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Planet

What’s a permanent solution to the climate crisis?

Most environmental work centers around key aims; cleaner energy alternatives, reducing pollution, slowing deforestation, and protecting wildlife to name a few. While such solutions are vital they don’t get to the root of many of the problems we’re beginning to face. Those problems are centered around the fact that many of our resources are depleted and our land and soil decimated. 

This is something that Kiss the Ground aims to fix with their regenerative agriculture technique. 

“I think most climate organizations are working in the context of sustainability,” Finian Makepeace, a co-founder of Kiss the Ground, tells Smiley News. “We are working in the context of regeneration and those two vantage points are very, very, very different.”

The idea is simple in theory: restore the soil we use to its former glory, for healthier land, crops, drainage, and many other positive impacts. This is the principle that the Kiss the Ground team is passionate about.

“Truth be told, facing the climate struggle, I pretty much saw everything that we had in the solution box as a way to go off the cliff just a little bit slower,” Finian says.

He learned about regenerative agriculture and saw that as a way to back us away from the proverbial cliff entirely.

“When I learned about regenerative agriculture and soil health or building soil using carbon in the atmosphere currently causing a problem to rebuild the very stuff that mitigates 99% of the problems we actually get hit with human costs, climate issues from drought, desertification, biodiversity loss, human health decline, water flooding, drought issues, to climate and carbon itself,  it presented such a big universal solution,” he says.

A big part of the work that they do is education, serving as a “data stream” so information about the potential of regenerative agriculture can spread throughout society. They don’t want to lead the movement, they want to help it keep its steam.

“Most of the time, the leaders aren’t the reason that the world catches on,” Finian says. “It’s the second person who’s coming to make sure ideas are more available, more connected, more mainstream, more interconnected to regular people.”

They don’t want to take the place of the people leading the movement or the people on the ground. Instead they serve purely as intermediaries, similar to how journalists disperse information. 

“We really saw our role saying, we’re not the farmers, we’re not the indigenous knowledge holders, we’re not the scientists, so what if we take a role of allowing for this idea to emerge and have a goal of what if by 2025 2030, regenerative ag and building soil is actually seen as the most critical climate change solution on planet Earth?”

Charity check-in

At Smiley Movement, we like to elevate the work of charities across the world. Here are three charities whose causes align with the themes in this article.

I Am A Girl NGO. They work to support girls across Barbados. Find out more and support them here

Cultural Survival. They are an indigenous-led nonprofit focused on empowering indigenous Americans and helping the planet. Find out more

American Forests. A conservation organization focused on preserving and protecting American forests. Support them here

This article aligns with the UN SDG Climate Action.

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Planet

Is this new palm oil alternative ‘the holy grail’?

It’s finally here – the eco-friendly palm oil alternative.

What’s the story?

Palm oil has been a hot topic in recent years. A natural preservative that is smooth, odourless, and tasteless, it is used in myriad cosmetic and food products. Its use is so prolific that it accounts for 40% of vegetable oil use in the world.

Unfortunately, it has also led to huge deforestation near the equator. Trees that produce this palm oil are decimated for mass production, leading to ecological decline and biodiversity loss.

So, tell me about the alternative.

A Scottish research team believe they may have produced what they are calling “the holy grail to replace palm oil”. PALM-ALT is created from a byproduct of the linseed industry, and contains 25% less fat and 88% less saturated fat – so is better for us, as well as the planet.

Plus, as it’s a byproduct of an already existing industry, it isn’t contributing to deforestation – all while helping produce the same delicious foods we’re used to.

PALM-ALT was developed by Dr Julien Lonchamp, Reader in Food Science, and Catriona Liddle, Head of the Scottish Centre for Food Development and Innovation (SCFDI) at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh.

Charity check-in 

At Smiley Movement, we like to elevate the work of charities across the world. Here are three charities whose causes align with the themes in this article.

The Climate Coalition. This is the UK’s largest group of people dedicated to action against climate change. Find out more and support them here.

Climate Reframe.  Climate Reframe is committed to supporting the climate and environment movement in its transformation towards greater justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI). Find out more.

The Woodland Trust. This is the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity, concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland heritage. Support them here.

This article aligns with the UN SDG Climate Action.

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Planet

This island is parcelling off its ocean – for its own protection

A small, Pacific Island nation has a new way to tackle ocean conservation.

Great! Tell me more.

The nation of Niue is a small one, surrounded by a vast, beautiful ocean – one they are determined to protect. The new idea is this: to protect their oceans, they will be selling it off.

Selling it off?!

In a sense, at least – sponsors will be able to pay $148 to protect one square kilometre of ocean from issues like illegal fishing and plastic waste. 

The protection lasts for 20 years, thanks to the funding provided by each ‘purchase’ – and they are hoping to raise $18 million this way, protecting the ocean around them.

Niue will get the ball rolling by buying 1,700 units – one for each of its citizens. 

Charity check-in 

At Smiley Movement, we like to elevate the work of charities across the world. Here are three charities whose causes align with the themes in this article.

Blue Marine Foundation. A charity dedicated to restoring the ocean to health by addressing overfishing, one of the world’s biggest environmental problems. Support them here.

The Ocean Conservation Trust. A charity of Ocean optimists taking action to protect and restore nature for a thriving Ocean. Find out more here.

Marine Conservation Society. This charity is fighting for a cleaner, better protected, healthier ocean: one we can all enjoy. Learn more here.

This article aligns with the UN SDG Climate Action.

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Planet

JLS star invites children and teachers to online pet protection event

JLS star JB Gill is standing up for animal welfare.

Amazing! What’s the story?

JB Gill, a singer in boyband JLS, and now the vice-president of the RSPCA, is a huge supporter of animal welfare. With his support, eight animal welfare charities are coming together for a huge event this World Animal Day (October 4th) to help educate young people on animal welfare.

What’s the event about?

The event, called World Animal Day & Me, is organised by the Pet Education Partnership (PEP), which includes the RSPCA, USPCA, SSPCA, Dogs Trust, PDSA, Blue Cross, Cats Protection and Woodgreen charities.

The event is for Key Stage 2 children, aged between seven and 11, and is completely free to join online on October 4th. On behalf of the PEP, JB is calling on teachers, parents and guardians to join the event with their children, to help teach them about animal welfare.

For more information about World Animal Day & Me, or to sign up for the event visit this EventBrite link. 

Charity check-in 

At Smiley Movement, we like to elevate the work of charities across the world. Here are three charities whose causes align with the themes in this article.

RSPCA. This is the leading animal welfare charity in the UK, and they specialise in animal rescue & furthering the welfare cause for all animals. Find out more here.

Four Paws UK. This charity is an animal welfare organisation, working globally to help animals in need. Learn more here.

Wildlife Justice Commission. This international foundation works to end animal trafficking around the globe. Find out more here.

This article aligns with the UN SDG Life on Land.

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Planet

Trekkers given gel bags to keep Canadian wilderness poop-free

A stewardship organisation is providing gel bags and dispensers to combat faecal matter in Squamish, one of Canada’s popular wilderness areas. 

Really?! What’s the story?

After a rise in the number of climbers and trekkers visiting the area and defecating, the park wardens decided to take action. 

The Squamish Access Society (SAS) teamed up with park authorities and local businesses to erect five poo dispensers across the park at key climbing areas.

The bags, known as Wag bags, are made from gel containing enzymes to break down the poo and prevent odours from escaping.

Some more experienced climbers and trekkers already use the bags, operating on the principle of “leave no trace”. But a rising number of newcomers visiting the area began to create a problem.

The SAS tested the bags by leaving one in a hot car for an entire day and they found it left no odours afterwards. They assure visitors that the bags are very difficult to break.

Charity check-in 

At Smiley Movement, we like to elevate the work of charities across the world. Here are three charities whose causes align with the themes in this article.

American Forests. An organisation reforesting areas of the US to tackle the climate crisis and biodiversity loss. Support them here.

Conservation International. Conservationists using the law, finance and lobbying to protect forests, oceans and other ecosystems around the world. Find out more here.

NRCD. They use law, policy and people power to reach for climate justice and to restore biodiversity. Learn more here.

This article aligns with the UN SDG Life on Land.

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Planet

Meet the lawyers representing Mother Nature

Mother Nature has been taking a beating lately – it’s no secret. Luckily, there is a huge number of incredible people who are coming to bat for her, including those in the legal sector – which is where Lawyers for Nature comes in.

Rather than a law firm, Lawyers for Nature is a collection of lawyers with a common desire; to represent the needs of the planet.

“We set out from the word ‘go’ to buck all the trends and just be a law firm that works for and on behalf of the planet, Mother Earth, nature,” explains Brontie. Brontie Ansell is the Head of Research at Lawyers for Nature and helped to set it up, alongside Paul Powlesland. “We obviously get instructed by humans, but they’re people [whose] entire raison d’etre is to protect [the] planet, to mitigate climate change. It’s basically been our entire mission – to represent the natural world since day one. So that’s what we did.”

The origins of Lawyers for Nature lie in Head of Legal Paul Powlesland’s work advising and assisting campaigners who fought to protect street trees in Sheffield. Paul’s work helped to save 17.5 thousand street trees in Sheffield, one of his biggest cases on behalf of the planet.

Today, Lawyers for Nature is a group of barristers, solicitors, academics and law students from incredibly diverse backgrounds who all have one thing in common – a desire to protect the planet, using our legal system. They are a CIC, and much of their work is pro-bono as they work to make legal assistance easily available for those who put the planet first.

Though you might feel the term ‘environmental law’ applies here (anyone else love a procedural show?), as it turns out, a lot of environmental law seems help people hurt the planet, rather than protect it.

“[None of us] would call ourselves environmental lawyers,” explains Brontie who, along with her colleagues at Lawyers for Nature, calls herself a ‘Nature Lawyer’. “Because the law that we have, particularly in this country, that’s called Environmental Law is largely a permissive structure that allows polluters to either get away with things entirely or to get away with it with a small fine or a slap on the wrist. 

“Even if it started out being made with the best of intentions, it’s largely used by the companies that we need to stop. It’s a very permissive structure.”

So if it’s not environmental law, what is Lawyers for Nature about? 

Brontie was the legal brain behind the incredible milestone reached by Faith In Nature, a natural beauty brand that recently became the first business to officially appoint Nature to its Board of Directors – something that beautifully encompasses the mission of Lawyers for Nature.

“Nature on the Board is harnessing the power of the space that corporations occupy, to try and get corporations to recognise the rights of nature, and to start behaving as if nature has rights,” explains Brontie. “As opposed to using nature as an extractive resource, which is ridiculous and we can’t keep doing that. It’s about sort of changing mindsets at board level and thinking, ‘Well, if you need to take parts of nature, how do you regenerate nature? How do you regenerate biodiversity? How do you respect nature as a peer, as a citizen with litigation rights?

“It’s about introducing risk to the board and to the company in terms of nature as a stakeholder. It’s a very theoretical thing … and what I’m trying to do with my work is make it a reality for the corporate space because the corporate space has a lot of power – even sometimes more so than governments.”

Lawyers for Nature and the work that they do is about thinking outside the box, coming up with ways to protect nature and those who fight to protect it. Their entire focus represents a very real, and very necessary shift in thinking, asking the all-important question – why do humans come first?

“It’s about changing this mindset of humans first,” explains Brontie, giving the example of her work helping to give nature a stake in the game – literally. “Nature on the Board is about – what would it look like to be different? What would it look like to award constitutional rights to nature? What about if we just did it and started behaving as if nature has a seat on the board?”

Charity check-in 

At Smiley Movement, we like to elevate the work of charities across the world. Here are three charities whose causes align with the themes in this article.

Every Can Counts. This is a not-for-profit recycling programme, encouraging people to recycle more often, to protect our planet. Support them here.

Trees For Cities. They are working to plant more trees within large metropolitan areas, for the betterment of people and planet. Support them here.

Climate Reframe.  Climate Reframe is committed to supporting the climate and environment movement in its transformation towards greater justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI). Find out more.

This article aligns with the UN SDG Climate Action.

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Planet

Ocean advocate swims 315-mile river for clean water

Lewis Pugh, endurance swimmer and UN ocean advocate, just swam the length of the Hudson River.

Tell me more!

It took 30 days for Lewis, aged 53, to swim the 315 miles (that’s 507 kilometres) of the Hudson River, which stretches down from the Adirondack Mountains towards New York City.

For readers who aren’t fans of extreme sport, you might be wondering why someone would put themselves through such a challenge. But, for Lewis, it was all about highlighting the Hudson rather than his own journey – and showing how important it is to take care of our rivers.

What else?

The Hudson River is notorious for being polluted – though huge effort has been made in recent years to improve it, and it is much cleaner now. Still, there is much work to be done – which Lewis, who swam the river wearing just a Speedo, was determined to highlight.

Charity check-in 

At Smiley Movement, we like to elevate the work of charities across the world. Here are three charities whose causes align with the themes in this article.

The Canal & Rivers Trust. The Rivers Trust are conservation experts who work to create wild, healthy, natural rivers. Support them here.

The Ocean Conservation Trust. A charity of Ocean optimists taking action to protect and restore nature for a thriving Ocean. Find out more here.

Marine Conservation Society. This charity is fighting for a cleaner, better protected, healthier ocean: one we can all enjoy. Learn more here.

This article aligns with the UN SDG Clean Water and Sanitation.

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Planet

Millions earmarked to protect England’s rarest species

New funding has been allocated to conservation programmes protecting rare species.

Great! What’s the story?

The £14.5 million funding comes from Natural England, and is being entrusted to a number of wildlife conservation charities including the RSPB and the Wildlife Trust.

Local projects across England will receive funding so that they can work on the most important parts of their local areas – protecting everything from birds to butterflies.

Give me the specifics!

In Wiltshire, funding will go to restoring butterflies’ habitats – their numbers have been declining locally, and this boost could restore their populations. In Yorkshire, one of the priorities is using funds to protect the native white-clawed crayfish, which is suffering from diseases introduced by non-native crayfish.

It is a huge injection of cash, that will go towards incredible projects to protect our environment, restoring biodiversity across the country.

Charity check-in 

At Smiley Movement, we like to elevate the work of charities across the world. Here are three charities whose causes align with the themes in this article.

The Woodland Trust. This is the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity, concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland heritage. Support them here.

Rewilding Britain. They aim to tackle the climate emergency and extinction crisis, reconnect people with the natural world and help communities thrive. Find out more here.

Devon’s Wildlife Trust. DWT is the only local charity dedicated to protecting wildlife and wild places across Devon – on land and at sea. Learn more here.

This article aligns with the UN SDG Life on Land and Life Below Water.

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Planet

Carnivorous plants make a comeback

Carnivorous plants are being reintroduced to Lancashire, in an effort to boost conservation.

Carnivorous plants?!

Yes – but they’re a bit small to be chowing down on humans so no need to worry.

Carnivorous plants existed on the Lancashire peatlands of Winmarleigh Moss as recently as 100 years ago, and are now being reintroduced thanks to the incredible work of the Lancashire Wildlife Trust.

What’s the story?

Thanks to a cash injection of £30,000, the Lancashire Wildlife Trust have been able to introduce almost 18,000 of the insect-eating plants to the peatland. 

Despite being native inhabitants of the peatland, they eventually died out thanks to misuse of the area – but now they’re able to come back and thrive like they were always supposed to.

So next time you’re in the area, take a closer look at the ground – and you might just see the incredible carnivorous greater sundew.

Charity check-in 

At Smiley Movement, we like to elevate the work of charities across the world. Here are three charities whose causes align with the themes in this article.

The Woodland Trust. This is the UK’s largest woodland conservation charity, concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland heritage. Support them here.

Rewilding Britain. They aim to tackle the climate emergency and extinction crisis, reconnect people with the natural world and help communities thrive. Find out more here.

Devon’s Wildlife Trust. DWT is the only local charity dedicated to protecting wildlife and wild places across Devon – on land and at sea. Learn more here.

This article aligns with the UN SDG Life on Land.

Categories
Planet

How art can draw people into the climate movement

The climate crisis is here. Across the world climate-related weather events are damaging communities and we’re amidst what is projected to be the hottest year in human history. The problem is that climate action still isn’t always accessible and even when it is it might not be exciting. 

That’s something that Ecosapiens wanted to address, by giving people an incentive to contribute to climate action in an easy, accessible, and fun way using digitally produced art assets. 

The idea came from two men, named Nihar Neelakanti and Garret Kane, who decided to use the power of NFTs to create digital art pieces that people could buy which would also buy carbon credits, essentially helping pull carbon out of the air and work to slow global warming. 

“I came from a climate background and was looking, personally to find a way to make a difference in the planet, but I wasn’t finding it out there,” Nihar tells Smiley News. “But I think I think people are ultimately good, I do believe in the goodness of humans and people do care about the planet but you have to make climate action easy, accessible, economical, and you have to make it a part of culture, and it has to be playful.”

When Nihar came across Garret’s writing, in which he describes creatures and people healing the environment, he had a lightbulb moment.

“We kind of just became pen pals for a long time just like noodling on this idea riffing on it, and you keep coming back with like, different ideas and, he would just start drawing about it and And he was like, ‘Wait, so we could company makes NFT’s that sequester carbon, but really, the vision is to build a product suite that empowers people to live sustainably.’”

The NFTs in question are digital art sculptures made by Garret, that when bought are also supplied with carbon credits so people are contributing to climate action while getting an art collectible out of it. 

“So what you want to do is build a company that turns Homo sapiens and eco sapiens,” Nihar says.

In general, finding and accessing carbon credits for purchase is really difficult for the layman. So on top of providing the art and building a world out of the characters and pieces they’re making at Ecosapiens, they also help make carbon credits accessible. 

Put simply, they serve as a carbon credit middleman. 

“The way we think about is like we’re actually consumerizing carbon,” Nihar says.

The idea of carbon and climate action can be so far-reaching and nebulous so this helps connect people to the action that they’re trying to do. 

“It’s much more enjoyable and much easier to connect as a consumer if it’s something like, buy this beautiful piece of art which is an ecosapien and its one of a kind,” Garret tells Smiley News. “It’s you yours, and now you’re fighting for the environment.”

Put succinctly, Nihar and Garret just want to help expand the climate change fight. 

“We exist to help everyday people fight climate change,” Nihar says. “That’s why we exist and the thesis from the beginning has been make climate action easy, economical, and elegant.”

Charity check-in

Climate Group. An international organization aimed at driving climate action as quickly as possible. Find out more and support them here.

Climate Action Network.  Climate Action Network brings together nearly 2,000 civic organizations to tackle the climate crisis around the world. Find out more.

Climate Alliance. Thousands of organizations make up this European, urban climate action network. Support them here.

This article aligns with the UN SDG Climate Action.