Actions to repair our world can take many forms.
** News of the world environment
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NEWSLETTER | MAY 20, 2022
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** Paths to Healing
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Tomorrow, I’m going to dance. Outdoors. At the Himalayan Fair ([link removed]) in Berkeley. A longtime tradition in the city, the fair was started 39 years ago by scientist Arlene Blum, founder and executive director of the Green Science Policy Institute ([link removed]) . In 1978, Blum, an avid mountaineer at the time, led the first-ever ([link removed]) all-women ascent of the treacherous slopes of Annapurna I, the world's tenth highest peak.
Her treks across Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal, and India, where she enjoyed many local festivals and fairs, inspired Blum to start this fair. What began as “a small picnic gathering” of local Tibetan and Nepali residents and their friends has since grown into a two-day gala featuring crafts, food, and music and dance performances.
On the science side, Blum, a biophysical chemist by training, has been instrumental in helping prevent or reduce the use of “six classes” of harmful chemicals, including flame retardants and fluorinated chemicals in children’s sleepwear, furniture, electronics, and other products worldwide.
I called up Blum today to ask her if she saw any connection between her work as a scientist, and her efforts to keep this venerable arts and crafts fair going.
They are deeply connected, she responded.
“For me, a guiding principle has always been tikkun olam,” Blum told me, referring to the Jewish concept of taking action to perfect or repair the world. (Tikkun olam means “healing the world” in Hebrew.) By connecting people to art, culture, and food from different communities, the fair helps foster understanding across differences. And that helps make the world a little better, in a way that’s different but just as important as keeping toxic chemicals out of our land, water, and bodies, she explained. "I feel very privileged to be able to do both these things,” she said.
During a time when our racial and cultural differences have been engendering so much hate and violence and pain, Blum’s words really resonated. I’m going to keep them in mind when I step onstage with my fellow dancers tomorrow and invoke Shiva, the Lord of Dance and Destruction, who paves the way for beneficial change.
Maureen Nandini Mitra
Editor, Earth Island Journal
Photo of Annapurna base camp: Etai Adam ([link removed])
TOP STORIES ()
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** Radical Rights ([link removed])
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What would it look like if spiders and worms, lichens and bacteria, all had equal rights? On a small lot in Berlin, a group of activists and artists is undertaking a radical experiment to find out.
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Earth Island Journal is a nonprofit publication. Our mission is to inform and inspire action. Which is why we rely on readers like you for support. If you believe in the work we do, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to our Green Journalism Fund ([link removed]) .
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** Time to End Trapping ([link removed])
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After heart-wrenching encounters with a trapped coyote, one wildlife advocate pens a personal plea to end the United States’ brutal trapping tradition on public lands.
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** Look Who's Talking! ([link removed])
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Startling new research reveals that tens of thousands of fish species have the ability to make sound. The finding reframes our understanding of the underwater world, and raises concerns about the impacts of noise pollution.
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ICYMI ()
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** Lakeside Listening ([link removed])
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“People forget that before we came into the world, water was our first home,” writes Malawian poet Tamanda Kanjaye. “On days such as this, when I feel so unanchored, I find myself beneath these waves, tethered back to a familiar time and place.” If you’re feeling untethered for any reason, we suggest immersing yourself in Kanjaye’s lakeside soundscape.
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Photo by i_pinz / Wikimedia ([link removed](205997388).jpg#/media/File:Sun_goes_down_over_lake_malawi_(205997388).jpg)
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** Ghost Moose ([link removed])
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In the “moosiest” corners of Maine, booming populations of winter ticks, which apparently hunt in packs, have become more than a nuisance to the largest of ungulates. In many cases, especially among calves, the troublesome arachnids are literally sucking the life out of their hosts.
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Photo by Martin Cathrae ([link removed])
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