88 Years of Hope for this Planet

Hope feels foolish sometimes. Like a sheltered child who hasn’t experienced the hard realities of the world yet. On the day that I’m writing this, I read about the silent decision from the Supreme Court to overturn the human right of autonomy over one’s body. Then I heard about the extreme decline of insects worldwide. Every day I have to turn the news off to safeguard my own well-being. 

And yet, I’m sitting here with a full heart after listening to Jane Goodall’s gentle voice and persistent hope in her podcast, Hopecast. Jane Goodall has been my longest-running hero. In elementary school I poured through her chimpanzee books, memorized the name of every chimp in the family of chimpanzees she studied, and reported on her work in the science fair. Her ability to make us see our shared experience with plants and animals continues to inspire me. She told the science community that chimpanzees had personalities and complex emotions during a time when science refuted that fact. She stayed rooted in her experience, having clearly seen the personality of her childhood dog and having observed the behavior of chimpanzees. She made me want to work with animals. I think of her often when observing the cattle’s curious and cautious behavior or when trying to think like a cow.

Jane Goodall has a deep love for life on this planet. Yet in her lifetime, nearly 3 billion birds have been lost in North America. In her lifetime, the number of butterfly species has fallen by 58% in England. When she was studying in Gombe National Forest, chimpanzees lived in 25 African countries, now they only live in 21 African countries. Jane recalls a childhood when moths filled window screens, now she’s excited if she sees one. She remembers waking at dawn to hear a cacophony of bird songs. Now she only hears a handful. (Listen to her tell these stories here.)

The fact that Jane maintains hope after 88 years of fighting for a dying planet is enough to keep me in the fight. 

So here are some things that I do...

• Grow my own food
• Purchase other groceries from local producers 
• Don’t use plastic (reusable grocery bags, glass tupperware, rubber “bags”)
• Make my own mayonnaise, bees wrap, conditioner, etc.
• Use my sister’s homemade soaps, shampoos, and lotions
• Thrift my clothes
• Raise cattle using management intensive grazing in order to regenerate soils and sequester carbon
• Manage the farm in order to encourage wildlife 
• Write about the importance of regenerative agriculture 
• Work for a non-profit seeking to uplift sustainable farmers, grow our local food system, and make sure that everyone has access to local food.

And here are some things I’d like to do better...

• Avoid eating ALL factory farmed meat 
• Implement silvopasture on our land (planting trees into pasture and grazing cattle beneath, rated in top 15 of 100 solutions to climate change in Drawdown) 
• Get takeout less 
• Buy food in bulk with my own containers 
• Advocate for a better farm bill 
• Preserve more produce during the season in order to purchase less “global food” during the winter
• Community organize for county and state-level changes 

Yes, I am able to carry out many of these sustainable practices due to privilege. No, changing individual habits is not enough. But it is something. 

So what do you do? Support local farms for the majority of your food? Eliminate plastic? Organize against new fossil fuel projects? Install solar? Grow a garden? I would genuinely love to hear. 

What I’m reading…

Einstein’s Dreams | Book by Alan Lightman | “A modern classic, Einstein’s Dreams is a fictional collage of stories dreamed by Albert Einstein in 1905, when he worked in a patent office in Switzerland. As the defiant but sensitive young genius is creating his theory of relativity, a new conception of time, he imagines many possible worlds.”

What’s Causing the Sharp Decline in Insects, and Why It Matters | Article by Christian Shwagerl | “Insect populations are declining dramatically in many parts of the world, recent studies show. Researchers say various factors, from monoculture farming to habitat loss, are to blame for the plight of insects, which are essential to agriculture and ecosystems.”

What I’m listening to…

Check out my Spring Spotify playlist for some songs keeping me good company these days.

How to Be Self-Aware on the  How to Start Over podcast.

You Are Reason for Hope on the Jane Goodall Hopecast.