The following is from the book jacket designed by cover artist Vivien Woolley. It is the start of summer vacation and Aster is desperate to save her favorite park, which has become run down and polluted after years of neglect. She soon begins to notice the pollution and disrepair all over her city and is determined to change it. With the help of her friends, Meg and … [Read more...] about The Sustainability Society
Focus on Pages
The "Focus On" section provides in-depth information and opinion on many facets of sustainability. (Although these topics may appear quite distinct and separate, it’s important to remember that they are interconnected and interdependent in multiple ways — in general, the 4 basic principles of ecology apply to all complex systems.)
When you select a Focus On… topic, the system will select all the articles and posts in that category with the most recent pages at the top, just under a brief introduction to the topic. (Many articles appear in multiple categories.)
Background & detail information is organized into the main categories listed in the left sidebar.
Voices of the Valley
The Voices of the Valley category includes work by members of the Lehigh Valley community.
You can access Voices of the Valley essays that were published in the Alliance’s Sustainable Lehigh Valley booklet (listed by year published) or via the alphabetic list of authors, which also includes items published online and in Left Turn.
You can also search for individual essays (& other content) by category or tag.
‘Foggy Fields
Haley Kerridge Haley is a recent graduate of Lafayette College, where she majored in Environmental Studies and Government & Law. She worked as a Climate Action intern and Editorial intern with the Alliance this past year and is interested in combining her experience in sustainability communications and climate action with policy and political advocacy work. … [Read more...] about ‘Foggy Fields
Flooded
Sienna Gallus Do you too feel like the ocean welling up and spilling out? Do you feel like the coast, torn away more each wave Retreating back, recoiling. until there is nothing left but sea And when our people lay,flamingwith the trees, with the worldWill it then, be enough? do you see storm clouds in the … [Read more...] about Flooded
Mother Nature’s Lament
Everet Smith Why are you hurting me? I am everything you see, smell, hear, taste, and touch. I am the air you breathe and the water you drink. I am your far away and your true home. I am quite literally everything to you, just as you are everything and more to me. Why are you hurting me? I have given you all I have to offer. I have given you grassy hills to roll … [Read more...] about Mother Nature’s Lament
Damaged Sky
Melanie Rios The sky is a precious individual made up of so many things.The sky graciously holds our sun, who sits fixedly in our horizon beaming with love,reflecting sunshine and warmth throughout our cities.Feeding the sweet and radiant flowers in our fields. Giving to the bees and butterflieswho pollinate our trees and give us air to breath. The sky holds our … [Read more...] about Damaged Sky
‘Do You Ever Feel Like a Plastic Bag, Drifting through the Wind?’
Lilyanna Nowak The title is a lyric sung by Katy Perry, originally related to the emotion of worthlessness, but can be also taken as a call for change, as the sight of a plastic bag in the wind is a commonality. It has become routine that when we go to the grocery store to just accept that there will be plastic bags to serve us. We place our fresh vegetables in plastic bags … [Read more...] about ‘Do You Ever Feel Like a Plastic Bag, Drifting through the Wind?’
A More Livable Lehigh Valley
Thomas Fortsch Imagine this:you and your family are trying to enjoy your day at Jordan Creek in Allentown. You are playing and fishing in the creek when suddenly a plastic water bottle floats by you, then another, then a styrofoam take-out container. As you sit and watch the water, plastic continues to float right by you. A few years ago, this was the reality of Jordan … [Read more...] about A More Livable Lehigh Valley
Tackling Bethlehem’s Housing Crisis
Christopher Giannaras Most people agree that citizens have certain rights which cannot be denied to them on any account, whether it be race, gender, or economic status. A not-so-frequently-discussed but dire issue is the number of families that face homelessness. In any twenty-first-century society, even people born into unfortunate circumstances deserve roofs over their … [Read more...] about Tackling Bethlehem’s Housing Crisis
The Looming Climate Catastrophe & the Great Silence
Faramarz Farbod It’s a do-or-die moment for humanity as it comes face to face with a looming ecological catastrophe. Yet there is a great silence when it comes to seeing the root cause of the crisis:the rule of capital. “We’re going to lose everything,” said Dr. Peter Kalmus, a NASA scientist. He and other scientists had chained themselves to a JPMorgan Chase building in … [Read more...] about The Looming Climate Catastrophe & the Great Silence
We Need to Switch to Regenerative Organic Agriculture Now
Max Fern From water quality to climate change, how we treat our farmland affects so much of the environment around us. Agricultural chemicals run off into waterways, creating dead zones that strip marine ecosystems of life and poison the water that we drink – these same chemicals also destroy beneficial insect communities and weaken the food chains of the pollinators … [Read more...] about We Need to Switch to Regenerative Organic Agriculture Now