Weekly e-Newsletter 12/7/2021

Weekly e-Newsletter

December 7, 2021
Vol 1 #34

Editors: Brock Munsterteiger, Terry Gips & Lydia Sulik

Art of the Week

Midnight Walk in the Rain Photo by Terry Gips      Holiday tree lights reflected on the pavement.

Upcoming Events

Sustainability
Living Tip

During this holiday season you can avoid stress from expectations about how you should act by being aware of your needs and feelings, planning ahead to avoid surprises, keeping your finances in check, and knowing the power of “No.” For more tips, see healthline’s 6 Tips for Managing Holiday Stress

Sustainability Fact

About 24 million hectares of rainforest were destroyed in Indonesia from 1990 to 2015, that’s an area the size of the UK. Palm oil and paper companies are the main causes of this destruction. To learn more and help stop this, see Greenpeace

Redesigned logos of companies sourcing illegal palm oil. Each logo reveals how the brand is causing environmental harm and killing wildlife through their use of palm oil.
An army officer in uniform attaches a pin to Sgt. Fletcher's uniform in an army base, with other uniformed officers standing nearby.
Sgt. Fletcher gets promoted while at her duty station in South Korea.                  Source: Sgt. Fletcher

By Hailey Simmons, Alliance Intern and MPH Student at the University of
Alabama at Birmingham

As an intern at the Alliance we have had wide-ranging discussions about how all-inclusive sustainability really is. I shared about my experiences as a mother with an active-duty partner in the military, along with the perspectives of my partner and another US army friend. My colleagues at the Alliance felt those rarely-shared stories were poignant and illuminating, as well as an important area of sustainability that needs to be addressed. Consequently, I wrote about my experience and… more.

At the Alliance

Can you please make a year-end contribution of any amount so that we can pay our interns and launch our SHE Kindness School Program? We’ve reached 74% of our $10,000 goal. Will you help us? Donate Here

See our inspiring Annual Report made possible by your support and our interns nationwide.

We’d like to welcome our newest intern Maddie Dorsey from Metro State U. in St. Paul and say goodbye and a special thanks to Hailey Simmons for her many contributions as an intern from the U of Alabama at Birmingham Masters in Public Health.

We invite your newsletter submissions for Song and Art of the Week, What to Watch, Q&A, Tip and all other sections.

You can join the conversation
on our social media: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Song of the Week

John Mellencamp’s Rain on the Scarecrow was an ode to days gone by for family farms when it was released in 1985. This powerful song still raises important questions today as to what farming practices are best.

Q & A

A: It depends. The best option would be a potted tree that can be returned to nature and used for years to come. The Carbon Trust estimates that a 2 meter-tall artificial tree creates around 40kg C02e, over twice that of a real tree—even if it ends up in a landfill where it will produce methane gas. More: Livekindly

A group of people in front of a government building with posters advocating for immigrant rights.
A rally for minority rights, White Plains, NY Photo: Robert Kesten 

By Robert Kesten

President, AFTAP/PDHRE

For 73 years, a document approved by every nation as they joined the United Nations, has gone largely unnoticed by the people these states are sworn to represent. The Declaration’s 30 articles contain our inalienable rights, not given by government but holding government accountable to protect and defend them as their primary responsibility to us, the citizens of the earth.

Like the United Nations itself, the Declaration was a response to the horrors of World War II and the ravages of the Holocaust. Its articles provide a foundation, framework, and language so all people living in diverse and complex societies could live together in a civil world. A novel idea today, a remote possibility coming out of a world war.

The only way the Declaration has power is if every woman, man, youth, and child claim them as their own. What we do not know, we do not have. The less we know, the more government usurps these inalienable human rights, offering us in… more.

What to Watch

Bitter Chocolate, an episode of Netflix’s series, Rotten, explores a troubled industry reliant on unethical sourcing, which denies instances of modern day slavery. It also examines up and coming companies which seek to tackle these issues and provide sustainable alternatives.

Food for Thought

“Trash incineration, which has been rebranded by the waste incineration industry as “waste-to-energy” is often offered as an efficient solution to waste crises. But the truth is that this method of waste disposal is not only inefficient, it is harmful in every way that you might imagine, starting with the fact that it instantaneously spews virtually all carbon in our garbage into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, whether in the form of plastic, wood and paper, or lawn clippings and food scraps. 

The Hennepin County Energy Recovery Center, the trash incinerator in Minneapolis.
MinnPost photo by Peter Callaghan.

Learn more about this inefficient waste disposal method, which negatively impacts environmental justice communities the most. Minnpost

Take Action
Tell AT&T to Stop Funding Voter Suppression!

AT&T claims to stand for racial equity and voter access. But their actions speak louder than words. The analysis in Greenpeace’s report shows that AT&T is the #1 contributor to legislators sponsoring anti-voter suppression bills aimed at people of color. The company is also the #1 contributor to state legislators pushing anti-protest bills.

Featured Sustainability Partner:    Dolphin Blue

Since 1994, Dolphin Blue has been providing environmentally-friendly and sustainable products for business, government and home offices: www.dolphinblue.com

Dolphin Blue is a certified B Corporation based in Dallas, TX, founded on the belief we can all be responsible in what we use. Our products contain, at minimum, 20% post-consumer recycled material whenever possible (material used and recycled through an office or home recycling program) or are sustainably manufactured to exceed the environmental standards of competitive products. We offer sustainable products, including planners, calendars, toner and ink cartridges, paper, toys printing, envelopes, cleaning and pet products, office supplies and more.

2801 21st Ave S. Suite 100 Minneapolis, MN 55407

info@afors.org | afors.org

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