Images

Canada - Trans Mountain Pipeline Resistance - Tiny House Warriors & Protect the Inlet 2018

Kiribati 2014-2016

Banaba Island 2016

Fiji 2014-2016

Met my hero last night!! Naomi Klein’s talk last night @ Town Hall Seattle was both motivating and scary ~ she says we all have to “be the fire” to tackle the climate crisis before it’s too late. Get her new book!
I took a pair of my jeans and a pair of John’s jeans to a tailor yesterday that had holes that needed to be patched because I didn’t have the time to sew them myself, they weren’t worth throwing out, and it takes almost 2k gallons of water to make a pair of new jeans. . . . The tailor laughed at me and said ‘Why do you want to fix these raggedy jeans?’ She also said that she couldn’t sew a patch on John’s pocket and encouraged me to buy new jeans. . . . Since my jeans were expensive and only lasted about 6 months, I didn’t want to throw them out. So I repurposed them and sewed part of my jeans onto John’s pocket, because I care about the planet but also wanted to prove that lady wrong. I don’t really know how to sew but I’m happy with how this turned out. #truelove
I’d often heard about slow food, local food, or farm to table—but I’d rarely heard about the Slow Flowers movement until I started doing research on the environmental impacts of the flower industry for an upcoming story. About 80 percent of all flowers in American markets are imported from Latin America, mostly from Colombia and Ecuador. There is a growing movement encouraging people to think about where their flowers come from and the impacts their purchases have on the environment and farm workers. Still finishing up some interviews for this piece but it’s been very interesting so far!
My most recent story looks into how families of missing or murdered Indigenous women and missing migrants deal with the uncertainty of ambiguous loss. This was upsetting to write, I can't imagine living with this kind of loss. This violence shouldn’t be happening in the first place, but I was incredibly impressed by the strength and resilience of the women I interviewed, something often missed in news coverage. . . . What is ambiguous loss? . . . Ambiguous loss is the type of grieving families experience when a loved one goes missing. It’s complex, often misunderstood, and can be a lot harder to navigate than if someone simply passes away—because there are no answers. This type of loss is experienced at much higher rates by families of missing or murdered Indigenous women, who face violence at rates 10 times the U.S. average and have experienced ambiguous loss for generations. It’s also experienced at high rates amongst families of the thousands of missing migrants who’ve disappeared along the U.S. border, like Daniel Pérez, who went missing when he was 18 in 2015. . . . Their families, in addition to experiencing much higher rates of ambiguous loss, face institutional and logistical barriers that make the search process more difficult. Jurisdictional challenges and institutional racism have perpetuated the multigenerational issue of missing/murdered Indigenous women & girls. Language barriers, racism, and a climate of hate make it more difficult for families of missing migrants to find answers. . . Yet many families have demonstrated remarkable resilience while dealing with this loss. While this violence shouldn’t be happening in the first place, people have found strength by coming together, sharing stories, and connecting with others experiencing the same type of loss. . Daniel’s sister Norma, who bravely shared her story w me, has connected with other families of missing migrants through the @colibricenter -a nonprofit dedicated to finding migrants & supporting their families. And in Portland, MMIW USA supports Indigenous families & offers self-defense classes for girls so they can best avoid dangerous situations. Read more at link above!
The nice ladies at 350 Montana took this photo during a lightning storm at Jackson Browne, while it’s not the best quality - renewable energy is dope ! And so are my men Jackson Browne and Johnny John 💖 #350montana
The Insta-famous t-rex at Klingking Beach on Nusa Penida, Indonesia. Farther down the coast is Angel’s Billabong, an infinity tide pool. Both are outstandingly beautiful, both offer close encounters with human beings of 2019–hoards of people taking the same exact photo. #onassignment
Teck Resources just dropped the permit for their mine expansion in Alberta!! Now the Mountain Cree people can continue their way of life without worrying about selenium contamination! Great news! @thenarwhalca
I wrote a three-part feature for @atmos Volume 01 on how climate change is forcing people all over the world to adapt, especially affecting farmers and Indigenous communities. “Adapting to the Anthropocene Part 02: Reversing the Greenhouse Effect” focuses on the Kheyti greenhouse project in Telangana, India, which is helping small farmers adapt to the severe droughts. Thousands of small farmers in India have committed suicide in the last four years, largely because of crippling debt, fluctuations in crop and input prices, and back- to-back extreme droughts. Since 2014, more than 3,000 farmers committed suicide in the south-central Indian state of Telangana alone. Until recently, much of Appala Venkatesh’s income depended on growing rice in rural, drought-prone Laxmapur Village, Telangana. Rice is a water and labor-intensive crop that is contingent on seasonal rainfall and typically only produces a harvest every six months. To have more income, Venkatesh and his family started growing vegetables like tomatoes and okra, which have shorter growing seasons. But the intensifying droughts that hit Telangana over the last few years have threatened the harvest that Venkatesh and his family rely on. In 2017, he joined a group of small farmers who are using low-cost, innovative greenhouses to adapt to the changing climate. Unlike typical greenhouses that trap sunlight, these are covered with breathable, aluminum- coated or black shade netting that reflects light, lowering the temperature inside the greenhouse. In addition to blocking some of the sunlight, the shade nets also keep most pests out and they’re fitted with drip irrigation systems that have allowed farmers to use, on average, 90 percent less water than outside the greenhouse. You can read more, and see beautiful photos by @rishabh_malik04 (These are my photos) in Atmos Volume 01: NeoNatural @atmos #india #farming #smallfarmers #climatechange #drought #adaptation #climateadaptation #greenhouses #protectedcultivation #localfarms #indianfarming #ecologicalfarming #ecology #environment #socialenterprise #socialimpact #socialentrepreneurship #nonprofit #startup #telangana #hyderabad #incredibleindia
The Alberta Energy Regulator—fully funded by the fossil fuel industry—recently approved the permit for a coal mine expansion that will very likely send toxic substances into this glacial river that the Mountain Cree community depends on for drinking water. The expansion also threatens grizzly, moose, and elk habitats. This community of 140 has been living out here in a small, sustainable settlement that was established in 1968 to reclaim traditional Cree language and culture and heal from the traumas experienced in Canada’s residential schools. The mine is also dangerously close to the border of Jasper National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The MMIW Drone Search Team organizes rallies, search parties, and candlelight vigils for missing women in the Secwepemc Nation area. Indigenous women go missing at rates 12 times higher than any other women in Canada. This team of volunteers hopes to change that, and to bring back answers for the families of those who’ve already gone missing. You can read more at the link in my bio!
This is Caitlin Potts. She went missing on February 21, 2016 near Enderby, British Columbia. Her family members, along with the MMIW Drone Search Team, have been using drones to search for clues that could help bring answers to her family and the families of three other women who have gone missing in the area in the past few years. Indigenous women have been going missing or facing violence at rates far higher than other women in North America. The institutions meant to protect basic human rights and safety often fail Indigenous women. I wrote this story to address this issue but also shed light on the ways that Indigenous communities have been responding to this—across North America, families have been putting on and funding their own search efforts. Their resilience in the face of such high rates of violence is often missed in mainstream coverage. read more at the link in my bio! ❤️
This is (finally!) published! Indigenous communities have been using drones to conduct their own searches for missing women. Indigenous women go missing or are murdered at rates 12 times higher than any other women in Canada. In the US, they face violence rates 10 times the national average. . . . Instead of waiting for answers from police, the MMIW Drone Search Team has been conducting its own searches for four women who’ve gone missing in the unceded Secwepemc Nation territory. These searches are entirely volunteer-led, with local drone companies donating their equipment and expertise. They’ve found disturbed land, bones, and women’s clothing on searches. . . . But, perhaps most importantly, the search team has created a way for families of the missing women to come together, share their experiences, and feel less alone as they continue searching for their sisters and daughters. Read more at the link in my bio. @janice.cantieri published in @yesmagazine_ as part of @solutionsjournalism #MeToo #SolutionsToo series.
Banaban dancers performing at the 70th commemoration of the Banaban displacement on December 15, 2015. The British Phosphate Commission displaced the Banabans on this day in 1945 to facilitate further strip mining of Banaba’s phosphate. The Banabans gather on this day to commemorate their displacement, spend time together, dance, and pray. Though they’ve made a new home in Fiji, many Banabans still wish to return to Banaba, which has yet to be rehabilitated and is covered in toxic waste and asbestos that the BPC left behind in 1979.
The Banaban people continue to live with the impacts of nearly a century of strip-mining by the British Phosphate Commission, who left toxic debris, asbestos housing, and destroyed, unrehabilitated land when they left the central Pacific island in 1979. Banaba, one of the most remote islands in the central Pacific, can only be reached by a four-day cargo ship journey. The BPC displaced the entire population to Fiji in 1945 to continue mining. . . . The mining ended in 1979 after the Banabans returned to reclaim their homeland, but those living on Banaba today continue to live in the toxic, asbestos-ridden colonial housing structures left behind by the company. The land is almost completely unusable, because the fertile phosphate soil was taken and spread over New Zealand and Australia to create farmland. The resilient, resourceful Banabans survive by fishing and growing what they can on the land. Some salvage the scrap metal left behind by the mining company. But because the island is so remote, it’s hard to get the metal off the island, let alone remove the toxic asbestos sheeting used in the roofing. And because the BPC mined all but a tiny strip of land, the Banabans had no choice but to make their homes inside the crumbing mining buildings, garages, and old worker housing structures. Many Banabans have been developing lung problems, likely from breathing in asbestos dust. You can read more on the “Stories” tab of my website. . . . #pacific #Banaba #colonialism #Indigenous #Micronesia #decolonize #extractiveindustry #stripmining #environmentaljournalism #storytelling #natgeo #fulbright #kiribati #environment #mines #phosphate #environmentaljustice #asbestos #toxic #injustice #resilience