You are Nature: Working with the Elements for Change

by Janet Kent It is mid-winter. Outside the Wood Frogs are croaking, calling others in from the surrounding forest to congregate and breed in the unseasonably warm rain. They are here a month early, but they will be fine. We live in the Southern tip of their range and they are accustomed to cycles of …

Everything Matters: Why this is No Time for Cynicism

by Janet Kent Voices of cynicism under the guise of “reason” inundate us early in life. By cynicism I mean not only the assumption that individuals are acting out of self-interest, but also the belittling of the impact of individual and collective action. When we are children, mostly well-meaning adults advise us not to get …

Two Visions for the Future of Life on Earth

by Dave Meesters. On our trip to Florida last week, Janet and I had the privilege of seeing two eminent scientists speak. One of these speeches was an event that we’d been anticipating for months; the other took us completely by surprise. These two scientists shared strikingly different visions for how we can act to protect life in our apocalyptic age.

Think Like a Forest

By Janet Kent We tell ourselves stories to make sense of the world. We do this alone, as individuals, and together as a society. The stories we tell as a society, and in turn, those we tell as individuals, reflect the values of our culture. We recognize these frameworks as stories when they take the …

Herbalism in an Age of Mass Extinction, Part Two: Ecologically Minded Practice

by Janet Kent Consciousness of the growing stressors wild plant communities face can inform our herbal practice in many ways. There is currently a debate over whether ethical wildcrafting is even possible within the context of environmental catastrophe. I plan to write more on this topic soon, but for now, I will assume that people …

Herbalism in an Age of Mass Extinction, Part One: Context, Concepts and Strategy

by Janet Kent. In February of 2016, we, the inhabitants of Earth, reached a milestone. Around the world, the average temperature was 2˚C higher than any year on record. This is the number scientists have cited as the tipping point for the global climate. After a 2˚C temperature increase, catastrophic change is unavoidable. While global …