Month: August 2026

Events, Health & Wellness, Lifestyle

President’s Message: Reasons for Optimism

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Lately, I have been finding it difficult to maintain a good attitude about life. As if the news of current events isn’t bad enough, with the campaign season in full swing (yes, I know it’s only September), now I am forced to witness the smear campaign ads being run over and over and over. I’d stop watching the news, but I’ve always felt it is my duty as a responsible citizen to keep up with what is going on. And I won’t settle only for sources suggested by social media (which know me better than I am comfortable with) that just tell me what they know I want to hear. I wasn’t born with a naturally optimistic outlook. Yet, I realize it is important to my physical & mental health and spiritual wellbeing to stay positive. Recently, I’ve been to two events that have helped: the Columbus Arborfest and the Combined Charitable Campaign’s Kickoff Information Fair.

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Health & Wellness, Social Justice, Sustainable Heros

Spotlight on Make-A-Day

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Make-A-Day’s mission is to empower the impoverished through inclusive community events, acts of kindness, outreach, advocacy, & educational awareness. It is a mobile front door to stability, walking alongside neighbors experiencing homelessness & economic instability. MAD’s role is to help clear the obstacles–missing IDs, criminal records, gaps in benefits, broken connections–that stand between people and the life they are seeking. Since its inception, MAD has provided over 60,000 meals and 12,000 essentials (like clothing & hygiene supplies), connected hundreds of guests to housing & jobs, and engaged over 500 volunteers

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Action Alert, Environment, Events

Walhalla Ravine: A Gem at Risk

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The City of Columbus has released its next major proposal in the modernization of its 70-year-old zoning code. The city-wide rezoning effort has the potential to threaten the wooded nature and quiet character of Walhalla Ravine, eliminating Walhalla’s current development restrictions. And the City has not said how it will protect green space in Walhalla or elsewhere. The threat starts with Phase 2, which would allow tall apartment buildings down to the first block of the Ravine.

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Climate, Energy, Environment

THIRD ACT: In Defense of Climate & Democracy

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Third Act is a community of Americans over sixty determined to change the world for the better. It harnesses its generational power to defend our climate & democracy. Using life experiences, skills, & resources, it tackles the unfinished work of its generation to ensure a safe & stable planet for future generations. Older Americans are the fastest-growing part of the population; 10,000 people a day pass the 60-year mark. Members of this generation saw enormous positive changes early in their lives, but now it appears that the promise of those changes may be dying, as the planet heats and inequality grows.

But as a generation, older Americans have unprecedented skills & resources. Washington & Wall Street have to listen when they speak, because they vote and because they have a large share of the country’s assets.

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Book Club, Ecology, Environment

Reader’s Corner: Nature’s Best Hope

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Douglas W. Tallamy’s first book, Bringing Nature Home (2009, Timber Press), awakened readers to an urgent reality–wildlife populations are in decline because the native plants they depend on are disappearing. Tallamy’s follow up is Nature’s Best Hope: A New Approach to Conservation That Starts in Your Yard. It serves as a practical blueprint for reversing this trend. Published in 2020 (also by Timber Press), it maintains that property owners can reverse wildlife declines by replacing their traditional grass lawns with native plants. By transforming their yards into functional conservation corridors to protect biodiversity, they can create a patchwork of viable habitats he calls the “Homegrown National Park”.

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Ecology, Environment, Guest Blog Post

“The little things that run the world”

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E.O. Wilson, eminent biologist and the father of biodiversity, called insects “the little things that run the world” because of the many essential ecological roles they play every day. Insects are the most diverse group of animals on Earth and include ants, lady bugs, bees, fireflies, butterflies, dragonflies, grasshoppers, and true flies. Insects can be grouped into three broad categories: pollinators, prey, and ecological balance.

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Energy, Environment, Lifestyle

Break the Oil Addiction: Drive an EV

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Electric vehicles (EVs) offer some real advantages over gasoline-powered cars. They produce zero tailpipe emissions, cost less to run & maintain, provide instant acceleration, and allow for at home charging. If you are interested in learning more about EVs, contact the folks at Drive Electric Columbus, an independent non-profit grassroots organization that brings together central Ohio EV owners & enthusiasts for meetings, ride & drives, educational events, and other activities related to electric vehicles. It advocates for fair policies for all current & future EV owners.

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Climate, Energy, Environment

Our Future in Jeopardy from Fossil Fuels

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Our present industrial civilization relies on the consumption of enormous amounts of energy, much of it provided by fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are used not only in producing transportation fuels and for generating electricity, but are also the starting material of many other products of our daily lives, including such diverse products as plastics, pharmaceuticals, solvents, synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and clothing. Our continued reliance on fossil fuels will make it impossible to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to stop environmental problems such as global warming. It is clear that our present economic system will need a major shift toward effective alternatives, based on renewable energy sources and more efficient ways to use them.

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