Latest Stories

Most recently published stories in Earth.

The Cicada Year
They have a polarizing effect, cicadas. I know the first time I saw one, seventeen years ago during the last emergence of Brood X, I wasn’t too keen. Something about their wild, ungainly flight, sending their big black bodies careening this way and that, was unsettling. I find it funny now—even charming—but I remember dodging them on the way to school back then, fending them off with an open umbrella and crying. In fact, most people I know are extremely unsettled by their presence, especially as concerns these periodical cicadas that crawl from the ground in hoards, coating tall trees with a vibrating, screaming layer of the clumsy, sex-crazed insects. No one who has experienced a periodical cicada year forgets it, that’s for sure.
By Jessica Whitehead 5 years ago in Earth
Extinction Level Event (ELE) & Climate Change on Earth - are we at the Brink of Imminent Destruction?
Now as most of my readers will know, I am a true Trekkie and really enjoy watching Star Trek and all that goes along with science fiction - indeed anything that goes along with space and exploration.
By Jonathan Townend5 years ago in Earth
A Garden
My transformation began slowly. There were bits of seeds planted when we went camping as kids and told to police the grounds before we could leave a campsite. Trash bags were in our cars, and we picked up litter whenever we went on a hike. The seeds began to sprout when I read “Silent Spring” , suggested by my favorite librarian. And roots took hold as my class celebrated the first Earth Day, a day to show concern for the whole earth. The seeds and roots had turned into large plants as my college friends and I went hiking above and spelunking below the Appalachian Mountains. My love of nature was fully formed, and I wanted to take care of this earth, this planet we all live on.
By Judi Guralnick5 years ago in Earth
Rebuild
In the wake of the day, surrounded by an impoverished neighborhood which cried out from the cracks in the concrete. I realized something had to be done. And I for one couldn’t sit back and just do nothing. With tears in my eyes and a deep burning in my soul to uplift the community around me, it hit me like a dump truck full of old memories labeled as trash. I ran through the house waking up my seven children in a plea of excitement singing “today is the day, today we unit with humanity and pull together as one in an effort to Rebuild the land in which we were created”! As they wiped away the sleep from their eyes while looking at me as though I’d lost my mind, they jumped up with curiosity wanting to know where I was going with all of this!
By Jacresha Jones 5 years ago in Earth
ENVIRONMENT
The simple plastic bag has come to symbolize the world’s growing problem with plastic waste. Yet globally, there are seven definitions of what is considered a plastic bag—and that complicates efforts to reduce their proliferation.
By Sumanta Kumar5 years ago in Earth
Nature Journal 3
This past weekend has been extremely nostalgic. Last week I went to Deal (Nature Journal 2) and lots of memories arose. However, this past weekend had me remembering all over again with a drive through and walk along the Hythe Canal.
By Charlotte Fay5 years ago in Earth
The Small Organic Herban Garden
Living in the middle of a city can sometimes makes it difficult to spend sufficient time among nature. Having recently moved to a new place, I was overjoyed to a have an outside area that I could turn into a plant sanctuary. Though small, I have maximized space by choosing the majority of my plants specifically for their unique abilities, whether as an amazing addition in culinary applications, for their remarkable health benefits, or to keep pests away. Gardening in general is excellent for one’s physical and emotional health, while creating a unique space filled with the plants and décor of ones choosing provides a serene space to enjoy.
By M.R. Cameo5 years ago in Earth
Follow your Bliss
When I was younger I believed that my fate had limits. I believed that after discovering I was undocumented, and because of that my brain, mind and spirit were in trouble... my dreams of going to a great prestigious art college rapidly went out the window. In reality my circumstances were giving me other options that would brighten the way that I was living. There is no doubt within myself that where I am today is where I feel the most alive. "Follow your bliss" my friend Andy said. It is likely that "the bliss" gets blurry sometimes and it is hard to feel it. But I work at a farm now. And it is 7 years this August that I have been doing this work; being a part of farming and landscaping businesses. Wild South Florida farm life! How to describe this feeling? The one that connects me to nature and food? ... Dynamic. Vibrant. Arduous. That is my life in happiness, extremely rare to write on paper for me, but today I will let you inside. You can decide, if it is up to us and our own individual journeys to experience a joyous life.
By Alicia del Aguila5 years ago in Earth
My Happiness
After a good friend of mine passed away, I found painting couldn't help me heal from the sadness as it usually did. It was my main way of escape and healing through life's hurdles. I would often turn to paint on the canvas to express my emotions and work through hurt and sadness.
By Natalie Seawolf5 years ago in Earth
Creating Art From Waste
I began collecting discarded materials in college when money was tight and the desire to create necessitated a certain kind of thriftiness and imagination. Over time, finding a use for and elevating the value of old conference banners, a used shower curtain or cardboard boxes became an important sub-narrative to the works I make. I’ve been interested in how commodity and material culture impacts and informs my sense of self, my perception of others, and how I assign value to objects. Always though, creating has been about personal healing and truth-seeking.
By Olivia 5 years ago in Earth
Diving into the Wilderness
During the summer vacation last year, I had the opportunity to visit Eco Park, Sri Lanka with my family. That was an epic memory in which I gathered beautiful life memories by spending time with nature. Each of these infallible moments carry vivid stories behind the shot. Not being an official photographer, I would love to collect memories from real life as I can recall the memories by seeing these pictures. Hence, the pictures were captured using my smartphone. Today I’m thinking wow for being able to capture them.
By Lankani Croos5 years ago in Earth
Creating Art From Waste
I began collecting discarded materials in college when money was tight and the desire to create necessitated a certain kind of thriftiness and imagination. Over time, finding a use for and elevating the value of old conference banners, a used shower curtain or cardboard boxes became an important sub-narrative to the works I make. I’ve been interested in how commodity and material culture impacts and informs my sense of self, my perception of others, and how I assign value to objects. Always though, creating has been about personal healing and truth-seeking. Enter single-use plastics. I became aware of the devastating impacts of plastics a while back and it caused me to change things in my own life. With the pandemic, I began seeing plastics in a way so profound I found myself feeling overwhelmed. Gloves, pop bottles, and takeaway containers began to line my street and plastic bags clung to the branches of trees outside my house. I did not know what to do other than to start picking them up. This drove me to question what does it mean when something is disposable, what is the true cost of convenience, who is most impacted by this plague of plastic, and what can we do with the plastics we currently have in circulation. I did a lot of research and interrogated my own relationship to plastics. It’s not lost on me that communities of color are disproportionately impacted by plastics in how they are marketed to us, the proximity to where we live and they are produced, and the limitations to how they are properly collected and discarded in our neighborhoods. I began thinking about my ancestor’s pursuit for liberation and the sacrifices they made that were necessary to secure their future i.e. make it possible for me to exist. I also contemplated the rituals we partake in each year so that we remember their journeys. In this time of quarantine and isolation, we are forced to reimagine how we come together to celebrate holidays and traditions and we are also forced to grapple with the multitudes of urgent issues that plague us. I believe art can be a pathway forward for us.This March, I created an installation, At Our Table, which was a reimagining of a Passover table constructed from locally sourced, discarded single-use plastics. Incorporating over 1,000 plastic bags, I cut, sewed, and wove them together to create a 20-foot table setting for four social-distance observing guests. It also included a collection space for the community to bring their single-use plastics which I will be cutting and creating ecobricks out of. When I say, locally-sourced, I mean all the materials were gathered in Detroit, and while At Our Table centered a discussion that anyone anywhere could take part in, Detroit is the corner of the world that I call home. This is where I am raising my son and teaching him to be a good steward of the earth and a caring citizen. Detroit is where I'm putting my energy and intention into repairing the world. I created this work because I wanted to have a hard conversation about what sacrifices need to be made to secure a future for our children. I know how challenging it is to talk about the climate crisis and the hardship in understanding the impact of our individual actions. These conversations and personal examinations are emotional and overwhelming because of the urgency. This challenge has inspired me to examine the changes I need to make in my life and creative practice and to reconsider what I create and how it might cultivate space and prompt conversation and action. I believe art can inspire us, heal us, and alter how we move through and see the world. My dream and what brings me joy is knowing that this project and the next phase I'm working on is redirecting harmful plastics out of my neighborhood and creating opportunities to spark a dialogue on the true cost of convenience while also igniting commitments and action so that we can secure a future free of plastic waste.
By Olivia 5 years ago in Earth