Notes From the Editors – Ecosystemic Magazine

11Apr

By Anais JoubertNo Comments

Notes From the Editors

A Letter To The Birds

Written by Anais Joubert Tell me what it’s like to wake up at the dawn of the day And have the ability to fly away Tell me what it’s like to live With bright burning stars And calm sweet clouds When you look at our world from above Do you see a quilt Marked with green Blessed by blue Scarred by grey And stained by blood Do you know the world's dreams, hopes, and fears Do you watch what happens to them when they float away Do you know what happens to balloons in outer space? Do you love us Do you despise us Or do you not care either way? Is every sunrise a different wonder Does every sky have a different thunder Is every evening finished differently? Tell what it’s like to watch every color...

10Apr

By Estelle JoubertNo Comments

Art & Multimedia, Notes From the Editors

Art by Estelle Joubert

Indigenous Communities Advocate for Mitzy Cortes and Her Fight for Climate Solutions

16Dec

By Angela DingNo Comments

Activism & Social Change, Notes From the Editors

Indigenous Communities Advocate for Mitzy Cortes and Her Fight for Climate Solutions

Who deserves to be in the center of climate conversations? Who is the most qualified to spearhead solutions to the climate crisis? To Mitzy Cortés, the answer is obvious. Indigenous peoples disproportionately experience climate impacts and are the only ones that have the thorough knowledge of local environments, and their protection of the land will restore the climate. Mitzy Cortés is a young environmental activist from San Sebastián Tecomaxtlahuaca and part of the indigenous Mixtec people of Mexico. As an inherent part of her culture, she was raised to love the living world around her and center her lifestyle around environmental awareness. However, while sustainability was a value she personally upheld, she realized the rest of the world became severely misaligned with protecting the en...

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 t...

31Jul

By Elson BankoffNo Comments

Notes From the Editors

If the Bells Would Ring

We are co-producing a play as an NYC Climate Week event! Click the button below for more information. Rehearsals are well underway! More to come! More info

Metro Must Switch to Zero-Emission Buses Faster

18Jun

By Isabel LimaoNo Comments

Notes From the Editors

Metro Must Switch to Zero-Emission Buses Faster

By Tillie Owen, Isabel Limão, and Filipe Limão Earlier this week, I saw an article in The New York Times that said the Great Salt Lake is drying up. The article explains that, among other effects, this could lead to the air in the area occasionally turning poisonous as wind storms pick up arsenic in the exposed lake bed and carry it around the highly populated area. This dystopian-seeming event could become a reality if we don’t act soon enough to change it. This truth applies to various aspects of the climate crisis, especially public transportation. If DC wishes to meet its ambitious agenda to switch to renewables, we need clean transportation and we need it fast. By Dilinna Ugochukwu The current zero emissions transition plan is moving too slowly. Metro, or Washington M...

4Jun

By Lane WorthingNo Comments

Notes From the Editors

Mountain, Appalachian: A Short Story

By Lane Worthing Forward Throughout Environmental Science this year, we have learned so much about the fundamental forces of nature that govern our world and how humans have affected them. In my final project, I wanted to discuss some of the most interesting and important topics we learned about, but from a slightly different perspective, so I wrote from the perspective of a mountain (that’s why some information is in footnotes - it’s relevant, but I didn’t think a mountain would know or care about the obscure terms we’ve come up with for things like the Laurentide Ice Sheet, for instance). Overall, I wanted to convey the sense that the history of the natural world goes back so much farther and is so much bigger than human history, yet we are still drastically changing so m...

The Climate Crisis is an Adult Issue–– So Why Have We Turned to Youth?

4Jun

By Kendra WangNo Comments

Notes From the Editors

The Climate Crisis is an Adult Issue–– So Why Have We Turned to Youth?

By Kendra Wang Our world is slowly dying. Our Arctic Sea Ice Extent has been down 13 percent since 1979 (NASA, 2022). A report by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) revealed that all polar bears could be gone by 2100 (BBC, 2020). California forest fires have forcefully evicted thousands of people. The pandemic has rendered up to 7,200 tons of medical waste every day (MIT, 2021). And amidst all the chaos, the burden to “fix” the world falls upon the shoulders of our next generation: teens. Greta Thunberg’s protest in 2018 urged students to leave school every Friday to stand their ground against climate change. Strikes for climate change make a statement. We tell the world that youth want change, that we are willing to do whatever it takes. And yet, many of us are merely ...

We call for a Renewable Revolution: The Future of Ecosystemic

1May

By Elson BankoffNo Comments

Notes From the Editors

We call for a Renewable Revolution: The Future of Ecosystemic

With mayoral, city council, and national elections coming up, coupled with the IPCC reports, the Ecosystemic editorial board has decided to launch city-wide campaigns that highlight environmental injustice and demand solutions. Many editions to follow will inform local populations on issues and publicly release the youth’s demands through powerful visuals and narratives. We need these four to six years to solve the climate emergency and begin the Renewable Revolution. The terms that our mayors, senators, and congresspeople are about to serve will determine our futures. If you are a high school student in any state in the US, we need your help and leadership. The campaigns will consist of brainstorming issues that are already prevalent in a city, town, or state, and finding pass...

Back to pre-covid is a no-go for the environment

1May

By Sonia SoloviovaNo Comments

Notes From the Editors

Back to pre-covid is a no-go for the environment

By Sonia Soloviova Two years after the start of Covid-19 pandemic, the world is slowly but surely returning to normal. College students return to campuses, workers head back to their stuffy office jobs, and people finally leave their masks behind when going out with friends. As Covid-tests and face-covering mandates disappear from mainstream American life, many are proudly announcing that we are back to pre-Covid times. And yet, can we responsibly label the world as it is now pre-Covid while taking into consideration the impact the pandemic has had on the environment? For the past few years, the pandemic era has aggravated greenhouse gas emissions and environmental pollution. The United States has generated over 7,200 tons of medical waste every day since March 2020. The protect...