Today is World Environmental Education Day, a global day dedicated to teaching one another about how to live in harmony with our planet. Started during the beginning of the environmental movement in the early 1970s, the United Nations created this day so that people could understand international goals of sustainable development and take steps towards reaching them. It has recently become a day to more generally promote environmental education and ensure the quality of life and our planet for future generations.
As a sustainable brand rooted in our mission to protect the planet, we love educating our Wolfpack on important environmental issues. While we work to make a product that is as sustainable as possible, it’s important that we get involved in the greater global movement for environmental protection. This is why we also do our best to educate those in our community on issues of sustainability — if we aren’t informed on an issue, how can we be expected to act?
In order to further the goals of World Environmental Education Day, we wanted to share some of our favorite environmental resources to help further your own knowledge about the environment and so you can share that knowledge with someone else.
Books
The New Climate War by Michael Mann
Written by climate science champion Michael Mann, this read offers a novel perspective on placing blame for environmental degradation and explaining how corporations have intentionally made individuals feel responsible for the problems they have caused by spreading misinformation, misleading, and deflecting positive action.
The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert
This Pulitzer Prize Winner and a personal favorite of mine details the history of the natural environment and how humans have interacted with it to cause what is arguably the sixth mass extinction in the history of the Earth, the climate crisis.
This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate by Naomi Klein
A must read! This optimistic and refreshing prediction of the trajectory of climate change sees it as the factor that will bring humanity back together and establish a new and improved version of the world that we have created.
Environmental Justice in a Moment of Danger by Julie Sze
While environmental justice is often one of the more disheartening topics to study within the climate crisis, this book approaches it from a positive angle, detailing the many stories of people coming together to fight for their right to a clean and green environment, doing whatever it takes to achieve it.
Unbowed: A Memoir by Wangari Maathai
In this memoir, we explore the life of Wangari Maathai from her childhood in rural Kenya to her role as an international leader on environmental protection. This book details the start of the Green Belt Movement in 1977, massive tree planting efforts led by Maathai in Kenya, and overall is a testament to the hard work, dedication and triumph of environmental activists in Africa.
Podcasts
TILClimate by Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Today I Learned Climate features episodes of around 15 minutes that educate listeners on various environmental topics ranging from geo-engineering to what individuals can do to combat climate change.
How to Save a Planet from Gimlet Media, hosted by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and journalist Alex Blumberg
This super informative podcast covers the basics of the climate crisis, like its origins and its current status, to some of the very specialized solutions and issues within the environmental realm. The diversity of the episodes means that there will be something interesting for everyone.
Drilled hosted by journalist Amy Westervelt
Combining entertainment with education, award-winning journalist Amy Westervelt has created an environmental podcast in the form of a true-crime story, exposing some of the shady sides of the climate crisis that are often neglected in mainstream media.
The Climate Question by BBC World Service
This podcast takes a more reflective and psychological approach towards human involvement in the climate crisis by exploring different perspectives on the difficulty of conceptualizing the crisis and how we can reorient our thinking to more effectively consider and act on the crisis.
Starting Sustainability hosted by Kaylin Chenoweth
If you’re looking to increase sustainability in your personal lifestyle, this podcast shares tips and tricks to truly lower your environmental impact, further than just using reusable bags and metal straws — this is great for a beginner environmentalist who wants to learn the basics and take action in their own life.
Films
Kiss the Ground
If you’re looking to escape what can often feel like constant doom and gloom in relation to the state of the planet, this film is for you. Detailing a single, simple solution to the climate crisis which they claim to be completely through the soil and how humans process it — protecting and preserving the soil creates a new global system that goes beyond food and material consumption while inherently protecting the planet.
Fantastic Fungi
Focusing on what they consider the organisms that exist somewhere in between animals and vegetables, the scientists and professionals in this film explore how they think we can enhance sustainability with fungi. This film takes you on a spiritual, philosophical, and scientific journey to understand ourselves and our connection to the natural world.
Chasing Coral / Chasing Ice
Whether you’re a snow bunny or a beach lover, National Geographic gives you the opportunity to study our dynamic Earth from the perspective of a polar bear or a sea turtle. Chasing Ice details the journey of James Balog and his team on which they attempt to record the rapidity at which glaciers are melting in the midst of climate change, and what they find is truly shocking. Its parallel, Chasing Coral, details the equally speedy disappearance and dying of the world’s coral reefs, along with what we can do to stop it. Two films definitely worth watching.
An Inconvenient Truth
Just as the title suggests, this film featuring former presidential candidate Al Gore details the facts and figures behind the current status of the planet which are all but convenient for sustaining life as we know it. More of a way to sound the alarms on the emergency we are in the midst of, this is definitely not a light watch but features many extremely important lessons for humanity.
Our Planet
Always in my regular rotation, this documentary series highlights the diversity of our irreplaceable, beautiful planet from the frozen expanses of the Arctic to the rarely explored depths of the ocean and everywhere in between — and who doesn’t love to listen to narration by David Attenborough, no matter what he’s saying?
Instagram Accounts
@earthorg
Nonprofit organization Earth.org has a great Instagram account where they share a plethora of resources, facts, and actions related to environmental well-being — a great resource if you’re looking to find short blurbs of information about things you can do, learn, or consider.
@earthrise.studio
This media account posts captivating images of our natural world, often paired with stories about our Earth and its people, reminders to be mindful of the environment, or explorations into some of the more controversial sides of capitalism and the environment.
@atmos
Magazine and media group Atmos posts many of their environmentally-focused articles, newsletters, and journalistic research findings on their Instagram account, along with global climate stories and experiences, giving many firsthand accounts of what the climate crisis is doing to populations around the world.
@intersectionalenvironmentalist
Focusing on the intersection between culture and the environment, this nonprofit organization makes great use of their Instagram, taking advantage of the ability to publish everything from personal stories to recipes to sustainable fashion choices, highlighting what people can do to save the planet.
@chicksforclimate
Chicks For Climate is one of my favorite accounts to see on my feed, offering a perfect combination of feminism and environmentalism with motivational mantras, timely actions to take, informational posts, and so much more.
@climateactionlab
An organization dedicated to sharing resources to educate and empower communities in LA to take action on climate change. Check out their page for helpful (and super cute) graphics and ways you can get involved in the local Los Angeles area, where Wolven is based.
We want to challenge each one of you to take a tangible step that educates yourself or someone in your life today. Share these resources. Teach your friends and family about something they can do to increase their awareness and decrease their footprint on the Earth. Call your local legislators and talk to them why you care about taking action on climate change. Talk with your boss about making your workplace sustainable. Any new piece of information that you teach or provide to someone else or yourself can be exactly what’s needed to spark further action — your efforts can go a long way in helping the planet and the people around you thrive.
Happy World Environmental Education Day!
Written By:
Caitlyn Tucker
Sustainability Intern, Wolven
