Maya Santos Walking along the brick cobblestone,A community of women: mother, daughter, cousin, carry onLaughing and chatting as they walk toward the storeWhen something shifts terribly, the laughing is no moreA silent understanding and a quickening of paceI look at my cousin and see the unease in her faceAs we continue on in silence to get to our locationI look around me … [Read more...] about Prey
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.
We Need to Stop Plastic Consumption
Gabriela Sampaio Every day we are bombed with disruptive and sad news about what is going on in the world. War, robbery, injustice, and crisis are some of the words in the headlines of the news. But how often do we see the environment as the main character of these headlines? Everyone knows that Earth is in great danger, but why don’t we focus on what is being done to … [Read more...] about We Need to Stop Plastic Consumption
This Freedom
Elaheh Farmand Elaheh is an Iranian immigrant and writer who dreams of and fights for a society that places people’s needs and wellbeing before profits. She is occasionally nostalgic for her childhood in Iran, but focuses her energy on connecting with her community, family, and friends. Also see Elaheh's essay Fight … [Read more...] about This Freedom
Climate Action — A Winning Strategy for Higher Ed.
Lindsay Meiman If I learned one thing from my undergraduate years at Lehigh University, it’s that any lasting progress for a just world happens through wielding our collective power, coming together across our differences, and challenging institutional and systemic status quo. I didn’t necessarily learn this sitting in lecture halls, but rather organizing both on-campus and … [Read more...] about Climate Action — A Winning Strategy for Higher Ed.
Renewing our Relationship With Food — Healing Ourselves, the Earth, and the Climate
Allison Ludlow Editors’ Note: This essay is taken from Allison’s internship report on rethinking the food system. As I sit at the dining-room table with my extended family for a celebratory gathering, I take a moment to observe the scene. What I immediately notice is that we rarely consider the meaning of eating together, and we do not reflect upon the hands that … [Read more...] about Renewing our Relationship With Food — Healing Ourselves, the Earth, and the Climate
The Next Generation
by Everet Smith The Earth is dying, and so are its children.It is up to us, the next generation, to save itTo fix centuries of mistreatment of Mother NatureI don’t have my driver’s license. The shovel is the screaming of desperate husksThe soon-dead sabotaging life for newly bornI lay in my dirt tomb, no colder than their soulsWasting away as they waste their … [Read more...] about The Next Generation
SLV 2023 Notes from the Editors
Notes from the Editors As we publish our 25th issue of this booklet, we’d like to pause and note a few changes along the way. In 2004, we started out with the first directory of organizations in the Lehigh Valley that promote sustainable communities. That first issue included a handful of opinion pieces, and we soon realized that a platform for others’ voices was an … [Read more...] about SLV 2023 Notes from the Editors
We need to focus on climate resilience!
What is climate resilience? In general, resilience is seen as the ability to “bounce back” fromadverse events. It doesn’t develop spontaneously — we have to take action to reduce climate disruption and adapt to the changes it is bringing to the world as we have known it. We can mitigate the threats by doing everything possible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions … [Read more...] about We need to focus on climate resilience!
The Sustainability Society
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
‘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