Signs of Sustainability

We have a long way to go, but we're making progress. Here are some signs that we are moving towards sustainability.

April 13, 2024

Earth Day is Only a Place to Start

Tompkins Weekly      4-10-24

By Aaron Fernando

While traveling years ago, I made friends with perhaps the only person I know who has a negative carbon footprint.

He plants trees for a small stipend. He doesn’t own a vehicle, and when he needs to get around, he borrows a small motorcycle. Mostly, he walks. He has never taken a flight. His family lives in a dwelling made of cloth, scrap metal, and plastic. His home has no electricity, and when he charges his phone, he uses solar power from nearby buildings because the electrical grid has been non-functional for years. He has little education and no meaningful economic opportunities. His name is Krichna, and he is a 26 year-old Haitian.

If we focus on a simple, individualistic metric—the carbon footprint—Krichna is doing amazing. But if we understand the world in all its fullness and empathize with real people, we know that all is not right with this oversimplified understanding of sustainability. If you feel Krichna is not thrilled with his life, you would be correct. He wants to move to the United States, where our carbon footprints are massive. He wants this because the quality of life he experiences with a negative carbon footprint—in the inequitable and unjust world we have arrived at today—is completely untenable.

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March 27, 2024

Reclaim Earth Day

Tompkins Weekly    3-27-24

By Dan Antonioli and bethany ojalehto mays

On April 22, 1970, one of the world’s most significant environmental movements, Earth Day, was launched. Earth Day set in motion an ecological focus to highlight the vulnerability of Planet Earth in the face of Anthropocene ecocide.

In 1970, social protests were raging. The “ecology movement” was born out of the radicalism of the anti-war movement and a host of other social movements that were inextricably linked to the organizing of the 60s. Earth Day thus had punch, drama, and made bold statements.

At the time, there was no Environmental Protection Agency, no penalties for corporate polluters, and little impetus to address environmental problems.

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March 14, 2024

Neighborhood Mini-Grants Build Sustainability, Equity, and Resilient Communities

Tompkins Weekly          3-13-24

By Sasha Paris

Humans and “the environment” that sustains us are not separate. Environmental damage, economic inequity, and social injustice are interwoven in many ways, and their solutions must be as well. This is the philosophy of Sustainable Finger Lakes, carried out in our work, including our Neighborhood Mini-Grant program.

Since 2008, we have awarded 224 Neighborhood Mini-Grants (NMGs) to individuals, community groups, organizations, and micro-businesses throughout Tompkins County, that are making our communities more sustainable, equitable, and resilient. As much as possible, we strive to fund projects that address multiple problems, such as providing more equal access to resources while reducing environmental impacts:

The Finger Lakes Toy Library, established in 2016-17 with NMG assistance and now flourishing in the Ithaca Mall, reduces the buying and disposal of toys while broadening access to toys and fostering a culture of sharing and social connections.

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