Joel Izlar 🌻 @joelizlar@scholar.social

Say hello to Polly.

Scored some tasty mushrooms, nature's backbone.

Mid-Century morning #tea.

Art by Brenna Quinlan

We can do this!

Me IRL during a peer review of my article.

Urban Land Could Grow Fruit and Veg for 15 Percent of the Population

"Growing fruit and vegetables in just 10 per cent of a city's gardens and other urban green spaces could provide 15 per cent of the local population with their 'five a day', according to new research."

https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/sustainable-food/news/urban-land-could-grow-fruit-and-veg-15-percent-population

#CommunityGardens #Permaculture #FoodJustice #CommunityWork

How Big Oil and Big Soda Kept the Plastics Crisis a Secret for Decades

"Every human on Earth is ingesting nearly 2,000 particles of #plastic a week. These tiny pieces enter our unwitting bodies from tap water, food, and even the air...dosing us with five grams of plastics, many cut with chemicals linked to cancers, hormone disruption, and developmental delays."

https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/plastic-problem-recycling-myth-big-oil-950957/

#PlasticPollution #Waste #Ecosocial #SocialEcology

'Antarctica Melts,' NASA Says, Showing Effects of a Record Warm Spell

"'The warm spell caused widespread melting on nearby glaciers,' the space agency says. It adds, 'Such persistent warmth was not typical in Antarctica until the 21st century, but it has become more common in recent years.'"

#ClimateChange #Antarctica

'War on the Poor': Las Vegas's Homelessness Crackdown Takes Effect

"Las Vegas recently began cracking down on people living outdoors....the city council approved a law that made sitting, resting or 'lodging' on sidewalks a misdemeanor punishable with up to six months in jail or fines of up to $1,000 in most neighborhoods."

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/13/las-vegas-homeless-sleeping-ban-no-lodging

#LasVegas #Homelessness #HousingNotHandcuffs #FoodNotBombs #SocialWork

When Cops Evicted These Moms, the Housing Conversation Changed

"The occupation [of a house by Moms 4 Housing] was always about more than just putting a roof over their heads. It was also a campaign to call attention to the role housing speculation was playing in Oakland’s gentrification, displacement, & homelessness crisis."

https://www.yesmagazine.org/economy/2020/02/10/oakland-moms-housing-land-trust/

#Moms4Housing #Oakland #HomesNotShelters #Homelessness #FunctionalCommunityOrganization

How to Turn Your Yard Into an Ecological Oasis

"Replacing grass with even a few plants native to your region can save insects and the ecosystems that depend on them."

https://www.yesmagazine.org/environment/2020/02/07/yard-sustainability-native-plants/

#FoodNotLawns

Even though it was 40°F yesterday, and it's 70°F today, it's still a rooibos afternoon.

Earl Grey tea soda 😋

Who Owns Your Grocery Store?

"With only a handful of grocers dominating any one region or nation, they have effectively acted as bottlenecks within the system—gatekeepers to the foods that will and won't make it to market. It's the grocers who are determining the how, where, and who of food production both locally and globally. Grocers are determining the future of food."

https://www.yesmagazine.org/opinion/2019/12/06/grocery-store-own/

#FoodJustice #Food

Killer Heat: US Cities' Plans for Coming Heatwaves Fail to Protect Vulnerable

"With heatwaves predicted to worsen dramatically over the next 30 years, many big US cities are failing to fully plan to protect those most vulnerable to extreme heat."

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/dec/06/killer-heat-us-cities-plans-for-coming-heatwaves-fail-to-protect-vulnerable

#ClimateCrisis #Heatwaves #Homelessness #Ecosocial #HomesNotShelters

Under the guise of "self-sufficiency," the Trump administration seeks to continue its assault on the poor and marginalized by cutting 3.6 million people from #SNAP/Food Stamps, which feeds 37 million per year.

No one should go hungry while 40 percent of the food in the US is thrown away.

No one should go hungry while billions are wasted on endless war and militarism.

No one should go hungry or experience malnutrition.

No one should go hungry.

Austerity is violence.

Beautiful Drawings Reveal Millions of Wi-Fi Signals All Around Us

"Artist Richard Vijgen has created an installation that visualizes the mess of Wi-Fi signals in cities."

https://www.fastcompany.com/90396117/beautiful-drawings-reveal-the-millions-of-wi-fi-signals-all-around-us

#WiFi #Art

Health Officials in 'Cancer Alley' Will Study if Living Near a Controversial Chemical Plant Causes Cancer

"Louisiana officials will knock on every door within 2.5 kilometers of the only plant in the country that emits chloroprene, which the EPA calls a likely carcinogen. An analysis said the airborne cancer risk near the plant was the highest in the nation."

https://www.propublica.org/article/health-officials-in-cancer-alley-will-study-if-living-near-a-controversial-chemical-plant-causes-cancer

#Pollution #Cancer #Louisiana #Ecosocial #PublicHealth

Coal Industry Knew Burning Fossil Fuels Causes Climate Change as Early as 1966

Leaders of the coal industry knew as early as the mid-1960s that burning fossil fuels causes climate change....a now defunct mining research company wrote that the combustion of fossil fuels was increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, causing global temperature increases."

https://www.democracynow.org/2019/11/25/headlines/coal_industry_knew_burning_fossil_fuels_causes_climate_change_as_early_as_1966

#BigCoal #ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange #Ecosocial