By Dr. Maila Rahiem* When the 2004 Aceh tsunami struck, I was in Montreal, Canada, having just collected my master's degree and was preparing to return to Jakarta, Indonesia. It was a Saturday night on Christmas Eve, and some Indonesian friends were hanging out with my sister and me, in our one-bedroom apartment. We were stunned as we watched the news of the Aceh tsunami, and saw the death toll continue to rise. We were shocked and saddened by the number of deaths. We canceled our previous plans to enjoy ourselves by going shopping on Boxing Day, December 26th, and instead gathered with around thirty other Indonesian students to discuss how we, as Indonesian students in Montreal, could help and respond to this tragic news. We started making hand-sewn four-petal black poppies right away, out of black felt stuffed with wadding and sewn in white thread. We planned on making 200 poppies and setting up a table on the McGill campus to sell the poppies. We hoped to raise $1,000 for the survivors as an emergency fund. We distributed 200 poppies and continued to make them, involving Indonesian students and students from other countries, members of other student bodies, faith-based groups, and community organizations. People were seemingly moved by the sheer magnitude of the disaster and the number of fatalities. In the end, approximately 5,000 poppies were made, as well as a few bake sales that were conducted on campus and two charity night performances, which resulted in the Indonesian students association collecting a total of CA$ 97,500, which was then distributed through a legal charity group. The study's primary focus was on child survivors' accounts of surviving the tsunami. I followed up on this information by uncovering how women reacted when the tsunami struck to determine why so many women died in the Aceh tsunami. I returned home in February 2005 and began working in Jakarta. The Aceh news was still being widely circulated both in print and on television. I saw a job posting for a mental health promoter in an international humanitarian organization in West Aceh. I was accepted, quit my previous job in Jakarta, and began working with children and women in Meulaboh, West Aceh, in relocation camps and temporary barracks. As a promoter, I organized a puppet show to educate people about post-traumatic syndrome symptoms and promoted the availability of our mental health team that was available to talk. Their vulnerability and resilience stories in the face of a major disaster compelled me to return to Aceh in 2018 to research their experiences further. I interviewed child survivors in the Banda Aceh and Aceh Jaya districts for this research, which was funded by a research grant from UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, a public university in Jakarta where I have now been a faculty member for ten years. The study's primary focus was on child survivors' accounts of surviving the tsunami, how they experienced the tsunami, how they coped with the aftermath, and their current situation. While sharing their stories, these twenty-seven child survivors discussed their lives without their mothers, the last time they saw their mothers, and how many of their siblings had survived. They reported that more women and children were killed in the tsunami, with eight child survivors left without any female nuclear family members. I followed up on this information by uncovering how women reacted when the tsunami struck to determine why so many women died in the Aceh tsunami. As this study was part of a larger study on children, I only included the child survivors as research participants who were between the ages of six and twelve at the time of the tsunami. This investigation was documented in a paper that was published in a disaster risk reduction journal. The writing began last year while I was a Fulbright visiting scholar at the University of South Florida's School of Public Affairs. I collaborated with Dr. Robin Ersing to finalize the paper. According to the child survivors' insights and observations, more women died in the Aceh tsunami in 2004 for several reasons. First, the women waited for their husbands. Waiting for their husbands was not limited to the Aceh tsunami; in other disasters worldwide, such as the 1991 Bangladesh cyclone and the Australian bushfires, some women stayed at home waiting for their husbands, who have decision-making power at home. This study discovered that the reasons these women stayed were not because they should wait for their husbands to tell them what to do, but rather because it is a cultural practice that a woman must abide by; to honor her husband, and leaving the house is considered as demeaning. Waiting for their husbands in an emergency, for whatever reason, could endanger women, so women must therefore learn to prioritize their safety and prevent becoming entwined in socio-cultural constructs that are harmful to women. The second reason many women died in the Aceh tsunami was that women were more likely than men to rescue family members in a disaster. According to research on the Australian bushfire, hurricane Andrew, and the Aceh tsunami, this type of disaster response is the most common reason women often do not survive a disaster. Women are vulnerable, but they can also act as a catalyst to remove any life-saving treatment barriers. They exhibited compassion and strength by searching for loved ones before rescuing themselves. They also displayed strength and bravery by attempting to save their family members. As a result, to reduce the number of people who die as a result of a natural disaster, each family should have a disaster family plan that outlines what to do and where to go in the event of a disaster. They should flee to save their lives and meet in the agreed-upon location, where possible, as part of a rescue plan. The data also revealed some women seem to have been reluctant to disperse and wanted to stay to pray. Many religious adherents pursue the purpose of life in religion and then use religion as their principal foundation for life, and their beliefs and practices guide them through understanding problems and finding solutions. Acehnese people are known to be devout Muslims. As a result, Islam is regarded as more than what is commonly referred to as a religion; it is a lifestyle based on a well-developed conceptual and epistemological worldview. The same case was found in personal factors that impacted some African Americans in their decision not to evacuate New Orleans, Louisiana before Hurricane Katrina came ashore. They had unwavering faith in Christ, and they believed that God would not let them perish in the hurricane. As was the case in Aceh, they chose to remain at home and pray. Disaster risk reduction and intervention plans should better involve faith as a factor in communities; everyone should be prepared and know when to evacuate. The second reason many women died in the Aceh tsunami was that women were more likely than men to rescue family members in a disaster. According to research on the Australian bushfire, hurricane Andrew, and the Aceh tsunami, this type of disaster response is the most common reason women often do not survive a disaster. According to child survivors, many women died in the Aceh tsunami because their female family members were unable to survive due to physical constraints that hindered their escape from the water, while they were also unaware of the very real danger they were facing and lacked the knowledge needed to protect themselves in the event of a disaster. Clothing also hampered women's movement, according to some research conducted in South Asian countries, but the child survivors in this study did not mention this as a factor. This research could not be generalized; the findings are very specific for explaining the unique group of participants involved, who are the same age group, share the same Muslim faith, and are, of course, in the cultural context of Aceh. Also, because the event occurred fourteen years after the disaster and they were very young at the time, the child survivors may distort or add to their stories. The child survivors were visibly moved as they told their stories. The majority of them stated that they had never told anyone about their experiences and indeed some did not have the confidence needed to share their experiences. Six female participants did not show up for the scheduled interview, which led to a gender imbalance of eighteen males and nine females. Despite these limitations, the data collected is still useful because it provides an impressive insight into children's lives during the Aceh disasters, which has rarely been studied previously. As many of the children were at or near home on that fateful Sunday, these children were often unavoidably the last person to see their mothers and other family members alive. Furthermore, they were still very young and would have relied heavily on their mother during this period. As a result, the tsunami disaster left these children with a profound feeling of loss and despair. We are able to gain a better understanding of what kind of support these children require in this situation and how to help them deal with grief and pain after a disaster by researching their thoughts and feelings. This research did indeed focus on the Muslim community, but it is undeniable that many other communities, both in Indonesia and internationally, also face high levels of disaster exposure, making this research comparable to others. Unexpected findings include how the participants perceived the interview to be beneficial in terms of allowing them to reflect upon and visualize their past. They used to believe that if they did not talk about the tragedy, they would be able to move on more quickly. They were, however, eager to share their experiences and claimed to have felt better as a result. When one of the female participants sobbed, the researcher asked her to take a break and return later, but the participant insisted on continuing to speak. The researchers also discovered some guilty feelings in some of the survivors because they were able to survive, but their loved ones had not. A female participant stated that she asked her mother to run away with her, and yet her mother had stayed and told her to run away instead. She felt guilty for not being able to persuade her mother to run away and continues to think about what might have happened if she had remained with her mother. One male participant was haunted by memories of holding his mother by her hair as he clung to a floating log, he couldn’t keep hold of her and he remembers that moment and continues to feel guilt for not being able to rescue her. Many survivors did however accept that what happened was God's will and attempted to embrace it, believing that those who died in disasters were martyrs, and they mostly coped by having a positive promise that they would meet their loved ones in heaven. Full report: Rahiem, M.D.H., & Rahim, H., & Ersing, R. (2021). Why did so many women die in the 2004 Aceh Tsunami? Child survivor accounts of the disaster. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 55, 102069. *Dr. Maila Rahiem is a faculty member at the Faculty of Education and a director of Centre of Excellence — Educating for the Future, UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, Indonesia.

The following is an edited talk given by Lisa Miller, PhD, Professor of Psychology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University, at the Third International Conference on Science and God (ICSG 3), in April 2022. I would like to share a story about a child because, as many of you may realize, we come into this life fully aware, born as naturally spiritual beings. This is a story of my beloved son when he was about two-and-a-half years old. We were in the park, enjoying the sunny day—the glistening on the water, the green grass—when suddenly, we spotted yellow, fluffy, baby geese. My son wanted to be friends with the geese and, with great enthusiasm and joy, started waving and padding towards them. This was done with his whole heart but was very frightening to Mother Goose. When she saw this robust human coming toward her little children, she turned with a huge protective hiss. But she did not turn to my son. She turned and hissed at me. Mother Goose said to me what any mother on earth of any species might say, which is, “You have not been watching over your child to the protection of mine.” She knew my son was just a baby. She knew I was the mother. She knew that we had like responsibilities. All living beings on earth are knowers and in relationship with one another, but we have created a culture around the world in which we have all but gouged out our eyes, leaving us blind to the reality of relationships all around us. So, what does that mean? It means that we live in a situation where humans must be very scary to other living creatures. There is a symphony of life. The geese and the fish and the birds and everything else in nature are in relationships. When we come lumbering around—basically anyone over the age of three—we are dangerous because we are not living with the wisdom of the universe. We are not aware of the many relationships that are in action right before us, de facto. And yet my son, like any young child, was intimately aware of this foundational relationship. His story is actually the story of any child and all of us here on earth. It has to do with our natural endowment—alongside fellow living beings—to be in relationship to the deeper force, the deeper presence, what I call God, and some have called Spirit in nature. New, Peer-Reviewed Science We now have very good, peer-reviewed science—published in mainstream medical journals such as the American Journal of Psychiatry and the Journal of the American Medical Association, and supported by the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry—that points to this innate human endowment, this endowment that I call our spiritual awareness. Across the many beautiful faith traditions on our earth, we have thousands of ways to connect into the deep spirit, to talk to God, Spirit, the universe, Hashem, Allah, Jesus, or whatever one's word may be. These are rich faith traditions, our religions, our wisdom traditions, our cultural traditions. For about two-thirds of people, their faith tradition or wisdom tradition goes hand-in-hand with their natural spiritual awareness. About a third of people on earth will say, “Yes, I do feel connected, I am a spiritual being, but I do not share in a faith tradition or wisdom tradition.” Whether we are part of a religion or tradition or not, each one of us is born with this natural capacity. Since there is a rich array of expressions and symbols, we might say there is one source of life—one mover, one spirit, a loving guide, an intentional spirit through life—one source with many names. As there is one source in and through all of us, leading us to feel and know a deep love of neighbor, a deep unitive reality might be felt and seen in the presence of one another. When we know that there is a unitive reality and connection with the force of life, the higher power, and when we know that the higher power exists through every one of us, then we no longer look upon each other as merely the bio-body suit, the way we are zipped up and dressed up as souls on earth. We are able to feel and see into one another the same presence that my son felt in seeing the baby geese. A Road Map for Science Here is a road map for science. This is a blueprint of our human composition as knowers, as spiritually aware, innately spiritual beings. The first of the four axioms of science is that every one of us is born on day one as a spiritual being. How do we know this? Science uses something called a twin study: we look at twins raised together and twins raised apart, and factor out the degree of commonality as a function of shared things and shared environment. We have an innate capacity through which we experience a relationship to the higher power and feel the existence of spirit through one another. By the time we are thirty years old, however, we say it is about one-third innate and two-thirds environmentally socialized. If we go back to my son when he was two-and-a-half; there had been very little external socialization. He spoke from his natural awareness. By the time we are thirty, we have received many socializing messages—that animals are somehow different from us, that, “Oh, that little duck, that little goose, he just wants your food.” The relationship is seen as instrumental or transactional, instead of one of common heart, which is a transformational relationship. The embrace of environmental socialization is very powerful and can be so severe that it blocks us from seeing through our naturally endowed eyes. The Longing for Purpose is Universal However, there is great hope. Because we are hardwired to connect, so, too, are we hardwired for renewal. With adolescence, puberty, and coming-of-age physically, there is a burgeoning of our spiritual capacity. From the inside out, we hunger to connect to all living beings and to the source of life. We, in our heads, are driven to understand life's ultimate purpose. These are universal longings. Search Institute researcher Peter L. Benson and colleagues looked at youth populations in Thailand, Ukraine, Australia, Canada, the US, and several more countries. They found that no matter where a teen is growing up, he or she hungers to understand the nature of reality and wants their actions—how they use their own precious life—to be of consequence to the greater realization of goodness on earth. This deep, underlying intention built into our lives can be harnessed in education, in all walks of life, and in youth, at midlife, and beyond. What we call a “midlife crisis” is not just a time where people buy new sports cars or think they need a better house or a new spouse. Midlife crises are another hardwired booting-up, where we hunger to see more deeply into life, to live in a way that is in keeping with the most profound possibilities, opportunities, and intentions of the universe. When we support one another—our children, our colleagues, our friends—in realizing our spiritual nature, and when we speak truth from our deep heart, we are providing the two-thirds environmental socialization that can help each other realize our natural, spiritual potential. This has often not been the case, and we needed to make a change yesterday, or at the very latest—now. The Pain of Postindustrial Culture There is enormous suffering in postindustrial culture because we have acted as if we are parts of a machine, one lever on an assembly line to be pulled, one cog in a watch to turn. In the eyes of consciousness-based sciences, we are not pieces and parts. We are more aptly understood as whitecaps—waves on an ocean. We are part of one body of life that is seen in the moment we are connected with one another. The view that we are nothing but mechanical parts can lead us to wonder: How good a cog am I? How well do I pull the lever? This notion is really a latent, atomistic view that we are alone, and that we are functional beings whose only purpose is to produce. At the moment, across the world, in postindustrial countries, there is a rate of addiction, a rate of depression, a rate of suicide in young adults that surpasses the rate of death by auto accidents. There is suffering, not because of the state of the world or the tragic conflicts or the difficulties in economies. The suffering is because of our inner seat of awareness. Postindustrial culture has told us that we are alone, that we are valuable only insofar as we produce. We are using what I call only half the brain—the half of the brain of achieving awareness. It says, “I am better if I do more, if I earn more money, if I am more famous, if I take on a bigger role.” But achievement-awareness is very brittle. Sooner or later there is a day when all of us face someone who is bigger or better. Achievement-awareness is a very thin slice of how we function in life. Achievement-awareness says when we get all the right factors lined up—we get that promotion, that marriage, that new house, A-plus-B-plus-C—there is a 99% chance we can have the life we want. But as we reach for the door to claim our prize, it could be stuck. There is no time where that has been more apparent than during the COVID-19 pandemic. Suddenly, everything we planned for was stuck. The promotion did not come through. They hired someone else; they went in another direction. In these moments when the door is stuck, it can be frustrating; anger can yield to despair. Open a New Door Because that door is stuck, we have the opportunity to shift, to turn to the deeper nature of life, whether it is through meditation, prayer, or contemplation, and ask, “What, Life, are you showing me now?” We invoke what I call an “Awakened Awareness”—moving from the narrow view of “I have got to have it; I planned for it; it was mine” to the view of “What, God, or Spirit, or Life, are you showing me now? You are showing me a bright, open door. A door that is not only easy to see but that can be walked through to discover a landscape that I never knew existed.” From the remnant of achievement-awareness, I have only the information from today and the past, but from awakened-awareness there is infinite information that I have yet to unpack and discern. The discovery of open doors in our lives is a discovery of a guided reality. When we engage in a two-way conversation with life, we encounter surprising discoveries, receive opportunities to care and contribute, and our inner life is expanded to hold more love. Trail Angels What happens at that junction between the stuck door and the open door? We have asked hundreds of people about this experience. They often speak of it in terms of synchronicity, that suddenly someone showed up in my path and pointed to the open door. Suddenly, I found a book. Suddenly, I found a free or very inexpensive airline flight to a part of the world I did not ever think I would visit. Suddenly, something changed. As we look back on the moments in our lives where we lost the closed door and gained the open door, most often people say there were messengers, there were helpers, there were healers. People who I call “trail angels” showed up on the path. And when we stand back further and ask people to reflect on the open door, they say they could feel God's presence in bringing the trail angel. They could feel the presence of life or spirit in guiding them to the open door. Hairpin Curves At moments of hairpin curves, our paths enter a form of recovery from loss, despair, and even trauma through which we augment our Awakened Awareness. We are not merely recovered, not merely back to baseline, but we are renewed; we are made more and bigger inside. A spiritual response to loss and trauma through prayer and meditation—through a deeper reflection and realization—leads us to know that we are loved and held, guided, and never alone. In this time of COVID-19, I invite you to think of how many people you know who walk with a sense of trauma. As we move out along the x axis and see more and more trauma, we go up the y axis and see more and more growth, post-traumatic spiritual growth. This is so much the case that 75% of people who meet criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) also report meaningful growth. It is a realization of our Awakened Awareness, an igniting of our spiritual core, so that on the other side we are in a deeper relationship of life. We see that we are not makers of our path, but we are discoverers of our journey. We look at one another as trail angels with love of neighbor—relational spirituality—and we draw closer to our higher power. Using Our Spiritual Brain Each one of us is equipped with a spiritual brain. Whether or not we use our spiritual brain in moments of struggle and despair—when we are hitting our head and fist on the stuck door—is a choice. It is a choice to invoke the use of your spiritual brain through which you might see the open door. We published this in 2014 in JAMA Psychiatry. There are broad and pervasive regions of cortical thickness in the brain, regions like thick trees in a forest that are powerful and strong. The cortex is processing power, and there is greater processing power in people with a sustained way of digging deep in times of suffering, people who in their darkest hour say, “What, God, do you show me now? What, Life, are you showing me now? What is the unitive reality? Where in the ocean am I being brought to?” When we respond to suffering with our Awakened Awareness, we strengthen the muscle, we gain greater power in the regions of perception, reflection, and orientation. The next time a stuck door comes along, we are more able and ready to invoke this choice again, to engage our natural spiritual brain for Awakened Awareness. When we do, time and time again, it becomes the go-to place, the new normal. The Wavelength of All Creation We invited people with a strong awakened-awareness—a spiritual way of seeing life's disappointments as opportunities—to come into our lab and simply close their eyes and sit down. What we found is, for having time and time again engaged Awakened Awareness, they gave a wavelength off the back of their head. This wavelength—a high-amplitude alpha of the spiritually engaged brain—is the wavelength that goes by another name in another field. High-amplitude alpha is the same wavelength as Schumann resonance. It is the wavelength from the Earth's crust up one mile. It is the wavelength of nature. It is the wavelength of creation. Recovery from despair through an awakening of our naturally spiritual brain gives off the wavelength that is found throughout creation. The felt sense of being one with all life is mirrored in the oneness of this wavelength of energy. I think that my grandchildren someday will laugh that their grandmother talked about wavelength, alpha and Schumann resonance, when it is so abundantly apparent to them that there is one field of consciousness, one sacred field of life, in and through all creation. Today, we are crossing the bridge from radical materialism to postmaterialism, moving away from thinking that only that which we can touch is real. Using our awakened awareness to feel unitive reality, we can see there is a common wavelength associated with knowing and feeling and experiencing our unity with all life—and the wavelength is identical, found in all life. It is a small step—even for today—to say that the same wavelength perhaps reflects an ontology (nature of being), a way of knowing and being in a unitive reality. This is a unitive reality in which we are in relationship with water, with trees, with sun and air, with mountains, and yes, with little baby geese. I invite you to share in this science and to share more deeply in the story of our finding our precious son in the book, The Awakened Brain: The New Science of Spirituality and Our Quest for an Inspired Life. Thank you for the joy of sharing this work with you. Thank you for being on this journey to renew our global culture, so that we can live and connect as one emanation of the great source of all life.

By Ki-Hyun Kim* Air pollution is one of our most serious global health threats. Annually, seven million people die from the effects of air pollution and, according to the World Health Organization, 9 out of 10 people in the world are breathing air that contains unsafe levels of pollutants. Manmade sources of air pollution flood the atmosphere with an array of particles and gases. Heavy industry, transportation, and the burning of fossil fuels among other human activities release often toxic pollutants into our ecosystems, soil, water, and food chain. Exposure to particulate matter (PM)—tiny solid particles or liquid droplets in the atmosphere—is considered the main source of air pollution-related health risks. A study estimated deaths from PM exposure in the U.S.—both indoor and outdoor—at 230,000 to 300,000 in a single year. Pollution can travel great distances over extended periods of time. This makes it both challenging to identify specific sources of pollution and to isolate the human health effects of individual pollutants. PM can be made of a variety of substances. From exhaust fumes and asphalt particles to microbes and allergens, PM comes from both manmade and natural sources. Traffic is a major source of PM, stemming from the wear of vehicle components such as brakes and tires as well as the stirring up or suspension of road dust. The inorganic particles that are produced by pavement abrasion contain silicon, aluminum, potassium, sodium, and calcium, while particles from brakes and tires may contain metals such as copper, antimony, lead, cadmium, and zinc. The intensity of PM exposure is influenced by a combination of factors that include emissions concentrations, weather (dry means more dust), seasons, topography (valleys can be pollution traps), and microenvironments, such as school classrooms. The most significant health effects come from pollution particles smaller than the width of a human hair—a diameter of 10 micrometers or less. Coarser particles settle rapidly and tend to lodge in the trachea (upper throat) or the bronchi. If inhaled, coarse PM is initially collected in the nose or throat, sometimes causing the body to react and expel the intruder(s) through sneezing and coughing. It is generally acknowledged that the particles with the most significant health effects have a diameter of less than 10 micrometers (smaller than the width of a human hair). PM in the 5-10 micrometer range is most likely to be deposited in the tracheobronchial tree, while those smaller (1-5 micrometer) in size tend to settle in the respiratory bronchioles and the alveoli where gas exchange occurs. Particles smaller than 1 micrometer behave in ways similar to gas molecules and will therefore penetrate—powered by diffusion—down to the alveoli from where they can then move further into the cell tissues and circulation system. What Diseases do PM Exposure and Penetration Lead to? Exposure to PM can produce health conditions that require treatment for a variety of respiratory symptoms, including decreased lung function and the exacerbation of chronic respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, all of which can lead to premature death. Milder respiratory symptoms and problems associated with PM exposure include shortness of breath, chest discomfort and pain, and coughing and wheezing. A national U.S. epidemiologic study found a strong, consistent correlation between adult diabetes and PM exposure after adjusting for other risk factors like obesity and ethnicity. How does PM Exposure Affect Children? Results of scientific studies suggest that exposure to high particle levels may lead to poor childbirth outcomes that include low birth weight, preterm deliveries, and even fetal and infant mortality. Exposure to PM was also reported to affect lung development in children, including reversible reductions in lung function as well as reduced lung growth rates and weakened long-term lung function. When children are exposed to excessive levels of PM for twenty-four hours, they incur a significantly higher risk of experiencing respiratory symptoms, asthma medication use, and reduced lung function. A study in 2014 found that children with asthma in Guadalupe experienced a greater risk of visiting an emergency room, likely due to PM pollutants in Saharan dust. A study of two-to-six-year-old predominantly African American children in East Baltimore, Maryland found associations between exposure to PM and worsening asthma symptoms. And What About the Elderly? It is well-established that PM exposure is linked to an increased risk of hospitalization for heart attacks among the elderly, as well as exacerbation of congestive heart failure. One study suggested that there is a possible association between rises in PM levels and increases in plasma viscosity, inflammation markers, endothelial (thin membrane that lines the heart) dysfunction, and altered autonomic control of the heart. Moreover, it was observed that PM had a significant role in initiating and promoting a condition—atherosclerotic progression—that is responsible for most cardiovascular diseases. A panel study in Los Angeles using data from 798 participants in two clinical trials found that increases in PM were associated with increased thickness of the carotid artery lining, a condition that can lead to thrombosis. In another study, based on a survey of Boston residents, it was seen that exposure to PM led to decreased tone of the vagal nerve in the brain as well as reduced heart rate variability. Effective Management of Air Quality is Crucial There is growing public awareness that even at relatively low concentrations the health burden of air pollution is significant. Consequently, effective management of air quality is necessary to minimize health risks. This article is based on the author's original presentation at the Twenty-Sixth International Conference on the Unity of the Sciences held in 2020. *Ki-Hyun Kim, Ph.D., is a distinguished professor of the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at Hanyang University in Seoul, South Korea. He has published more than 850 articles in leading scientific journals, including Chemical Society Reviews and Progress in Materials Sciences.

Hemp Artist Gives Classic Fairy Tale a New Ending By Kate Tsubata* Hemp textile artist Kyla L. Hill is one of a new breed of artists bringing climate change issues to the forefront of public awareness. She doesn’t content herself with mere depiction of the problem, however. Instead, she incorporates planet-friendly materials into her work, and often engages the audience in building the three-dimensional pieces that illustrate a more responsible future. “I am a hemp textile artist,” Kyla explained in a recent interview with The Earth & I. “I mix, mold, and form hempcrete to create structures that the viewer can experience—see, touch, and interact with.” In her self-directed carbon literacy studies, Kyla, who lives in the Washington, D.C., area, realized that contemporary construction and building methods account for some 40% of carbon emissions. These methods can also cause long-term pollution in waterways and oceans (through microplastics) and degrade the air quality in the buildings, due to unhealthy toxic emissions or the proliferation of mold. Research led Kyla to discover an alternative material called “hempcrete,” which utilizes the fibrous hemp “hurd” or “shive,” the woody core of the hemp plant. When shredded into small pieces and combined with limestone and water, it creates a low-density, non-toxic building material that can be formed into bricks or used with a wooden skeleton to form walls or other structures. A New Fairy Tale Ending The story of the Three Little Pigs has roots in various European folktales about three pigs who each build a house to protect themselves from the big bad wolf. The first two pigs build houses out of straw and sticks, which the wolf easily blows down, but the third pig builds a house out of bricks and the wolf is unable to destroy it. “One of my latest installations is called The 4th Pig,” Kyla said. “In it, I reimagined the fairy tale of the Three Little Pigs with a house of plastic straws, polluting the ocean, and then a house of lumber, causing deforestation. The traditional story ends with the house of brick—but [the production of] brick is responsible for greenhouse gas emissions and the use of fiberglass and drywall for insulation.” “In my work, I introduce a fourth alternative—a life-size mini-home constructed of hempcrete, hemp wood, and recycled wood. The audience can enter it, reach out and touch and smell and experience everything.” Kyla explained that she presented the first three building methods using large-sized shadow boxes with the problematic elements pictured inside the house-shaped window cut-outs. Then, the fourth installation is a walk-in tiny house built with hempcrete and recycled wood. Visitors—especially children—can enter the actual structure and touch the material to get a visceral sense of it. “Children who have this experience, they are the future, they will be able to dictate what materials we use in the future industries,” Kyla said. “I really want them to interact with the hempcrete because a lot of people have never heard or realize you can build or create art with something like this,” she added. “I want them to be able to dive into the process; I walk them through it, so in this installation, the audience was able to create one of the walls for the mini-hemp home.” The 4th Pig was selected for the 2022 UnBound exhibition of the Howard Hughes Corporation and Howard Community’s event at the Downtown Columbia Arts and Culture center in central Maryland and was featured in a video showcase about the artists in the exhibit. Kyla, whose commitment to hemp is so deep that she has occasionally called herself “Hempress,” sees hemp as a valuable plant that can provide sustainability for a number of purposes beyond art. She personally incorporates hemp into her clothing choices and medicinal uses as well. “Hemp is grown with less water than cotton and returns elements to the soil rather than draining elements from the soil,” she said. “It requires no pesticides. When you compare it to cotton, it lasts longer, doesn’t break down, and can be washed and worn with more longevity, getting softer. It’s not low quality, it’s high quality, and more sustainable than other fibers.” “When you compare hemp to cotton, it lasts longer, doesn’t break down, and can be washed and worn with more longevity, getting softer, and is more sustainable than other fibers.” As for housing and other buildings, Kyla noted that hempcrete “is a good insulator—the R value is much higher than regular concrete.” An article on the website concretehomes.com bears this out: “When it comes to energy efficiency, hempcrete is a great option. It has an R-value [thermal resistance] of between 2.4 and 4.8 per inch. By comparison, regular concrete only has an R-value of 0.07 to 0.52 per inch.” Although hempcrete is not dense enough to be used for building foundations, it has other advantages. The typical construction system incorporates a number of layers—including house wrap, board, siding, drywall, insulation. “This isn’t energy efficient. Hempcrete construction replaces all that with just wood framing and hempcrete, which replaces all the other layers,” Kyla said. Hempcrete also has excellent air and moisture control features. Its fibrous material holds up well to settling, earthquakes, and other forces that cause cracking and collapse in typical structures, and hempcrete is naturally fire-resistant, another plus for “people and planet.” “Artists can have a significant role in effecting climate change action.” Artists can have a significant role in effecting climate change action, Kyla said. As a committed climate change artist, she intentionally sources the materials she uses in her work—repurposing used wood to make her frames and finding local sources for the hempcrete ingredients—to ensure that the carbon footprint is small and contained. “As an artist, I try to lead by example,” Kyla said. “My clothing, shoes, kitchenware, and even my skateboard—are all made from hemp. I try to embody the lifestyle, and that is carried out in my medium of art.” One of Kyla’s goals is to create a permanent installation in the Washington D.C. area that would give the visitor “a complete hemp experience, to be surrounded by hempcrete and plant life.” “This is the happy ending,” Kyla added, referring to The 4th Pig story. “When we build a structure that is made of not only hempcrete but also hemp wood, we are addressing the microplastic, the lumber and the modern-day building materials, and suggesting that instead, we can use hemp. This is where we see a significant change that is better for health, wellness, and the environment.” For more information on Kyla Hill’s art and environmental activism, you can watch a video about her process at https://vimeo.com/768241791. *Kate Tsubata is a freelance writer, editor, filmmaker in Landover Hills, Maryland.

By Kate Pugnoli* What People Can Do to Save Water—and the Environment When people turn on their faucets in bathrooms, kitchens, or showers, they expect water to flow out. And if they live in a modern, developed country, they expect that water flow to be drinkable, too. But how often do people really consider how precious water is or the distance it may have traveled to reach them? In many countries around the world, plumbing and the availability of water is a given, nothing to lose sleep over. The idea of walking to a well over a mile away to bring back water in a jug or transporting it back home in plastic containers on a bike or truck is unimaginable, but in some places in the world this journey is still a reality. Even in some Native American homes in the United States, flowing water is not always available. Where one lives will impact one’s sensibility about water’s availability or its scarcity. For example, people living on the west side of the main island of Hawaii can expect a yearly rainfall of less than nineteen inches. However, if they move 77 miles to Hilo, on the east side of the island, they will see more than 144 inches per year. People who live with abundant rain will develop different attitudes and habits of water usage compared with those in drier climes. Worsening Droughts Regardless of where people live, the unfortunate reality is that over the past thirty years, water resources in many populated areas of the world are becoming seriously stressed. As early as 2025, half of the world's population could be living in areas facing water scarcity. By 2030, some 700 million people could be displaced by intense water scarcity. As populations grow in many regions and cities, the demand for water increases even as its availability becomes more limited. Rising global temperatures, less rainfall in crucial areas, and myriad factors have contributed to widespread droughts, particularly in regions of the American Southwest. Stark images of Lake Mead published by NASA in July 2022 made headlines around the world, as aerial pictures revealed a substantial drop in the lake that is connected to the Colorado River, on the border between Nevada and Arizona. The Hoover Dam is connected to Lake Mead and provides water and electricity to over forty million people in nearby cities and states. South of the border of Arizona is Sonora, Mexico, which at one time was supplied with abundant water from the Colorado River. People who live in certain regions of that area may find that in hot summer months, water may be turned off for a couple hours a day. Visitors traveling throughout Mexico will see large water tanks, “tinacos,” on the rooftops of most residences; they contain water that is often not drinkable. Efforts are being made to remedy this problem, but the current water usage in Mexico is not sustainable. With the many-faceted issue of climate change continually dominating the news, the average person can easily feel overwhelmed to effect meaningful corrective change. However, regarding water usage, there are many measures one can take to promote water conservation and reduce water consumption without resorting to extreme water rationing. With expanded awareness about extravagant water usage, communities can promote daily water savings tips—leading to lower water bills and even feelings of satisfaction that anyone can make a significant difference! What People Can Do There are many effective ways to conserve water; the list below highlights just a few, most of which do not involve much expense. Even simple changes make for a good start. Saving Water in the Bathroom When brushing one’s teeth, wet the brush and use a cup of water to rinse. There’s no need to keep the tap flowing while shining those pearly whites. Sometimes a long hot (or cold!) shower is just what a body needs, but people can save many gallons of water when showering. This means wetting the body/head under the shower, turning off the water while soaping up and shampooing, and rinsing off. Normally, showering for just four minutes sends twenty to forty gallons down the drain! For those who shave at the sink, try shaving by filling the sink with warm water. The razor can be rinsed without leaving the tap running. Replace that old toilet with a new ultra-low volume (ULV) 1.6-gallon flush model. Potentially, this upgrade will save as much as 70% in water, and cut indoor water use by about 30%. Alternatively, consider purchasing a dual flush toilet or buy a dual flush converter. A family may save up to 15,000 gallons of water each year. If needed, more water is used, but normally households will use 70% less water. Replace shower head and bathroom faucets with aerators that will reduce water flow. Saving Water in the Kitchen Use the dishwasher. People may think they use Iess water by handwashing dishes, but unless there are dual sinks—one for washing, one for rinsing—handwashing dishes actually uses more than a dishwasher. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that an efficient dishwasher uses half as much water, which may save as much as 5,000 gallons each year. Also, pre-rinsing dirty dishes is unnecessary if a dishwasher is used. In hot summer months, don’t run the tap for cooler water; keep a pitcher of water in your refrigerator—cool water will always be ready when needed. Saving Water for the Outdoors Water plants late in the evening whenever possible; this will cut back on the amount of moisture that evaporates. Consider planting trees that provide shade either to other plants or the home. The plants near the tree will use less water, and shade provided by trees may keep your house cooler. Install drip irrigation. There are many relatively simple DIY kits that can be picked up at hardware or big box stores that have gardening departments. Using rain barrels to collect water runoff from the roof can also save water. Instead of hosing down sidewalks or outdoor patios, sweep them off. Dipping the bristle end of the broom into a bucket of water will help get up any dirty deposits. Check to see that you have no leaks in the outdoor garden faucets and hoses. Although changing one’s water usage habits may be a little challenging at first, the water bills can go down by employing some of these ideas, while helping to preserve the water supply. There is no denying that there is a decreasing water supply in many places. Regardless of the security of the water supply in one’s local community, imagine if millions of people worldwide utilized some of these water saving tips. The result is a win-win for families, communities, and beyond. Moreover, efforts towards expanding greater awareness and consciousness of these solutions can give people a chance to make a difference. *Kate Pugnoli is an Arizona based freelance journalist and former educator who works with nonprofit organizations. Her area of interest is in addressing environmental issues impacting marine biodiversity and conservation.

By Kate Pugnoli* As millions of people throughout the world become aware that the Earth’s resources are not unlimited, many are seeking ways, however modest, to do their part as conscientious consumers. There are many areas of environmental activism to join, but one that may be overlooked is also one of the simplest: thrifting. Thrifting, or “buying used,” means consumers can find anything—from furniture and electronics to a “new” pair of jeans, a prom dress, or a brand name sweater—at reasonable prices. Reselling unwanted consumer goods also benefits the environment as it doesn’t contribute to a depletion of natural resources as well as minimizes energy consumption for shipping. Although there will always be people seeking out brand-new goods for the latest fashion trend or hot technology, there are many reasons to consider buying used. The old axiom that beauty (or usefulness) is in the eye of the beholder applies to thrifting. Shoppers who have done a little research and have a good eye for a bargain will find many opportunities to bring home items at reduced cost simply because someone discarded an item they thought was outdated. The Case for Buying Secondhand Clothing Clothing shoppers can stay on budget and help the environment by buying second hand. For example, purchasing used clothing from thrift stores or online websites like Poshmark, ThredUp, or eBay is a good way to find gently used designer clothing at bargain prices. Famous brand names can be found with prices 50% to 85% below their original retail price. Buying clothes second hand keeps them out of incinerators, reduces carbon and chemical pollution caused by clothing production, and lowers the water consumption needed to process both natural and synthetic fibers. Many thrift shops also support local communities, school or sport team fundraising drives, and other environmental causes. The statistics may vary somewhat, but the fashion industry is responsible for between 8% and 10% of greenhouse gas emissions every year. Millions of tons of clothing and textile waste ends up in landfills. Although natural fibers like cotton or wool often get a bad rap due to the amount of land and water needed to produce these fabrics, polyester blends—a staple of cheap, trendy clothing (fast fashion)—have a downside, too. Petroleum is used to create polyester textiles, and though they may wear well and keep the owner cool—or warm, depending on the fabric used—the fibers are not easily recyclable. Moreover, the plastic pellets involved in clothing production contribute to microplastic pollution, which is known to have a damaging impact on marine life. According to an article recently published on Bloomberg.com, “modern textiles rely heavily on petrochemical products that come from many of the same oil and gas companies driving greenhouse gas emissions. Today, the fashion industry may account for up to 10% of global carbon dioxide output—more than international flights and shipping combined, according to the United Nations Environment Programme.” A big culprit in the clothing world is “fast fashion.” This is loosely defined as the clothing industry's business model of identifying hot trends and high-fashion designs, mass-producing them cheaply, and getting those outfits into retail stores quickly while there is a demand. Fast fashion garments typically don’t have staying power. Although millions of consumers buy them, these items are likely to be discarded once they are deemed no longer in style. Ways to Level Up One’s Wardrobe Before making new clothing purchases, it is good to evaluate one’s current wardrobe. Prior to discarding an item, the owner can ask, “Can I alter that hem?” Maybe only a button is needed to give a favorite shirt another season of wear. People can avoid becoming a victim of fast fashion by choosing clothing purchases more carefully and viewing them as long-term purchases. Keeping one’s wardrobe organized can make outfits easier to find and discourages impulse buying or needless duplication of items. (How many black tee-shirts does a person really need?) Closets can be organized by grouping like items, color coding, or putting outfits that work next to each other. When preparing clothes to discard or donate, it’s good to consider whether this item was a good bang for the buck, e.g., how many times did this item get worn, and does it need to be replaced? Also, look at the quality of the clothing. Fast fashion tends to be poorly made and looks flimsy or cheap. The clothing tags will reveal what material was used in the garment; a lot of polyester clothing is made through wasteful textile production. Reusable clothes can be donated to thrift stores or sometimes shelters. If the items are in excellent shape and are quality brands, owners can bring them to consignment stores for cash or trade credit. For those willing to take the time, items can also be re-sold on an online site. Other ways to redistribute unwanted clothing include yard sales and clothing exchanges, in which friends gather and swap gently used clothes. In short, there are many ways to say goodbye to old clothes rather than send them to a landfill! More Than Low-Priced Clothing When people do a closet purge or decluttering project, they may be surprised at what has been hiding in the dark recesses of their storage spaces. Happily, resale stores are ready to receive an enormous variety of donations for their shelves. For instance, thrift store shoppers can find both old and newly published books at rates possibly cheaper than Amazon or eBay. There are also CDs, DVDs, crafting supplies, wall art, furniture, sports equipment, refurbished electronics, and housewares. Most good thrift stores also have a section with formal wear, including prom and wedding dresses, that can save a shopper hundreds of dollars. Children’s clothing is usually available at great bargains at resale stores. Since children can quickly outgrow their clothes, many of their donated items are or look new. Also, many toys donated to thrift stores are intact, operable, and in decent condition. Thrift stores thrive on repeat customers, and many offer deals on their deals. For instance, the thrift store, Savers, has half-price Mondays, discounts days for regulars, a senior day, and color-coded discount tags weekly. While some people may view thrift stores as venues for mostly low-income shoppers, budget-conscious consumers of all incomes and ages know deals are waiting inside. It is common to find millennials wandering thrift store aisles searching for unique outfits or furniture for an apartment. Well-dressed working women are also there, seeking stylish clothing on the cheap, while senior citizens, young families, and couples of all ages search for bargains. One warning: Always be ready to seize the unusual or unexpected item that pops up on a shelf or rack. It is unlikely to still be there on the next visit. *Kate Pugnoli is an Arizona based freelance journalist and former educator who works with nonprofit organizations. Her area of interest is in addressing environmental issues impacting marine biodiversity and conservation.

By Kate Pugnoli* As winter snowfalls make their way to the Earth, it’s time for children to cavort in piles of white, making snow angels, snow men, having snowball fights—and chomping on fistfuls of the fluffy white flakes. Eating snow is a time-honored part of winter fun, even though it’s usually accompanied by stern warnings to steer clear of “yellow” (peed-in) snow. Now, a closer look at snowflakes and other winter precipitation may encourage adults and children to consume snow with caution—or not at all. Snow: Not as Pure as It Appears In interviews with NPR, Jeff S. Gaffney, a professor of chemistry at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, says if snow had an ingredient list, it would be topped by H2O and followed by “various and sundry things depending on where it [comes from],” including compounds and metals such as sulfates, nitrates, formaldehyde, and mercury. Meanwhile, John Pomeroy, a researcher who studies water resources and climate change at the University of Saskatchewan, suggests that it may be best to wait a few hours after the snow begins to fall before anyone starts munching. “Snow acts like a kind of atmospheric ‘scrubbing brush,’” he explains. “The longer the snow falls, the lower the pollution levels in the air, and thus in the snow.” “Snow acts like a kind of atmospheric ‘scrubbing brush,’” Pomeroy explains. Although snow becomes like a giant “net” for pollutants, it is Gaffney’s opinion that contaminants in snow are “all at levels well below toxic.” Not everyone shares that opinion. Parisa Ariya of McGill University, Canada, states in the Huffington Post that, “As a mother who is an atmospheric physical chemist, I definitely do not suggest my young kids… eat snow in urban areas in general.” Ariya headed up the team of researchers whose 2016 study indicated that snow absorbs chemicals from gasoline exhaust, which would include toluene, xylenes and the known carcinogen, benzene. White Salt in White Snow But the issue of contaminants in snowfall extends beyond yards to water bodies and snowfall on roads. Spreading rock salt on icy or snow-covered roads and highways appears to be an easy fix, but it is not without environmental consequences. Rock salts make driving safer but contribute to rusting cars, roadway cracking, and other problems. Although it is said, “as pure as the driven snow,” unfortunately, snow is a catchall for vehicular exhaust particulates, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), trace metals, and chlorides from road salts—this is the downside to snow’s absorbent tendencies. Snow is a catchall for vehicular exhaust particulates, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), trace metals, and chlorides from road salts. Rock salt is essentially the same as table salt—sodium and chloride—but as rock salt melts, snow forms runoff that can make its way into nearby creeks, marshes, and lakes. This toxic chemical cocktail has the potential to reach aquifers, pipes, and waterways where it can be detrimental to humans, flora, and fauna. This also applies to conventional ice melts, which typically include a combination of sodium or chloride with other ions or ionic compounds. Examples include calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium acetate, and blends of the above. The chloride in rock salts can negatively impact water quality to the point of contributing to algae blooms. Chloride salts are soluble, but they do not really break down and will accumulate at the bottom of water bodies where they affect anything living there. In a story featured by My Champlain Valley, a news organization in Burlington, Vermont, Mitch Vestal, president of Advanced Organics, says that as these particles collect, “we end up with algae blooms[,] and ... that problem gets worse as chloride salt accumulations grow.” At low concentrations, chloride is benign, but when it becomes more concentrated, it can become toxic to plankton and fish. Salt water is more dense than fresh water and changes the way in which water mixes. Salt water’s “heaviness” can result in the formation of saline pockets (meromixis) near the bottom of lakes. These have the potential to create biological dead zones resulting from a “depletion of oxygen … and reduction in the cycling of nutrients.” Chloride can become a permanent pollutant with no easy fix, as removing salt from fresh water is an expensive treatment. Possible Alternatives to Rock Salts Many cities in the United States and Canada are using food byproducts, such as beet juice combined with salt, as deicers. According to The Conversation, “sugars in beet wastewater apparently make it more effective at lower temperatures than salt water or brine alone, lowering the melting point of the ice to below -20 [°]C from –10 [°]C.” As a result, less chloride can be used on roads. Not only does beet juice lower the freezing point of water, it is also sticky and adheres better to the roadways than rock salt. Cheese brine, pickle juice, and even beer have also been used as a deicer. Similar to how dissolved salts lower water’s freezing point, such solutes also do so by obstructing the water molecules from forming their solid structure. A downside of such solutes are their odors, which can be unpleasant. Another negative effect has to do with the surrounding environment: As the organic properties in alternative remedies wash into waterways, they deplete the oxygen in the water, reducing what is available for aquatic life. As the organic properties in alternative remedies [to rock salts] wash into waterways, they deplete the oxygen in the water, reducing what is available for aquatic life. Other natural alternatives to rock salts are being researched. Some insects, spiders, and fish create antifreeze proteins in their bodies. For example, eighteen out of seventy-five species of Alaskan insects indicated the presence of antifreeze proteins, according to one study. In addition, it has been shown that notothenioid fish in Antarctica synthesize antifreeze proteins in their bodies to survive in the Southern Ocean. According to Monika Bleszynski of the University of Denver, “My colleagues and I are learning how to make our own antifreeze compounds through imitation. Our first challenge is to learn how the natural versions work, so we can recreate them. While there’s still much we don’t understand, we are using advanced computer modeling to see how antifreeze proteins interact with water molecules.” Bleszynski is working to synthesize a compound with the hydroxyl group—the same group found in antifreeze proteins and conventional antifreeze (ethylene glycol) for vehicles—to replicate its mechanism of binding with water molecules directly to make it more difficult for water to form its solid structure. And There Are Microplastics… Microplastics are found in water bodies, marine animals, and even the atmosphere, but what about snow? A recent study by scientific researchers at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmotz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) in Bremerhaven, Germany, indicates that microplastic particles are being found in areas as remote as the Arctic and the Alps. The study, published in the journal Science Advances, shows that these microplastic particles are caught up in the atmosphere and returned to Earth via snowfall. A team led by Dr. Melanie Bergmann and Dr. Gunnar Gerdts reported that, “the analyses … conducted on snow samples from Helgoland, Bavaria, Bremen, the Swiss Alps and the Arctic confirm that the snow at all sites contained high concentrations of microplastics.” ​​​So Is Snow Safe to Eat? While there may be genuine caveats regarding snow consumption, there are many scientists who believe there is no need to sound the alarm bells on eating a few white flakes or even an entire snowball. Staci Simonich, professor of environmental and toxic ecology at Oregon State University, agrees that most people are likely collecting snow in urban or suburban areas where pesticide concentrations are likely higher. But she adds: “That being said, I would not hesitate for my children to have the joy of eating a handful of fresh fallen snow from my backyard. ... the pesticide concentrations are low and the amount of snow eaten in a handful is small, so the one-time dose is very low and not a risk to health.” *Kate Pugnoli is an Arizona-based freelance journalist and former educator who works with nonprofit organizations.

By Kate Pugnoli* A short jaunt over Arizona’s southern border—a mere 215 miles from Tucson into Mexico—lies the glimmering Sea of Cortez. Also known as the Gulf of California, this sea is recognized as one of the most biologically diverse on the planet—it is home to approximately 900 species of fish, thousands of species of invertebrates, as well as sea turtles, and marine mammals like sea lions, dolphins, and whales. Famed French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau once called it “the world’s aquarium.” It is also home to CEDO, the Intercultural Center for the Study of Deserts and Oceans (Centro Intercultural de Estudios de Desiertos y Océanos.) CEDO has emerged as a vital educational hub for environmental management, beach cleanups, and responsible fishing practices. CEDO’s headquarters is located in the town of Puerto Peñasco in the northern part of the Sea of Cortez. Also known as Rocky Point, population app. 63,000, the town is a popular tourist destination and Mexican fishing port. Some forty years ago, an alliance of nonprofit organizations in the United States and Mexico created CEDO to research the unique areas of the Northern Gulf of California, the Colorado River Delta Biosphere Reserve and the Puerto-Peñasco-Puerto Lobos Biological Corridor. CEDO conducted field research in these environments, developed partnerships with researchers from the US and Mexico, and initiated community monitoring projects. As a result, CEDO’s integrated research programs “quickly advanced [the] understanding of the northern Gulf of California and its biophysical, ecological, and socioeconomic features.” CEDO’s investment has paid off—these unique environments are considered one of the best researched habitats in the Gulf of California. However, challenges emerged as the local tourist industry, fisheries, and population grew. CEDO responded by educating coastal communities on how to continue their traditional livelihoods while supporting healthy, resilient ecosystems. Recently, CEDO Executive Director Nélida Barajas Acosta talked with The Earth & I about CEDO’s successes and challenges. In 2019, Acosta moved with her husband Abelardo (who also works with CEDO) and her children from Mexico City to Puerto Peñasco. Since then, she has worked tirelessly to continue CEDO’s many projects while bringing a fresh and innovative approach to the organization. Acosta wants to raise interest about environmental issues among Mexican youth. “There is … awareness about the environment [among the young] but not [at] the level … that [it] should be,” she says. “There are many young people who are interested in doing activities to protect and conserve the sea, but they are not in big numbers; there is something we are missing in communicating with them in ways they can engage.” Caring About Clean Beaches and Seas Pollution is a perennial issue. Mexico’s many renowned, beautiful beaches are often also littered with garbage. Cans, bottles, plastic bags, and other debris often end up in the sea, where they can harm sea birds, sea turtles, and other marine animals. Ingesting plastic can even result in an animal’s death. “Lately there is more social ‘punishment,’” Acosta says. “A person may say, ‘Oh, he’s a cochino, she’s a cochina [loosely translated a dirty person.] I ask people, ‘Why don’t you pick up your waste and throw it in a trashcan?’ Sometimes the response is, ‘Oh, I am giving work to others’ [to those who collect aluminum cans], but this is not how you do it! Is it difficult to put the garbage in a bag and put it in the trash can? The tides come up, and those cans end up in the sea; most of the trash in the sea is coming from the land,” she says. CEDO has been promoting beach cleanups for twenty years to help both residents and visitors remember that they should always properly dispose of their trash. In 2021, for instance, CEDO organized the International Coastal Cleanup. More than 600 participants from Puerto Peñasco, including governmental, educational, and civil society organizations, along with volunteers, fishers, and families, collected three tons of waste at twenty-three cleanup sites along the Gulf’s coastline. Cleanup results were registered with Clean Swell, an app that helps record the types, weight, location, and other details of the debris found. Responsible, Sustainable Fisheries A critical socioeconomic issue in coastal fishing communities is creating well-managed fisheries. The upper Gulf of California region is known for a protected species known as totoaba, a delectable fish that can grow to six feet and weigh as much as 200 pounds. This massive fish, however, is suffering from seriously depleted numbers. Dried totoaba swim bladders are so valued in China they fetch prices of up to $46,000 per kilogram on the black market. Due to the totoaba’s marketability, illegal fishing of the species has become rampant. Moreover, “people who fish illegally also catch the vaquita,” says Acosta, referring to a small marine dolphin that may become extinct because it is often trapped in fishing nets. CEDO’s work to create sustainable fishing practices has been critical. “Probably the most tangible project CEDO has been involved with, that made a huge impact on fisheries and the livelihoods of fishermen, are environmental impact assessments,” says Acosta. “If you want to fish in protected areas, we can show fishermen how they can fish legally, and how they can harvest fish from the sea; but they cannot fish with nets. In the upper Gulf of California, I can say these environmental impact assessments have been a great success.” She continues, “[E]verything we are doing is … interrelated. When we speak of communities, people may care about the ocean, but what of those geographically isolated small communities? Who cares about them? But they need to go into the sea and fish, and they can overfish—or they can fish in sustainable way. When that fish gets on your table, you can share the story of the fisherman, the woman who is cleaning and bringing the fish to market. Instead of paying one peso for that fish, you are maybe paying two pesos, but you are giving more value to the work they are doing, and now they have a better livelihood. “Fishers can show they care about the ocean and provide evidence that they are fishing in a sustainable way,” adds Acosta. “We are talking with fishermen and learning from their traditional knowledge of fishing, but we are providing them with new tools on how to do sustainable fishing. You are eating a sustainably caught fish from your area, not a frozen fish from China or Chile.” CEDO also is “not only working with the fishermen, but with [their] families,” Acosta says. “The children go to school and hear environmental programs. The wife talks to her husband about saving water. Information goes from the fishermen to the mothers, and then to the kids. We need a new approach; we are proposing nature-based solutions. The solutions to all societal challenges that humanity faces, we can find in nature. This means health, and food and livelihood. We can work together to keep nature healthy while gaining everything we need to live well.” In May of 2021, CEDO instituted the Escuela del Mar (School of the Sea), a program which trains and certifies both men and women to fish responsibly and sustainably in the Gulf. The local Mexican population seeks to be involved with improving the environment, but they need good information, says Acosta. People don’t want to hear they are “an agent of ocean pollution”; they want to know what they can do to reverse the trend. “I work now with the sons and daughters of fishermen. When I ask about solutions to environmental problems, they often have the best ideas and many stories about how to protect the environment because they have been living there forever,” says Acosta. Regarding CEDO’s funding, Acosta says individuals and US sources are the biggest backers. “Our funding comes from individual donors—from $5 to a $1,000; 30% of our income is from individual donors, 60% of our funds come from the Unitetes. Why isn’t Mexico supporting our work more? In Mexico, philanthropic culture is not taught in schools or in families. So, you have money for Starbucks, but you are not contributing to ocean conservation?” she says. It sometimes seems like an uphill battle to raise people’s consciousness about their environment through education and vigilance, but Acosta is undeterred. “There is no single solution to these problems; we must be creative and understand how everything is related. Everyone needs to recognize the role they play in this complex equation. It is related to education, but it is also related to care,” says Acosta. “The main message we need to share is to bring people to nature: If you don’t spend time in nature, you can’t love it, and you won’t care,” she adds. “Why is [it] important to protect the ocean? You can have all the scientific arguments, but I see the future of conservation is through a more intensive, interaction with everyone. It isn’t just biologists, scientists, and nonprofits; we all play a role in creating the conditions in which we live in.” Visitors to CEDO can register for programs which include ecotours to San Jorge Island, kayaking, tidepool exploration, and estuary excursions. To learn more about CEDO’s work, visit their website at https://cedo.org/ *Kate Pugnoli is an Arizona-based freelance journalist and former educator who works with nonprofit organizations. Her area of interest is in addressing environmental issues impacting marine biodiversity and conservation.

By Julie Peterson* Throughout the second year of the global COVID-19 pandemic, public attention has primarily been focused on vaccination as the protocol for prevention, in addition to slowing the spread of the virus by wearing masks, contact tracing, testing, and lockdowns. Now, additional hedges against severe COVID-19 symptoms may be as close as the next meal. “Plant-based and plant-based-pescatarian diets” may lower incidences of moderate to severe COVID-19, according to a peer-reviewed study published earlier in 2021. The study, published in the journal BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health in June 2021, describes itself as the first to have “investigated the association between dietary patterns and COVID-19.” Plant-based (vegetarian) diets are high in foods such as vegetables, legumes, and nuts, and low in poultry, red meat, fish, and processed meats. Such a diet has plentiful nutrients, especially phytochemicals. Plant-based pescatarian diets are similar, with the addition of fish as a source of protein. Healthcare Workers Surveyed on Diet and COVID-19 Symptoms Frontline healthcare workers with a high frequency of exposure to COVID-19 patients in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States were surveyed between July and September 2020. The 2,884 participants provided information on demographic characteristics, past medical histories, medications, lifestyle, diet, and COVID-19 status and symptoms. COVID-19 cases, whether symptomatic or asymptomatic, were self-reported by participants as Very Mild, Mild, Moderate, Severe, or Critical, with specific criteria for symptoms within each category. Participants who reported following a “plant-based diet” and a “plant-based or plant-based-pescatarian diet” had 73% and 59% lower odds, respectively, of contracting moderate to severe COVID-19 compared with those who did not follow those dietary patterns. These associations held true when weight and coexisting medical conditions were factored in. No association was found between diet and either the risk of contracting COVID-19 or the length of the illness. “The trends in this study are limited by study size (small numbers with a confirmed positive test) and design (self-reporting on diet and symptoms), so caution is needed in the interpretation of the findings,” said Shane McAuliffe, deputy chair of The Need For Nutrition Education/Innovation Programme (NNEdPro) Nutrition and COVID-19 Taskforce. “However, a high-quality diet is important for mounting an adequate immune response, which in turn can influence susceptibility to infection and its severity.” The Unique Protection Offered By Plant-Based‌ Diets‌ Plant-based eating as a lifestyle has already been shown to provide benefits for a multitude of ailments. Documentaries such as Forks Over Knives, Earthlings, and PlantPure Nation have brought the benefits of vegetarian diets to the forefront, backed by a plethora of research. In a 2019 study in the Journal of the American Heart Association, Johns Hopkins University researchers reported that, in a thirty-year period, people eating a mostly plant-based diet were 32% less likely to die from a cardiovascular condition and 25% less likely to die from any cause. A 2017 report published in International Journal of Epidemiology suggested that eating at least 500 grams of fruit and 800 grams of vegetables per day is associated with a reduced risk of many chronic diseases. The benefits of plant-based diets come from the fact that they are replete with nutrients, especially phytochemicals, fiber, and essential vitamins and minerals. Previous studies have reported that these nutrients, specifically vitamins A, C, D, and E, decreased the risk and shortened the duration of the common cold, pneumonia, and other respiratory infections such as COVID-19. Pescatarian diets offer unique benefits because fish is a source of vitamin D and Omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA). Intake of Omega-3s provides anti-inflammatory effects and suppresses the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, among other benefits, providing more favorable outcomes for patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. While the 2021 BMJ Nutrition, Prevention & Health study showed evidence that fish intake can have favorable impacts on respiratory illness, future research is needed to confirm this association specifically to COVID-19. Fortify Your Plant-Based Diet By Eating a Variety of Colors Putting a plant-based diet in place is as simple as eating fruits and vegetables in a rainbow of vibrant colors. This ensures the consumption of a variety of phytochemicals, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. The U.S. federal Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion recommends consuming two and one-half cups of vegetables and two cups of fruit each day. Lisa McDowell, director of lifestyle medicine and clinical nutrition at Saint Joseph Mercy Health System in Ann Arbor, Michigan, suggests including “deeply pigmented fruits and veggies in at least five different colors.” This ensures getting all the micronutrients, which work synergistically. It is not necessary to eat five colors per day; the goal is to include a couple of different foods from each of the following color groups through the week. Infographics and charts are available for download from the American Heart Association, Vegan Easy, and other nutrition-centric organizations. Apps such as Eat the Rainbow Food Journal, Eat Five, and VegHunter also help to track vegetable and fruit intake. While it’s not necessary to eat five colors per day, try to include a couple different foods from each of the following color groups throughout the week. Green: Dark greens contain folate for healthy cells and calcium for stronger bones, muscles, and heart regulation. Get plenty of asparagus, avocados, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, green tea, kale, kiwi, spinach, and green herbs. Blue and purple: Anthocyanins wipe out free radicals, reduce inflammation, and boost brain health. Resveratrol can delay cellular aging, protect the heart, and reduce the risk of cancers. Blueberries, blackberries, eggplant, elderberries, figs, grapes, plums, raisins, eggplant, and purple cabbage are good choices. Red: Rich in lycopene, a potent scavenger of gene-damaging free radicals, red plants boost heart, brain, eye, and bone health and reduce cancer risk. Try apples, beets, cherries, cranberries, raspberries, red peppers, tomatoes, and watermelons. Yellow and orange: Contains vitamin C, hesperidin, and carotenoids such as beta-carotene to boost the immune system, detoxify the body, reduce inflammation, and protect the heart. Add apricots, bananas, cantaloupe, carrots, mango, oranges, pineapple, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, tangerines, and yellow peppers. White and brown: The onion family contains allicin and beta glucans, which can help lower cholesterol. Nuts contain healthy fats. Other foods in this group contain blood pressure-regulating potassium and antioxidant flavonoids like quercetin and kaempferol. Choose beans, cauliflower, garlic, leeks, mushrooms, nuts, onions, parsnips, and whole grains. Meal Prep Makes Switching to a Healthier Diet Easier William Li, M.D., author of Eat to Beat Disease, advises people to “practice health care at home every day in our own kitchens.” But breaking old habits and incorporating new ones isn’t always simple. For those with busy schedules, meal prepping can make switching to a new way of eating easier. Sites such as She Likes Food, Sweet Peas and Saffron, Running in a Skirt, and Budget Bytes focus on recipes and time-saving tips to prepare a week’s worth of healthful meals. Where is the Media Attention on Diet and COVID-19? While plant-based and plant-based-pescatarian diets appear to cultivate a compelling defense against the likelihood of suffering severe COVID-19 symptoms, the mainstream news has continued to focus primarily on the medical and political issues of the pandemic. Rates of vaccination, infection, hospitalization, and death fill the news reports. Sadly, the angle of how eating a healthy, plant-based diet as a way to fend off COVID-19 has yet to be properly covered. However, as many functional medical practitioners and nutritionists are saying, the story of one’s future with COVID-19 may be written by the food on one’s plate. Further studies are needed to confirm the findings, but, for now, the authors of the June 2021 study conclude, “Our results suggest that a healthy diet rich in nutrient-dense foods may be considered for protection against severe COVID-19.” *Julie Peterson is a freelance journalist based in the Midwest region of the U.S., who has written hundreds of articles on natural approaches to health, environmental issues, and sustainable living.

By Julie Peterson* Is it better to be a locavore or perhaps a vegetarian in order to improve your health and the environment? Should we be aware of the impact that our food purchases have on climate change? Entering the debate is a new study out of the University of Michigan (UM) in the United States that has identified simple food choices that people can make to simultaneously improve their health and reduce their environmental footprint. The UM study was conducted over seven years by a group of experts in food sustainability, environmental life cycle assessment, epidemiology and environmental health, and nutrition. They pulled together pieces of this complex, multidimensional puzzle and extracted the health and environmental impacts of thousands of foods. As human and environmental health are intertwined, their results could bring relief, providing a clearer picture of how to compare foods and make mindful decisions that lead to greater longevity on a healthier planet. Food Choices Impact Your Lifespan and the Environment The researchers went beyond counting calories or carbohydrates—or comparing whole foods to processed foods—and categorized and analyzed food choices based on composition to arrive at a calculation of each food item’s net benefits to, or impacts on, the human body. Specifically for nutrition, the study’s authors developed a Health Nutritional Index (HENI) for more than 5,800 foods commonly consumed in American diets. Using their index, they meticulously quantified marginal health effects in terms of minutes of healthy life gained, or lost, from eating certain foods. Individual foods and mixed dishes ranged from 74 minutes lost to 80 minutes gained per serving. Assessment of the American hot dog provides an example of how the nutritional numbers were crunched by the researchers into minutes of life lost or gained. First, they found that, on average, 0.45 minutes of life are lost per gram of any processed meat consumed in the U.S. They then used previously developed food profiles to further weigh the good and bad aspects of a hot dog. Individual foods and mixed dishes ranged from 74 minutes lost to 80 minutes gained per serving. For example, according to the study, eating one hot dog may subtract 36 healthy minutes from your life. A hot dog consists of 61 grams of processed meat, resulting in 27 minutes of healthy life lost due to the amount of its processed meat content. Other risk factors, such as the sodium and trans fatty acid content of the hot dog were counterbalanced somewhat by the benefits of the polyunsaturated fats and fiber that were present. With all calculations finalized, eating a hot dog resulted in a negative value of 36 minutes of healthy life lost. The Environmental Impact of Eating Regarding the environmental impact of food production, researchers found striking variations both within and between animal-based and plant-based foods. Beef, for instance, had the largest carbon footprint across its entire life cycle, coming in twice as high as pork or lamb and four times higher than poultry and dairy. The study also showed that when it comes to measuring sustainability, it is not sufficient to consider the amount of greenhouse gases emitted as the sole indicator of a food’s so-called carbon footprint. The water footprint of food production is also an important factor. Taking a look at production methods such as drip irrigation and the reuse of gray water provides a more accurate accounting of the sustainability of a food’s production methods. However, the study did not take into account the emergence and increase in regenerative farming practices, perhaps because the practice is too new or small in scale to provide adequate data. One could surmise that some of the foods that scored worse on environmental impacts might have ranked better if grown with regenerative practices. Simplifying Personal Food Choices The researchers compared food scores from their HENI with scores from health indices based on the What We Eat in America database of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, as well as environmental metrics drawn from IMPACT World+, an assessment method that determines the environmental impact of food production and processing from manufacturing to cooking to waste. The researchers then created a color-coded chart identifying each food item as green, yellow, or red (see chart above). Like a traffic light, green means go and indicates both beneficial health effects and a low environmental impact for a certain food. One obvious conclusion would be that “green” foods should be increased in the diet, while “red” foods should be reduced. While it is clear that processed meats and red meats in general fall furthest into the danger zones of minutes lost and increased carbon footprint, not everyone needs to become a vegan to meaningfully improve the health of the planet. Simply using the Green, Yellow, and Red color-coded indicators helps people make quick and easy choices between foods that are good-to-go (green) and those to be consumed with caution (yellow). In terms of human health, the study’s results suggest that cutting out processed meat and reducing sodium consumption across the board provides the largest overall gain in healthy longevity compared with all other food types. The simplest and most effective dietary changes might be to eat less of foods that are high in processed meat—particularly beef, followed by pork and lamb—along with reducing greenhouse-grown vegetables which can be energy-intensive to produce. Foods that people might consider increasing are the green-coded choices with high beneficial health effects and low environmental impacts such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and low-environmental-impact fish and seafood. The Future of Healthy and Environmentally Friendly Food The researchers noted that using their system will allow people to align their diets with their personal tastes, budgets, and goals for a more sustainable future by making simple swaps within the guidelines. One food choice at a time, individuals can feel that they are making a difference. Small shifts in behavior can be easier to manage, thus encouraging even more changes. An individual’s success using the system may encourage others to make similar changes, adding up to substantial improvements in human and environmental well-being. The study’s results could be part of a movement toward healthier and more sustainable diets, one food at a time. The authors are hopeful that their food data can be made available and useful to the public through platforms such as a shopping app or grocery store displays. This would allow more individuals to choose more minutes of a healthy life and protect the planet as they plan their next meal. *Julie Peterson is a freelance journalist based in the Midwest region of the U.S. who has written hundreds of articles on natural approaches to health, environmental issues, and sustainable living.

By Julie Peterson* Artificial lighting at night can negatively affect humans, plants, and animals as well as hinder our view of the night sky. Astronomers define this light pollution as “artificial light that shines where it is neither wanted, nor needed.” The International Dark Sky Association (IDA) describes it as the “inappropriate or excessive use of artificial light,” of which sources include exterior and interior lighting, advertising billboards and signage, commercial properties, sports stadiums, streetlights, and the like. With advancements in technology, common artificial light sources have come to include computer monitors, smart phones, tablets, television, and gaming screens. Thomas Edison’s electric lightbulb first lit a street in New York in 1882, and there’s no arguing how helpful that invention has been to mankind. It’s difficult to imagine life without the benefits of artificial light extending our days to work or play, lighting our way safely home, and enhancing the functionality of our living spaces. But scientific research is gradually gathering evidence regarding the dangers of light pollution. Almost 150 years after the modern era of lighting began, our fervor for light may simply be too much of a good thing. Health Hazards for Humans Before artificial light was developed, people lived for centuries with a light/dark cycle that depended on the sun. That 24-hour cycle, known as the circadian clock, is deeply embedded in human biology and is affected by light and darkness. Although the health effects of light pollution have not been studied in humans as extensively as in wildlife, there is increasing evidence to indicate a consistent association between exposure to artificial nighttime light and health problems. An article by Bob Parks in Sky & Telescope explained that disruption of the circadian rhythm has been linked to sleep disorders, depression, hypertension, attention deficit disorder, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. The problem, at least in part, is that disruption of the circadian cycle lowers levels of melatonin, which regulates several biologic activities including metabolism and immune responses and is a strong antioxidant and anti-carcinogen. Lowered melatonin levels have been correlated to a higher chance of developing breast, colorectal, and prostate cancers. For those who consistently work nights, the circadian clock can adjust and regulate the body normally if light/dark patterns are controlled. For those who work rotating shifts, it is more difficult. Studies in such journals as Cancer Causes and Control, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, and Epidemiology have studied female employees working a rotating night shift and found that an elevated breast cancer risk is associated with occupational exposure to artificial light at night. While the research on the shift work/cancer relationship is not conclusive, the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified shift work as a probable human carcinogen in 2007. Effects on Ecosystems The regular rhythm of night and day provides plants and animals indicators for their cycles of feeding, mating, and migrating. Light pollution alters this natural rhythm and impacts can be seen in almost every ecosystem. Extended exposure to artificial light inhibits many trees from adjusting to seasonal variations, according to Ecological Consequences of Artificial Night Lighting by Winslow Briggs. This results in consequences for the animals that rely on trees for habitat. Research on many species shows that light pollution is detrimental in both urban and rural areas. "Light pollution can disorient new sea turtle hatchlings such that they are drawn away from the sea, increasing the risk they will die before reaching the water." For instance, light pollution can affect fish by suppressing melatonin and disrupting reproduction and growth. It dramatically affects the nesting behavior of adult sea turtles and disorients new hatchlings such that they are drawn away from the sea, increasing the risk they will die before reaching the water. Some species of bats associate artificial light with predators, meaning in brightly-lit cities they attempt to alter their feeding patterns but are left with nowhere to go. Researchers in the Red Sea also found that light pollution acts as a chronic disturbance that may impact the future of coral reefs. Frogs have been found to inhibit their mating calls when they are exposed to excessive light at night and the list goes on to primates, marsupials, rodents, and insects. Behavior of birds is particularly disrupted by light pollution. Hundreds of species of birds fly their migration patterns at night and, especially when there is low cloud cover, they become confused by brightly lit buildings, communication towers, and other illuminated structures. Michael Mesure, executive director of the Toronto-based Fatal Light Awareness Program, explains that birds are attracted to light, which in turn causes many to have fatal collisions with structures. "About 10,000 migratory birds are injured or killed annually by crashing into New York City’s high-rise buildings." According to Glenn Phillips, executive director of the New York City Audubon Society, about 10,000 migratory birds are injured or killed annually by crashing into the city’s high-rise buildings. The annual estimates of birds dying from collisions across North America range from 98 million to close to a billion and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates five million to 50 million birds die each year just from collisions with communication towers. Reclaiming the Dark Clearly, reducing use of lights will reduce light pollution. Even in a world that operates 24/7, many locales are finding ways to turn down the glare. Research continues and ideas are being implemented around the globe as the impacts of light pollution on humans and animals becomes more of a mainstream concern. For example, a two-decade study by biologists studying how light pollution from a building in Chicago affected birds found that turning off interior lights at night had a dramatic effect. Halving the number of windows illuminated at night decreased bird collisions and cut bird deaths by an estimated 60%. Many cities have now adopted a “Lights Out” program to turn off building lights during bird migration. The IDA works with towns and cities that commit to lessening light pollution through measures such as shielding lights to point downward, adding timers, and avoiding the blue-white light spectrum, which has a greater adverse impact on wildlife. The association outlines the following five principles for responsible outdoor lighting: In the United States, Flagstaff, Arizona, was the world's first international dark sky place, receiving the IDA designation 2001. Home to two observatories, Flagstaff has been a forerunner in proving that economic development can progress without light pollution. At least nineteen U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico now have laws in place to reduce light pollution. Astro-tourism is the impetus for some regions to eliminate light pollution and enhance star gazing. The Yorkshire Dales National Park in the United Kingdom has been running dark skies festivals since 2016 and was designated by the IDA as a “dark sky reserve” in 2020. For ecological, health, and resource protections, many European countries have implemented programs and laws that reduce light pollution. In 2002, the Czech Republic became the first member of the European Union to have a national law dedicated solely to reducing light pollution. Slovenia followed in 2007, requiring outdoor lighting to be shaded and below certain levels of brightness. Croatia and France introduced laws to restrict outdoor light levels in 2019. In 2021, France went further to enact some of the most progressive regulations around outdoor lighting. Catalonia, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and others are also quashing the problem. In Norway, elimination of some excess lighting is being accomplished with smart streetlights. Like motion detector lights on buildings, streetlights are designed to detect an approaching vehicle, illuminate in succession as the vehicle safely passes, and then go off again. Individuals are also acting by closing curtains at night so interior light doesn't spill into naturally dark spaces, lighting only what needs to be lit, and focusing security lights appropriately. Summary Modern life requires the benefits of lighting, but we now know it must be used more responsibly as it is harmfully disrupting natural daily and seasonal cycles in myriad organisms. Legislators, city planners, property owners, and citizens need to “see the light” and work to install systems and implement practices to reduce light pollution worldwide. As the movements grow to embrace the darkness, one day we will all be able to see the Milky Way, save natural resources, better protect our health, and preserve plants and animals subjected to our bright ideas. *Julie Peterson writes on health and environmental issues from the Midwestern United States.

By Julie Peterson* Environmental and Health Benefits of Raw Vegetables Health organizations around the world continuously urge people to eat more vegetables, but studies have shown that not knowing how to cook these essential foods is why many people don’t get enough servings. Happily, many delicious and nutritiously potent vegetables can be eaten raw—and a new study, published by Frontiers in Nutrition in February 2022, says that the health benefits of eating veggies raw may be even greater than eating them cooked. The research was led by University of Oxford epidemiologist Dr. Qi Feng using 399,586 UK Biobank participants with twelve years of follow-up. The study states that higher intakes of raw, but not cooked, vegetables were associated with lower cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, including major CVD events and death. If you’re also concerned about the health of the environment, eating raw foods can help lower your carbon footprint. Simply put, cooking requires energy and creates greenhouse gas emissions, but preparing raw veggies requires no energy for heating and therefore is more environmentally friendly. The nutritional and environmental benefits are increased by purchasing sustainably and locally grown vegetables. Cooking consumes energy (left). Buying local saves energy (right). ©Rosino/Flickr/Wikimedia Commons. ©Ji-elle/Wikimedia Commons The environmental and health benefits of raw vegetables are not easily dismissed. Fortunately, it’s simple to incorporate them into your diet. What is Raw? Beyond simply being uncooked, raw veggies can be served in a variety of forms. In an article for Healthline, registered dietitian Taylor Jones wrote, “A food is considered raw if it has never been heated over 104–118°F (40–48°C).” Temperatures below this range help to retain nutrients and allow enzymes to survive. Raw foods can also include alternative preparation methods such as dehydrating, fermenting, juicing, and sprouting. Comparing the healthfulness of raw and cooked vegetables is complex because it is not entirely understood how all the molecules in plants interact with the body. To further complicate the issue, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, polyphenols, enzymes, and fiber in vegetables can be altered differently, both in quantity and quality, via cooking methods. For example, one study showed that boiling carrots increases antioxidant levels (specifically beta-carotene), while another study found that it dramatically reduces vitamin C and leads to a total loss of antioxidant polyphenols that reduce the risk of CVD and cancer. Clearly, food chemistry is laden with intricacies even before the issue of biologic absorption can be digested. Raw carrot juice (left). Cooked carrot soup (right). ©Ajale/Pixabay. ©Jules/stone soup/Wikimedia Commons Potential Drawbacks and Solutions Harmful bacteria, fungi, viruses, and parasites can be introduced to vegetables in the field or in the process of picking, handling, and transport. Therefore, in lieu of cooking, it is essential to properly wash and store raw vegetables. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends the following steps for safety: Wash your hands, kitchen utensils, and food preparation surfaces, including chopping boards and countertops, before and after prep. Clean produce under cool running water (no solutions or soaps required) before eating or cutting. (Even if you do not plan to eat the peel, germs on the peel can contaminate the food when cutting.) Cutaway bruised or damaged portions. Keep produce separate from raw meats. Refrigerate within two hours and chill at 40°F or colder in a clean container. Another possible concern is that the high fiber content in raw veggies, which helps maintain a healthy digestive system and may protect against colon cancer, can cause painful gas. This can be remedied in several ways—by slowly adding raw vegetables to your diet so that the digestive system can adjust, eating veggies in small amounts throughout the day, chewing thoroughly to break down food into small particles, eating slowly to prevent swallowing excess air, and drinking extra water. Finally, some people are simply unable to digest raw cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, and kale because these vegetables contain complex sugars called raffinose. In this case, the best solution is cooking these veggies and getting raw benefits from others. Certain Veggies Require Cooking Some plants contain natural toxins or harmful enzymes, and therefore must be cooked before being consumed. When uncertain of the safety of eating a particular vegetable raw, it’s a good idea to consult reliable sources of information. Here is a partial list. Cassava, also known as manioc or tapioca, is a root vegetable and a staple of South American cuisine. Raw cassava contains cyanogenic glycosides, which become lethal cyanide when chewed. If washed, rinsed, peeled, and cooked, this veggie contains loads of vitamins and minerals. Lima beans or butter beans also contain cyanogenic glycosides, which protect plants from being munched by animals by releasing cyanide if chewed. When fully cooked, lima beans are nutritious and safe. While castor oil has long been used for health benefits, the beans themselves can release ricin, an extremely toxic poison. Eating just one or two castor beans can cause the demise of the eater. Raw red kidney beans may not be lethal, but the toxin phytohemagglutinin can cause severe gastrointestinal discomfort akin to food poisoning. When properly cooked, red kidney beans contain ample protein, fiber, and antioxidants. Eggplant contains solanine, an alkaloid that can be toxic in large quantities. While you would need to eat a significant amount to die from consuming raw eggplant, any amount could lead to diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. Cook them up. Beyond Salad You could have salads as a side dish or a main dish every day, or you might snack on raw veggies (perhaps with hummus or another dip). But because there are so many delightful raw veggie recipes, it would be a shame to limit yourself to salad. Shredded cabbage in a sweetened creamy mayonnaise sauce is a common slaw recipe, but you may not be aware that the slaw repertoire is so much more expansive. Slaws can contain a variety of shredded veggies, including broccoli, jicama, radishes, scallions, Brussels sprouts, onions, carrots, summer squash, or beets,and be adorned with cheeses, nuts, sprouts, seeds, and all flavors of sauces. Smoothies are delicious, nutritious, and convenient, and can include veggies, fruits, nuts, and more. A high-powered blender purees veggies such that even finicky eaters can’t detect them. The flavor of spinach disappears behind fruit, carrots hide within citrus, and beets blend perfectly with berries. Try some smoothie recipes and then start experimenting. Green smoothies (left) and espresso smoothie (right). ©NatureFriend/Pixabay. ©Annafood/Pixabay Refrigerator pickling is another simple process that takes vegetables (beyond cucumbers) to another level. Excellent dill, spicy, or sweet pickles can be made with green beans, carrots, radishes, onions, mushrooms, cauliflower, okra, green tomatoes, and more. Dill pickles (left). Japanese pickled celery (right). ©WDnet/Wikimedia Commons. ©Ayustety/Wikimedia Fermented vegetables are a time-tested method developed in many cultures around the world as a practical way to preserve food without cooking. Fermentation also creates probiotics, the beneficial bacteria that is fantastic for the gut microbiome. Anyone can give fermentation a try with ordinary kitchen tools—a knife, cutting board, mixing bowl, and a jar. One of the easiest fermentations is German sauerkraut, which only requires cabbage and salt! Or give Kimchi a try. South Korea’s national dish is typically spicy and sour and made from salted, fermented cabbage, radishes, or cucumbers. It is full of probiotics, vitamins, and antioxidants, and Koreans believe it can help cure flu viruses and prevent heart disease and diabetes. Cucumber kimchi (left). German sauerkraut (right). ©Chloe Lim/Wikimedia Commons. ©Dirk Ingo Franke/Wikimedia Commons There are so many raw veggie dishes from all over the world and so little space to list them all. Gazpacho, a traditional appetizer in Spain, can be a cold soup or vegetable juice. Pico de gallo (salsa fresca from Mexico) bursts with fresh tomato, onion, peppers, cilantro, lime and, frankly, joy. Italian bruschetta, Middle Eastern tahini, Japanese miso, dried herbs for seasoning and teas, nut and seed butters, nut and grain “milks,” and myriad sea vegetables … are you hungry yet? Raw isn’t a new idea. The Aztecs invented guacamole in the 16th century and fermentation was (accidentally) discovered more than 10,000 years ago in Africa on a hot day (yogurt!). Take a raw trip back in time or take a raw culinary trip around the world or just go eat a salad. No matter how you do raw veggies, your body will thank you. *Julie Peterson writes on health and environmental issues from the Midwestern United States.