January, 2022 – Ecosystemic Magazine

Apocalyptic: Northern Thailand’s Season of Smoke

22Jan

By Nachel SuwansathienNo Comments

Eco-STEM

Apocalyptic: Northern Thailand’s Season of Smoke

By Nachel Suwansathien– Fridays for Future, International and Fridays for Future Newsletter Contributor You peer through the pane of a closed window and place your hand upon the glass. The blazing sun outside seems to scorch the earth, but all you feel is a gentle warmth against your palm. Outside, everything is gray. This is the driest season of the year, and anything that was once green has by now drooped and withered. Heavy, choking smog blankets the world, and everything seems to become one concrete-colored urban landscape. Even the sky is reduced to dreary gray, with touches of blue occasionally emerging. It is unlikely to be truly blue again for several months, until the seasonal rain breaks. You step outside, fumbling to get your N95 mask into position. On the worst of days, a si...

22Jan

By Lane WorthingNo Comments

Activism & Social Change, Activities

Help Tongass National Forest by Monday!

By Lane Worthing, Sidwell Friends School Tongass National Forest, located in southeast Alaska, is the largest national forest in the US. As seen in the documentary Understory, it is a beautiful old growth forest made up of western hemlock, sitka spruce, and western red cedar trees, many of which have been storing carbon for hundreds of years– and it is in danger. According to the US Department of Agriculture, the Roadless Rule Act prevented logging in 9 million acres of the forest from 2001-2020, but the Trump administration reversed those limits, opening the Tongass up to destruction. Now, however, the Biden administration is trying to undo that decision. The public comment period on restoring the Roadless Rule Act for the Tongass ends on Monday, Jan. 24, so if you want to help preserv...

The Principles and Mission of Ecosystemic

22Jan

By Elson BankoffNo Comments

Notes From the Editors

The Principles and Mission of Ecosystemic

We recognize the impact and importance of the dissident press. Newspapers, magazines, artwork, and writing have historically been great catalysts of social change in our world. These mediums hold the potential to spark curiosity, educate, inspire, enrich, and demand action. The ongoing fights for environmental justice, economic equality, and the liberation of the oppressed may be strengthened through our words and art. With this great responsibility in mind, we strive to uplift youth narratives, promote storytelling, draw attention to the realities of our world, and demand and detail change. We recognize that this ecological crisis has been caused disproportionately by the wealthy and most adversely impacts the poor and the marginalized. We deem the climate crisis a violation of human r...

Interview With Youth Climate Activist and Leader, Mohab Sherif

22Jan

By Tara PrakashNo Comments

Interviews

Interview With Youth Climate Activist and Leader, Mohab Sherif

By Tara Prakash, Sidwell Friends School I spoke with Mohab Sherif, a 17-year-old Egyptian climate activist who moved to Canada last year. He began his activism at 15 years old with the Fridays for Future Movement. He started with Fridays for Future Digital on campaigns like "Defend the Defenders," where he spoke about Alexandria (a mesmerizing city in Egypt) and the climate crisis. Later on, Mohab joined new groups and organizations like Mockcop26. He has attended youth-led summits like the Youthspeaks2021 by Earth Uprising International and has spoken on immigration and climate change. Graphic by Elson Bankoff Question: How did you become interested and passionate about the environment? Answer: It was something really from a young age. My family and I used to feed the animals ...

Resolving On-Campus Waste: Proposal to Reintegrate Composting and Reusable Containers

22Jan

By Eric WangNo Comments

Resolutions

Resolving On-Campus Waste: Proposal to Reintegrate Composting and Reusable Containers

Proposed by: Friends Environmental Action Team, Sidwell Friends School. Proposal conceived and drafted by Eric Wang, Elson Bankoff, and Kenji Ishi). Summary: Amidst the current pandemic, Sidwell has naturally shifted away from conventional dining practices to reduce risks of COVID spreading. However, as things slowly begin to turn back to normal, FEAT (Friends Environmental Action Team) hopes to make lunch more eco-friendly by incorporating composting and reusable containers. If enacted, the following proposal will help reduce Sidwell’s waste footprint. Status: To be Proposed Image by Elson Bankoff Approach: As stated above, we hope to bring back composting and reusable dinnerware. Since all students are eating outside currently, we plan to place ...

On Youth Climate Strikes: Battling the Stark Divide Between Politicians and Youth

21Jan

By Ariana ThorntonNo Comments

Activism & Social Change

On Youth Climate Strikes: Battling the Stark Divide Between Politicians and Youth

By Ariana Thornton – Philips Exeter Academy Slogans scrawled on cardboard signs, students in uniform holding multicolored banners, mouths agape, cheers and chants, an undulating crowd: around the world, these scenes of climate protests define recent years. The climate movement and warnings of a warming planet are not new. In 1893, a Swedish physicist predicted that changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels could substantially alter global surface temperatures. In 1938, English inventor and engineer Guy Callendar linked carbon dioxide increases to global warming. Preserving the balance of the ecosystem has always been a prioritized value for indigenous peoples. However, it took decades for the issue of climate preservation to reach mainstream understanding; the first...

21Jan

By Abby KelsoNo Comments

Global News & Policy

Build Back Better Bill Overview

By Abby Kelso, Sidwell Friends School After President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Bill passed in the House of Representatives on Nov. 19, the $2.2 trillion measure now faces a long and arduous path through the Senate before it becomes law. Speaking in a press conference about the importance of passing the bill, Biden said: “[W]e need Congress to finish the job, to come together and make a difference in people’s lives.” The overarching goal of the Build Back Better Framework is to reassess the economy to benefit the middle class. The bill includes provisions to offer free universal preschool, to provide tax cuts for families, to expand affordable health care and to invest in affordable housing. CBS News states that $550 billion of the bill goes to stopping the climate crisis, an ...

21Jan

By Alia BonannoNo Comments

Community News & Policy

The Flaws in Climate Justice Lessons

By Alia Bonanno, Phillips Exeter Academy Being a climate activist has become something akin to the likes of Chicken Little. In that story, Chicken Little alerts his town that the sky is falling. He stirs up a storm with his words and his town slips into catastrophe mode. In his story, the sky is not actually falling. His town scorns him for his claims, and he goes on a journey for redemption. Unlike Chicken Little’s story, in reality the sky is falling. The climate crisis is real. Like Chicken Little’s town, the government has scorned and ignored climate activists' pleas for help. Like Chicken Little’s story, climate activists are forced to make concession after concession to school administrations, politicians, and local governments around the world. At a progressive enviro...

Plastic Pollution Organizations to Get Involved with (Whoever or Wherever You Are)

21Jan

By Isabelle ReineckeNo Comments

Activism & Social Change, Activities

Plastic Pollution Organizations to Get Involved with (Whoever or Wherever You Are)

By Isabelle Reinecke, Sidwell Friends School, founder of Youth Against Plastic Pollution The plastic pollution crisis affects us all. An issue of environmental racism and capitalism, the crisis contributes to climate change, litters our communities, and harms our health. As awareness around plastic pollution continues to grow, you may be wondering what you can do to help. You can start by using less plastic and spreading awareness, but if you want tools to help with your efforts or go more in depth, you may choose to get involved with an organization working to defeat this crisis. While this is not a comprehensive list, here are some plastic pollution organizations you can get involved with, whoever or wherever you are. For Younger Activists—Algalita Algalita connects young peopl...

21Jan

By Sophia StylianosNo Comments

Literature

Selected Poems – Sophia Stylianos

By Sophia Stylianos, Sidwell Friends School “Planets of Yesterday”The intertwined vibrant corals of yesterdayOranges and blues and reds all turning to white gray lifeless lumps at the bottom of the seaAn ocean that is becoming a sea of plasticWater that used to be blue will be gray black with oilAll of this was alive before humans started the destructionFrom the mammoth to the galapagos tortoise there is always somethingAnother species to destroy another land to discover more oil to drillBut soon there will be none leftThere is only one earthwhen are we going to start taking care of it “Tiger Clouds”I can ride a cloudWalk on waterRun to the tigersWith the tigersCatch the tigers raise the tigers become a tigerAll things are living breathing a soul is within themSo when all of us are ...