When I was a schoolgirl in Vietnam, wetland forests for me were a negligible part of my adventures to national parks or on the way to beaches with my family. I used to think that wetland forests, hundreds of miles away from where I live, had little to nothing to do with my life. But when starting my career and studying environmental science, I knew that I had failed to realize the role of wetland forests. In fact, wetland forests, wherever I am and whether I appreciate it or not, always and diligently provide their valuable services to my life.
Every drop of clean water I drink can be attributed to wetlands because they have powerful natural water filtering plants. Rainfall usually washes sediments, toxics, residual nutrients, and chemicals from farmland, road surfaces, and sewage systems to water bodies. Wetlands with dense vegetation protect our surface water and groundwater systems by slowing down the water flow, trapping sediments, removing excess nutrients, and detoxifying chemicals before returning cleaner water to the rivers, streams, and aquifers. As much as 90% of the sediments that are present in runoff or in streamflow may be removed if the water passes through wetlands. This regime improves the water quality, not only in rivers and aquifers, but it also creates a safer water supply source. The value from water filtration that wetlands in the US South provide is estimated at about $115 billion.
Wetlands defend us from floods and lessen the damages from flooding. Wetlands are reservoirs to retain stormwater and slow down runoff water.About 330,000 gallons of water can be stored by a one-acre wetland, with one-foot depth. This amount of water will gradually flow back to rivers and streams or penetrate groundwater layers. If wetlands are destroyed, stormwater will flow directly to open water bodies, increasing the risk of flooding.
In the US South, wetlands prevent $150 billion of flood damages. In the period from 1851 to 2004, regions along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts experienced more than three hundred hurricanes. Particularly, in the context of climate change, hurricanes are expected to happen at a higher frequency and intensity. As you may remember, three years in a row from 2016 to 2018, historical hurricanes (Hurricane Mathew in 2016, Harvey and Irma in late 2017, and Florence in 2018) hit the US South, taking thousands of lives and costing hundreds of billions of dollars. Dealing with these natural disasters becomes one of the priorities in sustainable development. Wetlands, therefore, are a viable type of green and low-impact infrastructure to prevent floods and reduce the damages from flooding.
Wetlands work to mitigate and adapt to sea level rise, even though they are also vulnerable and suffer the impacts of this phenomenon. Sea level rise leads to shoreline erosion, inundation and increase in the salinity of wetlands, and damages or malfunctions of coastal infrastructure. Low-lying coastal areas are more prone to frequent floods and storm surge. Wetlands, such as marshes and mangroves, are a practical option to fight against sea level rise and flooding. Wetland plants form a natural barrier, breaking down the waves crashing into the shore. They also bind and lock down the soil with their roots, preventing the soil from being washed away during flooding. With 40% of the national population living in coastal counties, conserving wetlands is critical to protecting our coastal communities.
Wetlands are home to many endemic and rare species of plants and animals. They have rich biodiversity, including fish, birds, and high-value flora and fauna. About 46% of endangered species are found in wetlands or wetlands-related regions. Because of their unique ecosystems, wetlands offer significant economic opportunities from recreational activities such as hunting, fishing, and bird watching. This is an economic value far beyond that of logging. In the US, the value wetlands bring from recreation, tourism, and aesthetics is $126 billion, nearly a hundred fold of that from raw materials such as wood.
It is clear to me now that wetlands in my home country and across the world are a critical piece of natural infrastructure. Despite the great values that wetlands bring to our lives, they are one of the most threatened and degraded ecosystems in the world. Protecting wetland forests is preserving and protecting the quality of our own lives.
Ha Do is an international student from Vietnam who has been actively working to protect water resources and the environment in her home country. Coming to the US to complete her master’s degree in Environmental Management at Duke University, Ha feels connected with the wilderness of the US South and wants to contribute to the communities that she’ll be a part of for the next two years. She has been engaged in various environmental education activities and the arising climate movements in North Carolina. Ha loves travelling and exploring other cultures through their cuisine.
We are writing to urge the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SC DHEC) to deny any expansion of the wood pellet industry in South Carolina and to immediately address the environmental justice implications of this facility. We urge DHEC to address the impacts this facility would have on the climate, on South Carolina forests, on biodiversity, and on the health and well-being of impacted residents. Specifically, we call on leaders and DHEC to:
Similar to other wood pellet production facilities in South Carolina, the Greenwood Enviva plant is located in an environmental justice-designated community. Greenwood County has an estimated population of 31.4% African American, 0.8% Asian, 0.3% Native American, and is already ranked in the 90th percentile for small particulate matter (PM 2.5) pollution.
Within a 2-mile radius around the current Enviva plant, the approximate 2,200 residents are already ranked above the 75th percentile for exposure to PM2.5, ozone, diesel, air toxins cancer risk, respiratory hazards, Superfunds, and hazardous waste. Increasing production at the plant would further heighten the risk of exposure to many of these common pollutants, but most especially the PM2.5 and respiratory hazards risks.
The COVID-19 crisis is affecting predominantly BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities across the South. Greenwood County is currently experiencing a “high” rate of infection according to the county government. With citizens concerned about their health and well-being, they may not be able to engage in a public comment period for such a critical permit. The public hearing must be delayed until after the coronavirus emergency is over, so that community members may be meaningfully involved in DHEC’s decision-making process regarding this permit.
Dogwood Alliance urges this SC DHEC to consider the impacts this facility will have on South Carolina’s forests, the state’s ability to be resilient in the face of increasing storms and hurricanes, and our commitment to reduce carbon emissions. While climate action is a top priority for communities that are facing climate impacts, dirty industries continue to expand, and protections for forests and communities fall short. Wood pellet production is carbon-intensive, leads to higher pollution in production areas, and removes forests that store and sequester carbon.
Enviva is applying for an expansion permit on the Greenwood pellet plant in Greenwood, SC. Currently the plant is limited to 550,000 tons per year, but Enviva now proposes to expand the plant to 660,000 tons per year. If Enviva is permitted and their intended expansion goes through, this facility will increase logging to 15,840 acres per year or 43 acres per day and emit 1,422,057 tons per year of CO2e, the equivalent of over 273,900 extra cars on the road.
Many forms of biomass—especially from forests—produce higher carbon emissions compared to fossil fuels. In particular, a growing body of peer-reviewed, scientific studies shows that burning wood from whole trees in power plants to produce electricity can increase carbon emissions relative to fossil fuels for many decades—anywhere from 35 to 100 years. This time period is significant: the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change made it clear that the coming decade is crucial and requires dramatic short-term reductions in greenhouse gases. The emissions from biomass will persist in the atmosphere well past the time when significant reductions are needed.
Global demand for wood pellets is devastating forest ecosystems in the Southeast United States. Biomass facilities acknowledge that they harvest from wetlands, highly diverse habitats with many threatened mammal, reptile, amphibian, and bird species. Despite the claims of the wood pellet industry, independent reporting shows a disturbing pattern: wood pellets often are sourced from wood that is harvested from native hardwood forests in an area designated as a global biodiversity hotspot.
Demand for softwood and pine plantations is also having a negative impact on forests, the climate, and biodiversity. Since 1953, the government has used various programs to pay landowners to plant pine instead of allowing natural forests to grow. As a result, we’ve lost over 35 million acres of natural forest and gained over 40 million acres of pine plantation instead. In addition, industrial tree plantations pose a serious threat to South Carolina’s climate change resiliency because they make the effects of floods, droughts, heat waves, storms, and disease more severe.
If Enviva is granted the extension, it will have impacts on the health of local residents, the ability of natural ecosystems to support greater resiliency to storms and hurricanes, and contribute to global carbon emissions at a time when community health and safety rely on cutting those emissions. Affected residents deserve an opportunity to be informed about the consequences of expansion.
We reiterate our ask for SC DHEC to postpone all permitting procedures, including public comment, until the COVID-19 emergency declaration has been lifted, and until a full Environmental Justice Report has been completed. Ultimately, we urge SC DHEC to deny Enviva’s air quality permit to expand production in Greenwood, South Carolina.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this permit.
The first time many of the residents of Lumberton, Robeson County, North Carolina, heard about plans of a company to build a polluting wood pellet facility in their neighborhood was when the NC Division of Air Quality (NC DAQ) issued an air quality permit. With just 30 days before the initially scheduled public hearing, and with news breaking of a global pandemic, residents scrambled to learn all they could about this new and untested industry that threatened to increase pollution for this already overburdened community.
This decision disregards local community recommendations, glaring environmental injustices, and climate science that requires us to protect forests, not cut them down for fuel. NC DAQ has allowed Robeson County to be a testing ground for this unpredictable technology.
The permitting of this facility is especially troubling against the backdrop of the current global pandemic that makes populations, such as the majority BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) communities of Robeson County, particularly vulnerable. This Administration and NC DAQ continue to fall short on their commitments to environmental justice and climate change, while rolling out the red carpet for polluting and carbon emitting industries.
On June 22nd, despite calls from local residents and elected officials to delay the hearing until after the COVID-19 emergency declaration, NC DEQ held a digital public hearing to receive public comments on the proposed AERP pellet mill. According to the hearing officer’s report, more than 125 people joined the virtual public hearing, and 44 people spoke with 39 opposed and 5 in favor of DAQ issuing the air permit. More than 1250 written comments were sent to NC DAQ. Of the written and oral comments received, more than 90% opposed DAQ granting the air permit. In response to requests from the local NAACP and other residents, NC DEQ issued an environmental justice report. In this report, they found the following:
While noting these glaring inequalities and instances of environmental and racial injustice, NC DAQ does not attempt to address them beyond providing opportunities for public input.
Robeson County is one of the most frequently flooded counties in North Carolina. In 2018, largely in response to the hurricanes that devastated areas like Robeson County, Governor Cooper announced E080 – an executive order on climate change which set emission reduction goals for the state of North Carolina. Yet the Administration continues to permit the wood pellet industry despite evidence that industrial logging is the third largest emitter of carbon in the state (just behind electricity and transportation).
In permitting this facility, officials look solely to forest industry representatives – those who stand to gain the most from industrial logging – to define the qualities of a healthy forest. The Hearing Officer’s report replies to the many concerns about impacts on forests by stating that “The North Carolina Forest Service (NCFS)’s primary purpose is to ensure adequate and quality forest resources for the state… [and around Lumberton,] indicated that the timberland area is stable.” However, analyses like these fail to acknowledge the real and devastating impacts that continual pressure on forests exude.
Forests subjected to logging store significantly less carbon dioxide, and offer significantly less protection from floods and severe weather events than natural forests left standing. Standing forests are exceptionally important in low-lying, flood prone areas like Lumberton, which are hit repeatedly by hurricane and flooding events.
Though the facility should’ve been denied on Environmental Justice concerns alone, it is telling that NC DEQ looks yet again to logging professionals to tell them that biomass facilities are appropriate use of forests.
North Carolina cannot meet the goals laid out in Executive Order 80, and in the resulting NC Climate Action Plan, without halting the expansion of bioenergy production in the state. Residents in eastern North Carolina, already plagued with high COVID-19 infection rates and large concentrations of polluting industries, will pay the price.
As Coronavirus cases continue to flare, and as communities like those in Robeson County gear up for hurricane season, our public officials should be doing everything possible to ensure the safety of NC residents. Instead, the Cooper Administration and NC DAQ are paving the way for continued inequity and degradation of our forests.
Stay tuned for more ways you can take action in the near future.
While all of the United States is focusing attention and resources to handle and recover the economy from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Atlantic hurricane season is returning to the US South. The season this year is forecasted to be more active than a normal year, so floods are also expected.
Among the ten states most likely to flood in the next 100 years, five are in the US South. Every year in the US South, flooding costs lives and billions of dollars. It devastates livelihoods and forces thousands of people to flee their homes. In June 2019, the Arkansas River flooded, which caused damages to homes, agriculture, roads, bridges, and levees focused across Eastern Oklahoma and Western Arkansas and cost more than $3 billion. Five lives were lost. Tropical Storm Imelda in September 2019, which came with 3 feet of rainfall over a three-day period, caused a severe flood in Southeast Texas, costing more than $5 billion in damages and five lost lives.
Flooding in New Orleans, Louisiana
The global pandemic will make dealing with hurricanes and flooding more difficult this year. Moreover, existing challenges from climate change lead to floods with higher intensity and frequency. Our traditional approach to flood prevention, which relies heavily on manmade “gray infrastructure”, also known as constructed infrastructure, such as dams, levees and spillways, is no longer sufficient to deal with the flood risks in the future. Nature-based measures, such as living shorelines, restored wetlands, reforestation projects, rain gardens, and green (vegetative) roofs, therefore, have become a more effective approach to flood risk management.
Traditionally, flood management relies mainly on gray infrastructure. However, according to a recent study, these works “have straightened, steepened, and narrowed the river, and [our] research has shown that these changes cause floodwaters to flow higher and faster.” In addition, most of these structures are designed to cope with floods in the “a mid-20th century climate.” They are no longer suitable under existing and changing conditions. However, expanding or upgrading gray infrastructure is an expensive and inefficient option.
In contrast, nature-based solutions are an effective complement or substitute to gray infrastructure because they help reduce flood risks through three main mechanisms. First, restoring ponds and wetlands and connecting floodplains increases flood water storage capacity, preventing or slowing down runoff during heavy rains. Second, other measures, including rain gardens, changing agricultural practices, and increasing soil permeability will help increase the amount of water absorbed into the soil or increase evaporation into the air, thereby reducing runoff water. Third, planting trees and hedgerows, salt marshes, coral and oyster reefs, and restoring meandering rivers are all actions that can slow water flows, thereby mitigating damages caused by fast-flowing floodwaters. These measures, when implemented together, can help prevent flooding in flood-prone areas of the US South.
Not only is it effective in reducing flood risks, nature-based solutions have other advantages.
In one study, wetland restoration brought about more than $8 in benefits from flood reduction for every $1 of investment. Similarly, protection of oyster reefs can generate $7 for every $3 of investment. This is far more cost-effective compared to the ratio of gray infrastructure, such as levee construction (a $1 benefit for every $1 invested ratio). Moreover, conserving nature can be about 30 times more cost-effective than building seawalls. Another study indicates that across the US, the annual savings in terms of flood losses avoided would range from $63 to $136 million (2011 dollars, which if adjusted for inflation would be even greater) if more nature-based measures are implemented.
When there is sufficient space, natural solutions, such as shorelines and natural floodplains, can adapt to different levels of river and seawater, while ensuring ecosystem values. Well-designed natural measures will increase adaptiveness and resilience for areas, especially under climate change conditions.
These benefits include, but are not limited to, biodiversity conservation, improved water quality, food production, recreation, and carbon storage. Therefore, nature-based measures are thought to be a win-win solution for both conservation and flood prevention.
Considering the technical and cost effectiveness as well as specific natural conditions, such as long coastlines, wetlands, and rich forests in the US South, adopting nature-based solutions is an appropriate and sustainable choice to cope with flood risks and should be strongly promoted in the region.
Ha Do is an international student from Vietnam who has been actively working to protect water resources and the environment in her home country. Coming to the US to complete her master’s degree in Environmental Management at Duke University, Ha feels connected with the wilderness of the US South and wants to contribute to the communities that she’ll be a part of for the next two years. She has been engaged in various environmental education activities and the arising climate movements in North Carolina. Ha loves travelling and exploring other cultures through their cuisine.
This week, our hosts Kimala Luna from Dogwood Alliance and Elizabeth Garland from SlayTheMic are joined by a very special guest, Daniel White aka The Blackalachian.
The Blackalachian got his start in the outdoor world in 2017 when he hiked the Appalachian Trail, which is 2,200 miles from Georgia to Maine. Daniel said,
“That was my very first time camping or hiking or anything of the sort. So I was just new on the scene. And since then, I’ve been chasing adventure ever since.”
In this episode of the podcast Daniel talks about how he started hiking, where he is now, the things he’s learned along the way, encountering microaggressions on the trail, songs that inspire him, moments he finds most magical in nature, and upcoming projects he’s excited about.
You can follow The Blackalachian on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Want to listen to more?
The full transcript of the podcast can be found below.
Elizabeth Garland: All right, everybody. Welcome to another episode of Woods and Wilds. I’m Elizabeth Lashay with Slay the Mic and I am joined by my wonderful co-host…
Kimala Luna: Dogwood Alliance: I’m Kimala Luna with Dogwood Alliance, and we are here with…
Daniel White: Daniel White, aka The Blackalachian. Thank you guys for having me so much.
Elizabeth Garland: No, thank you.
Kimala Luna: Good to have you.
Elizabeth Garland: I am so excited-
Kimala Luna: Yes, I’m so excited.
Elizabeth Garland: … to sit down and talk with you. So let’s talk about a little bit about who you are because you’ve done a lot of walking for sure.
Daniel White: Yeah, for sure. Well, a lot of people know me as The Blackalachian. I got my start in the outdoor world, hiking, and everything in 2017 when I hiked the Appalachian Trail, 2,200 miles from Georgia to Maine. That was my first time camping or hiking or anything of the sort. So I was just new on the scene. And since then, man, I’ve just been chasing adventure ever since, I guess, that first foot on the trail.
Kimala Luna: Dogwood Alliance: Wow. What’s the most recent adventure that you’ve been on?
Daniel White: My most recent hike, I would say long distance would be the El Camino de Santiago, which is a pilgrimage route in Spain. There are eight or nine different ways that you can go. I took the northern route, which is around 530 miles across the northern coast of Spain all the way to Santiago de Compostela, where there’s like a huge church and there’s a bunch of people that crying. Yeah, it’s really an intense trip. So that was the last one. And I think a month before I took on that trip, I went and hiked Coast-to-Coast across Scotland. So I was able to get a couple of trips across the pond. They’re pretty close to each other and pretty cool experience, for sure.
Elizabeth Garland: Wow.
Kimala Luna: Wow. That’s incredible. How did you hear about the El Camino de Santiago?
Daniel White: From hiking the Appalachian Trail. A lot of people talking about it. They said it was on their bucket list and everything, and I didn’t really actually look it up until I was in… I think I was in… I wasn’t in Scotland because after I finished up my Scotland trip, I went over to Amsterdam for a little bit. So I was in Amsterdam and I was just looking up trails that I could do and try to just continue my adventure, and I found the Camino. I was like, “Oh yeah, I forgot about this one.” So I looked it up. I reached out to the company Moosejaw. Shout out to Moosejaw. They got behind me and sponsored and I was back over there in Spain a month later.
Elizabeth Garland: Wow. How many miles do you think you have hiked starting your journey with hiking?
Daniel White: I would say-
Kimala Luna: That’s a good question.
Daniel White: Oh, man. Well, we got the 2,200 Appalachian. We got the 530 for Camino, a little bit over 200 in Scotland, a couple of shorter trips here and there mountains to sea sections and stuff, so I would say at least 3,000 on foot. And then I also have another around 2,000 by bike from riding the Underground Railroad trail by bike. So yeah, about 5,000 on just legs, just legs experience, leg power for sure.
Kimala Luna: Holy moly.
Elizabeth Garland: That is amazing. I have a question in terms of when you started this adventure in finding out your passion and love for nature. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Daniel White: Just really first time ever feeling freedom, peace. Being a Black man in America, man, you just don’t get that up quite often. I don’t have to answer to anybody. I just got to worry about where I need to go for the day, freshwater, whether I got food and things like that. It was just like really simple. And then you start [being] in touch with nature, like you start smelling things different. You can smell the rain coming in, like the southern folks always tell you. You can kind of watch the weather, you know what’s happening. You can hear things better. Your senses get a little bit sharper being out there the more time you spend out there.
Daniel White: So just that freedom of just connecting back with the land, that was something different for me, that I, coming from the inner city, not even… It wasn’t the middle of New York City where there wasn’t a woods around. I grew up in Asheville where I was an hour away from the Appalachian Trail, but just stuck in that inner-city lifestyle as far as just trying to survive and make it. The hills and woods was the last thing on my mind before when I was a teenager and beyond. So definitely life-changing for sure.
Kimala Luna: Yeah. Can you talk about some of those changes? Because they talk about with the woods all the time and there’s that forest bathing thing in Japan where people just go out into the woods and their mood and outlook changes. Can you just talk about what happens for you emotionally in the woods?
Daniel White: Like I said, it’s just the solitude and peace. I craved that. The world is just so loud at all times, especially in America, this thing is 24/7. We never slow down. We never take a break. So it is like being able to slow down and stop and actually get real clear authority. When you climb up to the top of the mountain, you feel a little bit stronger. When you get up there, you’re stronger. Every day that I was on the Appalachian Trail or any trail for that matter, you just feel stronger as the days go on like you’re just building yourself up.
Daniel White: So I don’t know. The benefits to me were kind of instant. I can tell like, “Yeah. Okay, this is a change.” You know what I mean? So even in your mental state, as far as what you can and cannot do, how you think, what you think you can accomplish. I saw people with little small children out there and I’m like, “Man, they’re really setting them up for the interesting life because then kids going to know that they can pretty much accomplish anything once they hike this trail.” So just that type of bonus that you get from being out there and having to depend more on yourself because you’re all you got out there some days.
Elizabeth Garland: That is beautiful.
Kimala Luna: Yes.
Elizabeth Garland: Has there been a person during your time out in the woods that really made an impact on you, that you ran in [inaudible 00:06:49]?
Daniel White: Hundreds, I would say, because I YouTubed so I would have people kind of run upon me, like middle-aged white guys in the middle of the woods, “Hey, Blackalachian.” So that type of thing. People that follow me, that would come drive a couple of hours away just to come meet me, bring snacks for me and all the people that I was hiking with. Just that type of thing. So all along the way. All along the way, I met people with just about every place that I stopped.
Daniel White: Even on the bike trip where there’s not a lot of infrastructure of people giving back to the trail and they call them trail angels, like when people leave food and stuff at the trail heads. There’s not a lot of that on the Underground Railroad, but I still met just as many people because I’m coming through a small town of about 300 people and you making their day. They ain’t seen it like this and they’re like, “Where are you going?” “Oh, I’m going here to Canada.” “What?” “[inaudible 00:07:43] much.” So you make these folks’ day.
Daniel White: I mean, every trip I’ve been on, that’s mainly one of the highlights. Just the people that I’m able to meet and connect with. I met a guy in Congo when I was in Spain telling me he got a couple of gold bars. I’m like, “I never met anybody in my life with gold bars.” I’m like, “Oh, well.” We exchanged and gold prices and emails and this, that, and the third. So it just kind of makes your world smaller and gives you more opportunities and options. I probably got 50 or 2,000 couches I can go sleep on around the world just from people that I’ve met and connections. So that’s very important to me.
Kimala Luna: Oh, that’s awesome. Where did this time when you went through your first obstacle, you got over your first hurdle and were like, “I could do anything.”
Daniel White: Oh man, the first couple of days, just getting past the first couple of days on trail, just knowing that, “Oh, I can hike. I actually can hike with a full pack on. I can hike 15, 20 miles a day. I can actually do this. I can actually camp.” After the first couple of days, I was ready to go. Yeah, I never really looked back after that. It’s like I got a sense of – crazy sense of belief in myself about it. You kind of got to have a really wild sense a belief in yourself to do something like that, I guess. So, yeah.
Kimala Luna: Awesome.
Elizabeth Garland: That is amazing to me because I’m just thinking of all the animal sounds I would hear at night and I would absolutely lose it.
Daniel White: Well, yeah, I did though and I’m still scared at the same time, but I got to face my fears. Being a Black man, I faced all kinds of stuff just walking out the door. It’s like I can really not make it back home from walking through the store right down the street so I live it to the fullest. I mean, I’ll take my chances with the bear, to be honest. I think I’d be okay.
Elizabeth Garland: That’s really important. And I want to go back to what you were saying about being in the inner city and living in Asheville and the survival of it, but then it’s also you’re out in the woods and there’s a survival. And I also know that you were formerly in music, in the music industry. So how does all of that intertwine and what are some of the similarities that you see?
Daniel White: Oh, between music and outdoors you say?
Elizabeth Garland: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Daniel White: I don’t know. The creativity of it, I would say. That kind of has affected. I can create music. I also can go create a rap. I can go hiking where I want to. I can make it my own. I can do anything I want to do. So it’s like your canvas. So it’s like that, that creative part of it, I would say. So yeah, the music and then it prepared me for this, I guess because now with me being a public, I guess, figure in the outdoor world, I guess you could call it, it prepared me for this. When I do the photo shoots and stuff, people look at me like, “Oh yeah, I’ll make you a natural light.” Man, I’ve been doing photoshoots for like 10 years before this because I rap. Yeah, I’m used to being in front of a camera. I’m used to interacting with people like it’s a natural thing and the more you practice, the more you put in those hours, like I said, 10,000 hours, I think it just kind of goes hand in hand. But yeah, music, I don’t know. Then I love just music in general on trail, just being out there and being able to just, like I said, disconnect and just consume things in your own time, your own way. I used to download shows and everything when I was out on tour. I didn’t miss a thing. I used to watch Power and everything. I might watch it from the top of a mountain, but it’s always like, yeah, you got to have… It’s a balance. Everything is connected and it’s always a balance that you got to constantly try to keep
Kimala Luna: I love this and I like the concept of creativity and doing things your own way, starting with something that’s pretty tangible like an art form, like music and then moving that into every category of your life because it’s interconnected. When did you decide that you were like, or when did that click first for you where you were like, “Ah, I can just do it all my own way.”
Daniel White: Oh, I want to say the Appalachian Trail, I try to just stick to it by the numbers because that was the conventional thing to do. But once I got on the bike trail and the route they were taking me through was pretty dangerous. I think on the third day, I got sideswiped by a truck. So I flew all off of my bike and everything. So I was like, “No, I don’t think I’m going to take this route anymore. I got to figure out my own way.” So I started pulling up the maps and started kind of designing my own way up to America, just to say I need to stay off of these highways. We’re going through a lot of highways with a lot of logging trucks and stuff like that where I just wasn’t comfortable. So that right there got me into it.
Daniel White: Then when I went to Scotland, the guys that invited me over there, we didn’t mesh very well. It was kind of like a couple of racist things in my eyes that happened there. And then also I didn’t feel like we were hiking as a group. Personally, I just felt like the token Black guy, just to be honest. So I split up with those guys and went and did the rest of my trip and kind of just met the townspeople because they had us hiking through all these back country, just bogs in the middle of nowhere of Scotland. I think they enjoyed that. I’m like, “Bro, I didn’t sign up for this.” So that right there. And then I had an even better time. I met a girl. We went on a date and everything. I had an amazing time. So that right there, I was like, “You know what, I moved that all my own and I moved better at my own pace and just kind of doing my own thing.”
Elizabeth Garland: SlaytheMic: Nice. Well, I want to know in terms of the next step and leaving your legacy. So because you have created a name for yourself, you were already just your personality and just knowing you, but the legacy that you want to leave on this world, what would that be?
Daniel White: Man, independence, equity, taking your own destiny back in your hand. One of my dreams or what I’m really trying to accomplish within the next few years and starting some type of a home state and some property, buying some property and getting some youth, some people my age, people older than me. I would love to get them. And I call it like a reverse gentrification type thing, like we’re going back out. Y’all had the city, do whatever you want to do. We’re going back out here. We’re going to buy this land. We’re going to get back to the land and farm and bee-keep and everything and teach these people the skills.
Daniel White: I’m an electrician by trade, so I can show you how to wire up a house. I can bring people there and give them skills. So that way, you don’t have to stay there forever, but you can leave and be equipped with some skills, whether it be farming or anything like that, that you don’t know and hopefully bring people out there like plumbers and everything. Get people skilled up as far as like trades, skill trades and things like that. That’s what my plan is. And just do that in a few different spots, not one spot, just a few different spots, and try to create a few sustainable communities. That’s my dream for sure.
Kimala Luna: Wow. That’s beautiful.
Daniel White: Thank you.
Kimala Luna: When did you start thinking about that dream?
Daniel White: I’ve been wanting to do that for quite a while. My father, rest in peace, he had a huge community garden over there in Pisgah View. We started that, over in the baseball field. And I always had some conversations with him about stuff like that, starting a home state, just a place where all the family could go just in case somebody loses a job or fall on hard times, “Okay. Well, come on up here to the property. You got a place up here. It might not be this luxury that you are accustomed to and you’re going to have to put in some work to stay here and all that, but it’s free.” You see what I’m saying? So I just want to be able to provide that for people that I love and people that I don’t know that need help.
Elizabeth Garland: That is amazing. Thank you. I mean, just because what you’re doing is creating seeds that will continue to flourish and grow and become something more. So it’s very selfless part of your dream and legacy.
Daniel White: Definitely. Thank you.
Elizabeth Garland: It’s hard to… Since I can’t see Kimala, I’ll jump in.
Kimala Luna: Jump on in!
Elizabeth Garland: Okay. Do you have a particular story that you would like to share with us and the listeners in terms of finding yourself and being out in nature and the woods and appreciating the surrounding environment?
Daniel White: Oh man, I guess I would say on just every end of every trip, just when you start getting to that end, how you start, you start moving a little bit slower. You’re like, “Man, I got a couple of days left.” You want to walk slower. You want to slow it down because you’re really trying to just soak up every single moment at that point. And I’ve been getting that on all these trips, man. I’m like, “Man, I don’t want to go home.” And I think that’s why I’m steady chasing the adventure because I don’t want to go home. I want to stay on the next one.
Daniel White: I don’t know. You’re constantly learning, finding things out about yourself, figuring yourself out because you got a lot of time and they might come while you’re eating oatmeal in the morning. It might come at you at one of those good views. It might come when you had two or three days where for all day rain, sick and ready to get off the trail and go home. So they just come. I mean, it’s just like day after day, you got just epiphanies. You’re in the moment. It’s a different… It’s hard to explain. It’s really hard to explain unless you kind of experience it.
Kimala Luna: I want to go back to, you mentioned in Ireland that you were hanging out with a group and they were racist. And I wondered if it had come up in the Appalachian Trail, and I think you have mentioned before that it has. I just want to maybe touch on the times when racism shows up on the trail and what you wished would have happened instead.
Daniel White: It’s just the microaggressions. You’re going to get them just like you get out in society, just those. It’s this like the off-putting little questions, “Why don’t Black people hike?” I became basically the unofficial ambassador for Black people even though I was just trying to hike. I’m like, “Man, I’m just trying to eat oodles of noodles at night and you are asking me all these things about Black people. I’m not the ambassador. I’m not your teacher.” So you’re going to have that.
Daniel White: You’re going to have sometimes you pull up to a hostel, like this hostel in Virginia, Four Pines, and the girl I was hiking with didn’t tell me this until days later. It was me and it was another Black guy who happened to be there at the same time. So the owner made a comment like, “Oh, I got two of them today.” It’s like-
Kimala Luna: Oh, gosh.
Daniel White:… “Oh, we had Black people,” type of thing because it’s so rare you see us out here, but it’s like okay…whatever, that. I had to pack of racists run up on me about a mile away from the Mason-Dixon line ironically. So they come surround the pavilion that me and my friend we’re going to camp at night, riding bikes with big headlights on and go up the street. They’re howling like wolves, come back down with two big dogs, huge dogs and surrounding us again. So I’m telling her like, “Look, let’s pack up.” So that type of thing. Going into just stay in a hostel and you got a big sign and say, “Build that wall.” I don’t think I want to stay at that hostel. I couldn’t imagine how that would make a Hispanic person feel pulling up and seeing that. I don’t care if they’re legal or illegal.
Daniel White: Just that type of culture, that broke culture, that misogynistic culture, it’s all there. It’s all out there. I mean, people try to [paint] the trail as just this socially acceptable place, “Oh, there’s no trouble on the trail.” I mean, yeah, that sounds good and everything. For certain people, I’m pretty sure that’s true, but it’s not true for everybody. So definitely, you will be hearing from me. As long as I got a voice, you’ll be hearing from me about it until something changes for sure.
Elizabeth Garland: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Well, I have to say for me and what you represent and sometimes it’s fortunate and unfortunate that this responsibility or how it comes on to someone’s shoulders, but whenever I see you, I see, “Oh, well, I can get out there and I can hike.” And I know for so many young individuals who are Black see you and see that you represent, “Well, I can go out there and I can do this.” I think what we lack is the access or the mentality of like, “I can just get out there and do it.” And so since you did that, representation really matters. Have you seen more hikers of color and not just Black hikers, just hikers of colors?
Daniel White: For sure. People hit me up a lot. I got to take a couple of my friends out. I got to take my mom out for a hike for probably the first time last year, I think. So yeah, a lot of people. Yeah, they hit me up a lot, “Hey, man, what should I do? I want to take my kid out. I want to do this. What should I buy? Should I go about it?” So I know it’s working. I could see the change. I can see the shift happening. I can see people just, even in the way they talk to me, they treat me a lot different now, so I know there’s a shift happening. So definitely, I just want to keep that going. I had plans before COVID-19 to get some kids out. I’ve been getting donations. So I was almost ready to get some kids out there. We had it somewhere this month actually, but with everything going on, I had to postpone it. But definitely next year, we will get them out there for sure.
Elizabeth Garland: Nice.
Kimala Luna: How was your hike with your mom? How was her first hike?
Daniel White: Oh, it was amazing, man. It was pretty cool. We went up to Craggy Gardens and we had it like a group hike. So her and my aunt came actually. So they all hike with me and took a few pictures, had a nice little time, little picnic and stuff at the top. So it was nice. Yeah.
Elizabeth Garland: Oh.
Daniel White: Actually, she said she would go camping with me. So I had talked to her, and she’s like, “Yeah, let’s go camping. I want to do something by a lake though. I want to do some fishing.” So I’m like, “Okay, I’ll be on the lookout for something soon.”
Elizabeth Garland: Okay. Well, we’re going to have to hold her to it as well. I’m trying to think, did your hiking and camping skills just come naturally, specifically camping, so like finding food? Yes. Did that come natural to you?
Daniel White: Well, no. I mean, I just realized I had a tent for a year and a half and then I had to get one of my friends to actually show me how to properly set it up. I have been setting it up wrong for a year and a half. So I’m just be winging it, man. I’m winging the hell out of life. I bought all the wrong gear. Though some of it [inaudible 00:24:26], you leave. Some of them are in some boxes somewhere. So it’s definitely a learning curve. I’m constantly learning about myself, about the trail, about gear, about how to hike better. It’s a 24/7 experience, 24/7. You got to stay sharp out there for sure. Even if you in the city, even the Spain or Camino, it’s walking through a bunch of coastal towns, but you still got to be on lookout and watch out and make sure you’re alert.
Kimala Luna: What are some words of encouragement you would say to maybe like somebody who is younger, who is interested in getting on the trail, but feels scared to get started?
Daniel White: Oh man, I mean, get out and do it. You got a better chance of walking outside your house and getting hit by a car than eat by bear. I mean, it’s just the numbers of it. And I got four or 5,000 miles on me, I haven’t been eaten yet. If you feel safe, just take your precautious, look up what you should do when you encounter wild animals and just kind of addressing that. But you cannot be scared to live. If you’re living in fear, then you’re already dead, in my eyes anyway. So I don’t know. That’s hard for me to put myself in that because I don’t think like that. It’s hard to think like that. That’s a dangerous way to think. Because once you start thinking like that, you trap yourself off and you limit your whole life. Go for it, that’s what I would say.
Elizabeth Garland: What’s the wildest animal you’ve encountered on the trail.
Daniel White: Oh, it had to be probably moose, porcupine, hedgehog, rattlesnake, oh man, bear, whatever you can think of. If we got it on the East Coast, I saw it. If we got it, whatever they had in Spain, I saw it. The only thing I didn’t see you in Spain, I think was a couple of the little rare animals, like wolves and stuff they got. But yeah, if you look it up, if it’s on the East Coast, I saw it on the Appalachian, for sure, numerous times.
Kimala Luna: What was the bear encounter like?
Daniel White: Oh, which one? I had 30 of them, at least.
Kimala Luna: Oh, wow.
Daniel White: I remember one time, one of the first ones, they were telling me, “Oh, you got to stand up and make yourself look big and scream and get loud and all this.” So I did that and the bear has gotten like stood up on me and just kind of looked at me. So I’m like, “Ah, this ain’t it.” Then it kind of walked off and I got around the corner. I took off running. When I got on my friends, when I got in the camp at night, I said, “Y’all told me to do this and it didn’t work. I’m not listening to you no more like. No.” [inaudible 00:27:04]. It was that, or you might run across a cub. And that’s what was probably what scared me the most, running across a cub. When I would do that, I just kind of back up, look around because I know the mother is not too far away and that’s when you’re going to really have some trouble with some type of bears or anything like that. So yeah, plenty bear encounters.
Elizabeth Garland:Â Wow.
Kimala Luna: Wow.
Daniel White: Oh yeah, I had one walk up on my tent one night. Don’t do this at home. I was eating like a burrito and I like Doritos stuff in it. And I was sitting in my tent at night eating, then I heard one walking all the way down through the woods. I can hear it like crashing everything, just coming on down to the woods right up to my tent, and I’m still in there, crunching away, and then I just thought like screaming. Everybody woke up and he walked on up. But yeah, don’t eat in your tent. Yeah, don’t be like me.
Elizabeth Garland: With the Doritos. With the Doritos.
Kimala Luna: Yeah.
Elizabeth Garland: Where have you not gone yet but you want to go?
Daniel White: Definitely New Zealand. I want to go to New Zealand. They got the Te Araroa Trail. It’s like 2,200 mile, somewhere around there, 2000 miles, and probably Patagonia down in South America. I would love to hike that trail. That’s like an 1,800 mile trail they got. Japan. I don’t know. I want to go everywhere, and definitely want to go to Africa at some point. I want to walk across Africa. I followed a guy named Mario Rigby that walked across Africa. He is dope. So I think that’s pretty cool. He walked from South Africa up to, I want to say, Egypt.
Daniel White: Yeah, I’m going to walk to where as long as these legs keep working, man, I’m walking everywhere. I’m walking around Vancouver and Portland right now. I’ve just been walking everywhere. It’s cool. It’s a good way to get out and actually get in touch with the city and the people that way, more so than a car. You’re just riding high speed and you’re missing a lot. I don’t know. I just be trying to get peace out there. I try to disconnect when I’m on trail, right? Even right now, when I’m at now, I’m just trying to disconnect. I’ve been knew this was stated over. People just now realizing how bad racism really was, and I’m like, “Man, I’ve been saying this for years and years. No, that’s why I’m taking a month vacation. Let me take a break. Good, y’all fight the fight that I’ve been fighting for years now. I’ll be back, but I need a break.”
Elizabeth Garland: Right.
Daniel White: Okay.
Elizabeth Garland: I wanted to ask about music. And is there a song that really inspires you or just one particular song that you listen to a lot while you’re out hiking?
Daniel White:Yeah, definitely. Natty Dreadlock, Bob Marley, for sure. That’s one that always gets me. Natty Dreadlock, One Thousand Miles Away from Home. Yeah, that’s one that always that pick my spirit up. Either that or my rap go-to is 5th Ward Weebie, it’s called Let Me Find Out. It’s ratchet. It’s really ratchet. It’s good, always good. I love it. It pick me right on up. Yeah.
Elizabeth Garland: That’s amazing. I love it.
Kimala Luna: That’s awesome. And then I just had a question about just the magic of the woods. When do you feel that the woods are the most magical, what about them and what is that feeling like for you?
Daniel White:Oh, I would say the early morning or the evening when it’s just silent. I like that. I like that silence where you can just walk through. That’s magical to me. That silence right before it gets dark, I like that. That’s cool. Then you might run across, like in the Appalachian, I ran across coming through at dusk, man, it’s a huge population of lightning bugs. So that was cool to see, so like the forest is glowing. So you run into stuff like that, I mean, it’s cool. Or you might run into little fairies and stuff where people would put, it was like a big porcelain Dalmatian, fake porcelain Dalmatian up on the mountain. I’m like, “Who carried that everything in there?” It’s like that. Especially on the Appalachian Trail, you got that community, stuff like that. So it’s always a little bit of little folklore and little magic and stuff going on with it.
Elizabeth Garland: That is amazing. Well, we sincerely thank you for what you continue to do.
Daniel White: No problem. No problem.
Elizabeth Garland: Yeah. So we are excited to continue to watch your journey.
Kimala Luna: Yes.
Elizabeth Garland: Where can we find you? Where can people find more information about The Blackalachian?
Daniel White: Everything is at The Blackalachian Instagram, Facebook, YouTube. I pretty much film most of all my hikes. I still got a little bit of footage left to put up from a few of the trips. But yeah, everything at The Blackalachian or Blackalachian, depending on where you sit at on the Mason-Dixon line, depending on how your accent rolls off, for sure.
Kimala Luna: Awesome. Well, thank you so much for coming on the show with us today.
Daniel White: No, thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate this for sure. I don’t know. I was thinking it was July 23rd. I was all lost. I was off. I just got to look on my calendar today, I was like, “Oh, that’s tonight. Okay. Let’s do it.” Yeah.
Elizabeth Garland: Thank you.
Daniel White: No problem. No problem.
Dogwood Alliance is aligned with the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL). As a forest protection organization, we know that how we treat our forests is a reflection of how we treat each other. Our mission to protect Southern US forests from industrial logging requires strong partnership with BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) communities of the South who have always borne the brunt of the effects of pollution, flooding, and all of the other damage inflicted by extractive industries. While we have sought environmental justice, it is just as vital that our nation grapples with racial justice and equity.
The mission of M4BL is:
The Movement for Black Lives (M4BL), formed in December of 2014, was created as a space for Black organizations across the country to debate and discuss the current political conditions, develop shared assessments of what political interventions were necessary in order to achieve key policy, cultural and political wins, convene organizational leadership in order to debate and co-create a shared movement wide strategy. Under the fundamental idea that we can achieve more together than we can separately.
To maintain a system of constant economic growth and consumerism requires constant degradation of forests, land, air, water, and communities – specifically BIPOC communities. 71% of Black Americans are living in counties that are in violation of clean air standards, and environmental justice communities are 50% more likely to have a wood pellet facility in their county.
The M4BL is not separate from the work we do at Dogwood. Rather, the M4BL are our partner organizations, our staff, our strategic advisors. We cannot work in a silo. The People’s Climate Movement, the movement to Stand4Forests – all of these movements are most successful when we unite together in solidarity.
As an environmental organization with anti-racism incorporated into our work as a core strategy, we are proud to align ourselves with and under the leadership of M4BL.
We encourage you to learn more about the Movement for Black Lives.
The BREATHE Act is a bill that advocates defunding problematic criminal justice solutions and funding community-based solutions and environmental justice.
If you haven’t noticed, I have a penchant for loving the weird little critters, and that includes fungi! Fungi are organisms that have a wide range of shapes and sizes, from the one-cell noble yeast all the way up to the Humongous Fungus – clocking in at over four square miles. Today, we’ll be diving into the fungi that you can find in your backyard. We’ll also take a brief look at some fungi imposters called slime molds.
Special note for this blog: Please do not eat wild fungi unless you are 200% sure that they are edible. I am a scientist, I have a PhD, and I still do not put wild fungi in my mouth. Fungi produce many toxic compounds that can make you very sick or even kill you.
The first mold we’re going to talk about is one that you can’t really see: yeast. Yes, yeast, the fungi that makes our bread and our beer, and sends us to the doctor when things get out of whack. Yeasts are everywhere, and this is reflected in our history of alcohol and bread development. Different styles of bread and alcohol are found all over the world, and if you reach back far enough, you’ll find that before humans even knew about microorganisms, we were able to capture yeasts and use them to our advantage.
Yeast are single cell organisms; this microscopic picture shows two yeast cells budding.
Yeast are a pretty typical fungus, in that they can reproduce either asexually through a process called “budding” or sexually by combining DNA with another yeast cell and then splitting.
With the resurgence of homesteading, and grocery shortages in this time of pandemic, there have been myriad articles describing how to make your own yeast; folks have been perfecting the art of sourdough; and interest in homebrewing has never been higher. What’s not to love about yeast?
I moved to western North Carolina in late winter; by early spring, I was noticing something very unusual on my neighbor’s cedar trees. Softwood trees like cedar? They’re not supposed to have flowers! But here I was, looking at these things that looked very much like flowers. I turned to the search engines and found my answer immediately: it was a fungus called the cedar apple rust!
This fungus has a wild lifecycle. It spends half of its time on each type of plant: apple trees or cedar trees. On apple trees, like the crab apple trees that I have all over my yard, it appears as a rust fungus: a discoloration on the leaves. When it produces spores, they travel by wind over to my neighbor’s cedar trees. Then, inside the cedar trees, they end up creating these elaborate fruiting structures (pictured), which then release spores that travel back to the apple trees.
The bright orange structures on green trees are sure to catch your eye.
This fungus is a pretty bad pest on apple trees, and the recommended treatment is to interrupt the disease cycle by removing all of the cedar trees within a one mile radius of an apple orchard. But that’s not very practical. So, most farmers rely on a combination of fungi-resistant apple species and targeted fungicide application. Here in the rural mountains north of Asheville, my neighborhood doesn’t have apple orchards to protect, so we just let the fungus go wild and live its happy, weird little life.
I would never write an article about fungi without talking about the most popular and common fungi out there. These two species are well-known and well-loved by hikers, children, and everyone in between.
Turkey tail fungi look like… turkey tails! They occur most frequently on decaying trunks of trees, and have a staggered cup-shape appearance. They’re fun to touch, but please don’t eat them! They’re not edible, but they are being used in drug trials for cancer patients.
The other popular woodsy fungi is the treasured morel. Morels are in high demand all across the United States for cooking. They have a spider-web appearance to their fruiting bodies, and there’s a ton of folklore about how to find morels. They may or may not occur near certain tree species, they occur overnight, they need a certain soil temperature; the list goes on and on. Have you seen morels before?
Slime molds are these creatures that look like fungi and were even classified as fungi until recently, but they actually fit into the broader “Protista” kingdom, which houses other creatures like amoebas and algae. They spend most of their lives as single-celled wandering organisms, but when food gets scarce, they congregate and form elaborate fruiting bodies where they make spores.
The most common slime mold you’ll see is the “dog vomit” slime mold. Ew, right? But they’re so cool! They create these medium-sized bright yellow and orange structures on the soil. I see them in the spring on my neighbor’s mulch.
Did you enjoy learning about these awesome little fungi? If so, why not show us? Show us your favorite fungi and tag us on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter!
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On June 22nd, Dogwood Alliance joined forces with Biofuelwatch, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council), and the Southern Environmental Law Center to launch Cut Carbon Not Forests, a hard-hitting campaign to expose the UK’s wasteful subsidies for companies that burn trees for electricity and put pressure on policymakers to support reform. To learn more about the campaign, visit cutcarbonnotforests.org. This Press Release is an update on British opinion regarding biomass usage in relation to true clean energy sources. As the COVID-19 lockdown is eased in the UK, the British public believes the UK’s recovery phase must prioritize true clean energy sources, such as wind and solar power.LONDON – 22 July 2020– A new online YouGov poll has found fewer than one in four Britons (23%) think electricity generated by burning wood from forests should be classified as “renewable energy.” Additionally, 55% also disagreed with the Government’s continued subsidies for this dirty source of energy as part of the UK’s renewable energy strategy. Currently, the government gives more than £2 million per day in subsidies to power stations that burn biomass.
Instead, 82% of respondents agree that the UK should aim to preserve recent improvements in air quality by switching to clean energy sources with no associated air pollution emissions. While the public overwhelmingly backs support for wind (80%) and solar energy (82%), only 3% say the Government should help companies that burn wood sourced from forests overseas, the poll found. Nearly all UK biomass is imported.
The YouGov poll was jointly commissioned in July 2020 by Biofuelwatch, Dogwood Alliance, NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) and the Southern Environmental Law Center. [To request the full data tables, please email Richard Scarlett or Emma Briggs at [email protected]]
“The views of the public are clear: Burning wood for electricity is both unpopular and destructive,” said Sasha Stashwick, a senior advocate with NRDC. “It’s time for the government to end the wasteful subsidies for this polluting industry – especially when people don’t even consider it to be renewable energy. In this respect, our data shows a striking disconnect between government policy and public opinion.”
Burning biomass releases more carbon pollution than coal at the plant smokestack and emits dangerous air pollution. The UK is currently the largest user of biomass electricity in Europe, and much of the wood in question is cut down and shipped in from sensitive forests overseas, destroying habitats and wildlife. The data shows support for the protection of these natural forests and the wildlife that depends on them, with 85% worried about the impact on wildlife if trees in forests are being cut down to generate electricity.
Biomass industry proponents claim that burning forest wood as fuel in power stations is ‘renewable’ because the carbon dioxide (CO2) it emits is reabsorbed by new trees. However this process takes decades, if the new trees grow back at all. When asked how many years it should take for a low or zero carbon energy source to reabsorb the same amount of CO2 it emits into the atmosphere, 58% said within ten years and just 18% think it should take longer. For this reason, 57% respondents do not believe electricity generated in this way should be classed as ‘renewable energy.’
Other key findings include:
“No technology that pumps more carbon into the atmosphere or destroys forests should ever be receiving billpayer funds,” said Almuth Ernsting of Biofuelwatch. “With household budgets already under pressure, the UK cannot continue to waste precious subsidies on a fake climate solution that increases electricity costs. This is especially true given our abundance of affordable, clean and truly renewable energy sources like wind and solar power.”
Last month, the same coalition of environmental advocacy groups launched Cut Carbon Not Forests, a campaign to remove subsidies from companies that burn trees for electricity and shift the savings to genuinely clean and renewable energy solutions.
# # #
MEDIA CONTACTS: Richard Scarlett or Emma Briggs Finn Partners [email protected]
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2283 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 9th-10th July 2020. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).
ABOUT BIOFUELWATCH
Biofuelwatch is a UK/US non-profit organisation which undertakes research, campaigning and advocacy regarding the impacts of large-scale bioenergy. Biofuelwatch is working for a reform of energy policies to ensure that all support goes towards the lowest-carbon and cleanest forms of renewable energy as well as energy efficiency and conservation. See www.biofuelwatch.org.uk and follow us on Twitter @biofuelwatch.
ABOUT DOGWOOD ALLIANCE
Dogwood Alliance is a nonprofit environmental organisation based in the Southern United States that mobilises diverse voices to protect Southern forests and communities from destructive industrial logging. The group’s Our Forests Aren’t Fuel campaign is part of an international coalition opposing industrial-scale forest biomass energy. Learn more at www.dogwoodalliance.org and follow us on Twitter @DogwoodAlliance.
ABOUT NRDC
The Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Since 1970, our lawyers, scientists, and other environmental specialists have worked to protect the world’s natural resources, public health, and the environment. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Bozeman, MT, and Beijing. Visit us at www.nrdc.org and follow us on Twitter @NRDC.
ABOUT SOUTHERN ENVIRONMENTAL LAW CENTER
For more than 30 years, the Southern Environmental Law Center has used the power of the law to champion the environment of the Southeast U.S. With more than 80 attorneys and nine offices across the region, SELC is widely recognized as the Southeast’s foremost environmental organization and regional leader. SELC works on a full range of environmental issues to protect our natural resources and the health and well-being of all the people in our region. www.SouthernEnvironment.org
Ali McGhee is an editor with AVL today, a host on Asheville FM Slumber Party and the former editorial director of Asheville Grit. She has a PhD in English Literature from the University of Rochester and is also a member of Asheville Public Arts and Cultural Commission. She is a core faculty member at the Enneagram School of Awakening. Her work has been published in Dark Mountain, Slippery Elm, Holler, Scallywag, WNC Magazine, and others. A native of Asheville, she grew up in the forest and the creeks, and they have been singing to her ever since.
Big thanks to Ali McGhee for sharing this beautiful tale with us!
Want to listen to more?
You can read the full transcript below.
Elizabeth Garland: All right, we are here. And this is another episode of Woods and Wilds. I’m Elizabeth Lashay. And not only do I have a podcast, but also a radio show, Slay the Mic.
Elizabeth Garland: And again, I’m just excited to be here and joined with an amazing co-host.
Kimala Luna: Hi, I’m Kimala Luna. I’m with Dogwood Alliance. I’m really excited to be back for another episode. And we are here today with Ali McGhee.
Ali McGhee is an editor with AVL today, a host on Asheville FM Slumber Party and the former editorial director of Asheville Grit. She has a PhD in English Literature from the University of Rochester and is also a member of Asheville Public Arts and Cultural Commission.
She is a core faculty member at the Enneagram School of Awakening. Her work has been published in Dark Mountain, Slippery Elm, Holler, Scallywag, WNC Magazine, and others. A native of Asheville, she grew up in the forest and the creeks, and they have been singing to her ever since. She is currently working on a novel about people turning into trees, as well as a multimedia project, Oso and Otter with her partner, artist Justin Noah Wells.
Ali McGhee, welcome to the show.
Ali McGhee: I am so glad to be here with y’all. Thanks so much for having me on.
Kimala Luna: Yes. We’re really excited to hear your story.
Ali McGhee: I will say that I wrote this story for last year’s Woods and Wilds storytelling event. And I was so excited. That was my first year as a participant, after a few years of hosting. And it was so exciting to be up on the stage telling a story and I was really honored and so I’m really excited to just share the piece. It’s been a little while since I revisited it, but I hope that you will enjoy it.
Kimala Luna: Yay!
Ali McGhee: All right. I’m here to tell you about the forest. I don’t mean to sound presumptuous. The forest doesn’t need me to tell you about it. We’ve spent too long believing we hold the power in this relationship and we all know what that’s done. No, I’m here because I need to tell you about my forest. The one whose branches grow out of my center and whose roots dig deep into this world and how my forest and the Forest, like the capital F forest, how we are the same. I read that tree’s brains, though of course that’s not the right word, look at me, forcing a tree into my narrow human understanding. But anyway, that their brains are their roots spreading out, dropping in, meeting the mycelium and flicking out messages and nutrients through it to the other trees.
Essentially, if we were trees, we’d all be doing a permanent headstand. Picture that, imagine how different yoga would look. Here’s what else I know about trees. That the Chanterelles grow under the White Oaks each summer at the house where I grew up and that the earth there is a carpet of moss, joyful and full. A tapestry of green. One year I tried to convince my mother not to pave it and turn it into extra parking spaces, and finally she understood why. That a wand carved from Black Walnut means that you have walked the poison path and found comfort in it.
And a wand carved from Oak means you have the strength of the Green Lady with you, always. That the Weeping Willow, who grows by and holds the water, cures deep, old sorrows. And that one reason for her name comes from the way rain looks like tears when it falls from her leaves. That she has held me when it seems there is no way out of my darkness and helped me to take my next steps. That each year of wood thrush nests in the woods behind my house and every morning and evening, while it’s here, I am the lucky recipient of its gifts. That it’s hidden song is disappearing from our world, that it, and all things are worth saving. That it is not even our right to say what’s worth saving.
This summer, several birds built nests in our yard. We’d peek into the hanging ferns to see baby house finches, screaming, and hungry. A month later, they fledged. We saw them perched and focused on a nearby power line as mama taught them to fly. One night after our House Finches had flown, after one of many torrential rains that month, I heard cries in the semi-dark, saw soft small movement against the wet grass. A sparrow’s nest with four hatchlings had been obliterated by the storm, sending the inhabitants toppling from their precarious position in the bush by our kitchen window. They were mewling things. And their parents swooped by horrified as I contemplated what to do. Several internet searches later, I placed the babies carefully in a homemade nest tucked into a small cardboard box filled with dried yarrow and a soft hand towel.
I had to leave it on the ground. It was too unwieldy for the bush and I didn’t want to take them too far away. I just didn’t want them to die. For the next few days, the parents flew by the window and one or two of the chicks would raise their tiny heads. Then one morning, after a night of hearing the coyote sing up in the dark hills, they were gone. They were still too young to fly. How much of the forest is still nature, red of tooth and claw, and how much is now our fault? I felt the loss and my own responsibility in it. A few days later, I watched a mama bear with two broken hind legs try to cross the interstate. Her cubs peering expectantly from the side of the road. People had stopped their cars, pulling off onto the shoulder to do what? I wasn’t that brave, had no idea how I would do anything but fall apart if I pulled over.
The next week, I was in the hospital hemorrhaging because my pregnancy was in the wrong place. Dust colored pigeons sat outside my window, which looked out over the building, endless. Itself, a kind of terrible forest filled with its own strange creatures. Death links us to death and to the turning world. Even when we hide behind our doors, our curtains pulled tight against the inevitable, but still it’s there. I felt it as I lay in that bed, inhaled and exhaled it between sobs until it could be quiet and still. Like those birds and that bear, life was lost before it even really had a chance. We all would have been good parents. Here’s another thing I know about the forest. White Pines are for peace and Hemlocks, wisdom. Oak protects and Birch helps forgive. I know this because the trees told me. I don’t know why they still bother to talk to us, but they do.
There’s a way of walking in the woods that keeps time with the slowness of the earth. I try to do it as often as I can, but I usually only find my way into that still easy way of being, paradoxically, when I’m on the hunt. For new spring violets, for stinging nettle to take home and wilt so that it releases its gentle medicine, for the morels that pop up where the old lumber mill used to be.
I have visions of creating a feast worthy of the fairy folk, where we’ll all drink honeysuckle tea out of acorn cups in a blue-green forest grove. And the world won’t be the same when I step back into it. It feels easier to leave sometimes, to throw my hands up and go deeper into the woods or maybe to take a boat and travel down the river, stopping at an island, just big enough for me and setting up there for the rest of my days like Pippi Longstocking, waiting on the fairies to come for tea. But fairies are tricksy things, and their spells would take me so far away, I’d never be able to return. Even a broken home is still a home. Isn’t it?
A few years ago, I went camping with a friend in Acadia National Park on the wild, rocky, Maine coast. We hiked all day, up what seemed to me to be a sheer cliff face as I hauled myself up, dragged myself across the iron rings and ropes that some far braver souls had placed there for people like us, drilling iron into a mountain for no other reason than to help us see the startling view from its pinnacle. It was terrifying. I feigned bravery as I skirted along the scree, feeling my own smallness articulated with every step. My frailness as my ankles twisted this way and that, as my arms shook from the effort to sidle across giant boulders and heave atop ledges. At the top was the burnt orange and gold of the forest. And at its edge, the gray sea stretching onward to the end of the world.
That night we set by a fire we built with Birch strip starters, gently pulling the paper outer bark and being careful not to take too much. And we drank cheap red wine and hot chocolate and swapped stories into the chill of the autumn evening slipped into our bones in spite of the flames. And we crawled away to sleep, drawing blankets tight and keeping wool caps on, sturdy against the cold. Things shuffled around our tent to remind us that they had been there all along. In the morning, we made bacon and eggs and they tasted that glorious way that only a camp stove and a cold night can make things taste, like gas and fire and grit. Then we packed up, folding tents and rolling sleeping bags, already stepping out of rhythm with that sacred place. Another friend calls it forest time. That slipping into the slower cadence of growing and dying things and remembering your place there. The way that being becomes so easy.
As we shed our onion skin, a replanting takes place and we recognize ourselves in the darting shape of the buck, the buzz of flies, the black eye of the woodpecker as he glides by. Days in the forest stretch on. Each new discovery, a salamander, brilliant orange and half hidden under a rock, a little village of inky cap mushrooms, glistening black and silver in the morning dew. A spider’s web the size of a face, usually spied after walking straight into it, the white bones of a deer washed clean by bugs and time. A caddis fly, submerged and sparkling in a clear rivulet of water spilling down from the mountain. Each one, giving way to the next, creating the net of a world that holds us, too.
And if the days are spacious, the nights are even longer, filled with the whisperings of things to each other and to the velvet dark, a love song, perpetually unfolding. There are no answers in this story. No paths forward. Grief takes us to strange places. And beauty does too. Once you step off the trail, you’re lost, but perhaps that’s what we all need, to be lost. To find our way back to ourselves and to discover there has never been a trail at all, but the one we’ve made before this moment, and this moment, and this one. What song do you sing to the forest? And what does it sing back?
Kimala Luna: Oh my gosh. That part always makes me cry.
Elizabeth Garland: Me too.
Kimala Luna: I just love the way you capture grief and awe in the same breath so often throughout the story.
Ali McGhee: Thank you. Yeah, and I think you can’t have one without the other. They’re are two sides to the same coin. Yeah. And maybe they’re parts of each other.
Elizabeth Garland: I’m still having chills over here. And I think it’s extremely powerful and your imagery is beautiful. And I just have to thank you for being vulnerable with others to share your story.
Ali McGhee: Thank you. Thank you so much. Yeah, it just all came out.
Kimala Luna: This thread of connection, and the connection you feel to the forest and then the connection that we end up finding in each other, through those vulnerable moments, I think are the most powerful things we’ve got really.
Ali McGhee: Yeah. I agree.
Kimala Luna: I also love that it’s got a lot of dark themes, but you keep also this thread of whimsy and innocence with the imagery of the wands and the tea parties, and being Pippi Longstockings on the river. And I just… I guess I want to know a little bit about your childhood and the kind of imaginative kid you were.
Ali McGhee: And it’s interesting, because I look back and I’m like, “Maybe I haven’t really changed that much since…” Because as a kid, I grew up in Asheville and in the woods really, like you said in my bio, we lived in a… You couldn’t even call it a neighborhood. It wasn’t that far from anything, but it was deep in the woods and there weren’t really any other houses around. And we didn’t really talk to our neighbors, but it wasn’t in the country. It was an interesting place. And for the first five and a half years of my life, I was an only child. And I was always terribly introverted.
Ali McGhee: I was really close with my parents, I didn’t want any kids to come over really. And I just wanted to be on my own. And I actually had tons of imaginary friends. So some of that is from my experiences as a kid, when I would actually have tea parties with my imaginary friends in my house and outside. And I just grew up with this feeling, and I think my parents cultivated this in me, that the forests really were a magical place. Not only were they filled with all these fairy creatures and things like that, but they were just magical in and of themselves, just because of what they were. So I’ve always felt that in the woods since then, and in the forest, when I go out. And I like to still experience the woods on my own, I’m realizing now. Like I love to go outside and walk on my own.
Ali McGhee: I love hiking with other people, but sometimes I just want to be like, “Just to be quiet, we just need to hear the magic of the forest now, stop sharing everything.” So it’s really a place where I’ve always recharged, but I also have always seen that darker side as well. So there’s always been this whimsy and there’s also always been that darkness. Once the sun goes down, if you’re camping, what are those noises outside? You have no idea. There’s this whole other world that opens up in the dark and it’s not good or bad. It just is. And it does take on a darker tone I think sometimes. That’s long winded, but kind of it. But my parents loved that I was outside all the time. So they really nurtured that in me.
Elizabeth Garland: I absolutely love that. And I think you definitely show that throughout your story. When we talk about chaos and the forest and how healing it is, what is one thing that you would tell others to do when going through a difficult time?
Ali McGhee: Hmm. I think specifically to nature, I think for me it was so helpful when I was going through my own loss of my pregnancy to just get outside and cry on trees almost? Just like actually hug a tree, get barefoot, stand on the earth. There’s something that’s so ungrounding about realizing that this control you thought you had over your body or this knowledge of your own body you thought was there, just isn’t there all of a sudden.
Ali McGhee: So I think anything that is potentially a way to reground, just like sticking your feet onto the earth or just like taking time. I think we do so much that fills up all of our time, so we don’t feel grief, but it’s important to feel it and it does give this richness to life. And it does remind us that there’s so much beauty out there. So I think opening up some silence and space for that, and the forest is the place to do that. And then while you’re in the forest, you have these magical encounters with bugs and birds and mushrooms and so it becomes a different way of connecting.
Kimala Luna: I’m feeling like also just the heaviness of the current time we’re in, and I’m wondering about your personal journey right now through that. Because you are a writer and an artist and you do use these emotional experiences that you have for creativity. You channel it. And so I was just wondering.
Ali McGhee: Yeah, that’s a great question. And the answer is complicated because… So I’m writing a novel and I’ve been writing it for years. I’m finishing a novel, I’m trying to say it that way. It’s about people turning into trees, but actually the whole premise of it is that there is an apocalyptic virus that comes and wipes people out. So as far as the pandemic goes, I found that I’ve stepped away from that novel for a while because I’m like, “Nope, no one is going to want to read this if I were to publish it in the next couple of months, like no one wants to read a novel about a virus while we’re in a virus.”
Ali McGhee: So there’s that. But then I think that the other answer is that I am finding more time to write and I’m finding more inspiration and that’s happening through a lot of the connections that I’m seeing people make to one another and the movement that I’m seeing happening. So that’s both within the pandemic, but then also with Black Lives Matter and the protests that have been going on and all those shifts, I’m starting to see… It’s really simple things, like more characters of color are starting to show up in my works, like something really simple. Things are more on my mind in this really present way.
Ali McGhee: So I just started a story with a Black main character. It’s a science fiction story and it’s weird, but she just popped into my head fully there. And I’m like, “Oh cool, it’s nice to meet you. This is great, this is so exciting.” So I think just taking inspiration and looking at how these characters and these weird science fiction universes are dealing with issues that we’re going through in their time is one thing.
Ali McGhee: And then I think part of it is just letting myself off the hook for not writing creatively as much right now. And just being there to listen. I think that is so vital right now. And I’m not going to get any stories if I don’t ever listen. And I think right now, particularly is a time to shut up and listen. So I’m doing that. And I think I’ll see what comes of that.
Elizabeth Garland: Through your story, I kept thinking about present and current events that are happening, and especially things that are really heavy on my heart, just being a black woman. And when you were talking about poison path and you felt comfort in it and the hidden song and multiple different things, whereas like this is how I feel navigating through a world where there are hidden truths or how are we talking about the things that we’re dealing with as a nation, as a world.
Ali McGhee: I love that. And I think that there’s a couple things I wanted to say about that. And one is that, this is more general, but I think anger, especially… Oh my gosh, my cat is just driving me crazy. Sorry guys. Anger in our society especially has been tamped down, especially women’s anger, I think. And the anger of black people and people of color. And I think it’s all been like, “Oh, that’s not okay. You can’t have that reaction. You’re scary,” or, “You’re not who we thought you were,” or something. And in fact, anger is actually an emotion that I’ve always felt very present to. I’ve had to work on it, but it actually has a really productive place in my life.
Ali McGhee: And I think right now we are seeing just how productive and powerful and change-making anger can be. Because anger is like this fire force that transforms things. And I think that’s always been really personally resonant for me and it is also dark. And I think some of that comes out in… So I’m really interested in Appalachian witchcraft and folklore traditions. And so some of that hidden stuff I’m speaking to is specifically regarding that, but it’s totally applicable to other traditions as well. And in fact there’s a really rich history of black Appalachian folklore and traditions here. A lot of which is still hidden.
Kimala Luna: I love that about anger. I think that is an emotion, we’re all about claiming our emotions to a certain extent until it becomes in any way problematic to the greater whole. And right now that’s what we need, is a big shake up of the greater whole, and I think that emotions like anger are really good catalyzers for that sort of thing.
Ali McGhee: I would put grief in there too. I was speaking specifically to anger, but I think grief is one of those too, where we’ve as a society, we’ve shoved off grief. You don’t really talk about it, right? But actually, it’s another one of those transforming forces, though it’s a different kind of element to it or something.
Kimala Luna: Yes. I think grief is one of the most transformative emotions you could possibly go through or experience, but yeah, you talk about that in the forest with this red tooth and claw.
Ali McGhee: Yeah. And I think that we’ve definitely experienced that with the loss of our wild spaces, to bring it really back to the forest. But that has such resonance across every aspect of life, including social justice and things like that. But this way that we’ve lost… I know that there’s a guy named Gordon Hempton, and he actually goes around the world and records wild spaces where you can’t hear any sounds that are human made. And he’s finding that they’re just decreasing more and more over time and that it’s harder and harder to find them. And that just makes me terrified. And I feel so much grief because of that. When I go out to hike in the woods, it’s so rare that I don’t meet other people or I don’t hear a plane go over, or something like that. And I’m just wondering what the cost is. I know the cost is incredibly high, but when I am out there hearing it, it’s really, really devastating.
Kimala Luna: Yeah, absolutely. I think the way that we treat our public lands is really reflective of the way that we treat people. We have a complete disregard for how it impacts everything else. And a complete disregard for the surrounding habitat and the life lost.
Ali McGhee: Yeah. And sometimes it’s very hard to feel optimistic. Especially when I’m thinking about it and talking about it, but it’s amazing how every time I’m actually outside in the woods, I always feel optimistic. It’s an interesting thing. So it’s this balance, how do I work to help this and change this? And also that, I don’t know, just recognition, I guess, of the power of the forest, and also just wanting others to be on the same page as I am. I don’t know. I’m not sure how I’m saying that, but something like that.
Kimala Luna: To even be able to have access to that, because I think a lot of things that happen is that the surrounding access to nature, or even any access to nature is limited or destroyed, for Black and Indigenous People of Color.
Ali McGhee: Absolutely. That’s so true. Yeah.
Elizabeth Garland: Well, when we were talking about laying down roots, what are some roots for you… And I keep using this word, but I’m going to say it one more time, that you are rooted in through your passion, through your love of what makes you, you? What makes you Ali?
Ali McGhee: That’s such a good question. I think one is, I guess, my imagination, which is a weird route, because it doesn’t seem very rooted, but I think that ever since I was a kid, my first best friend was my imagination. My first sibling before my sister was born, was my imagination. So that’s always been a place where I’ve turned to come back to myself, right? And I think there were years when I falsely lived as an extrovert and I’ve just recently remembered that I’m not, and it really has been this reclaiming of my imagination and the person I am when things are quiet. And I think that’s where I feel most at home. So I think that’s a really big one. I guess this is similar, but just being at home, being grounded, not being out and about and everything. I love my community. So I would say paradoxically, that’s also a route. Asheville itself is a home that I’ve returned to several times now throughout my life.
Ali McGhee: But then also just being in a home space where I feel safe and I have my loved ones around me. I’m trying to grow a garden this year and it’s sort of working. Stuff like that where I actually can see roots in the ground that I planted in there. So having a good home spaces is really important to me as well. And then yeah, community, friends and family, I have really strong relationships with my immediate family and that’s absolutely one as well. And then I think art. I love reading and watching films and listening to music and experiencing all of that. And that’s always been really important to me too. So those are a few things.
Elizabeth Garland: Wonderful. Well, in terms of being still and being grounded, and there is such a beauty in that, but there’s so much noise that is constantly happening. And I’m trying to use that as both reality and a comparison for life. When your life gets really noisy, is there a certain place that you like to go around the Asheville area?
Ali McGhee: I love that question. There are few, but the one that popped into my mind first, so I’ll talk about it, was just driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway, and maybe stopping at an overlook. There are a couple I really like and always tend to stop at, and just sitting there for a while. And I’ve done that ever since I had a car, because I grew up in this area and ever since I was in high school, I guess, I had access to a car. I would do that a few times a week, I feel like. I did it a lot. And I had so many formative experiences up on the Parkway. From hiking to just watching the meteor shower, to going up with friends.
Ali McGhee: And I think that’s one where I really tend to go when things are getting a little bit too crazy. And I’ve got a fun story. A few years ago, I had the worst day, and I needed to do something and get away. So immediately I just got in my car and I didn’t even know where I was going. And I ended up on the Parkway at an overlook and I was like, “Oh, okay, this is where I’m supposed to be.” And I got out of the car and actually wrote for a while. Because I really wanted to just write and get my creative juices flowing and dump my day. And it was really interesting because as the cars come up to the overlook and then they drive away, it’s like these little micro-communities get created. And I was just astonished by how cool it was.
Ali McGhee: Like five to eight people came together, were really lovely to one another. It was like this beautiful outpouring of human compassion and connection, and then they’d leave and another set would come and then they’d leave. And eventually this camper pulls up at the other end of the overlook and this older gentleman gets out and sets up a telescope. So I just kept sitting there and he was doing stuff with his telescope and then another couple came up, talked to him, came over and talked to me and they were like, “Oh, you should go look at that guy’s telescope. He’s got something pulled up that’s pretty cool. And he says you should come over.” So I went over there and we actually, after that, became fast friends. So he showed me the stars and a planet or something, and then gave me his card and pre-COVID we had lunch every day or every week.
Ali McGhee: And we still talk every day and we’ve got a picnic hopefully set up sometime in the next couple of weeks where we’ll get together again. But it was just this beautiful experience and it wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t had a bad day and ended up at the Parkway. So I think that’s one of my favorite examples. Now I actually live out of town a little bit and I have immediate access to a land conservancy or a conservation easement with trails, that is across from my house. So I typically will just go over there, but I rarely meet anyone. So there are not quite as many opportunities for that sort of connection. I love that story.
Kimala Luna: That’s a very sweet story.
Elizabeth Garland: It is. It’s amazing.
Ali McGhee: Yeah. You never know who you’ll meet when you’re in the forest, or forest adjacent, I guess.
Elizabeth Garland: Yeah. All my stories about the Parkway never ended like that. I think it was more to make out with someone.
Ali McGhee: Oh, I had those too. I glossed over those, yeah, definitely. Don’t want to leave those out, also important.
Kimala Luna: Thank you so much for joining us, Ali.
Ali McGhee: Thank you guys for having me. And thanks for letting me share my story and my weird memories and stuff with you all.
This is a guest post by Jason Williams of StormSafety.org, a website dedicated to providing information to help people be prepared for storms. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author and do not imply endorsement by Dogwood Alliance.
There’s no disputing the fact that a garden is a very good addition to your home, making gardening among the most worthwhile hobbies you can pursue. However, if you’re going to put in all that effort into your garden, you want to make sure that your garden serves the environment, too. Get to know the nitty-gritty of eco-friendly and water-conscious gardening by checking out the resources below.
Gardening is widely regarded as a very healthy activity — not only enhancing overall wellness but also contributing to the health of the environment. Learning the ins and outs of this amazing pastime will ensure that you do it right, so benefits are enjoyed all around.
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While gardening at its very core is already environmentally-friendly, there are always opportunities to adopt eco-friendlier methods, particularly in how your garden utilizes water. Let’s take a closer look at the ways you can create a more sustainable and water-conscious garden.
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Appropriate eco-friendly practices will undoubtedly improve your garden’s water consumption by leaps and bounds. Look into taking this important initiative to the next level with easy additions that are well worth the expense.
A rain barrel
Yes, gardening is already a worthwhile activity, but why stop there when you can truly contribute to the greater good by keeping your garden’s water consumption in check? As far as environmental contributions go, this may be a humble one, but the impact is anything but.
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April 5, 2026