Earth Week Challenge: Making Every Day Greener

Celebrate Earth Week, Earth Momma style! In honor of Earth Week, we've created a week-long challenge that is designed to be realistic and approachable, allowing participants to explore various aspects of a more sustainable lifestyle. By integrating these practices into daily life, each of us can make a

Newsletter

Welcome to Earth Momma Notes, the Newsletter!

Happy Earth Month and welcome to the first edition of Earth Momma Notes! Currently a work in progress, it will only get better with time and love. Like a sustainable fine wine or an aged vegan cheese 🍷🧀 On the first Monday of every month, you will receive the latest edition

Journal

New Year, New Media Literate Me!

Adriana is back from a learning sabbatical with new insights on media literacy and misinformation in the online sustainability community. Keep reading to learn more about where her content is headed now!

Earth

A New Green World

Let’s take a moment to visualize a typical workday in a New Green World… It’s Monday morning, and you wake up to your alarm sounding off at 7am. After making breakfast and walking the kids to school, you bike to work and take a quick shower in your

Mind & Body

Health & Ecospirituality

How time spent in nature, participation in natural environments, and experiencing the awe of living can support your mental health. The word “spiritual” comes from the Latin spiritus, which means “breath.” Originally, that which was spiritual was simply that which was breathtaking. From this perspective, a spiritual experience is anything

Media Literacy

Marketing and the Appeal to Nature Fallacy

What is the "appeal to nature" fallacy? This is a logical fallacy or belief often used as an argument that something is good or safe because it's "natural" or used directly from nature, and bad or unsafe because it is man-made or synthetically manipulated.

Media Literacy

The Tea on ByBlocks and Eco Bricks

Introducing Spilling the Tea on Sustainability, my new podcast where we discuss the latest sustainability news, trends and discoveries; tackling myths and misinformation as they come our way! This week's episode explores the concept of ByBlocks and Eco Bricks, and shares the latest news out of Tucson, AZ

Media Literacy

Is This Greenwashing? Keep America Beautiful "The Crying Indian" Commercial 1971

What is greenwashing? Now that we are faced with daily reminders that climate change is real and it's not going anywhere unless we change our behaviors, corporations are taking note and changing course. Some are starting to incorporate recycled materials into their products and packaging, making lofty goals

Media Literacy

What is the True Meaning of Plastic Free July?

Plastic Free July: the holy month of the modern-day zero waster. As someone who identifies as an environmentalist, an Earth Momma of sorts, I always look forward to this time of year. Not only does it provide me with the perfect chance to educate others on the horrors of plastic

Mind & Body

Exploring Our Interconnectedness With the Earthworks at ASU Art Museum

The beginnings of the environmental movement and the rampant commoditization of American art influenced what is now known as the Earthworks Art Movement. Earth art, or Earthworks, inspired artists to use the natural landscape to create site-specific structures, art forms and sculptures. The favored materials of Earthworks’ artists were those

Earth

Realistic, Sustainable Swaps

If you’re new to zero waste and sustainability, it’s easy to get wooed by the idealized version of sustainable living you may see online. The meticulously organized refrigerators filled with plastic-free groceries; the shelfies with matching mason jars; the houseplants; The wicker. And not a single piece of

Earth

How Advertising Gave Us the Carbon Footprint

“Advertising is based on one thing: happiness. You know what happiness is? Happiness is [the] smell of a new car. It's freedom from fear. It's a billboard on the side of the road that screams with reassurance that whatever you're doing, it's

Earth

Reduce Your Carbon Footprint: Changes You Can Make At Home Today

If you were to look up the term “carbon footprint calculator” in a search engine right now, you would be met with a slew of websites offering to help you quantify your carbon impact on the planet. And when you’ve finally finished the questionnaire, it can be hard not

Mind & Body

The Connection Between Gratitude and Sustainability

What motivates you to act? Gratitude, or fear? Those who are motivated by gratitude actively work at it. They realize that fear is good motivation for short term change, but is not sustainable in the long term. Over time, behavior change motivated by fear only leads to anxiety and overwhelm.

Mind & Body

Cultivating Health through Community Gardens

Community gardening has a long history, beginning in America at the turn of the 20th century with allotment gardens, and re-emerging during the World Wars as “Victory Gardens.” Today, community gardens are often used to revitalize communities affected by urban decline to build a sense of social responsibility, provide nutritious

Earth

Indigenous Agricultural Practices: Cultivating Our Connection with Food

The French have a saying that goes, “Tell me what you eat and I’ll tell you who you are,” while the Germans have been heard uttering the phrase, “You are what you eat,” for over a millennia. But what happens when your diet is made up of hot dogs

Earth

Gap Inc. and Banana Republic Making Huge Strides in Sustainability

Now that more and more people are calling on corporations to step up their game when it comes to sustainability and social responsibility, we see companies making some hefty promises. Although it’s a positive sign that corporations are listening to their customers and working to change for the better,

Earth

ASU Art Museum Uses Art to Inspire Climate Action

Art is powerful. So powerful that it has the potential to influence our politics, society, and culture. All significant movements for positive change are often accompanied by outpourings of artistic expression that help convey powerful messages and inspire action. The Arizona State University Art Museum has a robust art and

Earth

Why Sustainable Fashion is More Expensive

So, why is sustainable fashion so expensive? There are many reasons to participate in the “slow fashion” movement and start shopping sustainably, but the greatest barrier is its financial cost. When 1 in 7 people in the United States live below the poverty line, is it any wonder that some

Earth

7 Ways to Reduce Your Consumption Based Carbon Footprint

Have you ever looked around your home and wondered how much all of the STUFF you surround yourself with impacts the earth? For example, think of all of the resources that were extracted from the planet to make your favorite pair of jeans. Water to grow the cotton; petroleum to

Blog

Why Join the Plastic Free July Challenge in 2021

The year is 2020, and you wake up to concerning news that a novel coronavirus is spreading like wildfire across country. Soon, you see people at the grocery store wearing bright blue (disposable) masks while shopping; signs at the check-out saying no more reusable bags allowed; cafés no longer accepting

Blog

Celebrating Women in Environmentalism

March is National Women's History Month, and to celebrate I would like to share the stories of a few women who have made history by caring for the planet and spreading the message of environmentalism! These women have shown us that we can all have a positive impact

Blog

Making Eco Resolutions for the New Year

Throughout my life, I have learned that there are two types of people in this world – there are those who write New Year's Resolutions, and those who gag at the mere thought of it. Personally, I love nothing more than sitting down at my desk with a fresh

Blog

Green Care and Mental Health

Have you ever gone for a stroll in the park or around your neighborhood, and noticed that your spirits are lifted by the time you head back inside? Studies show that being surrounded by nature can be incredibly beneficial to your mental health by reducing feelings of depression, anger, anxiety

Blog

My Last Plastic Straw

Making a difference in my community has always been something that I have been passionate about, which was apparent to my friends and family as early as the third grade when I ran for Student Council. Although I was merely the Class Representative at the time, running and winning the