Alicia Silverstone's Blog, page 41

We Can’t Save The Amazon Or Prevent Pandemics, Unless We Change Our Diets.

The Amazon is disappearing at an alarming rate, but what’s so important about this tropical habitat and what does saving it have to do with how we choose to eat?

Spanning nine countries and covering over 2.1 million square miles, the Amazon rainforest is the largest rainforest in the world and it houses an unparalleled amount of biodiversity. 

One in ten known species in the world lives in the Amazon rainforest, including 40,000 plant species, 3,000 species of fish, 2,000 birds and mammals, over 800 species of amphibians and reptiles, and about 2.5 million species of insect. It is one of Earth’s last refuges for jaguars, harpy eagles, and pink river dolphins, and a haven for disease vectors (living organisms that can transmit infectious pathogens to humans) like vampire bats, ticks, and mosquitos. 

In addition to this, the Amazon is home to more than 30 million people, including 350 indigenous and ethnic groups that depend on the rainforest for their food, clothing, and medicines. But the fact that it sustains so much life and biodiversity is only one of the reasons why the Amazon is so important. 

This dense jungle is also a globally essential source of oxygen, and it mitigates climate change by absorbing carbon and other heat-trapping greenhouse gases that human activities emit. In a sense, it acts like a reversed pair of lungs, breathing in gases that are harmful to our environment, and breathing out up to 9 percent of the oxygen that sustains us. 

Tropical rainforests like the Amazon can provide 23 percent of the climate mitigation needed to meet goals set in the Paris Climate Agreement, but without the Amazon, pollution and global warming will increase. As a result, our planet will experience progressively extreme weather conditions, like catastrophic hurricanes, heatwaves, floods and wildfires, in addition to melting glaciers, warming oceans, and the mass extinction of countless species. 

These environmental disasters that many of us are still lucky enough to only be seeing in the news, will soon come to affect us all if we don’t each do our part to help save the Amazon. 

Changing trends in global climates have also affected patterns of infectious disease transmission, by creating climatic conditions that better suit the survival and evolution of deadly pathogens. The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that a global temperature increase of just 2-3ºC would, as an example, increase the number of people who are at risk of contracting malaria by several hundred million.

Deforestation also forces forest-dwelling disease transmitters, like bats and mosquitoes, to fly elsewhere in search of food. As they do, they come into closer contact with humans and farmed animals, carrying with them deadly viruses with pandemic potential. 

Covid-19 has made the entire world painfully aware of the terrible power that zoonotic (animal-borne) viruses can wield, and the more we clear forest habitats, the more often it will be that we find ourselves in the midst of a global pandemic. In fact, nearly one in three outbreaks of new and emerging diseases are linked to land-use changes like deforestation.

Deforestation is an increasingly serious issue that needs to be addressed, but first we need to understand what drives it. 

About 17 percent of the Amazon rainforest has been destroyed, largely through human-made fires, over the past 50 years, which is more than in the previous 450 years combined. In Brazil alone, this equates to roughly 770,000 sq km — an area larger than the entire state of Texas. The vast majority of these fires are set by cattle ranchers who use a “slash and burn” method to clear land to graze cows. 

2020 has seen a sharp increase in deforestation, despite the importance of the Amazon in mitigating climate change, disease outbreaks, and species loss, and irrespective of the fact that respiratory diseases caused by air pollution from the fires has exacerbated the impact of Covid-19 for indigenous Amazonian communities — communities who are now experiencing a mortality rate that is double that of the rest of Brazil.

Why is this happening, and who is responsible?

Well, the short, hard answer is that… we are. 

It’s easy to vilify others, like the fossil fuel industry or palm oil companies (which are without a doubt deserving of our vilification) when addressing deforestation and climate change, because doing so permits us to do very little in response. But sadly, we have no hope of saving the Amazon, of tackling climate change, or of preventing the next pandemic if we can’t speak honestly about what’s really causing it, and change our destructive eating habits in response.

The perhaps inconvenient truth is that animal agriculture – the industry feeding our insatiable desire for meat – is the world’s leading driver of deforestation, accounting for more than 80 percent of current Amazon deforestation rates. The Amazon in Brazil alone is home to approximately 200 million cows and is the largest beef exporter in the world, supplying about 25 percent of the global market (approx. 1.64m tonnes of meat per year) to consumers across America, Europe, and East Asia. 

So you see, the issue is what we eat. 

Business and politics cannot fix this, and it’s not someone else’s problem to fix either: it is down to us, the demand-creating consumer. The Amazon needs to be at the centre of a change in our values, and not a back-of-the-mind concern that gets forgotten as soon as the menu arrives.  

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), even if we were to do everything else that is necessary to save the planet, it will be impossible to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Accord if we do not change our diets.

Conversations about giving up meat, dairy and eggs often make people defensive — not least of all because change can be challenging. But if we truly care about saving the Amazon, about protecting loved ones from avoidable pandemics, and about safeguarding our planet for generations to come, then it should be gratifying and empowering to know that, by rising to the challenge, WE can be the change we seek. 

We cannot keep eating animal products and also preserve our beautiful planet. We must either let destructive eating habits go, or let the Amazon go. It is that straightforward, and it is also that fraught. Luckily, with more delicious alternatives to meat, eggs and dairy on the market than ever before, there’s never been a better or more crucial time to adopt a sustainable, plant-based lifestyle.

Don’t barter the Amazon rainforest for a burger: choose vegan instead!

Naomi Alicia Hallum is the CEO of MillionDollarVegan.com. She hope you take Million Dollar Vegan’s FREE 30-day vegan challenge today.

Photo by Raghav Kabra on Unsplash

The VA Is Abusing And Killing 6-Month-Old Kittens On Your Dime: Together We Can Make Them Stop

This kitten’s name was Copper. Copper was sold to a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs lab in Cleveland, Ohio, when he was less than a year old. Staff described him as “active, friendly, playful to personnel.”

At the Cleveland lab, Copper was cut open, mutilated by having his spinal cord intentionally damaged, and implanted with a remote-controlled device to make him urinate on demand. 

Then Copper was killed, even though he could have been adopted into a loving home. Copper wasn’t quite two when he died. He’d spent more than half his life being abused in the government lab.

And you paid for it. 

 

Through Freedom of Information Act requests, White Coat Waste Project investigators recently uncovered photographic and video evidence of barbaric experiments the VA is conducting on cats in three secret government labs.

We’ve got receipts showing the VA has spent more than $8.4 million taxpayer dollars buying, disabling, dismembering, and killing dozens of cats in Cleveland, Louisville, and Los Angeles.

We expect to get more disturbing information about the experiments, based on a public records lawsuit we’ve filed against the VA over records they’ve so far withheld in violation of federal law.

With available records, we’ve pieced together the doomed cats’ histories. These are healthy cats and kittens as young as six months old, who are no different from the cats we live with and love—other than how they are treated. 

As the Nevada Current put it in a recent article about our exposé, ”The Veterans Administration is doing things to cats that would land an individual in jail.” 

The details of these painful, invasive experiments are heartbreaking and brutal.

The kittens and cats trapped in the Cleveland VA lab are used for incontinence and constipation experiments. VA experimenters insert “fake poop” made of bran, potato flour, and saline into some living cats’ anuses, then induce spinal cord injuries, and kill them. Some of the cats have remote control devices inserted into their bladders to make them urinate on demand, before they, too, are killed.

Dozens of female cats at the VA’s Louisville facility are used in spinal cord injury experiments in which they are maimed, undergo brain surgery, and are forced to walk on treadmills and obstacle courses. The cats then have parts of their brains removed to render them unconscious before undergoing additional testing, after which they’re killed and dissected.

And in Los Angeles, the VA is drilling holes in cats’ skulls and implanting electrodes in their heads to study their brain activity while they sleep. In some cases, experimenters intentionally cut off the cats’ oxygen while they sleep. These cats are also killed and de-brained in the sickening experiments.

The VA is wasting time and money on these outrageously cruel, unproductive, and outdated experiments when these studies could, and should, be done more efficiently, effectively, and humanely with human volunteers suffering from illnesses instead of paralyzing and mutilating cats and kittens. 

Records show the kittens experience distress, depression, seizures, and bloody urine during the time they are alive—and sometimes their lives end earlier even than planned, due to mistakes and accidents. 

 

That’s what happened to the cat known only as 17LMI3; no name, just a number tattooed into his ear. Records show 17LMI3 was born on August 31, 2017. He was shipped to the Cleveland VA just under a year later, where he was used in the lab’s “fake poop” study, and killed about a year after that. 

Lab notes show Cleveland VA staff found 17LMI3 to be “active” and “playful.” The procedures 17LMI3 was subjected to were sometimes “painful,” and the cat was left with blood in his urine. 

On July 30, 2019, 17LMI3’s lungs collapsed while undergoing what should have been a routine scan. The last note in his file says 17LMI3 was killed due to the botched procedure. 

We can stop this. 

Last year we successfully shut down the government’s largest cat lab—the USDA’s notorious “kitten slaughterhouse” lab in Maryland, where the butchered remains of cats and dogs purchased from China’s wet markets were fed to healthy kittens. More than 3,000 kittens were killed, at a cost of more than $22 million taxpayer dollars. 

When we got the kitten slaughterhouse closed down for good, we also adopted out the lab’s survivors, who now, finally, live as they should: pampered, well-loved family members.

Now, we’re taking on the VA’s cat labs.

The VA has a notoriously poor record, when it comes to experimenting on animals.

Two separate reports were published just this summer criticizing the agency’s dog testing program. First the National Academies of Sciences issued a scathing review of dog testing at VA labs, finding most VA dog testing is unnecessary, and the VA needs to step up efforts to prevent wasteful dog tests and develop and use alternatives. Then the agency’s Inspector General concluded in another report that the VA illegally experimented on 51 dogs in unauthorized experiments.

Now the VA’s cat experiments are coming under fire, because of our investigation. Thirty lawmakers from both sides of the aisle have already signed onto our effort. Led by Reps. Dina Titus (D-NV) and Army veteran Brian Mast (R-FL), the Congress members sent a letter to VA Secretary Robert Wilkie expressing their “grave concerns about painful and outdated cat testing at the Department of Veterans Affairs.”

A September 2020 poll of 1,000 Americans found that a majority want to see this waste and abuse come to an end. Celebrity cat advocate Kitten Lady Hannah Shaw just joined our campaign as well, making an amazing (a-meow-zing!) video about our efforts to shut down the VA’s sick cat experiments:

We urgently need your help, too. The most important thing is to let decision makers know that you care about this issue and don’t want your money spent to abuse cats:

Send an email directly to your Representative and Senators by visiting  catstipation.org .
Sign our petition demanding the VA end its taxpayer-funded cat experiments, and adopt out the survivors .
If you also want to make a call,  here’s where you can find your Representative’s name , and you can contact them by calling the House of Representatives switchboard at 202-224-3121. Politely urge them to cut funding for the VA’s cruel and wasteful cat testing exposed by White Coat Waste Project.

Congress will take action if they know their constituents care and are paying attention.

We’ll keep you updated on our blog and social media, as well.  

We have documents and purchase orders showing that the VA intends to buy and cut up and kill more kittens, very soon. These are kittens just like Copper and 17LMI3. 

Except with your help, we hope to make their fates infinitely better. 

Anthony Bellotti is founder and president of White Coat Waste Project.  His life was changed after a summer internship in an animal experimentation laboratory 25 years ago.

Rebekah DeHaven is a White Coat Waste Project board member.  She is an attorney and advocate who strives to use the law and politics to raise public awareness and end animal abuse.

Photo by Lisheng Chang on Unsplash

It’s Voting Season: What That Means For you

S o you think your vote doesn’t matter…  

Picture this: it’s November, 2012. You’re working and it’s cold and you don’t feel like rushing home to vote in the general election. What does it matter, anyways? In a wave of Americans voting, your singular vote doesn’t make much of a difference. Fast forward to Thanksgiving, in which your family is all talking about how proud they were to cast their votes. You learn that in your hometown, Barkhamsted, CT, the presidential vote was a tie. You realize that your vote could have been the tiebreaker had you voted. This is the story of my cousin, but it isn’t his alone. Over the last two decades, more than a dozen races were decided by a single vote or ended in a tie. And while presidential and other federal elections usually garner larger voter turnout, local elections are usually decided by a much smaller group of voters. Low turnout for races for mayors, council members, and other local offices mean that decisions are made by a limited number of voters, making your single vote even more statistically meaningful. Your vote increases your preferred candidates’ probability of winning and helps get policies passed that reflect your and your community’s needs. 

What are your community’s needs?  

These are some of the issues that are up for grabs this election: 

Climate chaos:

○ As California burns, the United States is pulling out of the Paris climate accord. The US leads most of the world in carbon emissions and instead of setting ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the current administration is rolling back regulations. The Trump administration has officially reversed, revoked, or rolled back nearly 70 environmental rules and regulations, with more than 30 additional rollbacks still in progress. Trump is the only president in U.S. history to have removed more public lands than he protected. He’s also: 

■ Weakened protections for more than half the nation’s wetlands 

■ Withdrawn the legal justification for restricting mercury emissions from power plants 

■ Cut back protected areas and limited wildlife protections, opening up more land for oil and gas leasing (such as the Arctic) 

■ Reversed an Obama-era rule that barred using bait (like bacon and grease-soaked donuts) to lure and kill bears into traps, and now allows hunters to kill wolves and pups inside of their dens. 

Women’s issues are economic issues:

○ The US is ranked 27th worldwide in public education and healthcare. ○ One in four women in the U.S. goes back to work just 10 days after giving birth. 

○ Some childcare programs cost more than a college education. Single parents in the US spend nearly 40% of their income on childcare. Parents have to make the decision between paying thousands of dollars a month for child care or quitting their jobs and putting their careers on hold because they simply cannot afford childcare. Lack of childcare in American costs us $57 billion each year in lost earnings, productivity and revenue. 

○ If our country had more family-friendly policies such as universal child care and paid family leave, we could add more than 5 million more women to our  workforce and an additional $500 billion to our economy.

Healthcare

○ The Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandated that employers offer insurance covering contraception, the rate of use of these methods more than quadrupled between 2002 and 2017 and the median out-of-pocket cost for birth control among insured patients fell to $0 after the ACA was passed. The current administration weakened the ACA’s contraceptive mandate, allowing employers to deny birth control coverage if they had a religious or moral objection. 

○ In the midst of a global pandemic, the Trump Administration pushed full steam ahead to completely gut the Affordable Care Act, which provides over 20 million Americans with health insurance coverage in 2020. Many Americans are facing layoffs and losing health insurance because of the (atrocious response to the) COVID-19 pandemic, and need low-cost care more than ever. 

○ This administration has also taken aim at Title X, the only federal program dedicated to providing family planning services for low-income patients. Title X provides services like contraceptive counseling and cervical cancer screenings to approximately four million people per year. The Trump Administration’s domestic gag rule slashed Title X capacity, jeopardizing care for 1.6 million American women.  

All these issues and more are on the ballot. Reproductive rights are on the ballot. Our children’s future is on the ballot. Our healthcare is on the ballot. LGBTQ rights are on the ballot. Your priorities are on the ballot in the form of candidates and propositions. Your vote affects ALL of this. Imagine having representatives that understand these issues at a visceral level?

To solve these problems, we need to elect some tough mothers… 

By age 44, 86% of American women are mothers. Yet only 5% of our congressional representatives are mothers of children 18 and under. Why? Mothers face extraordinary structural and cultural barriers to working in general (side-eyeing our major pay gap and lack of promotions given to mothers compared to fathers) – but especially running for office. That’s where Vote Mama comes in. Vote Mama is working to remove the barriers mothers face when running for office up and down the ballot and across the country, because when mamas have a seat at the table, conversations and priorities shift. Moms are more likely to introduce legislation that prioritizes the needs of American families, like universal childcare and paid family leave. Moms are effective AF- Mamas with kids 18 years old and younger introduce five more pieces of legislation than other representatives do during their tenure. This legislation includes family friendly policies like paid family leave, affordable childcare and housing, funding for education, and healthcare. The best way to change the decisions of lawmakers is to change who the lawmakers are. 

Ok you get that your vote “counts,” but how do you make sure it’s actually counted?  

It’s true: the COVID-19 pandemic is creating unprecedented challenges to casting a vote. Boards of Election are grappling with processing ballots at an unprecedented rate. How can you be sure your vote is counted? 

Make sure you’re registered. Make sure you’re registered to vote! Each state has different laws surrounding deadlines to register for this election- check your registration status and state’s deadlines here: https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration.
Voting in person: If you are healthy and feel comfortable, vote in person. Even better if your state has early voting, vote early! Lines will be shorter and you’ll have more flexibility on when you can get to the polls. Check your early voting polling location and hours here: https://www.vote.org/polling-place-locator/
Voting by mail: make sure you follow the instructions. Absentee ballot requirements differ state by state, and it’s important to know what you need to do in order for your ballot to be valid. Here’s your list of questions to ask yourself as you read your ballot instructions:
Are your name and address correct? Do the names and addresses on your ballot and envelope match? If not, call your Board of Elections.
b. Do you need a witness to watch you fill out your ballot?
What color ink is allowed? Note: do not use pencil!
Are you careful not to make any stray marks? Are you instructed to select multiple choices?
Do you need to enclose a copy of your ID with your ballot?
Do you have a secrecy sleeve (an interior envelope)? If so, place your ballot in the secrecy sleeve and seal it before placing it in the larger envelope.
Have you signed and dated in all the required places on your envelope? Does your signature match the signature the state has on file for you? If your state requires a witness, have they signed and dated in all the required places in their section?
Have you sealed your envelope? Does your state allow you to secure your envelope using tape?
Do you need return postage? If so, how much postage do you need? Alternatively, can you drop your ballot in a dropbox or directly to the Board of Elections? When is it due by? Mail or deliver your ballot as early as possible.
 Most Importantly: know what you’re voting for. Research who and what is on your ballot and what they stand for. You can look up your sample ballot and who is on it here: https://ballotpedia.org/Sample_Ballot_Lookup  

Okay so you’ve voted. Is there anything you can do to help beyond vote? YES! There’s so much to do. Here are some of your options: 

Be a poll worker. As a poll worker, you set up, prepare, and close a polling place, verify voter registrations, help voters understand their rights and the voting process, and show voters how to use the voting equipment. Find out how to sign up at: https://www.powerthepolls.org/
Be a voter protection volunteer. Reach out to voters to make sure they know their rights, monitor social media for misinformation, work on the Voter Assistance hotline, and protect voting rights at the polls during in-person voting. Sign up at: https://votesaveamerica.com/
Feed hungry voters. Sometimes, poll lines get long! Voters have to wait for hours, Volunteer to bring voters water, snacks, masks, and hand sanitizer at your local polling place! https://polls.pizza/
Support your favorite candidates and organizations. Vote Mama supports mamas from School Board to U.S. Senate across the country. Support our efforts by volunteering to phone bank for our candidates or help us provide financial support to our mamas! You can also join Vote Mama for an evening with Senator Elizabeth Warren or with all your favorite Mom Celebrities in Los Angeles. https://votemama.org
Call your representative and ask them to support The For The People Act of 2019 (H.R. 1, 2019). HR1 would strengthen American democracy and return political power to the people by:
Expanding voter registration and voting access, and limit removing voters from voter rolls.
Developing a national strategy to protect the security and integrity of US election institutions
Limiting the influence of private donor money in politics.
Limiting partisan gerrymandering.
Establishing an alternative campaign funding system for certain federal offices (federal matching of small contributions for qualified candidates).
Requiring candidates for President and Vice President to submit 10 years of tax returns.
Strengthening ethics rules.

What’s your plan to vote? What are you voting for in this election? Is it healthcare, the environment, paid family leave, affordable child care? Whatever it is, make sure your voice is heard. If you’re interested in supporting badass moms running for office, contact me at info@votemama.org and I’ll get you set up with ways to help.

Sarah Hague is Vote Mama‘s Political Director. Sarah is a political social worker dedicated to getting womxn elected at every level of government in every part of the country. She is a painter, yoga lover, and dog mom to Ruth Barker Ginsburg. She believes that Black lives matter.

Photo by Phillip Goldsberry on Unsplash

20 Ways To Ethically Purge Your Old Stuff

You have no idea the good your old stuff could be doing! Rather than letting things you no longer have use for decompose and off-gas in a big, heaping pile of trash , ethically purge.  It’s easier than you think! There is nothing better than the feeling of a good, deep cleanse.  Remember – “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” think about the excitement you’d feel if someone surprised you with a vintage, storied handbag or a fun piece of antique jewelry. There is almost nothing from your home that needs to go in a garbage can, except cat hair.. and some people knit sweaters of that beautifully!  If there is something you don’t know what do with – you will after reading this list!

20 Ways To Ethically Purge Your Stuff

Give away items to someone you know would love or could use a particular thing. For example; let’s just assume you have a 4 year old boy – find a friend with a 2 year old boy and give her all your small boys clothes and out-aged toys.  Hand me downs are called “pre-loved” for a reason! Better yet, join a facebook “swap” group and dole out your outgrown sizes/ stuff for things that are of use to you.
Hold a clothing swap with your crew, but open it up to include housewares, toys, etc. Serve refreshments, play fun music, and make it a girls-night-in sort of gathering!
Sell your clothing to a local consignment/ resale shop, make some cash and clean out your unused duds. Note, there are upscale consignment shops who are very picky, and ones who are open to all brands in good condition. Google consignment shops in your area and visit their websites to get a vibe for what they are looking for before you waste your time bringing in 5 garbage bags of clothes.
Order a ThredUp bag and toss everything (mens/womens/kids/ shoes/ bags) you no longer want in it and ship it back (free) to them – You can opt to have them recycle all items they don’t accept so you don’t end up in the same conundrum you were originally in. There are many other apps and sites like Poshmark that you can sell your stuff on, but with those you have to upload the pix and run the sale yourself – which may take more time than you’re interested in spending – you most likely however, make more money.  Buffalo Exchange is now offering selling by mail too.
Send high-end items to The RealReal and make some dough or webstore credit – only send in big name designers for this one though – but working with them always pays off. The great thing about selling to The RealReal is conscious eco-fashion designers like Stella McCartney offer you incentives to earn $100 to shop Stella when you consign any Stella McCartney item on The RealReal.
Sell your items yourself on eBay – there’s no end to what you can sell.  You can choose to donate that additional income to your favorite charity to keep motivated to listing more items.
Have a yard sale.
Use GiveBackBox – which will allow you to print out a free shipping label to donate your old items to a local charity in need.
Donate to any local shelter, hospital, home for women/ children, homeless shelter, church, synagogue, mosque, pre-school, local public school, library, police or fire station etc.  My kids schools were always more than overjoyed to take any toys or books my kids had outgrown. Before presuming your local school isn’t interested in your gently used items, ask! Covid precautions mean that many non-profits aren’t currently accepting donations – so make sure to call or email before donating.
If you have a handful of items of the same kind, google the type of item you want to donate – example: “donate old shoes,” sure enough – up pops soles4souls.org which allows you to ship your old shoes (for free) to be distributed in poverty stricken countries. “donate old glasses” turns up Lions Eyeglass recyling where your old glasses become someone else’s best hope at seeing.
Ethically recycle non-working/ destroyed items. There are textile (clothing) recycling bins all over – google your local one if you can’t find it easily. The same goes for electronic equipment. There are often free shipping programs you can use to ship items to recycling centers not close to you.  TerraCycle will take nearly anything you could possibly imagine recycling, and more!
Sell your old electronics. Gazelle makes it so easy – simply go to their website and they’ll send you a box and/or a free shipping label.  Send them your old working (or even non working depending on product!) electronics (mainly phones and computers and ipads) and these items don’t sit in a landfill forever, and you get paid for your conscious efforts!
Donate old sheets, towels, carpets, rugs, teddy bears, crockery, heating pads, baby gates/ baby play pens, and rags to any animal shelters, rescue groups, or animal foster families. There is a company that accepts old teddy bears which they use to make into new dog toys! Same with old sheets! Wildlife rescues will also accept old fur coats to rehabilitate orphaned wildlife.
Sell anything using your social media accounts, instagram or facebook etc. – this keeps buyers close by and the sales easier, and more trustworthy if from your inner circle or friends of friends.
Take your penny jar/ spare change to the bank and put it in your account or give it to your kids to bring to their school to donate to a “penny fundraiser.”
Offer your goods up for free on Freecycle or CraigsList – you’d be shocked what people want! Extra 2 packs of shower caps? Half a mannequin? A used cat tree? All these things are prime Freecycle.com fare and bonus – they pick up and you don’t have to deal with pick up or booking a goodwill pick up!  Live in a neighborhood where people drive your front yard? Leave your items on your lawn with a “Free to a good home!” sign for people to grab what they want.
Ever seen the waste that gets tossed in the trash after a catered event?  There are groups like Rescuing Leftover Cuisine that will physically pick up every leftover and disseminate them to the homeless! You can also call ahead to your local shelter or boys & girls club and offer them your leftovers so they can expect them and be ready to receive them the day of your event.  Want a more hands on approach? Drive your leftovers to an area where there are homeless folks, and give them out.
Donate old clothes/ shoes/ bags/ accessories to Schoola to benefit your school or the Malala Fund – shipping’s on them.
Be creative: reinvent and repurpose old items. Example: We had an old bookshelf of about 5 years that was useless and broken as a bookshelf so we turned it on it’s side and used it as toy storage for the kids. It stayed that way for at least 5 years before we recycled it.  Use pinterest to come up with new ideas to reuse items that have overstayed their welcome in their current incarnation.
Finally; Maybe you don’t actually need to get rid of it – maybe it just needs a repair or a facelift. Example; I once had a stained old faux-leather beige knapsack from college. I loved this knapsack and didn’t want to let it go, so I brought it to the shoemaker and he dyed it chocolate brown and voila – my old backpack lasted another 10 years til I decided to donate it to a clothing drive.

Moving forward: Be more mindful about your consumerism. Be sure to ask yourself “Is this something I truly need/ Will it truly give me joy/ Does this piece have longevity in my life” before you bring anything home. The less clutter you accumulate, the less you’ll have to reassign to the landfill in future.

Chloé Jo Davis is the Director of Digital Content at The Kind Life, a Mom of 3 human little boys, and 4 rescued pets in NYC. Nothing makes her happier than upcycling.

Photo by Dan Gold on Unsplash

Loved Unorthodox? Here’s How You Can Help Those Leaving Ultra-Orthodoxy

Netflix series Unorthodox’s exploration of one woman’s journey out of her insular ultra-Orthodox community in Brooklyn in search of a life of her own choosing in Berlin has captured the hearts of viewers around the world — a fact highlighted by the series’ 8 Emmy nominations and director Maria Schrader’s win for “Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series.”  Many binge-watchers were left wondering about the real life “Estys” out there; what happens to the women who make the courageous choice to leave the world they know in search of an authentic, self-determined life?

Their paths often lead to Footsteps, the only organization in North America providing comprehensive services to those who choose to take the journey out of ultra-Orthodoxy. Nearly 2,000 individuals have become Footsteps members since Malkie Schwartz, who left her own ultra-Orthodox community at the age of 19, founded the organization in 2003.

What are some of the obstacles that women like Esty face after they leave ultra-Orthodox communities?

Divorce and Custody: 

At 18, Rachel had known for years that the ultra-Orthodox community she was raised in was not right for her. But even though she objected to the match that was arranged for her, she was married the day her class graduated from high school, and she was pregnant before her friends came home from summer camp.

In many ultra-Orthodox communities, women marry in their late teens to early twenties and have children soon after. Because of this, many of those leaving ultra-Orthodox communities are already married with children. If their spouse remains within ultra-Orthodoxy, their leaving is usually considered an irreconcilable difference; when children are involved, a protracted and expensive legal battle over custody may ensue. Their former community (and even their own family) often rallies around their spouse, raising money for legal fees and pressuring them to return to the fold or relinquish custody. Some report that these tactics can even escalate to physical threats and stalking. Additionally, family court precedent often unduly favors the parent who will maintain “status quo” for the children with regard to their religious upbringing.

Miserable in her marriage, living a lifestyle she did not connect with, and unsure what to do, Rachel describes the woman who first told her about Footsteps as “an angel.” When she left her husband and her community, Footsteps found her a lawyer and provided emotional support throughout her long divorce process. Today, Rachel has full custody of her 2 children.

Education and Job Readiness:

Growing up in a Hasidic community in Brooklyn, Shayna dreamed about becoming a doctor, but knew that it would not be considered an acceptable path for her. After she was expelled from high school for being seen talking to a boy, she decided to take matters into her own hands and start studying for her High School Equivalency exam.

In 2019, a long-delayed report on ultra-Orthodox schools in New York City found that only 2 of 28 schools that were investigated offered secular education “substantially equivalent” to public schools. As in Esty’s Williamsburg, Yiddish is the primary language in many ultra-Orthodox communities, with English and secular education given lower priority than religious studies (although girls often receive more secular education than boys). Depending on the community, secular higher education may be limited to specific options, discouraged, or completely forbidden. This, and a lack of exposure to secular culture and norms, can make it difficult for those leaving ultra-Orthodoxy to find work.

Shayna came to Footsteps once she turned 18; she had heard negative rumors about the organization from her community, but also that Footsteps can help with educational matters. At Footsteps, she received educational counseling and a scholarship to attend college. Last summer, Shayna also participated in Footsteps’ career fellowship, where she received a stipend to complete an internship at a local hospital and was connected with a mentor in her field.

Loss of Community:

“When people leave, they often lose their family and their extended community,” says Chavie Weisberger, Director of Community Engagement at Footsteps. “There’s also a false narrative around people who leave ultra-Orthodox communities; that we fail in the secular world, that we fall into negative habits, that we are miserable people. By building our community and providing support for those seeking to build new connections, Footsteps is not only countering loneliness, but showing our members that they are surrounded by others who are not only surviving in the secular world, but thriving. Anyone who is out there in the world and just living their life can be a role model.”

In spite of these obstacles, those leaving ultra-Orthodoxy show tremendous tenacity and resilience in overcoming the barriers that stand in their way. While Footsteps offers tremendous support, it is up to the individual to succeed — which they do in droves! Footsteps members include actors, lawyers, doctors, Fulbright Scholars, authors, activists, artists, social workers… and so much more. But in order for Footsteps to provide the resources and support that helps our members thrive, we need help from people like you.

How you can help:

Visit Footstepsorg.org to learn about what we do, donate, and get involved.
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or join our mailing list to stay up to date on what’s happening at Footsteps.
Watch One of Us , a 2017 Netflix documentary following three Footsteps members on their journeys out of ultra-Orthodoxy and into the secular world.

Yael Reisman is the Director of Field and Movement Building at Footsteps. Yael grew up in the Orthodox community herself, and her own personal experiences there inspired her lifelong commitment to advocating for those who are forging self-determined paths.

Photo by Sarah Goldstein

Fires, Pandemics… The Earth Is Calling Out To Us, But Are We Listening?

According to a 2017 paper published in the proceedings of The National Academy Of Sciences, we are in the throes of the 6th mass extinction, where we are losing biodiversity at an extremely high rate, and “painting a dismal picture of the future of life including human life.”

The single biggest harm to biodiversity is animal agriculture.  The United Nations Food And Agriculture Organization says 26% of the earth surface is used for livestock grazing, and an additional third of the planet is used for growing livestock feed.  Animal agriculture is responsible for more human-caused greenhouse gasses than the world’s entire transportation system combined.  The major driver of deforestation is animal agriculture, which is going to make this planet uninhabitable for us – unless we act immediately.

One billion people chronically suffer from hunger and malnutrition. If land use was reallocated, we could feed families who do not have enough to eat.  2 million people die a year from hunger!  Let that sink in – 2 million.  36% of plant food is going to animals, and it only converts (in animal death) to 4% of meat. In other words – we lose 90% of available calories when we convert plants to meat.  Put another way – we feed 30 calories to a cow to get 1 edible calorie of meat.  Animals are simply extremely inefficient converters of food.  They eat much more than they produce.

“Poor countries sell their grain to the west while their own children starve, and the west turns around and feeds it to a cow to make a steak.  Every morsel of meat we eat is slapping the tear stained face of a hungry child. “ Phillip Wollen

Methane is bubbling up in the arctic, making it look like an icy jacuzzi.  We are the only species known set out to destroy ourselves.  We need to fix this. Imagine if it were as simple as changing what you eat for dinner tonight, and imagine if that choice not only could save the planet – but your health!

Animal agriculture drives deforestation, displaces wildlife, and is the third leading cause of climate change.

According to the International Panel on Climate Change, we have about 10 years before we stop irreversible damage from this crisis. Climate change will increase infectious diseases, displace millions of people, and increase extreme weather events and disasters such as wildfires and hurricanes.

Not only is the land suffering, but the ocean is as well.  There is now so much plastic in the ocean that micro filaments of plastic are found in almost all forms of seafood. The ocean is becoming more acidic and phytoplankton, which gobbles up greenhouse gasses, is also disappearing.

Every day the earth has been crying out  – forest fires, hurricanes, floods – people talk about these crises, but what are we doing about it in our actual lives – daily – to end climate change?

While we are witnessing this global pandemic, please let us not forget our planets most dire threats.

Humans do lots of terrible things, but we are capable of doing great things as well.  We are able to identify – over time – when things are wrong, and that we must fix them.  For the most part, we ended slavery, gave women the right to vote just 100 years ago, and (in the majority of countries) eradicated child labor in factories.  These things are all still works in progress, but we saw we needed to fix them, just as we know we need to eliminate factory farming.

In summary, embracing a plant-forward diet is the almost too-good-to-be-true solution to so many of the world’s most pressing problems: preventing pandemics, reversing and preventing chronic disease, alleviating greenhouse gases that cause climate change, and ending the suffering of millions of animals.  When you choose plants, you are also choosing to eat foods that have the lowest possible carbon footprint.  This does not mean you have to go full on vegan (of course, your body and our planet will have the best results if you do!) – but just by starting to reduce your intake of meat and dairy products would go a long way.

Equally as important, support organizations working to reverse these environmental and human health adverse systems and advance beneficial legislation, such as Mercy for Animals and Center for Biological Diversity.

Vote (Vote! Vote! Vote!) for leaders who will stand up for what is right when it comes to industrial animal agriculture, fossil fuel consumption, and environmental regulations.

Whatever you do, let what we have learned from covid inspire you to create change.  You can help the vulnerable of this nation who have diabetes, heart disease, and cancer by teaching them to eat more plants – and hopefully eventually ditch the meat and dairy that is causing so much suffering.

I know that together we can create a better, brighter, and more compassionate world.

Xo

Alicia

Photos by veeterzy on Unsplash & by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Sexy Denim That Is Ethically Made and Fabulous

I’ve been searching high and low for amazing fitting, comfortable eco denim for years and years!  It’s harder than you’d think to find the holy grail of perfect fit, comfort, and a conscious design and manufacturing process.

As I wrote in my article on clothing waste, Synthetic fabrics are made from a cocktail of chemicals + plastic and include textiles such as acrylic, nylon, polyester, and spandex. Recent research shows that synthetic fabrics have some down right scary aftermath, specifically when they’re washed. Once a synthetic item is placed in the washing machine, it releases tiny plastic bits — called microfibers — that flow down our drains, through water treatment plants, and out into our rivers, lakes and oceans by the billions. Seriously, it is already estimated that there are 1.4 million trillion of these tiny fibers in our ocean.”

But even good old cotton has a dramatic environmental impact. Cotton is a crop that needs a lot of water to survive. Most insecticides used – the world over – are used on cotton plants. Insecticides are not only lousy for our environment, they’re terribly dangerous for us.  Workers in the biggest denim factories in the world report lesions, rashes, and infertility. Why mess around with conventional denim when clean denim exists? Creating traditional denim in itself is a tremendous energy wasting process.  with numerous cycles of dyeing, softening, fading, bleaching, and texturizing for the final outcome.

There is absolutely no reason to support companies participating in these unethical practices when kind, conscious brands exist.

Of course, the kindest way to wear denim is to buy used/ vintage, fix and extend the life of your old denim, and by buying well-made, conscious brands when you do buy them new.

The brands I’ve shared with you below all have fully sustainable missions, and great style. I’ve personally worn each one of these brands, and as I’m the comfy connoisseur and have gone through testing more eco jeans than I care to remember, I feel wholly qualified to share my denim picks with you.

Boyish Jeans are made in LA using sustainable fabrics and ethical factories. They use less chemicals in their dyeing process, and are environmentally friendly as well as cruelty free. They even use 1/3 of the normal water amount that is typically used to make denim!  My favorite part about them (besides the way the jeans fit!) is that they use a ton of deadstock and repurposed fabrics.

Boyish Favorites:

The Billy City Lights, $168 @boyish.com

The Darcy, $168 @boyish.com

Etica denim Uses Clean Industry Practices (certificate from PROFEPA and the Mexican government’s national environmental audit program, PNAA.) They even have an impressive Social Responsibility certificate from the Mexican Center for Philanthropy and the Alliance for Corporate Social Responsibility. Their mills have earned additional certifications including OEKO-TEX Standard 100, Better Cotton Initiative™, Cradle to Cradle™ and GOTS.

And as if that wasn’t enough, they use upcycled, deadstock fabrics!  Etica Denim prides themselves on using 90% less water usage than the industry standard, 63% less energy than industry standard, and 70% less chemicals than industry standards.

They even have biodegradable hang tags and labels.  To top it off, this all-star eco company will be completely plastic free by 2022.

My favorites from Etica:

Tyler, $168 @EticaDenim.com

Here’s me in some Etica, similar to the style above.

Alex Fleetwood, $155 @eticadenim.com

Here’s me in a skinny Etica jean, similar to the style above.

I also really like my overalls from Outland – a new to me, sustainable brand. Sadly, they’re no longer available, but if the ones I love end up being back in stock, I’ll update that here.  Outland denim uses Up to 86% less water, 57% less energy, and 83% less chemicals than normal denim processing practices. They believe in fair wages, sustainability, and a traceable supply chain.

I Haven’t tried these mid-rise, relaxed-skinny jeans from Outland yet, but they look super cute:

Lucy, $195 @outlanddenim.com

Xo

Alicia

Photo by Tiffany Combs on Unsplash

DISCLOSURE: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, we receive a commission.

Black Soybean and Kabocha Squash Stew

I’ve never served this dish to anyone who didn’t freak out about how delicious it was. Warm, nourishing, and great for winter, serve these beans with a simple bowl of rice and steamed greens. If you can’t find kabocha, butternut squash will do, but kabocha is just so good. This also tastes great the next day.

Black Soybean and Kabocha Squash Stew

SERVES 5

Ingredients:

1 cup dried black soybeans
1″ piece kombu seaweed
About 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2–3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 red onion, diced
1 teaspoon chili powder
Fine sea salt
Generous pinch crushed red-pepper flakes
1 teaspoon ground cumin
21⁄2  cups canned diced tomatoes
1⁄2  kabocha squash, halved, seeded, and cut into 1″ pieces (peel only if the kabocha squash is not organic)
1 cup mirin
2 teaspoons white miso
2 celery stalks, diced
3–4 fresh cilantro sprigs, chopped

Rinse the soybeans, then turn them out onto a kitchen towel and rub to remove as much moisture as possible. Place the beans in a dry, medium skillet, and pan-toast them over medium-low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, until they puff up a little and their skins begin to split.

Transfer the beans to a large pot, and add the kombu and 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 90 minutes or until the beans are tender.

While the beans cook, combine the oil, garlic, onion, and chili powder in a large skillet over medium heat. When you hear the onion start to sizzle, add a pinch of salt, red-pepper flakes, and cumin and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, squash, mirin, and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce the heat to low. Cook until the squash is tender, about 35 minutes. Remove a small amount of the broth from the skillet and use this to dissolve the miso. Once dissolved, stir the miso into the vegetables.

Once the beans are fully cooked, drain them of any leftover liquid. Add the beans to the vegetables, and simmer over low heat until all remaining liquid has been absorbed. Turn off the heat, stir in the celery and cilantro, and serve hot.

Xo

Alicia

Recipe courtesy of The Kind Diet. Copyright © 2009 by Alicia Silverstone. Published by Rodale Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House

Photo credit: Victoria Pearson © 2009

Our Democracy Is Under Attack: How To Make Sure Everyone Can Safely Vote

Voters across the country have already begun to cast their ballots, and between now and November 3, over a hundred million Americans will exercise their right to vote. But amidst an election with so much at stake, our process faces unprecedented threats.  We are holding this election during a pandemic.  Voters are facing new and terrifying suppression and intimidation tactics across the country.  And rather than making easier and safer, elected officials in all too many states are making it harder for many voters —especially voters of color—to participate in their democracy.

This pandemic, which has disproportionately affected communities of color, poses not just a public health threat, but also a threat to our ability to hold free and fair elections.  Many voters are uncomfortable in person given the pandemic and, as a result, the option to vote by mail has become critical.  In spite of this, five states will not allow voters to vote by mail unless they have a specific reason for doing so — and concerns about contracting COVID-19 do not count.  Many other states will throw out mail ballots if they are not received by Election Day – in Florida, for example, tens of thousands of ballots were thrown out in the recent August primary.  And many states will disqualify mail ballots based on other technicalities.  In North Carolina, for instance, Black voters are more than twice as likely to have their votes thrown out for technical errors, like missing signatures, or missing witness information.  Nobody should be forced to choose between their health concerns and their fundamental right to vote, and it is critical for voters to make a plan to cast their ballot and ensure that they are in compliance with all requirements for their state.

The increased reliance on mail ballots will also result in a delay in when we will learn the election results in many states.  For instance, in some states (including Pennsylvania and Wisconsin), absentee or mail ballots will not be processed before election day, and it may take many days to get results.  And in Ohio, full results from mail-in ballots won’t be released until ten days after the election.  It is important for everyone to be patient and understand that we will not have final results on November 3, and we may see shifts in the results as election officials count mail ballots.

In addition, many voters will be confronted with frightening forms of voter intimidation this year.  A few weeks ago, Black voters in Detroit and other cities were bombarded with racially charged robocalls telling them that, if they voted by mail, their personal information would be shared with law enforcement to “track down old warrants” and they would be added to a list for “mandatory vaccines.”  These lies were designed to suppress Black voters and the Michigan Attorney General filed charges against the alleged perpetrators.  Earlier this year, a group of demonstrators waving confederate flags accosted voters outside an early location in Chatham County, North Carolina.  And just last week, a group of demonstrators waved oversized flags and screamed at voters trying to cast their ballots at an early site in Fairfax County, Virginia – and may have even blocked voters from accessing the poll site for part of the day.  These intimidation tactics are not new, but they are occurring with increased frequency and ferocity.  Let’s be clear, the right to vote is preservative of all of our rights and voter intimidation is not only illegal, it is a threat to us all individually and to the very democracy that has been the core of our nation’s strength since its founding.

This election also has additional importance because 2021 will be a redistricting year.  In most states, state elected officials who prevail this November will take the lead in drawing district lines for their own legislative districts, as well as those for U.S. Congress, which will be used for the next ten years. (A number of states have independent redistricting commissions that remove elected officials from this process.)  Although most media attention has been focused on the Presidential campaign and other federal races, state legislative races are especially significant.

All too often, instead of fair district maps, politicians draw unfair maps, or gerrymanders, that are manipulated to serve their own political goals.  Communities of color are frequently harmed by these tactics.  Sometimes, communities are cracked into multiple districts so that members of those communities are unable to elect candidates of their choice.  Sometimes, voters in particular communities are packed into one or two districts, so they are unable to influence the electoral outcomes in other districts and their overall political representation is diminished.  As a result of gerrymanders, communities of color will often suffer from reduced or no representation in local, state, or federal government.

The best way for all of us to defend our democracy is to participate in our democracy. You can take three critical steps today to help do your part for our democracy.

First, make sure that you, your family, your friends, and your neighbors are registered to vote. You can check your registration at www.vote.org. And if you, or anyone you know, are not registered to vote, be sure to register immediately.

Second, make a plan to vote for yourself and help your family, your friends, and your neighbors make their own plans.  Early has begun in some states, and many states will allow you to request an absentee or vote-by-mail ballot.  Some states also have early voting, curb-side voting, or other options that may be convenient.  You can learn more about the options in your state here.  Do not delay – if you plan to vote by mail, submit your request in today, return your ballot as soon as possible, and take your time to make sure you carefully follow all of the instructions on the ballot and the envelope.  Track your ballot to make sure it is counted.

Third, consider signing up to be a poll worker. We are facing a record shortage of poll workers this year due to COVID-19, and we desperately need people to help make sure our polls are open and that our elections are run in a safe, fair, and efficient way.  You can sign up here.

Janell Byrd-Chichester is the Director of the Thurgood Marshall Institute and Michael Pernick is an LDF Law Fellow at the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF). Since its founding in 1940, LDF has used litigation, policy advocacy, public education, and community organizing strategies to achieve racial justice and equity in the areas of education, economic justice, political participation, and criminal justice. Throughout its history, LDF has worked to enforce and promote laws and policies that prohibit voter discrimination, intimidation, and suppression and increase access to the electoral process.

Photo by Fred Moon on Unsplash

Are Covid Deaths Stemming From Our Food Choices?

When you choose plants, you equip your body with what it needs to protect you from disease.

If strong and healthy is our collective goal, we need to focus on what we can learn from those most impacted by this pandemic. Those who seemed to have statistically suffered the most severe outcomes (hospitalization and death) were those whose health was already compromised by obesity, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption,  diabetes, and heart disease. That is a wake-up call for us. If then 60% of all global deaths are due to these conditions in general – with poor diet considered a major contributory factor in each of them – then why aren’t we talking more about that?

Research has shown that people who eat a diet high in animal protein (including red meat, poultry, fish, dairy, and eggs) have an increased risk of cancer.  People who simply avoid meat experience half the risk of colon cancer, and one-third the risk of prostate cancer.

Instead of treating disease after the diagnosis, the problem oriented approach, we should be teaching people how to prevent it, creating a wellness health system.  We must shift to teaching about a plant-based diet to avoid many of the conditions listed above.  That is what the managed health care giant Kaiser Permanente has been doing, encouraging the adoption of a plant based diet as the new normal for their patients and employees.  The Harvard Healthy Eating Pyramid supports plant based diets as the healthiest option, as does Dr Kim Williams, former President of the American Cardiology Association.  Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide, and plant based food can reverse that. John Hopkins experts says dairy is one of the most consistent dietary predictors for prostate cancer.  Fish are full of mercury, microplastics, saturated fat, and cholesterol.

During this pandemic doctors and scientists have studied who is at the greatest risk of dying from COVID19 (and SARS, MERS, and Avian Flu). They found that one of the most common fatal complications is something called a “cytokine storm.”  This is when your immune system launches such an aggressive attack on the virus that it causes the body to sustain innocent bystander damage from the resulting excess inflammation.  Cytokine storm damages lungs, kidneys and even heart muscle.  Plants help not only to actively quell inflammation (versus meat, which fuels it), but they also help regulate your immune system.  That means a balanced immune system will give your body the right tools at the right moment, rather than overwhelm the body with a dysregulated and out-of-whack response.

Now, more than ever, we need to focus on building our immune systems, so we are well.  The healthier a nation we are, the better our Country will run.  If we choose wellness, the strain on taxpayers and our government health crisis dissipates.  The COVID19 pandemic has exposed serious problems with  our “world-class” healthcare system.  At present it is unable to efficiently address widespread illness.  Insurance companies and for-profit corporations like hospital systems and big pharma have been making billions in profits, and yet we are left with a very crippled, and broadly ineffective disease-centric care system that doesn’t support health and wellness. This needs to change

We must ask ourselves some hard questions: why are we afraid that we may die from SARsCoV2 virus, but not from the death that may comes from poor food choices? The number of deaths from cancers and cardiovascular disease are staggering.  During this pandemic everyone says, with such sincerity, that they are quarantining and wearing masks to protect the vulnerable, and yet this promise seems forgotten when the evening steak or burger or coke or milkshake are plunked down on the table.

How can we make people care about themselves and others, and do this all the time so disasters and disease are minimized?

Xo

Alicia

Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash