Just Earth – Cincinnati
Eco-Justice, Climate Change, Biodiversity Loss
Our Mission:
Just Earth – Cincinnati, in collaboration with new and longtime partners, educates and facilitates action among residents of the Cincinnati region to address the intersecting crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and environmental injustice.
What will you answer when you child/grandchild asks you,
“What did you do when you knew…
that life on Earth was in trouble?”
Come and walk the path with us
as we collaborate to address the ecological crisis that we face.
Together, we can make a difference!
Inner Work
SELF and NATURE LEARN WHAT’S HAPPENING BEFRIENDING GRIEF
Loss is happening.
Don’t turn away from it.
FINDING YOUR PATH
INDIVIDUAL ACTION SYSTEMIC ACTION
SELF and NATURE
“Nature cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves or as a mere setting in which we live. We are part of nature, included in it and thus in constant interaction with it.
Pope Francis, Laudato Si: 139
The dominant view in our society and in business is that we, as humans, are somehow separate from nature, above it and apart from it. This perception has enabled us to treat animals, plants and minerals of the Earth as “things” that are here primarily, if not solely, our use. We have felt free to excavate, generate and incinerate without concern for the interrelationships that exist in the vast planetary system.
There are many excellent resources, in addition to Laudato Si, to explore these concepts. Traditional indigenous cultures have not operated from these perspectives and have much to share about how we can heal our relationship with Mother Earth. There are also several naturalists that have written eloquently on this topic.
Our best teacher is nature herself. Spending quiet time, being with the living creatures that surround us is our best tutor.
Some Reading suggestions:
Non-Fiction
Braiding Sweet Grass, Robin Wall Kimmerer
A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold
Losing Eden: Why Our Minds Need the Wild, Lucy Jones
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make our Worlds, Change our Minds and
Shape our Futures, Merlin Sheldrake
Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology, David Abram
In the Shadow of Man, Jane Goodall
Fiction
Once There Were Wolves, Charlotte McConaghy
Living Sea of Waking Dreams, Richard Flanagan
Of course, nothing can surpass spending time in nature!
LEARN WHAT’S HAPPENING
The amount of information available about the ecological crisis and climate change can be a bit overwhelming. Depending on your learning style, there are are a variety of resources available. One cautionary note: be sure to check who published the information you are consulting. The money behind the research and publishing cost can skew what and how information is presented. If you are not comfortable with government or United Nations publications, you might seek resources developed by reputable independent journalists.
1) If you like learning via video:
The 11th Hour, 2007: The 11th Hour is a documentary from Leonardo DiCaprio about the state of humanity and the world.
Gasland, 2010: When Josh Fox was offered $100,000 from a gas company to drill on his land, he decided to investigate the impact drilling and fracking has on the environment. His research leads viewers through intriguing and horrifying scenes when it comes to contaminated water.
Cowspiracy, 2014: This documentary explores the effects large-scale farming has on the planet. Viewers follow filmmaker Kip Andersen as he finds out why environmental organizations are afraid to talk about it.
Before the Flood 2016: Leonardo DiCaprio released this feature-length documentary in 2016. DiCaprio acts as a guide for the audience as he meets with various world leaders to ask questions about global warming.
The Power of Big, Oil 2022: FRONTLINE (PBS) produced an epic three-part documentary series investigating the decades-long failure to confront the threat and increasing impacts of climate change, and the role of the fossil fuel industry and one of its biggest players, ExxonMobil.
A Life on Our Planet, 2020: A broadcaster (Sir David Attenborough) recounts his life, and the evolutionary history of life on Earth, to grieve the loss of wild places and offer a vision for the future.
Earth Emergency: Listen to the scientists. That’s the refrain of climate activist Greta Thunberg. Climate scientists explain how warming caused by human activity is setting in motion Earth’s own natural warming mechanisms, releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and further warming the planet.
There are many other good ones. Search the internet for more resources.
2) If you like learning through reading:
Non-Fiction
A Life on Our Planet, by David Attenborough
On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal, by Naomi Klein
The Story of More, by Hope Jahren
The Future We Choose, by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac
The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet, by Jeff Goodell
The End of Nature, by Bill McKibben
Fiction
The Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson
Cloud Cuckoo Land, by Anthony Doerr
Again, there are too many worthy books to mention.
BEFRIENDING GRIEF
Under Construction
INDIVIDUAL ACTION
Under Construction
SYSTEMIC ACTION
Under Construction
Just Earth - Cincinnati 