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Will Tackle Its 92 Million Tons of Annual Waste   “Egret,” a woodcut print by environmental artist Pippin Frisbie-Calder. Wikimedia In recent years, the art world has begun a significant shift toward environmental responsibility. Artists, institutions, collectors, and consumers are aligning creativity with elements like reducing waste, integrating renewable energy, and eco-friendly policies. Here are some of the gains being made, according to Gitnux’s Sustainability in the Art Industry Statistics, 2025 . The global art market’s carbon footprint is estimated at 8.4 million tons of CO₂ annually.  The global art industry produces about 92 million tons of waste each year. Much of it is non-biodegradable. Digital art exhibitions typically have about a 25% lower carbon footprint than traditional brick-and-mortar exhibitions. For the past five years, solar-powered lighting has increased by 150% in outdoor art installations. The trend toward digital catalogs and virtual exhibitions saves approximately 2,000 tons of paper per year. Textile waste from art and exhibition manufacturing has declined by about 40% due to environmentally conscious practices. Artworks made with sustainable materials have an average carbon footprint that is about 30% lower than those made with conventional materials. The use of biodegradable pigments in art production has grown by 50%. Approximately 60% of art institutions report implementing some form of eco-friendly policies in the past five years. The number of green-certified art galleries worldwide reached about 200 in 2023, growing at roughly 20% annually. Seventy percent of art collectors say they are willing to pay a premium for eco-friendly artworks. Between 2018 and 2022, eco-friendly art supply companies increased by 45%.   Source: https://gitnux.org/sustainability-in-the-art-industry-statistics/

Insect Carries a Fungus That Ravages Forests and Threatens Avocado Industry Two redbay ambrosia beetles on a US dime. Kelsea Young, Clemson University Discovered near the port of Savannah, Georgia, in 2002, the invasive redbay ambrosia beetle  and its symbiotic laurel wilt fungus have already destroyed an estimated 500 million redbay , sassafras , spicebush, camphor, and swamp bay trees. The beetle–fungus duo also poses an imminent threat to the US and Mexican avocado industries because the fungus is deadly to all plants in the laurel family, which includes avocado trees. “Laurel wilt has caused widespread and severe levels of redbay mortality in the Southeastern coastal plain,” said the Mississippi Forestry Commission . The ambrosia beetle is “believed to have been introduced in wooden crating material imported through the shipment of goods from its native range in southeast Asia,” the agency noted. Redbays are small trees that are common in forest understories in the US and worldwide. According to a Clemson University factsheet  on ambrosia beetles, researchers have recently confirmed the beetle's presence as far north as New York’s Long Island, with one expert noting that it “can spread like a fire.” The US Forest Service , which tracks laurel wilt damage , says 312 US counties are currently affected. The fungus clogs the trees’ water-conducting tissues, causing the trees to dehydrate, wilt, and die within a few weeks. The spread of the fungus is particularly alarming, as 90% of the US avocado supply comes from Mexico, and a significant number of avocado orchards are in California and Florida. Ramping Up a Response A typical redbay tree. Santafesandy/iNaturalist In response to the growing danger, scientists are working on solutions. A team from the University of Florida's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS) recently secured  a $5 million grant to combat the disease. And researchers are looking in Mexico and Guatemala for avocado trees that are naturally resistant to laurel wilt. These initiatives are crucial for protecting the lucrative avocado industry, which fuels long-term economic growth for both the US and Mexico. With the beetle continuing its march and threatening one of the world’s most popular fruits, the fight against the laurel wilt fungus is more important than ever.

Novel Model Uses UK Data to Give Forecasting a Try Doctors keep meticulous details on their patients’ health. iStock Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to help doctors understand disease risk, progression, and treatments. In a September study in Nature , researchers report using an AI model called Delphi-2M to identify patterns of progression in over 1,000 diseases, based on hundreds of thousands of medical records. The AI model was found to reliably track and predict outcomes both in the short term and 20 years out. Study highlights include: Delphi-2M was trained on data from about 402,800 individuals in the UK Biobank, validated internally on nearly 100,600 UK individuals, and tested externally on around 1.93 million Danish individuals.   The model predicted rates for more than 1,000 diseases and included death as an outcome. In the UK internal validation, AI predictions were above average, at about  0.76  in a statistical measure known as “area under curve,” or AUC. AUC dropped to roughly 0.70 when examining prediction horizons of 10 years. External validation on Danish data showed somewhat lower but correlated performance (average AUC ≈ 0.67). Delphi-2M can sample entire future health trajectories based on past health up to a given age (e.g., age 60), and these synthetic trajectories show disease incidence patterns that come close to observed real-world data for ages 70–75.  Using SHAP (Shapley Additive Explanations)—a method that aids in understanding how different health factors influenced the final prediction—the study showed how disease diagnoses cluster. For example, cancers raise long-term mortality risk. Modeling was limited for older age groups (especially over 80 years) because of lack of data. Researchers suggested that advancements in this field could support precision medicine by tailoring screening or diagnostic interventions based on an individual's predicted trajectory.  Caution: Predictions are probabilistic, not deterministic; multiple future health trajectories are possible for any given individual. Clusters or associations in predictions do not imply causation.    Source : Learning the natural history of human disease with generative transformers. Nature .  17 September 2025.

Used Clothing Sales Expected to Grow 9% a Year through 2029 Thrifting has gone mainstream. Unaihuiziphotography/ iStock In recent years, thrifting—buying secondhand clothing, furniture, and goods—has shifted from fringe to mainstream behavior in the US and worldwide. A recent report from Capital One Shopping, Thrifting Statistics (2025): Industry Size, Revenue & Growth Rate, tracks the size of the thrifting market, who is participating in it, and where the sector is headed. The US secondhand market, currently worth about $56 billion as of 2025, is up 14.3% from 2024. Since 2018, the U.S. secondhand market has grown by about 143.5%, with resale alone growing a massive 650% over that period. Traditional thrift and donation operations represent roughly $26 billion (46.4%) of this market; resale (commercial consignment or secondhand) accounts for the remaining $30 billion (53.6%). Apparel is a big part of this shift: Secondhand apparel sales are projected to keep growing about 9% annually through 2029. About 16–18% of Americans shop at thrift stores each year; 12–15% shop at resale or consignment stores. In 2024, 58% of US shoppers purchased secondhand apparel. Additionally, about 75% have either purchased or say they’re open to purchasing secondhand. Younger generations are leading the charge. For example, 83% of Gen Z consumers have either bought or are interested in secondhand apparel; 34% always shop thrift stores first; many look at the resale value before buying. Online resale is becoming especially important: In 2024, US fashion resale platforms generated $16.8 billion in sales, up 18.5% from 2023. Purchasing secondhand instead of new saves on average 8.41 pounds of carbon emissions, 16.48 kWh of energy, and 88.89 gallons of water per item. Even so, only around 14.7% of textile waste is recycled, while a large share ends up in landfills.   Source: Capital One Shopping

European Union Aiming for 25% Organic Land by 2030 Organic farming in Virginia, US. USDA/ Flickr Global organic farming is experiencing steady expansion, with both acreage and adoption rates rising in key regions. While the United States remains among the top producers, other countries have surged ahead in both acreage and share of total agricultural land under organic management. Here are highlights from the USDA’s Organic Situation Report 2025 Edition , citing data from 2022: Worldwide organic and transitioning farmland reached nearly 240 million acres in 2022, marking a 543% increase since 2000. About 2% of global agricultural land is now certified organic. The European Union’s Farm to Fork Strategy aims for 25% organic land by 2030. Australia leads the world with 131 million acres dedicated to organic production. The next nine leading nations are India, Argentina, China, France, Uruguay, Spain, Italy, the US, and Germany. The US ranking fell to ninth in 2022 (it was eighth in 2021 and third in 2015). Regional growth is strongest in Oceania, with 48% (largest absolute growth). Asia and Latin America are second and third, with 36% and 11% growth, respectively. Africa grew its organic acreage by 5%, Europe by 1% and North America by 0.6%.   Source: https://ers.usda.gov/sites/default/files/_laserfiche/publications/110884/EIB-281.pdf?v=54268

A Simple Aluminum–Water Process Could Deliver Green Hydrogen without Greenhouse Gases By Rick Laezman* Aly Kombargi (left) and Niko Tsakiris of MIT work on a reactor setup that generates hydrogen gas by mixing aluminum pellets, seawater, and caffeine. Tony Pulsone, courtesy of Aly Kombargi What if the world’s clean energy revolution could be powered by its garbage?    A team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineers has unveiled a deceptively simple process that extracts hydrogen—one of the cleanest fuels on earth—by mixing seawater, coffee grounds, and scrap aluminum.     Currently, the extraction of hydrogen from its natural state often involves the use of fossil fuels that emit large quantities of greenhouse gases . But the MIT process produces no emissions—and might just unlock hydrogen’s long-awaited promise as a fuel source.     Why Hydrogen?   Hydrogen,  the most abundant element in the universe , is found in nature as a trace atmospheric gas (H 2 ) or tightly chemically combined with other elements.    It is used as a fuel in two ways : It can be burned in an internal combustion engine, just like gasoline in a car. It can also be used in a fuel cell, which generates an electrical current by combining hydrogen with oxygen electrochemically, without combustion. The fuel cell is the cleaner method of the two because its only by-product is water.   A prototype electric car at MIT powered by an aluminum-seawater hydrogen generator. Courtesy of Aly Kombargi In either case, hydrogen first must be extracted from various compounds and captured  before it can be consumed as a fuel source. The most common and efficient large-scale production methods create what’s called gray hydrogen  because they rely on the burning of fossil fuels, which generate emissions. For example, the most common of these, the steam–methane reforming method, generates hydrogen by combining steam with the methane contained in natural gas. While it is the most cost-effective method for separating hydrogen, it also produces carbon dioxide, the most prevalent of greenhouse gases. MIT’s aluminum–seawater hydrogen generator is built into a prototype electric bike. Courtesy of Aly Kombargi In contrast, green hydrogen  captures the full potential of hydrogen as a clean fuel by separating the gas through processes generated by other clean resources. For example, electrolysis uses an electrical current to separate hydrogen from water molecules. When the electricity that it uses is itself generated by renewable sources, like the sun or the wind, the process is sustainable and completely emissions-free throughout its life cycle (excluding, of course, emissions generated by the construction of solar panels and wind turbines and the mining of the materials that compose them). Of course, green hydrogen has become a highly prized resource  as society pursues emissions-free energy generation. These methods are especially valuable when they can be done at large, commercial scale. Capturing large volumes of hydrogen for consumption without generating any greenhouse gases represents the ideal solution to the dual challenge of rising global energy demand and rising atmospheric and oceanic temperatures.   Toward that end, the researchers at MIT are confident that they have advanced a viable method for extracting green hydrogen.   How Does It Work? Aly Kombargi is a recent graduate from MIT with a PhD in mechanical engineering and the lead author of the study in the August 2024 issue of Cell Reports Physical Science , which first described the MIT research. He partnered with fellow MIT students Brooke Bao and Enoch Ellis, and MIT Professor of Mechanical Engineering Douglas Hart.   Kombargi was looking for “a way to make hydrogen that could be generated on demand and consumed close to where it is needed.” A illustration of MIT's aluminum–water reaction that produces hydrogen gas (H–H or H 2 ) and is catalyzed by caffeine (imidazole). Courtesy of Aly Kombargi Kombargi told The Earth & I  that the project appealed to him because he was looking for “a way to make hydrogen that could be generated on demand and consumed close to where it is needed.” This distributed approach to hydrogen, much like rooftop solar panels and small, residential wind turbines, would make the resource more easily dispatched in remote and off-grid locations by avoiding the costly, energy-intensive limitations of bulk hydrogen generation, such as high-pressure storage, cryogenics, and the need for a large supply of electricity. If their project proved to be successful, added Kombargi, they would have “a compact, dispatchable ‘solid hydrogen carrier’ that works even off-grid or at sea.”   The process he and his colleagues employed relies on the aluminum–water reaction  (AWR). Aluminum is a highly reactive metal that aggressively grabs the oxygen atom in water (H 2 O), releasing hydrogen gas (H 2 ) and forming aluminum oxide , a highly versatile industrial compound, while generating heat. The AWR is not a new concept. In fact, it is more than 100 years old. The concept of producing hydrogen from the reaction of metals with water was first proposed by American chemist G.F. Barker in his paper entitled “On Alloys of Gallium and Aluminum,” which was published in 1880 in the American Journal of Science.  It has remained a subject of study ever since.   To make their scrap aluminum reactable with water, however, the MIT researchers had to overcome a significant hurdle. Because of aluminum’s reactivity, it bonds with oxygen in the air, creating a superthin shield of aluminum oxide on the metal’s surface.   To break the oxide shield, Kombargi and his team used gallium–indium , a rare-metal alloy that effectively scrubs aluminum of its oxide. Similar to mercury, the alloy has a very low melting point, often below room temperature, so that it can be used as a liquid metal that can adhere easily to other surfaces. Unlike toxic mercury, the alloy is considered a safer alternative  in many applications.   For their research, the MIT engineers treated aluminum with gallium–indium to prepare it for the AWR. For the H 2 O component, they used seawater instead of freshwater, which added another positive element to their experiment. They discovered that the salt in the water helped to recapture the gallium–indium, which could be reused to generate yet more hydrogen, lowering the cost of the process and making the cycle more sustainable.   With a low concentration of imidazole, a structural component of caffeine, they could produce the same amount of hydrogen in just five minutes, compared with two hours without it.   Not satisfied with the initial results of their experiment, the MIT researchers made an additional refinement. After testing out different kitchen and laundry products, they discovered  that Dunkin’s coffee sped up the process. They determined that, with a low concentration of imidazole, a structural component of caffeine, they could produce the same amount of hydrogen in just five minutes, compared with two hours without it. Comparing Emissions Because the appeal of hydrogen as a fuel lies in its lack of carbon emissions as well as in its abundance, the MIT researchers set out to conduct a “life cycle study” to determine how emissions-free their process really is.   Depending on the emissions produced during the extraction–transportation–consumption life cycles of hydrogen produced by various means, the gas is denoted by the colors  green, gray, blue, black, brown, yellow, white, pink, and even turquoise. Only green hydrogen is completely life-cycle emissions-free. A video   showing the process for producing hydrogen gas from aluminum and seawater. The engineers performed their analysis using Earthster , an online life cycle assessment tool that draws data from a large repository of products and processes to determine their associated carbon emissions. They found  that the most cost-effective scenario consists of generating 1 kilogram (2.2 lbs) of hydrogen—which can drive a car 60 to 100 kilometers (about 40 to 60 miles)—using recycled aluminum (instead of mined aluminum) combined with seawater (rather than freshwater). This process emits about 1.45 kilograms of carbon dioxide for every kilogram of hydrogen produced. They note that by comparison, fossil-fuel-based processes emit 11 kilograms of carbon dioxide per kilogram of hydrogen generated. They add that their process is also “on par” with other green hydrogen technologies powered by solar and wind energy.   The process is also cost effective. The researchers’ analysis calculated the cost of the fuel produced at about $9 per kilogram, which they point out is comparable to the price of hydrogen that would be generated with other green technologies. (By comparison, gray hydrogen (from natural gas) costs $1.50–$2.50 per kilogram to produce.)   Scaling Up   Eventually, the researchers hope their process could be scaled up to generate hydrogen in large volumes, thereby lowering the cost for consumers. For example, Kombargi envisions  a production chain starting with scrap aluminum sourced from a recycling center. The aluminum would be shredded into pellets and treated with gallium–indium. Capitalizing on the stored energy potential of the treated aluminum, drivers could transport the pretreated pellets as aluminum “fuel,” rather than directly transporting hydrogen, which is highly flammable.   The pellets would be transported to a fuel station, ideally situated near a source of seawater, which could then be mixed with the aluminum to produce hydrogen. As study author Kombargi told The Earth & I , “Aluminum is energy-dense, stable to transport as a solid, and globally available, including as scrap.” This makes it an ideal candidate to transport as stored hydrogen energy to remote locations where generating hydrogen would otherwise be difficult, impractical, or impossible using conventional methods. Consumers could pump the gas into their cars powered by either an internal combustion engine or a fuel cell.   Along those lines, Kombargi and his team are developing  a small reactor that could run on a marine vessel or underwater vehicle. If successful, the technology offers a promising method to provide reliable energy for remote communities and disaster relief, and it can make use of recycled aluminum while reducing the need for other, more harmful methods of energy production. As society strives to find plentiful and practical sources of fuel for increased energy production while also reducing carbon emissions, hydrogen deserves all the attention it receives. Methods like the aluminum–water reactor could be the right approach to bring hydrogen into the mainstream. *Richard Laezman  is a freelance writer in Los Angeles, California. He has a passion for energy efficiency and innovation. He has been covering renewable power and other related subjects for more than 10 years.

Indigenous Scholar’s Advocacy Draws on Tribal Traditions By Yasmin Prabhudas* Robin Wall Kimmerer: All living beings “are our family.”   istock Becoming a botanist was a natural career path for Robin Wall Kimmerer , a Potawatomi citizen . The professor of environmental biology and best-selling author grew up in upstate New York, where she loved to wander through the countryside and forests. Her books include Braiding Sweetgrass , Gathering Moss , and The Serviceberry . They emphasize the need to acknowledge a reciprocal relationship with the living world, highlighting particularly the contribution of the Indigenous wisdom of communities such as her own. Kimmerer focuses on how traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) should play a prominent role in conservation. She encourages communities, policymakers, and educators to recognize nature’s own agency, as this is vital for the sake of the planet and humanity’s well-being. Plant Elders In an interview with Krista Tippett in the On Being podcast, Kimmerer explains: “I was lucky enough to grow up in the fields, in the woods of upstate New York … but disappointed also in that I grew up away from the Potawatomi people by virtue of history, of the history of removal and the taking of children to the Indian boarding schools  [Her paternal grandfather had to attend one such boarding school]. “The questions that I had about who I was in the world, what the world was like, those are questions that I really wished I'd had a cultural elder to ask, but I didn't. But I had the woods to ask […] they really became my doorway into culture. In the absence of human elders, I had plant elders instead.” “In the absence of human elders, I had plant elders instead.” Robin Wall Kimmerer: “Where in the conservation dogma does love appear?” Indigenou s Knowledge and Science A watershed moment came when Kimmerer participated in a gathering of traditional knowledge holders while a PhD student. She commented during the podcast interview how their conversations “interwove mythic knowledge and scientific knowledge into this beautiful cultural natural history.” She has not looked back since. In a 2002 article, “ Weaving Traditional Ecological Knowledge into Biological Education: A Call to Action ,” she states: “TEK observations tend to be qualitative, and they create a diachronic database, that is, a record of observations from a single locale over a long time period. The National Science Foundation, in its support of the Long-Term Ecological Research program , has validated the importance of such continuous data. “In TEK, the observers tend to be the resource users themselves, for example, hunters, fishers, and gatherers whose harvesting success is inextricably linked to the quality and reliability of their ecological observations. In contrast, scientific observations made by a small group of professionals tend to be quantitative and often represent synchronic data or simultaneous observations from a wide range of sites, which frequently lack the long-term perspective of TEK.” Kimmerer believes both insights are required to connect fully with the natural world. Sacredness of All Beings Kimmerer further takes inspiration from the Anishinaabe language of her Potawatomi ancestors. In an article titled “ Nature Needs a New Pronoun: To Stop the Age of Extinction, Let’s Start by Ditching ‘It,’”  she argues that English grammar can define a person’s relationship with the living world. “The language allows no form of respect for the more-than-human beings with whom we share the Earth,” she says. “In English, a being is either a human or an ‘it.’” This, she states, reinforces the idea that human beings are “more deserving of the gifts of the world than the other 8.7 million species with whom we share the planet.” Using “it,” she believes, absolves humans of moral responsibility and promotes exploitation. She says: “When sugar maple is an ‘it,’ we give ourselves permission to pick up the saw. ‘It’ means it doesn’t matter.” “It’ means it doesn’t matter.” Kimmerer: “When sugar maple is an ‘it,’ we give ourselves permission to pick up the saw.” iStock In Anishinaabe and many other Indigenous languages, however, all living beings are addressed in the same way as family members. “Because they are our family,” she explains. She suggests introducing new pronouns for the natural world— ki  for the singular and kin for the plural. Reciprocity Tied into the idea of nature as family is reciprocity. During the podcast interview , she says “sustainability” has embedded in it the idea that human beings have ownership over the natural world, entitling them to continue to consume its resources. “The notion of reciprocity is really different from that […]  because what it says is   that our role as human people is not just to take from the Earth, and the role of the Earth is not just to provide for our single species. So, reciprocity actually kind of broadens this notion to say that not only does the Earth sustain us, but that we have the capacity and the responsibility to sustain her in return.” “Not only does the Earth sustain us, but … we have the capacity and the responsibility to sustain her in return.” This is highlighted in Braiding Sweetgrass  when she talks about strawberry picking: “The field gave to us, we gave to my dad, and we tried to give back to the strawberries. When the berry season was done, the plants would send out slender red runners to make new plants. Because I was fascinated by the way they would travel over the ground looking for good places to take root, I would weed out little patches of bare ground where the runners touched down. Sure enough, tiny little roots would emerge from the runner and by the end of the season there were even more plants, ready to bloom under the next Strawberry Moon. … Because they had given us a gift, an ongoing relationship opened between us.” Similarly, in Gathering Moss , Kimmerer outlines the lessons mosses can teach. In her interview with Tippett , she claims they are “really good storytellers in the way that they live.” They have an “ability to cooperate with one another to share the limited resources that they have to really give more than they take,” she says. She adds: “Mosses build soil; they purify water. They are like the coral reefs of the forest. They make homes for this myriad of all these very cool little invertebrates who li ve in there. They are just engines of biodiversity. They do all of these things and yet, you know, they're only a centimeter tall.” Kimmerer: “Mosses give more than they take.” Joseph Reagle, CC BY-SA 4.0 Stewardship Kimmerer’s philosophy is implemented in the real world through the Center of Native Peoples and The Environment , which she established under the auspices of the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Along with offering fellowship and scholarship opportunities, it organizes programs that create a bridge between scientific approaches to stewardship and Indigenous nations’ TEK. In one initiative, Growing Plants, Growing Knowledge: Restoration Education , students from the university work with Onondaga Nation  young people to learn about ecological activities at Onondaga Lake , including cultivating plants and restoring wetlands. The project not only aimed to promote environmental stewardship but also to encourage Native American young people to take part in higher education environmental science programs. Other initiatives involving students and Native American communities have included working on community gardens, plant knowledge revitalization, and forest and biodiversity monitoring. Students equipped with an understanding of Indigenous ways can become better trained scientists and environmental activists as a result, Kimmerer says in her conversation with Tippett. A Call to Reconnect with Nature Kimmerer encourages people to show their love for nature by taking time out to help restore the land by, for example, getting involved in tree planting, community gardens, farm-to-school projects, and local and organic schemes. She comments : “Just as the land shares food with us, we share food with each other and then contribute to the flourishing of that place that feeds us.” *Yasmin Prabhudas   is a freelance journalist working mainly for nonprofit organizations, labor unions, the education sector, and government agencies.

How Motivational Interviewing Can Spur Climate Action By Becky Hoag* How do we awaken to protecting nature? istock Surely if the right fact was presented to someone, they would feel compelled to act on climate change and other pressing environmental issues. This has been the thought process and hope of many environmentalists and scientists for decades. To some extent, providing the public and lawmakers with facts has helped move the needle. Humanity is now heading for 3℃ of warming  above pre-industrial levels by 2100 instead of the 5℃ once projected in the early 2000s . In the last 25 years, countries have seen a drastic increase in concern about climate change, which has spurred policies and technological developments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Positive, yes, but still a far cry from what is needed to avoid the destruction of coral reefs and more than a foot of sea level rise. Bleached coral reefs at Byron Bay, Australia. pexels Humans may not be as logical as some like to think they are. Oftentimes, being told facts or what to do can cause people to get defensive or disconnected from the conversation. But psychological research supports promoting conversations where each side feels heard and can comfortably come to their own conclusions. Therapy practices have evolved to recognize this, with one of the most consequential methods being an approach known as “motivational interviewing.” Co-developed to Treat Addiction Motivational interviewing was co-developed by Dr. William Miller and Dr. Stephen Rollnick in the 1980s to address substance use disorders. As its name suggests, this therapy technique is used to build patients’ motivation to change their behaviors. This is done by asking the patient what their goals are and then helping them work backwards to determine what needs to be done to reach those goals—a technique also known as change talk . This is done by asking the patient what their goals are and then helping them work backwards to determine what needs to be done to reach those goals—a technique also known as change talk. “Presenting people with information—if it bounces up with a core belief which contradicts with that information—is not going to change them,” explained Dr. Tim Kasser, researcher and Knox College emeritus professor. “I think this is the fundamental thing that [motivational interviewing] recognizes and why it’s so important for addiction.” Motivational interviewing focuses on showing empathy and supporting a patient’s self-efficacy. It is designed to highlight areas where present circumstances and future goals are not lining up, and it is particularly effective for situations where a patient is resistant to change or potential solutions. Since growing in popularity in therapeutic spaces surrounding substance abuse, research has shown motivational interviewing to be effective for addressing weight loss, medication adherence, cancer care, diabetes care, and health behaviors in children. But what about climate change? Climate Change—An Emotional Topic “There’s all these people out there saying our consumerism is an addiction and our use of resources beyond their ability to regenerate is an addiction as well,” Kasser recalled. “And so I started thinking, ‘If that’s true, then theoretically there should be a treatment that should help with that, if it really is an addiction.”  Climate change is an emotional topic. istock Kasser explored this connection with an international group of researchers in a 2016 paper  published in the journal Ecological Economics . As with other therapy topics, climate change is a very emotional subject that some people are more open to discussing than others. It can make people feel scared, angry, defensive, or overwhelmed. Its causes and solutions are also deeply tied to politics because fossil fuels are so engrained in most countries’ current economic and infrastructure systems. People feel strongly about how much control local, state, and federal governments should have. Overall, both problems and solutions can make people feel a loss of control and vulnerable. As with other therapy topics, climate change is a very emotional subject that some people are more open to discussing than others. Beyond Information—How to Motivate “Righting” can be the wrong approach. istock “Information bounces off of belief,” Kasser said. “And what I think [motivational interviewing]  recognizes, and what I think most environmental strategists have recognized, is that information alone is insufficient. You need to have motivation as well. But you’re not going to get motivation by yelling at people or shaming people or arguing with people. It can provide a motivation, but it’s a low quality of motivation that is not going to sustain itself once you leave the room.” It can feel easier to tell people what to do, and people can naturally feel the need to correct someone’s thinking, a reflex called righting . But psychological research shows this can be unhelpful. “It’s a complete flipping of the script on how we generally approach changemaking and advocacy and activism,” said Dr. Renée Lertzman , environmental engagement consultant and founder of Project InsideOut. “Most of us who work in environmental activism tend to default to a yell, tell, or sell approach, which is rooted in a very old, outdated theory of change that makes an assumption that if people knew more, if people raised awareness, or if we created enough nudging or incentivizing, people would actually shift.” Lertzman believes that people continue to use this old method because they’re unaware that there are other communication methods out there. That’s why she developed Project InsideOut , an organization that connects environmental activists with clinical psychologists and evidence-based research to more effectively tackle climate and sustainability issues. Through her consulting work, Lertzman helps groups within big companies and organizations like Google and PBS to spur long-lasting progress toward sustainability goals. This work leans heavily on motivational interviewing’s focus on “guiding” instead of righting. “The spirit of [motivational interviewing] is truly rooted in a fundamental respect for the dignity and the integrity and the volition of others for their own actions,” Lertzman explained. “So, you come in with this orientation of ‘I am not trying to make you change. I’m actually here to be a partner with you.’” “The spirit of [motivational interviewing] is truly rooted in a fundamental respect for the dignity and the integrity and the volition of others for their own actions.” Lertzman told The Earth & I  that, after she introduces an organization’s employees to motivational interviewing, she immediately sees a change in how they engage with their stakeholders. People who feel heard and become connected to potential changes are more likely to buy into or vote positively on those changes. The Five Guiding Principles Attuning to the client. istock “I created these five principles  for guiding—and number one is attuning ,” Lertzman said. “When we attune to the anxieties, the ambivalence, and the aspirations that people have, we become much more open.” The other four principles are reveal  (be a compassionate truth-teller), convene (talk to, not at, your people), equip  (grow people’s capacities), and sustain (build ongoing momentum).   Results can vary, but Lertzman said that many groups she’s worked with have found that progress happens more quickly once they use the guiding principles because they don’t feel like they must constantly convince stakeholders every step of the way. Finding What People Care About Employing motivational interviewing techniques can require more work than just telling someone what to do, but research shows that helping people find their own motivation creates a more lasting impact. In a 2018 study , Kasser and a Knox College master’s student, Sofia Tagkaloglou, found that motivational interviewing helped people adopt and sustain new environmental habits, especially for participants who already had a propensity for pro-environmental behaviors. People who exhibited less inclination about helping the environment needed more direction on what to do than motivational interviewing alone could provide. People who exhibited inclination about helping the environment needed more direction on what to do than motivational interviewing alone could provide. Because climate change connects to every aspect of people's lives, there is a lot of possibility for them to feel emotionally tied to the issue or passionate about some of the solutions. “Every other issue dovetails with climate action,” said John Sabin , a ps ychotherapist and former Citizen’s Climate Lobby (CCL) Great Lakes regional codirector. CCL, a climate activist organization that focuses on pushing for federal policies like a carbon tax, employs motivational interviewing to help connect climate initiatives with lawmakers’ agendas. “They care about national security? Well, the government says climate change is a national security risk,” Sabin explained. Granted, talking to a congressperson is a bit different than talking to a patient in a therapy session. A therapist is not usually coming in with as strong an agenda as a lobbyist. But the method of starting with what someone cares about and going backward from there remains a valuable tool in both settings, as does leading with empathy and active listening. Creating Safe Spaces Sabin sees psychological methods, such as cognitive psychology, continuing to play a bigger role in adjusting climate communication strategies. He and Lertzman are members of the North American Climate Psychology Alliance , which is a community of therapeutic practitioners, researchers, and thinkers who utilize psychology to help people work through their emotions surrounding climate change. The group hosts “ Climate Cafes ” to provide safe spaces for people to talk to each other about climate issues and solutions. (They are not the only organization that hosts Climate Café events.) The group also promotes “ecotherapy” where they bring people into natural settings and talk to them about their relationship with nature. “It’s extremely important that we recognize that, underneath it all, there is a fundamental energy of care, and it’s our job to tap into that and to help people connect with it,” Lertzman reflected. “I’m hoping that’s where the movement goes and that we see much more partnership and collaboration between those in the environmental spaces and those who have psychological training … people who really know how to work with people.” *Becky Hoag is a freelance environmental reporter. You can find her work on her site beckyhoag.com  and through her YouTube channel https://youtube.com/beckisphere

Certain Species Could Become Warriors in the Climate Change Fight By Mal Cole* An African fig tree ( Ficus wakefieldii ). It forms bits of calcium carbonate (limestone) in its woody tissues. Note the man at the right side of the trunk for size comparison. Sadhana Forest/Courtesy of Mike Rowley In the struggle against climate change, it’s easy to wish for some technology—or even magic!—that could remove Earth-warming carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) from the atmosphere and turn it into something useful. But this mechanism already exists and is much older than the climate changes of the past two centuries. Trees and other plants act as carbon sponges, taking carbon dioxide from the air and, through photosynthesis, storing it in their tissues as carbohydrates (cellulose, sugars, and starches). The forests around the world are a major “sink” for carbon, and even the oceans play a role in capturing CO 2 . In fact, the oceans, with their vast numbers of phytoplankton and deep waters, are a gigantic carbon sink , absorbing 31% of CO 2 emitted into the air. However, all of this carbon can rather quickly find its way back into the atmosphere when plants die and decay or are harvested and consumed.   These fascinating trees, many of which exist in threatened ecosystems, are able to create a long-term carbon sink by a remarkable biochemical process, the oxalate–carbonate pathway.   But some special trees —African fig trees and iroko hardwoods among many others—have been found to be able to ingest atmospheric CO 2 and turn it into durable, alkalizing limestone, “fixing” the carbon for much longer than in plant tissue. These fascinating trees, many of which exist in threatened ecosystems, are able to create a long-term carbon sink by a remarkable biochemical process, the oxalate–carbonate pathway  (OCP). Scientists are currently working to understand more about the OCP’s untapped potential in fighting climate change , and a recent study  may reveal more about this underexplored mechanism. Trees with Stones in Their Wood A group of iroko trees growing in Uganda. Fenrith/Wikimedia Commons In the 1930s, a group of scientists investigated  a puzzling phenomenon involving the iroko tree, a species in the fig and mulberry family (Moraceae). Lumberjacks in the African forests where the trees grow had noticed small stones within the tissues of the trees that dulled their saws.  Also, the soil beneath the trees contained bits of limestone. This was strange because the soils in that part of Africa were known to be acidic—limestone and other forms of alkaline calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ) were not expected to be present. It seemed like the limestone was coming from the iroko trees—but how was that possible? The iroko trees were sinking carbon in a way that had never been studied before. They were drawing CO 2  from the air to fuel photosynthesis and then producing oxalate from the by-products of the process. The oxalate was then transformed into limestone by symbiotic bacteria and fungi  and stored in the woody portions of the tree and in the surrounding soil. This process is the oxalate–carbonate pathway. Scientific interest  in this fascinating biogeochemical process has increased within the last 25 years, and as the implications of climate change become more pronounced, scientists are investigating the OCP as an untapped source of carbon sequestration. The limestone that the iroko trees deposit in the soil is a much more stable way to store carbon and cannot be as easily re-released into the atmosphere as would be the case with decaying wood and leaves. One iroko tree is estimated  to be able to store 1,160 kilograms (2,552 lbs) of carbon as calcium carbonate over its lifetime, assuming storage of 5.8 kg/year and an average lifetime  of 200 years. The OCP in India It’s unknown exactly how many plants use the OCP, but the number could be substantial, as about 80% of plants  produce the oxalate that facilitates the process. But several more species have been identified since the process was discovered, especially in the past 25 years. In a scientific paper currently under review, Dr. Mike Rowley and his colleagues at the University of Zurich identified several OCP trees in the tropical dry evergreen forests (TDEF) of Tamil Nadu, India. This study, supported by the Agassiz Foundation at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, and the Sadhana Forest organization in India, was the first of its kind in the TDEF. Rowley, Camille Rieder, and their colleagues tested dozens of trees before selecting their subjects for the study. The initial selection process involved field-testing trees for surface evidence of calcium carbonate. “We were looking for calcium carbonate precipitation on the bark,” said Rowley in an interview with The Earth & I . “When we apply a weak acid to the tree on these precipitates, it releases the CO 2  that’s trapped within the calcium carbonate.” When the scientists applied a dilute solution of hydrochloric acid to the bark of a selected tree, Rowley said, they could observe a bubbling chemical reaction—an effervescence indicating they were on the right track for finding the OCP in that species. Once the trees with the precipitate were selected for the study, samples were taken for more testing. Biomineral deposits within the tissues were identified using electron microscopes. The team was looking for calcium oxalate crystals that would help them find more evidence of the OCP. Other samples were sent to the University of Neuchatel to identify oxalate-consuming microorganisms—the bacteria and fungi that facilitate the OCP process. The team also determined that the effect of the trees on their local soil chemistry demonstrated there was an alkalizing effect, particularly in the trunks of the trees. Evidence of the OCP was present in all of the sample species Rowley and his team studied. An Ecosystem at Risk   The presence of the OCP in the Tamil Nadu forest shows the process’s potential as a long-term carbon sink and could help preserve the highly threatened ecosystem. The TDEF is the rarest type  of forest ecosystem on the Indian subcontinent. Many of the tree species identified as having an active OCP have potential uses besides carbon sequestration, Rowley told The Earth & I . Agroforestry may be one way to maximize the benefits. Many trees in the fig and mulberry family have been shown to exhibit the pathway, and more species of fruit-producing trees could be found. Abandoned agricultural sites with exhausted, acidic soils could potentially host this research and benefit from the alkalizing effects of OCP trees and the associated beneficial microorganisms.   Rowley is optimistic about the OCP’s potential for agroforestry projects and would like to study how much calcium carbonate an OCP tree can move into soils.   Rowley is optimistic about the OCP’s potential for agroforestry projects and would like to study how much calcium carbonate an OCP tree can move into soils, and the effects of that process. “I’d love to have a long-term experiment to really look at the change in soils,” he said. “Models indicate that it could take up to 20 years before carbon starts to precipitate as calcium carbonate.” If, as Rowley and others suspect, it takes two decades for OCP trees to start fully precipitating carbon in the form of CaCO 3 , it’s urgent to get more experiments underway to study the effect it might have on climate change. Despite the obvious potential of OCP trees, more research is needed to fully understand this fascinating process. While conducting the TDEF study, Rowley’s team observed calcium carbonate deposits deeper than had been seen before in the trunk tissues of OCP trees in Kenya. “We were mapping what types of calcium we had and where,” said Rowley. “What was surprising to us is that the calcium carbonate wasn’t just at the surface of the tree or in the cracks of the bark, but had also penetrated more deeply into the wood.” Rowley can only speculate as to why this might happen. But this mechanism could be another key to how the OCP performs a biogeochemical process that could add just the touch of “magic” needed to tip the scale against climate change.   *Mal Cole  is a freelance science and nature writer based in Massachusetts.

The Growing Campaign against Nighttime Light Pollution   By Julie Peterson* The Milky Way over Monument Valley, California. © istock Gazing up at the twinkling night sky can be awe-inspiring; its breathtaking complexity and enormity, its beauty and tranquility, are beyond compare. Stars have shaped beliefs and cultures, guided travelers, tracked the seasons, “illustrated” myths and legends through constellations, and allowed people  to relay timeless stories to their children.   But today, even as advanced telescopes and other technologies give astronomers closer and deeper views of the universe, there is increasing alarm about what is not  being seen in the night sky. Many stars aren’t as visible  to the naked eye as they were a few years ago.   Poorly designed outdoor lighting bathes the planet’s night sky in artificial light, and the problem is getting worse . Because of this phenomenon, there's a growing campaign to preserve dark skies so future generations can appreciate their immeasurable cultural and scientific value.                                                                                                            Lights Obscure Views of the Milky Way A 2016 study estimated that more than one-third of Earth's population could not see the Milky Way  from home due to light pollution. Stars appearing over a home at night. © Pexels “It’s a crime against nature and humanity that we’ve stolen that away from this generation, and it’s essential that we return it. It’s a vital piece of human heritage . It’s one of nature’s greatest gifts and we’re squandering it,” says James Lowenthal , professor of astronomy at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. He is also president of  DarkSky Massachusetts , an advocacy group against light pollution. Lowenthal’s goal is to engage more people, including professional astronomers, in protecting pristine night skies from light pollution, or in returning those skies affected by it closer to their original state.   But not being able to see stars is only part of this problem—artificial lights at night are also hazards to human health and many species of wildlife, as covered in The Earth & I ’s “ Light Pollution: Keeping Nature Up Past Its Bedtime .” In addition, the US National Park Service’s study, “ Synthesis of Studies on the Effects of Artificial Light at Night ,” reviewed 457 studies on the response of humans and wildlife to light pollution. It found impacts from the psychological effects of light pollution to its destabilization effects on soil bacteria. Globe at Night Fortunately, Lowenthal isn’t the only one championing what some call “visual access” to a night sky unaffected by light pollution. “Astronomers recognized light pollution as a problem in the 1970s. Even with the most powerful instruments, they could no longer view stars and other celestial objects with the same clarity,” says the National Conference on State Legislatures  (NCSL).   “ While at least 2,500 stars should be visible under normal nighttime conditions, only a few hundred can be seen in a typical American suburb. In most large cities, residents would be lucky to glimpse a few dozen,” says the organization, which tracks laws and policies in US states, territories, commonwealths, and the District of Columbia.   As of 2022, at least 19 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia have taken steps to curtail light pollution, according to the NCSL. These laws—which are identified online —address issues like “sky glow,” or the brightening of night sky over inhabited areas; “light trespass,” or lights that shine where they are not wanted or needed; and “glare,” where excessive brightness can cause visual discomfort, the NCSL says.   In addition, over the last 14 years, the international campaign Globe at Night has been gathering information from citizen-scientists about night sky brightness. GaN’s Sky Brightness Monitoring Network (GaN-MN) now has more than 200,000 measurements submitted  by people in 180 countries.   The GaN-MN project uses a commercially available sky quality meter (SQM) for long-term monitoring of light pollution. These efforts have created a huge dataset that allows scientists to measure light pollution over time.   “Everyone over the age of 50 remembers a dramatically better sky.”   “Worldwide, we see a troublesome worsening in light pollution, as fast as 10% per year ,” says Lowenthal. “It reflects what we’re seeing anecdotally. Everyone over the age of 50 remembers a dramatically better sky.”   Dark Sky Places   The positive side of this research—which is actually the dark side—is that some of Earth’s dark skies are now being protected—by responsible lighting practices at night—for future stargazing.   In 2001, Flagstaff, Arizona, was named the first International Dark Sky City. There are now over 200 certified International Dark Sky Places  in 22 countries on six continents. These places might be communities, parks, or reserves that have undergone a rigorous application and approval process. The Milky Way over Cottonwood Gulch, New Mexico. ©James Lowenthal Cottonwood, Arizona , spent four years  working to become accredited, but it now hosts events like star parties where volunteers bring telescopes to share. Lowenthal says events like these are fun ways to connect and can show people the sky they are missing.   The US National Park Service  presents Dark Sky Events to teach about the wonders of the night sky. Such events have led to an increase in astrotourism, in which people gather to observe celestial objects. Utah , for instance , offers camping or rustic accommodations, guided tours, festivals, and storytelling. Video about stargazing in Greater Zion in Utah. For people interested in learning more about celestial things, it’s not necessary to travel to a Dark Sky Place. There is likely a nearby astronomy club or observatory that offers public events and viewing nights. Online resources like the NASA Night Sky Network  also list upcoming activities and skywatching tips. Across the planet, there are in-person and virtual dark sky events  to attend.   Conservationists to the Rescue The dark sky movement benefits from the involvement of other conservation organizations .   “One of the lessons we learned is that the astronomers cannot fix this on our own,” says Lowenthal.    The American Astronomical Society, a trade group with 8,200 astronomers, astronomy educators, and amateur astronomers as members, is concerned about increasing and unregulated artificial lighting. Such lighting impacts  the study of deep-space objects by ground-based observatories .   The dark sky movement benefits from the involvement of other conservation organizations .   Conservation organizations have a broader influence on implementing dark sky policies. For example, the Audubon Lights Out Program  is a national effort to convince building owners and managers to turn off excess lighting during migrations over cities to help prevent birds from crashing into buildings. “ Most birds migrate at night, making them more vulnerable to buildings and other structures lit with artificial lights they might be attracted to, often resulting in tragic collisions, entrapment, and exhaustion,” says the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).   In Texas, organizations in Houston, Galveston, and other cities are doing a “lights out” campaign in which tall buildings turn off their lights from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. during spring and fall migrations, the BBC  reported in April 2024. Birds such as the common yellowthroat migrate over brightly lit cities, which can be a deadly experience. ©James Lowenthal The Sea Turtle Conservancy  aims to educate people on coastal lighting that confuses turtle hatchlings and makes it difficult for them to reach the ocean.   The American Medical Association released a report  titled “Light Pollution: Adverse Health Effects of Nighttime Lighting” to inform people of the increased incidence of some diseases associated with a lack of darkness.   The FWS  also urges dimming nighttime lights to benefit insects and pollinators. “ Although not well-studied, we are beginning to more clearly understand the impact light pollution has on insects and pollinators. This topic is emerging in more and more conversations,” Melissa Burns, western monarch coordinator, said in a report for FWS.   Light Pollution Mapping A good way of grasping light pollution levels is to look at a map.   Jurij Stare, of Slovenia, created Light Pollution Map , an interactive website that provides a global display of light pollution levels. It is accessible to everyone, and is often used by astronomers, stargazers, and photographers to quickly locate dark sites with clear skies.    The map allows users to check visibility using both the Bortle Dark-Sky Scale and SQM data. The Bortle Scale  is a sky quality measurement scale created by American amateur astronomer John E. Bortle and ranges from 1 to 9, with a higher number indicating greater light pollution. It was developed through decades of naked-eye observations. SQM  data is provided by a device the size of a cell phone. The most pristine dark sky registers on a map at Bortle 1 and SQM 22.0, whereas New York City skies, typically among the most polluted, register at Bortle 9 and SQM >18.38.   There is also the option of using the map’s color key. The most visible stars and galaxies are in areas that are darkest on the map. White areas are the most artificially lit and the stars are mostly obscured.    Public Awareness and Policy Changes “People really want to see the stars. Nobody wants to lose the stars. That’s our silver bullet—if there is one,” says Lowenthal. “Light pollution is all due to fear of the dark, fear of strangers, and the irrational sense that more light is better. As a result, we’ve lost this immeasurable treasure.”   “People really want to see the stars. Nobody wants to lose the stars. That’s our silver bullet—if there is one.”   However, after policymakers and communities are educated about how light pollution works, people become more sensitized to the issue—they will notice harsh municipal lighting, upward facing floodlights, flashing signs, porchlights that invade neighboring homes, and office buildings that are lit from within 24/7. Video of home lighting tips from DarkSky The DarkSky Approved program promotes high-quality lighting and signage for outdoor environments that minimize light pollution (including sky glow), light trespass, obtrusive light, and harmful impacts on people, wildlife, and plants. For a product to be DarkSky Approved, it must have a clear purpose, be directed only to where needed, be no brighter than necessary, be used only when useful, and be a warm color.   “The reality is that most people have no idea that light pollution is an issue.”   “If we had everybody educated on this issue, if everybody understood it, then our job might be done and they would turn off their lights and wouldn’t install bad lights or overly bright lights,” Lowenthal says.   But the reality is that most people have no idea that light pollution is an issue. It will take ongoing education, collaboration, legislation , and commitment for people to save dark sky resources for themselves and for future generations—so that we don’t all lose the stars. The moon and Venus over Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Outdoor lighting at Smith College is fairly well controlled against glare, resulting in a safe and beautiful campus at night. ©James Lowenthal *Julie Peterson  writes science-based articles about holistic health, environmental issues, and sustainable living from Wisconsin.

By Yasmin Prabhudas* Sunrise W Land and Cattle owners Jim and Stephen West setting up booth at a Home & Garden Show. ©Sunrise W Land and Cattle The world's food supply has relied on conventional farming  for the best part of a century. But its extensive use of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers is having an impact on greenhouse gases, biodiversity and possibly human health . And genetically modified seeds  could also have consequences for the environment.   Some pioneering farmers and ranchers, however, have decided to ditch synthetic chemicals and adopt regenerative practices  to protect the agricultural ecosystem and promote biodiversity. This includes vermiculture—or worm farming —plus strategies like adaptive grazing and mobile chicken coops to keep fields in the best of health.   Conventional Farming Modern farming is criticized in at least four major areas.   First is its role in producing greenhouse gases.   Industrial farming, with its high-intensity and high-yield focus, uses chemical fertilizers to meet its goals. Many of these products are known greenhouse gas   emitters because they are nitrogen-based and made using fossil fuels. Researchers at the University of Cambridge  found “manure and synthetic fertilizers emit the equivalent of 2.6 gigatons of carbon per year—more than global aviation and shipping combined.”   A second criticism is that the synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides used in conventional farming contribute to loss of biodiversity and soil health. A 2024 paper, titled “ Restoring Soil Biodiversity ,” claims 75% of the world's soil is degraded in part because of the use of agrochemicals.     Third, conventional farming uses genetic engineering to change natural processes to enhance a crop's “fitness.” A risk assessment, published in 2020 , found that these genetic changes could include “displacement and even extinction of native plant species.”   A fourth criticism is that synthetic chemicals could affect human health  because they are often toxic. For example, glyphosate, an herbicide, is an endocrine disruptor , which could interfere with natural hormones (estrogen and androgen) and disrupt reproductive and sexual development.   Regenerative Farming Moving cattle to the next paddock on horseback. ©Sunrise W Land and Cattle Regenerative farming  aims to fix these problems through core principles.   For instance, regenerative farmers protect their soils by limiting nutrient cycle–disrupting synthetic fertilizers, avoiding overgrazing to protect roots, and maximizing biodiversity through varied crop rotation. This approach intentionally adds shrubs and trees to create a habitat for insects and pollinators, and manages livestock, so through the herds’ hoof actions, the soil structure is improved. The European Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture  surveyed 78 farmers from 14 European countries practicing regenerative farming from 2021 to 2023. The regenerative farmers almost matched conventional farmers in yield—the regenerative farms had a 2% lower yield compared with conventional farms—but their use of synthetic fertilizers, fuel, pesticides, and antibiotics was far lower.   [European regenerative farmers] almost matched conventional farmers in yield…but had far less use of synthetic fertilizers, fuel, pesticides, and antibiotics.   More information on regenerative farming, including a list of certified regenerative farmers and ranchers around the world, can be found by visiting the Regenerative Organic Alliance .   A Regenerative Ranch in Texas The Sunrise W Land and Cattle in Texas is a good example of regenerative ranching.   Stephen West and his father, Jim, have been experimenting with regenerative farming  methods over the past five years to improve the condition of their 600-acre-plus cattle ranch. When they took over the land, it had been overgrazed and was in a poor state.   Stephen, who has a degree in agriculture management, outlines the philosophy of Sunrise W Land and Cattle : “We believe that nature had things figured out long before humans came around. And working with nature, working 'God's intended way,' is all about looking at what the soil, the grass, what nature is telling you, and making the improvements based on that.” Sunrise W Land and Cattle’s worm tea brewer. ©Sunrise W Land and Cattle Worm Tea The Wests carried out research that led them to discover the benefits of vermiculture and what they call “worm tea.” “We found out that earthworms are the best fertilizer in the world,” says Stephen.   The ranchers keep 100,000 earthworms in a 16 ft by 4 ft bin. “Every week we harvest their castings [waste], and we brew it in water for 24 hours. During that process, the microbes inside of those castings that are now going into that liquid are doubling in population every single 30 minutes,” he explains.   “We're talking about trillions of microorganisms […] and so all these microbes are going into the soil and it's like a booster shot for the soil.”   “We're talking about trillions of microorganisms […] and so all these microbes are going into the soil and it's like a booster shot for the soil.”   How It Works The worm tea contains protozoa (single-celled organisms), nematodes (microscopic parasites), fungal hyphae (filamentous fungal structures), and bacteria. “When the worm tea is applied, all of that's going into the soil. The first thing that happens is your fungal hyphae attach to the root system. And what that does is it doubles to triples that rhizosphere  [the layer of soil in contact with a plant's roots], and so the root system of that plant is much larger and it has incredible penetrative power. So, it's breaking through those hard pans of clay soil or neglected ground around that rhizosphere,” Stephen states.   “Your protozoa and your nematodes, they're hanging out around that root system. […] When a cow comes and takes a bite of that grass, that grass is sending out a distress signal and the nematode and the protozoa, they're out there getting that nutrient to that plant as it needs it so it can recover faster and be ready to go for the next phase.” To ensure success, adaptive grazing takes place. That means allowing livestock to graze if circumstances are optimal, depending on how much rain there has been and how much forage the cattle have. Adding Chickens to the Mix Two dogs take turns guarding the chickens on the ranch. ©Sunrise W Land and Cattle Chickens have helped deal with flies, which can cause cattle stress and lead to weight loss. Two mobile chicken coops follow the cattle as they graze, and the birds pick through the cows’ manure to feast on fly larvae. This means no chemical fly sprays are needed. Stephen says, “By breaking that cycle, we're not having that fly population.”   Grasshoppers can also be a problem. “They eat more grass than cows do,” he states. “But the chickens chase them through the fields, taking care of that population, too.” Environmental Impact “We use compost for the bin where the earthworms are, and the feed that we use is a mixture of different types of ground-up grains. And there is no runoff,” says Stephen. The worms are shipped from Canada, and two small HVAC units maintain the temperature. But, as a regenerative ranch, using natural farming methods rather than synthetic chemicals, the environmental impact is much lower than that of a conventional farm. Earthworm table. ©Sunrise W Land and Cattle “I'd say the coolest impact we've seen is the amount of wildlife that has come back. It's really cool to see the wildlife starting to treat this as a sanctuary.”   Biodiversity has improved significantly, and there has been a resurgence in the endangered horny toad, as well as hawks, owls, badgers, and deer.   “I'd say the coolest impact we've seen is the amount of wildlife that has come back,” Stephen declares. “'It's really cool to see the wildlife starting to treat this as a sanctuary.” Vermicomposting  Applying worm compost or vermicompost in a garden couldn't be simpler, Stephen says. “You can't mess it up, right? If you overapply, it's just more microbes.” The soil “will become spongier,” he adds. “What you'll find is it gets healthier as long as you're not doing anything to kill the soil.” Vermicomposting or worm composting  differs from traditional composting in a few ways. It takes vermicomposting two to three months to break down organic material, while home composting takes six to nine months. It requires lower temperatures—50°F to 86°F—compared with traditional methods, which need more than 149°F.   Patience is Needed Switching to regenerative farming takes time, and one downside is that it will take a while before the rewards are reaped.   “It's going to take time to reverse what we've been doing […]. And so to bring it back alive, you got to have patience. […] It is a little bit of a sacrifice because you're not going to make money the first couple of years or, if you do, it's very little,” claims Stephen. “You put a lot into it, but the rewards at the end are worth the headaches at the beginning.” *Yasmin Prabhudas   is a freelance journalist working mainly for nonprofit organizations, labor unions, the education sector, and government agencies.

Targeting the Sprawl That Attends Single-Family Housing By Karl Selle* Urban sprawl increases the pressure for suburban sprawl to consume outlying forests, farmland, and parkland. Pixnio /Ryan Hagerty (Free to use) The detached single-family home on a spacious suburban lot has long symbolized American prosperity. But as development sprawls further outward—consuming farmlands, wetlands, and forests— environmental costs  climb: Low-density, car-centric housing developments are a key driver  of carbon emissions, land degradation, and biodiversity loss. A growing number  of urban planners and environmental advocates now argue that rethinking zoning—especially R1 (single-family-only) zoning—is essential to solving the interconnected crises of climate change, affordability, and economic and racial segregation. In a great many US cities, up to 80% of residential land is zoned  exclusively for single-family homes, effectively banning more space-efficient and economical forms of housing. In a great many US cities, up to 80% of residential land is zoned exclusively for single-family homes. Reform of this R1 zoning colossus, however, goes against a mindset that is deeply ingrained in US and other countries ’ laws, institutions, and psychology. Owning a home with a bit of land is a symbol of success that has powerful emotional overtones , tapping into the human need for security, wealth, privacy, and independence. Still, research  has shown that car-dependent single-family-home communities can be isolating with limited opportunities to socialize with neighbors. Reformers believe new kinds of designed, higher-density communities can be friendlier, busier, and more family and environmentally friendly. Reframing Zoning Currently, R1 zoning dominates the housing development landscape. Single-family zoning prohibits duplexes, triplexes, courtyard housing, and low-rise apartment buildings (e.g., six to 10 stories) on vast swaths of urban and suburban land. It also fuels sprawl, pushing new housing developments into outlying natural and agricultural areas. This development push has led to the loss of over 784 square miles (501,000 acres) of natural habitat  in California alone between 2001 and 2011 (about the size of Los Angeles and San Diego together). These are not just empty spaces; they are active ecosystems that store carbon, filter the air and water, and provide habitats for countless species. When these landscapes are paved over, not only is carbon released but the land’s capacity to remove CO 2  from the atmosphere is destroyed. Outward expansion directly fuels the climate crisis by entrenching a reliance on automobiles. With homes located far from jobs, schools, and amenities, driving becomes a necessity, making transportation the largest source of air pollution  in states like Minnesota. According to The New York Times , cities across the US are now questioning the once-unshakable ideal of the suburban home, as both population and climate pressures mount. Thoughtful densification—building more than one dwelling per lot—is seen as a powerful, environmentally friendly strategy. As a Sierra Club analysis aptly puts it, “ The beauty of density is it utilizes already developed land  (e.g., vacant parking lots) and allows more people to live within short distances of jobs, transit, and amenities.” This “infill” approach allows for urban growth while preserving the undeveloped wilderness, farmland, and forests at the outer edges of municipalities. And when infill is combined with what we might call upfill —constructing multifamily housing and low-rise apartment buildings—cities can absorb yet more growth. Creative urban housing design incorporating natural green spaces can lead to both environmental and social benefits. Pexels /Alexander Igrevsky (Free for use) Critically, higher density can also support biodiversity. According to Seattle nonprofit The Urbanist, research shows  that densifying population centers can increase habitat availability and ecosystem services when planned carefully with nature in mind—through green corridors, native vegetation, and water-wise landscaping. This finding challenges the assumption that density and ecological health are mutually exclusive. Moreover, denser development can reduce  air and water pollution through smarter stormwater management, energy-efficient housing, and shorter vehicle commutes. With coordinated land use planning , cities can become “nature bright spots”—places where people and wildlife coexist. Benefits of Reforming R1 Zoning Potential Drawbacks of Zoning Reform ● Increases housing supply in high-demand areas ● Risk of infrastructure strain (sewer, schools, transit) ● Mitigates urban sprawl and habitat loss ● Potential traffic increases and parking pressure ● Enhances affordability and inclusion ● Loss of neighborhood character ● Supports environmental goals via infill development ● Local political resistance and NIMBY opposition ● Enables nature-integrated design in denser settings ● Requires strong tenant protections and anti-displacement policy ● Expands ownership options via condos and townhomes ● Needs complementary green building and transit investments Affordability, Equity, and the “Missing Middle” Zoning reform advocates also argue  that R1 restrictions artificially limit the housing supply, contributing to surging prices. According to   Shelterforce , more housing can increase affordability—but only if it’s built in areas where people actually want and need to live, such as near jobs, transit, and schools. This video  contrasts North American and European housing developments and shows the many types of dwellings not typically found in car-centric North America. © Not Just Bikes The shortage is especially acute in high-opportunity areas. From 2000 to 2015, the US under produced  7.3 million homes, according to housing advocacy group Up for Growth. R1 zoning makes it difficult to build duplexes, fourplexes, and other “ missing middle ” housing that once made neighborhoods walkable and socially mixed. This system also perpetuates  racial and economic segregation. Zoning laws were historically partly designed to exclude lower-income and nonwhite residents from wealthier neighborhoods—a legacy documented  in Richard Rothstein’s The Color of Law . Today, those same rules continue  to shape who has access to good schools, clean air, and job-rich locations. As Apartment Therapy explains , dismantling these barriers isn’t just about building more housing—it’s about correcting long-standing injustices. Some cities and states have begun to act: Minneapolis eliminated  single-family-only zoning citywide in 2018, allowing up to three units per lot. Oregon passed HB 2001, which ends  single-family zoning in most urban areas statewide. California eased  restrictions on so-called accessory dwelling units and lot splitting, making it easier to add housing within existing neighborhoods. These changes have provoked both support and backlash. Homeowners often cite  concerns over neighborhood character degradation, parking congestion, and infrastructure strain. Others worry about housing values, especially since single-family homes are often seen  as safer investments than multifamily properties. However, zoning reformers say these objections must be weighed against the high costs of inaction. Expanding outward continues to swallow  natural areas, degrade infrastructure, increase emissions, and widen affordability gaps.   Zoning, Ownership, and the American Dream Much of today’s multifamily construction is geared toward rentals, but zoning reform could also enable new paths to ownership : co-ops, townhomes, and condominiums. These options are more attainable for middle-income families than detached homes, especially in high-cost metro areas. Medium’s “Sidewalk Talk” blog argues  that expanding housing types allows more people—not just the wealthiest—to participate in the dream of homeownership. And denser development can bolster tax revenues, support small businesses, and sustain more walkable, vibrant neighborhoods. In this video , four people talk about how they and others brought zoning reform to the US cities of Minneapolis, Minnesota; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Buffalo, New York. © Public Broadcasting System Still, reform must be paired with policies  that protect renters from displacement and incentivize affordable housing construction. Ending R1 zoning is not a stand-alone solution—but it is a critical lever for equity, sustainability, and economic opportunity. Reform must be paired with policies that protect renters from displacement and incentivize affordable housing construction. To understand the scale of the challenge, consider that detached homes make up over 60%  of US housing units, according to Statista. And per the US Census Bureau, the majority of new residential construction remains  single-family, despite increasing demand for multiunit options.   Some Multifamily-Housing Communities Here are four existing communities that demonstrate how multifamily housing, nature access, and social cohesion can thrive together—with lower pollution and safer streets. Mueller – Austin, Texas A master-planned community  built on the site of the old airport, Mueller features townhomes, apartments, and condos with shared courtyards, pocket parks, and trails. It’s designed around walkability, with cafes, shops, and even a farmers market fostering neighborly interaction. Serenbe – Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia Just outside Atlanta, Serenbe is a wellness-focused community  with multifamily cottages and townhouses along with single-family homes. All have front porches but no backyards. They face a common greenspace and are interwoven with nature trails. Cafes, shops, art galleries, and services are nearby in the village-style layout, encouraging walking and interacting with neighbors. Zibi – Ottawa-Gatineau, Ontario/Quebec A waterfront redevelopment project , Zibi features condos and apartments with communal courtyards and access to green spaces. It’s designed as a mixed-use, walkable neighborhood with shops, restaurants, and cultural venues that connect residents across provincial lines. The High Line Neighborhood – Manhattan, New York City People stroll along the High Line, a former elevated railroad transformed into a park to enhance the livability of the apartment buildings, multifamily brownstones, and office blocs nearby. © iStock /francois-roux The High Line is a 1.45-mile-long elevated linear park and greenway created on a former New York Central Railroad spur. Opened in 2009, the park has inspired  cities throughout the United States to redevelop greyfields (obsolete infrastructure) and brownfields (abandoned industrial land) as public spaces with mixed housing. The High Line has spurred  development of low-rise apartment buildings and brownstones in adjacent neighborhoods, increasing real-estate values and prices along the route. Nature and Crime Reduction Multifamily housing doesn’t just reduce sprawl—it can reduce crime and improve mental health, especially when designed with green space. A 2024 overview  by the National Environmental Education Foundation explains how adding greenery to neighborhood spaces can reduce violence and boost health. In addition, a 2022 study  by the University of Edinburgh found that more urban green space correlates with lower property and violent crime rates—even after accounting for poverty and demographics. Green space, the study concluded, may reduce aggression and stress, contributing to safer neighborhoods. According to a 2018 National Institutes of Health publication , “Simply being exposed to nature has been shown to improve mood, reduce anxiety, and enhance self-esteem. People who see greenery every day may have better mental health and be less stressed. Stress increases the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other diseases.” Thus, green enclaves in urban areas correlate  with greater peace of mind, increased trust, and stronger community ties— contributing  to both individual and neighborhood well-being . Reforming single-family zoning laws is not a panacea—and it is certainly not easy. But when thoughtfully implemented, it offers a hopeful path toward solving multiple problems at once, both in the way of environmental precariousness and housing scarcity. *Karl Selle is a freelance writer living in Bowie, Maryland, USA.