My personal journey with Peace Coffee began out of a simple love for coffee, but it quickly evolved into a deeper understanding of the industry’s complexities and the importance of ethical practices. Working here has opened my eyes to how unfairly coffee farmers can be treated, and that realization has profoundly changed my relationship with coffee. This awareness drives my commitment to sustainability and fair trade, recognizing that our choices today will have lasting effects on all life on Earth.  Working at Peace Coffee has shown me how important it is to “vote with my dollar” and sup ..read more

The need for climate justice education When I ask visiting 6th grade students if they have heard of the word Climate, they all say yes. I ask the same about the word Justice and again I receive a chorus of “yeses.”  But when I ask if they have heard those two terms used together, a confused silence descends on their faces.  Climate Justice recognizes the disproportionate impacts of climate change on low-income communities and communities of color around the world – the people and places least responsible for the problem (University of California Center for Climate Justice). 6th grade ..read more

I grew up near the coast of Los Angeles County, and I spent a lot of time on nature walks with my family at the beach, in the local mountains, and around our neighborhood. In high school, I started volunteering at a local marsh. As I was pulling weeds as part of habitat restoration efforts there, I felt a sense of peace, like I was doing a meditation. It was fall, which in Southern CA in 2008 felt like a time of fresh breezes and sunshine. Feeling the support of the earth underneath me and a sense of purpose in the habitat restoration work I was doing, I thought, “I want to do something like t ..read more

Two years ago, I moved to Minnesota to sell hazelnuts. I believed strongly in their potential to fight climate change, and I was overcome with excitement – getting tongue tied talking about what it could mean to swap the endless corn and soy fields for a food with seemingly endless environmental benefits.  But I soon noticed that the attributes of hazelnuts that dazzled me enough to quit my job and move across the country were not the same attributes I was looking for when planning menus and filling up my shopping cart.  I would purchase foods based on indicators that sustainable far ..read more

It’s Earth Month, good people. A designated time to pause, reflect and take action to save our only home. It’s also spring in the northern hemisphere, the forsythia, irises, crocus, and lungwort are beginning to bloom. The season of growth is upon us. I’ve been thinking about growth a lot lately. Growth as an economic indicator that centers consumerism. Growth as a measure of organizational – nonprofit and for profit – success. Except that growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of a cancer cell, and equating growth with success and economic health has led us to a planet whose ocean’s ar ..read more

With Earth month just around the corner, here are eleven ways to take action for a just and abundant world. Check out these inspiring and upcoming ways to get involved: TEACH about climate change You don’t need to be a teacher to educate others about climate change. Most people know climate change is a problem, and our goal is to get them hopeful and excited enough to take collective and individual action. Host a movie night that is inspiring or host a presentation night where everyone talks about one thing they do for the climate. If you are a teacher, sign up for the Summer Institute! Conn ..read more

How do I become a youth activist? Two lessons learned and five ways to get started! Two former Youth Environmental Activists have come back to join the Climate Generation Team. We took some time to ask them what lessons they learned as youth organizers and how others can get started. Zoe Redfern-Hall How did you become a youth activist? I was always passionate about environmental and food systems at school, and I started looking for groups to get involved with – that’s when I found YEA! (Youth Environmental Activists). Being in the YEA program changed the trajectory of my life – it showed me h ..read more

Several years ago, at our annual family reunion, while tucking my seven-year-old granddaughter Hawith into bed, I laid down next to her for a goodnight grammy chat. She leaned close to me and intently said, “Grammy, I want to do adventures with you!” Immediately I responded, “Hawith, you do not have to ask me twice.” That was it! The early seeds of “Get Outside with Grammy” were sown, and my responsibility as an elder to step up my game to care for the earth was heightened. I am reminded of my elders who cared for the earth so that I and others can enjoy, share, and be good stewards of the ear ..read more

When I think about climate change nowadays, I think about how the places I consider home have changed, are changing, and will continue to change. I think about how the things I enjoy can cease to exist. As someone who immigrated to Canada from the Philippines, I call those two countries my home; both have honed me into who I am today– from the culture I grew up with to the community I belong to. Given climate change’s dire impacts, I can’t help but feel anxious about how those places are also rapidly changing. I can see it right before my eyes: from the warmer summers and more intense typhoons ..read more

With Earth month just around the corner, here are eleven ways to take action for a just and abundant world. Check out these inspiring and upcoming ways to get involved: TEACH about climate change You don’t need to be a teacher to educate others about climate change. Most people know climate change is a problem, and our goal is to get them hopeful and excited enough to take collective and individual action. Host a movie night that is inspiring or host a presentation night where everyone talks about one thing they do for the climate. If you are a teacher, sign up for the Summer Institute! Conn ..read more