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Taking Action to Counteract Climate Anxiety

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Taking Action to Counteract Climate Anxiety

This year my young family decided we were ready for some new adventures here in the Chicagoland area.  With strong recommendations from friends, we decided to visit the Museum of Science + Industry Chicago last month.  Although my husband had enjoyed many school trips to the museum as a child, this was my first time venturing to the historic landmark.   As we made our way past the coal mine elevator and space travel exhibits, we saw signs for The Blue Paradox exhibit.  “What will this be about?” I wondered to myself.

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See Award-Winning Films on Sept. 22, at Gene Siskel Film Center + Online

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See Award-Winning Films on Sept. 22, at Gene Siskel Film Center + Online

During the past year, One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest received 400 submissions from 55 countries and 36 states. Australia, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Poland, and United Kingdom will be represented among top winners, along with the U.S. states of California, Florida, Illinois, and Virginia. The Global Awards Celebration will take place at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 22, in person at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St., in Chicago, or online virtually anywhere in the world. A special online screening for those in Asia/ Pacific is also available.

Fashion for Good in Amsterdam

Fashion for Good in Amsterdam

This past March, my husband and I had the good fortune to visit the Fashion for Good Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands—an interactive museum that tells “the stories behind the clothes you wear and how your choices can have a positive impact on people and our planet.”

The health of the planet is top of mind for people in Amsterdam—something we learned almost as soon as we arrived, as the cab driver who took us from the airport to our hotel, driving a fully electric vehicle, mentioned the concern: Amsterdam is below sea level, likely to feel heavy impacts of climate change, and thus, a place that is working toward solutions and adaptations.

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Beyond Bloodshed: The Environmental Ravages of War

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Beyond Bloodshed: The Environmental Ravages of War

When a country is at war, both its people and its biodiversity are under attack. As warfare kills, wounds, and traumatizes countless humans, it also destroys, damages, and endangers soil, air, water, wildlife, flora, and fauna—elements that all humans depend on for life. Warfare is, in short, an act of destruction that disproportionately affects all the planet’s essential ecosystems.

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Bucking the Trend: Buildings Bought for $1, Rebranded, and Greened Up

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Bucking the Trend: Buildings Bought for $1, Rebranded, and Greened Up

In Chicago, it’s possible to buy an old, deteriorating building for one dollar, provided you promise to save it from the wrecking ball and spend your money renovating it. Not only do you avoid the wasted energy and resources associated with demolition and starting from scratch, but you can also make the building more sustainable in the process.

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Why Coke Stopped Using Glass Bottles

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Why Coke Stopped Using Glass Bottles

The story of this stuff begins in the once-upon-a-time land of the late 1800s, when Coca-Cola was an environmentalist’s dream—served in stylish, refillable glass bottles that were washed and reused dozens of times. Today, however, according to the Story of Stuff website, Coke has become the world's biggest plastic producer and polluter, “pumping out a quarter of a million plastic bottles every minute . . . almost one-quarter (23%) of the world’s PET plastic bottles.”