October 11, 2022
Dear friends,
With my teaching partner of many years, I used to teach a Wendell Berry essay called “Waste.” The essay — in a collection called What are People For? — explores the waste problem by examining our alienation from places and the human costs of avoiding the good work of protecting land and waterways, producing our own food, and caring for others.
Berry ends the essay with this sentence:
I think that we must learn to see the trash on our streets and roadsides, in our rivers, and in our woods and fields, not as the side effects of “more jobs” as its manufacturers invariably insist that it is, but as evidence of good work not done by people able to do it.
I have been thinking of Berry’s idea of good work and it occurred to me that the good news to celebrate is the good work that people are doing.
And in a very-Berry way, I will start close to home.
It moves me greatly when people thank me for my posts and acknowledge the work that I put into them. Thank you for acknowledging my work.
My dearest people are deeply place-based, and they find good work to do and do it well.
Read Lena Greenberg’s “A City’s Footprint? Ideally, large enough for self-sufficiency, small enough for reciprocity, which was published in Earth Island Journal and is now available online.
NOTE: Lena’s essay should be accompanied by Stanley Greenberg’s photographs, but, regrettably, it is not.
You can visit Stanley’s studio at Arts Gowanus this weekend at 119 8th St, #205, Saturday and Sunday, from 12-6 PM.
Stanley’s new work celebrates the vision of Frederick Law Olmsted, who planted trees with the distant future in mind.
Register here to attend Stanley Greenberg’s presentation of Olmsted Trees at the Brooklyn Public Library on Tuesday, October 18.
Curbside composting in all of Queens began last week! Although this program is only a three-month pilot, it is also the largest curbside compost collection program in the country. Finally.
Urge your friends and neighbors in Queens to participate in curbside composting.
One of my indefatigable friends — a retired-but-not-retiring professor and a core member of the Park Slope Food Coop’s Compost Committee — is attending tonight’s public meeting of the Brooklyn Solid Waste Advisory Board (BkSWAB).
BkSWAB is a volunteer citizens’ advisory board that is working to meet New York City's zero waste goals, and to increase the focus
on the intersection of waste and environmental equity, justice, and racism.
If you live in Brooklyn, but not in a neighborhood with curbside composting, check out BkSWAB provides links for all of your community composting options!
The work continues on Caring Capacity, a photo essay by John Trotter to bring care work and the relationships at its center into the public consciousness.
John Trotter photographing Lorraine Johnson and Stacey Thomas for Caring Capacity
I had the privilege of spending a few hours with Lorraine Johnson and Stacey Thomas, while John was photographing them. We stopped by the Isaacs Center, the community center where Lorraine serves as president and teaches arts and crafts.
Lorraine would not be able to live at home, teach at the Isaacs Center, or serve on Community Board #8 — which she has done for 15 years — without Stacey’s care.
Only 10 states and two cities have passed domestic bill of rights and protections. While we live in one of these states, domestic workers continue to be poorly paid, lack benefits and economic security, and are susceptible to mistreatment and abuse. Childcare workers should see higher wages go hand in hand with non-wage benefits like paid leave and health insurance.
Care work undergirds all the other good work.
Call for a National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. This quick action comes from Hand in Hand.
Low wages create real hardship, not least of which is the difficulty in finding affordable housing.
It’s time for Congress to act.
Call on Congress to address the affordable housing crisis by investing in public housing, more housing vouchers, tribal housing, and legal aid for those facing eviction. This action is from the Coalition on Human Needs.
It is tempting to hope for technological fixes to our many problems and sometimes the engineers and scientists come through.
could be used to reduce reliance on air conditioning, after it was demonstrated to reflect 98.7% of incoming sunlight.
Just the paint alone was shown in a demonstrations to keep surfaces 19°F cooler than the surroundings by completely reflecting incoming solar radiation.
The holidays are coming, and folks are traveling more. Although Covid cases are down, hospitalizations in New York are up.
We have effective tools for fighting Covid and we need to use them:
“Everyone who is eligible should receive the booster, as it should work better than previous boosters,” said Andy Pekosz, PhD, a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
“Boosting is one part of the strategy to deal with COVID-19 going forward. Vaccination, testing, and antivirals should be used together to limit severe COVID-19, especially in the highly vulnerable populations.”
I like to remind folks of air safety wisdom: put on your own oxygen mask before you try to assist others. I know you’re out there doing good work. Don’t forget to take care of yourself!
with love,
L