January, 2023 – Ecosystemic Magazine

Intersectional Environmentalists are Vital to Our Movement

29Jan

By Esme HyattNo Comments

Activism & Social Change

Intersectional Environmentalists are Vital to Our Movement

By Esme Hyatt The job of intersectional environmentalists is an important one. Many movements in the past have intentionally or unintentionally excluded minority groups, such as in the case of the Women's Suffrage movement (Waters-Page, n.d.). Intersectional environmentalists advocate for minority communities to have a voice in the environmentalist movement. These activists prioritize inclusivity and social justice when approaching environmental issues (Intersectional Environmentalist, n.d.). Artwork by Julianne Park Kristy Drutman, founder of Brown Green Girl, is an intersectional environmentalist. She started advocating through a lens of social justice early on, even before the term was coined in 2020 by Leah Thomas (Intersectional Environmentalist, n.d.). “I was posting ...

Bits and Pieces: Editorial Board Perspectives

29Jan

By Elson BankoffNo Comments

Notes From the Editors

Bits and Pieces: Editorial Board Perspectives

Oftentimes, our editorial board is hard at work corresponding with authors and editing pieces, so we have limited time to contribute even though we really want to! The following are direct responses and insights into Kristy Drutman’s interview from some of our Editors. Elson Bankoff – Editor-in-Chief Kristy discusses the obstacles she has faced with internet culture. She talks about how hosting an Instagram account as an independent platform can be challenging with the ever-changing trends and passions of the public, especially as a creator focused on intersectional climate action. There are a lot of strangers who expect a lot from her. It can be difficult for her to keep up and appease everyone. Social media is an incredibly overstimulating place, and Kristy finds it important ...

29Jan

By Eyob SisayNo Comments

Activism & Social Change, Pop Culture

The Power of #Paid

By Eyob Sisay As the field of influencer marketing quickly becomes one of the hottest industries in the world, how will social media creators hold up against the demands of their eco-conscious fans? In 2022, 58% of the world was active daily on social media (Mohshin 2022). For brands, social media is prime marketing real-estate. As a result, companies are more than willing to shell out billions of dollars to hire social media creators with significant platforms to promote their products;. According to Osborne (2019), 49% of social media users depend on content creators’ product recommendations, thus validating the “influencer” status of some social media creators. Therefore, there exists a symbiotic relationship between social media creators and brands. In many cases, the Earth does...

28Jan

By Yossi RosenNo Comments

Literature

A Tree Story– Flash Fiction

By Yossi Rosen Prologue: Once upon a time, in a forest in California, a tree thinks, Drawing breaths and weaving a floral wreath of recollection. Fallen leaves, a sudden drop in the woods, from one to two to innumerable others. Pressed down against this identity as a template of what was, what could have been, an application of pressure. Like a mosaic of this and that and when and who. A fallen branch rippling in introspection. Afterward, out of consideration, the tree is incinerated. Sometime after a most curious boy thinks. Chapter 1: My nanny, a hipster mom of three, thought it was sacrilegious to pass trees or any form of wildlife without worrying about them, like ignoring the facts, science even. Don’t be so blasé she would say, and I would respond, Stop being such a peda...

This Article is More Than an Infographic

28Jan

By Julianne ParkNo Comments

Pop Culture

This Article is More Than an Infographic

By Julianne Park Big bolded words. Vivid colors. Catchy phrases. What better than a simple yet eye-catching infographic to hook the reader, or social media user, to the idea you are trying to convey? Recently, infographics have grown drastically to become one of the most widespread and popular tools on the internet, especially on social media. Visually appealing posts, often accompanied by data or striking statements, are a medium of storytelling that help users reach their target audience faster. Around 56% of queried businesses said to have used infographics and found them effective (Conner, 2017). Marketing strategies have increasingly employed infographics because of the human brain’s ability to absorb more information through visuals. So, where does the climate mov...

Misinformation and Performative Activism on Social Media

28Jan

By Stella StoneNo Comments

Activism & Social Change, Pop Culture

Misinformation and Performative Activism on Social Media

By Stella Stone Misinformation and performative activism, often intertwined, are potent forces that undermine climate movements across the globe. As you mindlessly click through Instagram stories, you may see a cheery-looking graphic discussing dying polar bears. While your first instinct may be to repost this, first consider– what are the motivations of the creator? Is the information factual? And most of all, how does this even help? While misinformation can have varying definitions, a 2020 study from the University of Exeter states “[a] common theme is that misinformation pertains to information that is false, inaccurate or misleading,” (Treen et al.). Across all categories of social media, a Statistica study found that 67% of Americans have encountered fake news on social media ...

How Can Cities Plan for Severe Environmental Disasters and Implement Sustainable Solutions?

28Jan

By Gracie DNo Comments

Global News & Policy

How Can Cities Plan for Severe Environmental Disasters and Implement Sustainable Solutions?

By Gracie Dogramaci Kristy Drutman, a Jewish and Filipino environmentalist, uses social media platforms to educate and inspire the public about specific current environmental issues. She describes various ways of highlighting the issues specific communities face, including research initiatives, partnerships with an organization, or a campaign with a nonprofit (Drutman 2023, pg. 1). Drutman says her work is mainly through experimentation when it comes to displaying content on social media discussing an issue (Drutman, 2023). Artwork by Rosie Schrag There are a multitude of sustainable solutions for environmental disasters. Therefore, Drutman is always thinking about how to create more awareness around those who are generating current solutions, as opposed to people “reinventing t...

28Jan

By Ariana ThorntonNo Comments

Activism & Social Change, Art & Multimedia

Female Environmentalist Alphabet

By Ariana Thornton After reading Kristy's interview, I became inspired by the crucial role that female identifying individuals play in the fight for environmental justice. These three digital artworks are part of a larger multimedia project in which I plan to draw 26 portraits of influential female environmentalists from different backgrounds, cultures, and generations around the world–one name for each letter of the English alphabet. Through this project, I seek to shed light on the intersectionality of the climate movement and raise awareness of important female environmentalists whose names are not as well known as, say, Greta Thunberg or Jane Goodall. Women climate activists who have made significant contributions to their cause are not just White, but also Black, Indigenous, A...

Deep Dive into COP27: In Conversation with Katharina Maier of Friday’s for Future USA

28Jan

By Leah VincentNo Comments

Interviews

Deep Dive into COP27: In Conversation with Katharina Maier of Friday’s for Future USA

By Leah Vincent Growing up, I had little to no exposure, access, or education regarding climate change. There was no one to guide me on my journey of activism and frankly, I dove into the deep end rather quickly. As a BIPOC climate activist still struggling to find her voice, Kristy Drutman’s project Browngirl Green, is an inspirational step forward in the right direction for other young minority activists in need of guidance. Inspired by Kristy’s call to “tap into your network,” I’ve decided to interview Katharina Maier, a lead organizer for the Climate Initiative: Fridays for Future in Berlin and the US. We discussed the impact of this year’s Conference of the Parties (COP27) and what people from all over the world can do to make an impact in their communities at home and abroad. ...

Indigo Cultivation In India: The Story of Production and Destruction

28Jan

By Diya SharmaNo Comments

History

Indigo Cultivation In India: The Story of Production and Destruction

By Diya Sharma In Ecosystemic's interview with Kristy Drutman, Kristy mentioned the role that colonization that has played in creating the current ecological crisis we are facing. The cultivation of indigo during 18th and 19th century in India is a textbook example of how imperialism leads to the destruction of the environment and people's lives. The system of indigo cultivation was inherently exploitative. Greed led to the colonization of India, the death of farmers, and the destruction of the environment on an unprecedented scale. Indigo was the only natural dye that could stain clothes blue before the Industrial revolution. The plant was native to India and had been used for extracting color for centuries. There is evidence of its trade as far back as the Egy...