

Photograph by Steve Jurvetson

Under what guise does Jeff Bezos think he can hide? In what corrupt world do we live? Do not get me wrong: I believe monetary contributions to environmental groups as a positive. What frustrates me is that Bezos’ donation is weak when compared to his massive wallet. The fact that I could somehow believe that this was a good-natured gesture is frankly absurd. He is simply trying to save face. I truly pity myself, but I am at least pleased to know that I found my way eventually. I will always keep my steadfast trust in reporters who carry their own pre-existing agendas. I hope to have made clear by now why Bezos is an environmental criminal and you and your loved ones should refrain from supporting his

publicity stunt. In fact, I may have offered far more evidence than you are able to handle at this moment. So I will end here, for your corporal preservation. However, there is ever more to discover about this mischievous, mysterious man. I am not a conspiratorial woman, but I have concrete evidence that Bezos has committed a frightening, irreversible, and deplorable cultural sin that may be worse than his environmental one: Jeff Bezos has allowed Crocs to keep a consistent hold as a member of the top ten best-selling clothing, shoes, or jewelry items on Amazon — enabling already poor-dressing Americans to pollute our cities not with carbon, but with poor taste.

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A Reckoning By Anna Riek

Flakes settle and traffic slows. Children dash outdoors, Adults stop at the window. Joy tinged with uncertainty. Is snow a dressing Full of healing, Nursing gaping wounds, Slashes from progress? Or is snow just a veil, Shrouding the ugly, Concealing the damage of apathy?

But the sparkle inevitably dulls. The piercing slash of the plow Exposes our wounds. The dressing is ripped, torn And piled to rot. For too many, The moment melts. Quietude is inefficient Inconvenient Uncomfortable. Until the next snowfall.

Do children giggle and screech When snow arrives Because it softens the earth To a quiet Slow Natural state? They smile Because for a moment The world Stops. Do they feel The burden of progress Lifting? And we see What the world could be. What used to be. Snow helps us believe In quietude In a healed earth.

TERRA • BACKMATTER

References P. 1-4

An International Study in Plastic Writers: Kimberly Hwang & Sasha Kostenko [1] Brassaw, B. (2017, July 11). Germany: A Recycling Program That Actually Works. Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https:// earth911.com/business-policy/recycling-in-germany/ [2] Cho, R. (2020, March 13). Recycling in the U.S. is Broken. How Do We Fix It? Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https:// blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2020/03/13/fix-recycling-america/ [3] Environmental Protection Agency. (2012, October). Recycling Regulations in Taiwan and the 4-in-1 Recycling Program. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/ files/2014-05/documents/handout-1a-regulations.pdf [4] Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety. (n.d.). Background: The Development of Waste Policy in Germany. Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://www.bmu.de/en/topics/water-waste-soil/waste-management/waste-policy/ [5] Rapoza, K. (2021, January 11). China Quits Recycling U.S. Trash As Sustainable Start-Up Makes Strides. Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2021/01/10/china-quits-recycling-us-trash-as-sustainablestart-up-makes-strides/?sh=594484b15a56 [6] Reynolds, S. P. (1995). The German Recycling Experiment and Its Lessons for United States Policy. Villanova Environmental Law Journal, 6(1). [7] Rickards, J. (2019, October 23). From “Garbage Island” to a Model of Recycling. Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://topics.amcham.com.tw/2019/10/garbage-island-to-recycling-model/ [8] Rossi, M. (2019, January 03). How Taiwan Has Achieved One of the Highest Recycling Rates in the World. Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-taiwan-has-achieved-one-highest-recycling-ratesworld-180971150/ [9] Simon, S. (2019, April 17). Taipei Trash and Recycling: A Quick and Easy Guide. Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://international.thenewslens.com/article/117330 [10] Staff at Rapid Transition Alliance. (2019, June 18). Taiwan’s transition – from Garbage island to Recycling Leader. Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://www.rapidtransition.org/stories/taiwans-transition-from-garbage-island-to-recycling-leader/#:`:text=In%201993%2C%20Taiwan%20had%20a,trash%20 of%20just%2070%20percent.&text=Now%2C%20it%20has%20 an%20impressive,per%20person%20as%20the%20US.

[11] Staff at the Department of Environmental Protection Taipei City Government. (2020, January 20). Municipal Waste Management. Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://english.dep.gov. taipei/News_Content.aspx?n=010EDE53B1F4A4AF&sms=85FBABE70858A8D4&s=98C0E979E6454330 [12] United States Environmental Protection Agency. (2020, December 04). America Recycles Day. Retrieved February 28, 2021, from https://www.epa.gov/americarecycles/america-recycles-day#:~:text=On%20America%20Recycles%20Day%20 2019,current%20rate%20of%2032%20percent

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Let’s Talk About Oil Writer: Bennet Rosenberg [1] Banerjee, N. (2015). Exxon: The road not taken. United States: InsideClimate News. [2] Beblawi, H. (1987). The Rentier State in the Arab World. Arab Studies Quarterly, 9(4), 383-398. Retrieved March 6, 2021, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/41857943 [3] Downey, M. (2009). Chapter 1: A brief history of oil. In Oil 101 (pp. 1-29). Wooden Table Press. [4] Humphreys, M. (2007). Chapter 1: Introduction. In Escaping the Resource Curse (pp. 1-20). New York: Columbia Univ. Press. [5] International Emissions Independent statistics and analysis, U.S. Energy Information Administration. (n.d.). Retrieved March 06, 2021, from https://www. eia.gov/international/data/world/other-statistics/emissions-by-fuel?pd=40&p=0000000000000000000000000000 000000000000000000000000000f&u=0&f=A&v=mapbubble&a=-&i=none&vo=value&t=C&g=00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001&l=249-ruvvvvvfvtvnvv1vrvvvvfvvvvvvfvvvou20evvvvvvvvvvvvvvs&s=946944000 00&e=1514764800000& [6] Oil and petroleum products explained - Independent statistics and analysis, U.S. Energy Information Administration. (2020, May 12). Retrieved March 06, 2021, from https://www.eia.gov/ energyexplained/oil-and-petroleum-products/ [7] Ross, M. L. (2008). Oil, Islam, and women. American Political Science Review, 102(1), 107-123. doi:10.1017/ s0003055408080040

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[1] Kershner, B., & Tufts, C. (2008). National Wildlife Federation field guide to trees of North America. Sterling Pub. Co.

[1] Associated Press. (2020, May 20). University Of California Completes Fossil Fuel Divestment. Kpbs. Retrieved March 13, 2021, from https://www.kpbs.org/news/2020/may/20/university-of-california-completes-fossil-fuel/#:~:text=The%20University%20of%20California%20announced,as%20solar%20and%20 wind%20power.

Know Your Native Species Writer: Michael Barash

The Urgency of Fossil Fuel Divestment Writer: Ranen Miao

[2] Cornus florida - Plant Finder. Missouri Botanical Garden. https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?kempercode=c280. [3] U.S. eyes 3,000 dogwoods for ‘sakura’ anniversary. The Japan Times. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2012/01/17/national/u-s-eyes-3000-dogwoods-for-sakura-anniversary/.

[2] Butler, J. (2019, April 7). Fossil Free WashU disrupts alumni event, demands divestment. Student Life. https://www.studlife. com/news/2019/04/07/fossil-free-washu-disrupts-alumnievent-demands-divestment/

[4] Missouri Legislature. 10.040. Missouri Revisor of Statutes - Revised Statutes of Missouri, RSMo, Missouri Law, MO Law, Joint Committee on Legislative Research. https://revisor. mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=10.040.

[3] Climate Change Report Warns of Dramatically Warmer World This Century. (2012, November 18). World Bank. Retrieved March 13, 2021, from https://www.worldbank.org/en/ news/feature/2012/11/18/Climate-change-report-warns-dramatically-warmer-world-this-century

[5] Trees of Washington University Arboretum. Arbnet. http:// www.arbnet.org/morton-register/trees-washington-university-arboretum.

[4] Divestment Action on South Africa by US and Canadian Colleges and Universities [Table]. (1988). The Africa Fund.

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Understanding the Environmental Hazards Impacting the Unhoused in St. Louis Writer: Raf Rodriguez [1] Farzan, S. (2021, January 10). Homeless St. Louis Residents Prepare For Looming Encampment Eviction:’We’re Human’. St. Louis Public Radio. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https:// news.stlpublicradio.org/culture-history/2021-01-10/homeless-st-louis-residents-prepare-for-looming-encampment-eviction-were-human [2] Homelessness [Chart]. (n.d.). City of St. Louis Official Website. https://www.stlouis-mo.gov/government/departments/ mayor/initiatives/resilience/equity/opportunity/health-safety/ homelessness.cfm [3] Johnson, B. (2020, July 1). Homelessness spikes in St. Louis County. Star Tribune. https://www.startribune.com/homelessness-spikes-in-st-louis-county/571594322/?refresh=true [4] Tent Mission STL. (2020, April 14). Facebook. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.facebook.com/TentMissionSTL/

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Braiding Sweetgrass Review Writer: Maeve McFadden [1] Kimmerer, R. W. (2013). Braiding Sweetgrass. Milkweed Editions.

[5] Ebsworth-Goold, E. (2019, April 2). Solar expansion continues at Washington University. The Source.Retrieved March 13, 2021, from https://source.wustl.edu/2019/04/solar-expansion-continues-at-washington-university/ [6] Evans, J. (2015, June 8). Fossil fuel investments widely seen as ‘risky’. Financial Times. https://www.ft.com/content/28f003880df3-11e5-9a65-00144feabdc0 [7] Geddes, P. (2012). Do the Investment Math: Building a Carbon-Free Portfolio. In Aperio Group. https://gofossilfree.org/ se/wp-content/uploads/sites/13/2014/07/building_a_carbon_ free_portfolio.pdf [8] Hub Staff Report. (2017, December 12). Johns Hopkins University to divest holdings in major coal producers. Hub. Retrieved March 13, 2021, from https://hub.jhu.edu/2017/12/12/thermalcoal-divestment-board-vote/ [9] Is Divestment an Effective Means of Protest? (2013, January 27). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/01/27/is-divestment-an-effective-means-of-protest [10] Leahy, S. (2017, September 27). Hidden Costs of Climate Change Running Hundreds of Billions a Year. National Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/ climate-change-costs-us-economy-billions-report [11] MacAskill, W. (2015, October 20). Does Divestment Work? The New Yorker. https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/does-divestment-work

TERRA • BACKMATTER [12] McKibben, B. (2014, February 11). Turning Colleges’ Partners Into Pariahs. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes. com/roomfordebate/2013/01/27/is-divestment-an-effectivemeans-of-protest/turning-colleges-partners-into-pariahs [13] Martin, A. D. (2020, March 30). Endowment 101: socially responsible investing. Washington University in St. Louis. Retrieved March 13, 2021, from https://andrewdmartin.wustl.edu/ endowment-101-socially-responsible-investing/ [14] Paraskova, T. (2020, November 3). Energy Stocks Are Now The Worst-Ever Performers In Market History. Oil Prices. Retrieved March 13, 2021, from https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Energy-Stocks-Are-Now-The-Worst-Ever-Performers-In-Market-History.html [15] Pender, C. (2020, March 4). Brown sells 90 percent of fossil fuel investments. The Brown Daily Herald. https://www.browndailyherald.com/2020/03/04/brown-sells-90-percent-fossil-fuelinvestments/ [16] Polakovic, G. (2021, February 17). USC ups commitment to sustainability with new, fossil fuel-free investment strategy. USC News. Retrieved March 13, 2021, from https://news.usc. edu/182493/usc-sustainability-fossil-fuel-free-investment-strategy/ [17] Respaut, R. (2015, January 27). University of Maine Board votes to divest from coal. Reuters.Retrieved March 13, 2021, from https://www.reuters.com/article/maine-university-coal/ university-of-maine-board-votes-to-divest-from-coal-idUSL1N0V62N320150127 [18] Schrader, R. (2020, December 9). New York Announces Historic Fossil Fuel Divestment Plan. NRDC.Retrieved March 13, 2021, from https://www.nrdc.org/experts/rich-schrader/ new-york-announces-historic-fossil-fuel-divestment-plan [19] Scientific Consensus: Earth’s Climate Is Warming [Infographic]. (2020). Nasa. https://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/ [20] Seltzer, R. (2020, April 22). American U Divests From Fossil Fuels. Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved March 13, 2021, from https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2020/04/22/american-u-divests-fossil-fuels [21] Special Report: Global Warming of 1.5 ºC [Press release]. (n.d.). https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/ [22] suvppr. (2019, April 15). Senate CRE Letter on Divestment from Fossil Fuels. WashU Student Union.Retrieved March 13, 2021, from https://su.wustl.edu/blog/2019/04/15/senate-cre-letter-on-divestment-from-fossil-fuels/

[23] Taylor, C. (2019, January 4). Republic withdraws public money from fossil fuel investments. The Irish Times. https://www.irishtimes.com/business/energy-and-resources/republic-withdraws-public-money-from-fossil-fuel-investments-1.3747740#:~:te x t=Ireland%20Strategic%20 Investment%20Fund%20divests%20from%2038%20companies%2C%20raising%20%E2%82%AC68m&text=The%20 State%20has%20become%20one,from%20investment%20 in%20fossil%20fuels. [24] Wines, M. (2014, May 6). Stanford to Purge $18 Billion Endowment of Coal Stock. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/07/education/stanford-to-purge-18-billionendowment-of-coal-stock.html [25] Wirz, M. (2020, July 14). Universities Cut Oil Investments as Student Activism Builds. The Wall Street Journal. https:// www.wsj.com/articles/universities-cut-oil-investments-as-student-activism-builds-11594719181#:~:text=U.S.%20university%20and%20college%20endowments,discourse%20since%20George%20Floyd%20was

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Environmental Research Spotlight: Dr. Glenn Stone Writer: Courtney Lasserre [1] Ledford, H. & Callaway, E. (2020, October 7). Pioneers of revolutionary CRISPR gene editing win chemistry Nobel. Nature. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02765-9 [2] Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2020, January 31). Green revolution. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved March 10, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/event/green-revolution [3] Glenn Davis Stone [Photograph]. (n.d.). Washington University in St. Louis Department of Anthropology. https://anthropology.wustl.edu/people/glenn-davis-stone

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Should We All Go Vegan? Writer: Jane Whellan [1] Animals United Movement A.U.M. (2014). The Sustainability Secret. COWSPIRACY. https://www.cowspiracy.com/. [2] Thornton, P., Herrero, M., & Ericksen, P. (2011, November). Livestock and climate change. https://cgspace.cgiar.org/ bitstream/handle/10568/10601/IssueBrief3.pdf?sequence=6&isAllowed=y. [3] Dopelt, K., Radon, P., & Davidovitch, N. (2019, April 16). Environmental Effects of the Livestock Industry: The Relationship between Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior among Students in Israel. International journal of environmental research and public health. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/ PMC6518108/.

VOL. 1 ISSUE 1 • SPRING 2021 [4] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2019). Water use in livestock production systems and supply chains. http://www.fao.org/3/ca5685en/ca5685en.pdf. [5] Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2009). Livestock in the balance. FAO. http://www.fao.org/publications/sofa/2009/en/. [6] Meat Fuels America. North American Meat Institute. (2016). http://meatfuelsamerica.com/sites/default/files/docs/News%20 Release%20Meat%20Fuel%20America%202016.pdf [7] Springmann, M., Godfray, H. C., Rayner, M., & Scarborough, P. (2016). Analysis and valuation of the health and climate change cobenefits of dietary change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(15), 4146–4151. https://doi.org/10.1073/ pnas.1523119113 [8] Mango, A. (2021). This Drastic Diet Change Helped Venus Williams Fight Her Autoimmune Condition. Health.com. https:// www.health.com/condition/autoimmune-disease/venus-williams-raw-vegan-diet. [9] Craig, W. J. (2009, March 11). Health effects of vegan diets. OUP Academic. https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/89/5/1627S/4596952.

[10] PETA. (2013, October 14). Vegan options are more expensive than their nonvegetarian counterparts. Can I afford to go vegan? PETA. https://www.peta.org/about-peta/faq/vegan-options-aremore-expensive-than-their-nonvegetarian-counterparts-can-iafford-to-go-vegan/. [11] USDA. (2017). Documentation. USDA ERS - Documentation. https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas/documentation/.

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Don’t Blame Bezos Writer: Selaam Dollisso [1] Bezos, J (2020, November 16). Jeff Bezos [@jeffbezos]. https://www.instagram.com/p/CHpwxnvHufz/ [2] Amazon. (n.d.). The Climate Pledge. Amazon. https://sustainability.aboutamazon.com/about/the-climate-pledge [3] Forbes. (2021, March 20). #1 Jeff Bezos, CEO and Founder, Amazon. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeffbezos/?sh=2999f7051b23

TERRA • BACKMATTER

Northern Lights Over Churchill, Manitoba Photography Alexandra Crotty

VOL. 1 ISSUE 1 • SPRING 2021