Happy January ’23, folks! If you’re like me, you’re also perhaps mistakenly penning January 2020. To keep in step with the human-world time though, I present to you my annual revisions on climatic/environmental practices. They’re not necessarily resolutions, more like ways of life I am aspiring towards.
Write the newsletter regularly. This newsletter will now aim to be at a biweekly cadence, with special editions and varied formats.
Community Gardening. A spring/summer look.
Build a few climate habits.
Composting. NYC offers free composting, and I am on a small drive to make the best use of it. We do have to walk a small distance to drop off the waste in a municipal drop-off bin (map), but the satisfaction is worth it.
Cook with seasonal produce. I will share local findings - here’s the January list for NY. As this would look quite different all-the-where, I’m excited to see your ventures too!
Cook more and in bulk. I am a moody eater, but absolutely love cooking. This often means I cook such that there are no leftovers, with the intention of cooking fresh the next day. Let’s be real: this also means the next day’s lunch is bought (which comes with packaging). I am keen to change this. (Looking into Japanese bento box ideas, will share updates.)
Less waste - plastic. Buying plastic-free produce is easy in New York – just show up with cash at a streetside vendor. You will need to wash the produce but hey, trying my best here.
Less waste – food. This ties into the cooking resolutions and eating fresh/seasonal.
Participate more in gift/exchange economy. Books, clothing swaps, cookies, handmade watercolor paintings (aka blobs), the usual.
No cut flowers. This is probably one of my biggest cutbacks. I am not special in finding immense joy in receiving/buying beautiful daffodils, tulips, an occasional rose or two, for the house. But seeing as they come at a cost – methane emissions when they’re in a landfill, the plastic wrapping – I am okay to forgo this momentary joy. Instead, find me foraging fallen leaves, twigs, and other botanicals!
Bundle travel. I call multiple places home, which means I need to travel in order to be whole. Also, gotta see the world. Figuring out a compromise – instead of multiple smaller trips, I will try my best to bundle flights and take trains (and ships perhaps…) wherever possible.
A degree colder in showers. Okay, this is probably the biggest cutback. I am trying out a teensy bit colder showering, which may mean a teensy bit lower energy use to heat the water. Apparently, it’s also good for health. Brr.
(Continue) Work in Climate and Environmental Policy. In all shape and form, local to international, private/public – everything I do will be towards fostering care for Mama Earth. (A tall, tall order.)
More time in the sun, more naps outdoors. Make progress on my NapMap while doubling up on Vit D.
Chip towards three big dreams. A book, a farm, a school.
The list above is simply to share the little things I am planning to do, a written commitment to do my best. Do hold me accountable, dear friends, and do share your ideas and want-to-dos! If you want to buddy up, I am here!
A Prologue for Future Writing
For the longest time, I struggled with the right voice and content to bring to you through these letters which meant that I sort of stopped actually writing. I wondered whether I should use my economics voice, or bring out the ecopoetic side? More factual or more sentimental or more day-to-day action? Crying over another extinction or sharing a joyful climate win?
Then a revelation befell while gazing at the ivy I co-share my window with (what now seems obvious) – I will experiment. After all, writing is a practice and the more I write, the more I’ll learn to write. I’ll write like a stream flows - if not over boulders, then around it. If not around, then finding a different path, shaping one if I have to. Multi-form, multi-channel, all towards the ocean of climatic and ecologic writing. Following this, do expect an earth prayer one week and a deep dive into microgrids the next. Thank you for coming along on this journey!
A News Good, A News Bad, and News Perhaps
Regenerative Agriculture is expanding. A better, healthier food system for the planet and people.
2023 stated in Europe with a heat wave. Only thing worse is The Economist titling it as ‘luck’ - celebrating climate change, are we? A reminder that while some skiers can’t ski because of this ‘luck’, other parts of the globe will likely be paying in lives for the same.
Grist’s list of 23 predictions for 2023 includes investors demanding impact disclosures, government accountability and wetland conservation.
Climate Culture
The cultural watchlist for 2023 (Atmos).
Willow Defebaugh (Atmos) opines in this stunning essay that curiosity is critical to 2023. I wholeheartedly concur and it goes well with my word of the year, build. Building curiosity, then building a solution. Ah.
My bookbag currently harbors a borrowed copy of ‘Circe’. The witchery is as fascinating as the storytelling. Though Circe is a Greek goddess, her herb-mixing, calm empathy makes me think she’d be a perfect climate advocate in the modern era. I’m hooked!
“Sparkling, Glistening, Dancing Water,” Kelly Kane.
Hasta la Vista,
Shivani