GREEN PLANET

Stephen Tolpinrud – Program Director

The human species is altering the earth in a manner that is affecting geological time scales. In other words, our actions are harming the planet’s ecosystems faster than their ability to regenerate. One shocking example of how we are impacting the planet is the loss of biodiversity. According to an essay by Paul Kingsnorth, since the rise of human civilization roughly 83 percent of all wild animals have been eliminated. Furthermore, a recent study conducted by the World Wildlife Foundation concluded that roughly 60 percent of all mammals, birds, fish, and reptiles had been killed off since the 1970s. Scholars around the planet now consider the 21st century to be the “Anthropocene,” in reference to the fact that humanity has altered the lithosphere to such an extent that we have created our own geological epoch. The new term is rather appropriate for a plethora of reasons, however when one considers that we are now in the midst of Earth’s sixth mass extinction, because species extinction rates are occurring at 1,000 times the normal baseline extinction rate, the term becomes increasingly fitting. (The most recent mass extinction was instigated by a meteor and occurred 65 million years ago – it caused the loss of dinosaurs globally.) The principal reason for the dramatic loss of biodiversity is widely accepted amongst scholars, scientists, and civil society: humanity. The story of environmental degradation does not end with biodiversity loss, rather it is imperative to know that numerous other aspects of the Earth are in peril – i.e. the climate is shifting towards an inhospitable one, soils are being depleted at unsustainable rates, pollutants are bioaccumlating throughout the food chain, cultures are being annihilated, and etc.

Yet, we at Our Color is Peace recognize that although humanity, is the root cause of the global environmental crisis, humanity also holds the potential to alter our destructive practices and promote global environmental healing. In the vain of Wendell Berry, we at Our Color is Peace think that the solutions for the environmental crisis do not lye within the halls of congress, nor do they exist within the boardrooms of corporations, they exist all around us and will arise from the “bottom up,” not the “top down.” All over the planet communities of people from varying cultures and ideologies hold the solutions, and capacity, to solve some of the most daunting global environmental issues.

Accordingly, we at Our Color is Peace seeks to act as a catalyst for communities that are working towards systemic solutions. In particular, it is Our Color is Peace’s intent to work with people who lack access to environmental education. Furthermore, given the fact that agriculture is arguably humanity’s most impactful interaction with the Earth and it is at the nexus of so much of human culture, it is Our Color is Peace’s desire to primarily work to promote varying forms of sustainable agricultural practices both at the garden and farm scale.

Although agricultural practices will be a focus of the Green Planet Initiative, Our Color is Peace will seek to promote an increasingly sustainable society by engaging in the various projects, which are detailed below:

• Develop a culturally appropriate curriculum for educating youth about the importance of sustainable agriculture, which will focus on the benefits of water conservation, soil conservation, energy conservation, nutrient recycling, non-gmo agriculture, and more.
• Work with diverse populations to create community gardens that utilize agroecological gardening practices. In particular, Our Color is Peace will provide the guidance, and resources necessary for the creation and continuation of the community gardens.
• Seek to raise awareness around the importance of reducing consumption, reusing materials, and recycling what cannot be re-used or avoided in the first place. Furthermore, Our Color is Peace will seek to stress the impact that the actual economy has on the environment, in an effort to recognize systemic barriers to sustainability. The aforesaid objectives will be accomplished via the production and dissemination of booklets, the promotion, and creation of relevant talks, and by publicizing relevant educational material on our website
• Create and give an award on a yearly basis to people who are working on promoting sustainability within their community.