Sustainability and Muppets

Another April, another Earth Day. When I realized that I would be writing an article for Earth Day, I immediately thought of the Muppets. No, really. Stay with me.

I was a preteen in the early nineties, which was the heyday of PSAs featuring the Muppets, and I loved the Muppets. This one must have made an impression for it to come so immediately to mind thirty years later. The frogs of Frog Frog & Frog Advertising are attempting to brainstorm an Earth Day slogan, but they only come up with poor ideas and a room full of balled up paper. Thankfully, Robin the Frog, Kermit’s nephew, is on hand to remind us that we can all help every day.

I find the current climate situation to be overwhelming, but I also find that encouragement from a fictional frog inexplicably makes the task of addressing it less daunting. And so, with Robin the Frog cheering us on, let me present a few titles to explore.

‍What if we get it right?: Visions of climate futures by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson – The author and those she interviews provide hope by allowing us to imagine what the world can look like if we DO get it right. Interviews of environmental activists, thinkers, and scientists as to how we can move forward to achieve a positive future are intertwined with thoughtful commentary from the author.

How Can I Help?: Saving Nature with Your Yard by Doug Tallamy - The author, a well-known environmental advocate and leader in the native plant movement, provides gardeners and homeowners a guide to cultivating biodiversity in their own yards. His advice is actionable and accessible even to those at the beginning of their environmental stewardship journey.

101 Tips for a Zero-Waste Kitchen by Kathryn Kellogg – It is often said that over forty percent of food in America is wasted. Kellogg is a well-known blogger who asserts that managing food waste also lowers packaging, plastic, and budgetary waste thereby minimizing the impact of individuals on our environment.  In this book, she addresses how we can reduce food waste in the home.

Before It's Gone: Stories from the Front Lines of Climate Change in Small-Town America by Jonathan Vigliotti – Vigliotti, Emmy and Edward R. Murrow Award-winning CBS News national correspondent, presents the stories of people and communities affected by climate events, humanizing a disaster that all too often seems distant and abstract.

Attainable Sustainable Pantry: A Back-To-Basics Guide to Stocking Your Kitchen by Kris Bordessa– Another title that provides an individual with something actionable. Bordessa teaches the reader how to fill a pantry with homemade and home preserved goods.

Best of luck in your Earth Day endeavors, and here’s hoping that our efforts can extend to every day. Meanwhile, I will leave the last words to Robin and the Muppet Earth Day PSAs.