Certain well-intentioned groups can overwhelm us with emails and entice us to engage with a variety of links. We sometimes respond with overwhelm by clicking “delete” just to clear the electronic clutter. Here are a few notable selections that made their way into my inbox and seemed worthy of a click. Check out a few of the links below to feel better about the world, to remember your solidarity with others, and to learn about commendable organizations whose efforts are actually making a difference.
99 Good News Stories You Probably Didn’t Hear About in 2022
A summary list from Future Crunch and The Progress Network
“The world didn’t fall apart this year. You just got your news from the wrong places. Here’s our annual list of good news, chosen from a monster collection of around 850 stories from the last 12 months, and doggedly wrestled into submission over the last few weeks to create something you can read and share during the holiday season.”
Faiths 4 Climate Justice Celebration
Two-minute video from Greenfaith
“The inspiring stories from grassroots leaders across the globe, who organized over 400 worldwide events for climate justice throughout the month of October. The feeling of hope our community has – despite the many challenges we face from corrupt governments and corporations. The perseverance. The courage. The solidarity. The laughter. The joy.”
Celebrating 30 of Sierra Club’s Victories from 2022
One-minute video from the Sierra Club
“The end of the year is quickly approaching, but before 2022 comes to a close, we’ve made ample space to reflect on some of Sierra Club’s most impactful victories from this past year that embodied our unwavering values of anti-racism, balance, collaboration, justice, and transformation in our work towards creating a livable planet we all deserve.”
Georgia Is Becoming An EV Leader
Three-minute read from Forbes
“As a climate scientist and native son of Georgia, I could not be more excited about what is unfolding in my home state. Georgia is rapidly becoming a major player in the Electric Vehicle (EV) production and related infrastructure space. While this is certainly good for the Georgia economy, it is also a win for every inhabitant of Earth.”
Best Books for Awakening to a Vital, Exuberant, Living Kinship with the More-Than-Human-World
Gavin Van Horn’s recommendations on Shepherd
“I remember, as a very young child, clandestinely sneaking out of the house on humid Houston nights to gather toads. How my parents never caught me in the act, I do not know. I only know holding these amphibians in my hands felt special, magical even. This compulsion toward other creatures speaks to the unfolding of my lifelong learnings, a path that led me to a PhD in Religion and Nature and then to work for the Center for Humans and Nature. I’ve never stopped reflecting on how humans might better care for our earthling kin, and I don’t suspect I’ll ever cease marveling at the earth’s wild generativity.”
Podcast from the Institute for Local Self-Reliance
“What challenges are small, independent businesses facing? And what legislative solutions are on the way? In a special year-end episode of the Building Local Power podcast, three members of ILSR’s Independent Business team discuss the biggest takeaways from 2022: the growing political and grassroots momentum for antimonopoly reform, local victories in the fight against chain dollar stores, what communities have been able to achieve with American Rescue Plan Act funds, and much more.”
Balancing Hope and Fear: Employing the Full Spectrum of Our Emotions
Eight-minute read from One Earth Sangha
“Are we really ‘out of time’? In this excerpt from her book Generation Dread, Britt Wray invites us to complicate our internal narratives about Earth and our society.”
A how-to guide from Green America
“15,000+ Climate Victory Gardens have been registered – that’s nearly doubled since 2021. Climate Victory Gardens are inspired by the collective action of Americans taken during the WWI and WWII victory gardening movement, when 20 million gardeners produced 40% of the fresh fruits and vegetables consumed in the country at the time. We’re bringing victory gardens back. This time, it’s for the climate.”
Carving a Better Tomorrow Out of a Worsening Today
Eight-minute read from YES! Magazine
“We need gratitude, humility, and awe at the deep web of interconnection that undergirds the whole of nature. We need curiosity, joy in discovery, and celebration. And our kids (of Gen Fed Up) can help us access those powers, because they’re inherent in all children. So, no more ducking and covering, no more The Day After, no more staying inside. Let us learn from Generation Z and Generation Alpha and change—and maybe survive.”
Where Water Flows, Life Thrives
Multimedia story from Bioneers
“In this multimedia series, we focus on the water scarcity facing arid regions, highlighting innovative designs and far-sighted strategies based on principles drawn from conservation hydrology, permaculture, regenerative agriculture, and keystone species restoration that demonstrate that there are existing strategies and practices we can implement to sustainably steward our most precious resource and ensure water security for all life.”
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JOIN US: The Climate Action Team extends a radical welcome to activists, contemplatives, readers, meditators, questioners, tree hugging hippies, scientists, policy wonks, radicals, pacifists, nature enthusiasts, and all who seek community as we navigate our changing times together. Contact Nicole Haines to connect to the CAT. Our next meeting will be in person on Saturday, Jan. 21, at 1 PM at the church. Learn more about the CAT here.
READ UP: Our peer-to-peer lending library boasts over 75 titles that cover a broad spectrum of environmental, climate, and ecospirituality topics. Review the list, schedule an exchange with the book owner, and cozy up with a book worth reading!
FUNDS AVAILABLE: The Carbon Offset Fund is now ready to offer grants. Read more here and consider working with another member or church group to prepare a grant request. The process is simple!