We are thrilled to announce that One Earth Collective and Laurie Casey of COOP are both recipients of the Village of Oak Park’s 2023 Green Awards, recognizing outstanding efforts in sustainability and environmental stewardship in the community.

Through her work with "Hollywood's Climate Advisors," Aishah-Nyeta champions the integration of accurate climate change portrayals in cinema, leveraging her multifaceted talents in music, performing arts, and fine arts to drive innovation in climate communication.

In Chicago, it’s possible to buy an old, deteriorating building for one dollar, provided you promise to save it from the wrecking ball and spend your money renovating it. Not only do you avoid the wasted energy and resources associated with demolition and starting from scratch, but you can also make the building more sustainable in the process.

Chicago’s West Side has a new Queen of Mac. Shawnie Jones, chef and owner of a catering business, created the delectable recipe, “Mac’Alicious Macaroni” – which utilized Gouda cheese, sour cream and a premium grade butter to make it stand out – to win the Best of the West Mac & Cheese Cookoff. 

Sunday October 22, a sunny, mild day with fall leaf color in full splendor. About 62 people—mostly from Oak Park, but a few from Chicago neighborhoods Austin and Pullman—came to central Oak Park for the Fall Tree Stroll. We soaked up the glorious fall color, got to know our giant, gracious green neighbors a little better.

In this time of global warming, environmental degradation, and biodiversity loss, these lands do more than provide scenery as we drive by. They help clean our air, filter our water, prevent flooding, shelter hundreds of species of wild animals and plants (including over 100 that are threatened or endangered) and, all the while, entice us out to enjoy nature, with its known health benefits, any day we choose—no admission charged!

As bad news about climate change continues to frequent the headlines, it can feel hopeless. What could we, a single household, possibly do to make a meaningful contribution to such a huge, global problem? Should we recycle more? Stop eating meat? Stop using plastic bags?

We’re often told these kinds of actions help. But if we step back and look at the bigger picture, it becomes clear that these kinds of efficiency and lifestyle changes won’t be enough. Climate scientists and the UN have told us we need to get to net zero emissions by 2050. Is there anything more we could possibly be doing to ensure a more sustainable future for our kids?

On November 5, five students from the Chicago area youth-driven advocacy group It’s Our Future (IOF) will fly to Egypt to take part in COP27, the UN Climate Change Conference in Sharm El-Sheikh. It's Our Future, a program developed by Seven Generations Ahead and supported by One Earth Collective along with other partners, connects youth climate activists and empowers them to advocate for climate solutions in their schools and communities, and for a healthy livable future for all.

All around the U.S., communities are taking the lead on fighting climate change and building community resilience. Climate change is here, and it’s just a matter of time before some version of a Hurricane Ian or the Big Ranch Fire impacts any given community: intense storms, flash flooding, prolonged drought, extreme heat and other weather emergencies are intensifying each year.

Composting is the natural process of recycling organic matter, such as leaves and food scraps, into fertilizer. When you collect your food scraps for composting, you cut down on the amount of trash that goes into landfill. If that organic waste instead ends up in landfill, it breaks down and is emitted into the atmosphere as methane—an extremely potent greenhouse gas. But as nutrient-rich compost—sometimes referred to as black gold—it can be used in gardens, where it enriches the soil, thus reducing the need for fertilizers and pesticides. This is reuse/recycling/circularity at its natural best!

Local peeps: if you live in Chicago’s Greater West Side (roughly Garfield Park to Bellwood), come by the Austin Town Hall Farmers’ Market on Thursdays from 1 to 6 p.m. at 5610 West Lake Street, Chicago (312-744-0565). Through the end of October, enjoy a lovely setting—on a sprawling green lawn dotted with trees in front of the historic Austin Town Hall building. The vendors switch in and out: on the early summer day I came, there was a perfect mix of fresh produce, enticing hot meals, frozen meats, sprouted greens and other locally made foods.

We all know plastic waste is bad. Individual actions (refusing, reducing, reusing) are good, but limited to your own scope of influence (home, work, etc). Banding together with the broader community is the next logical step. Here’s one path that Julie Moller, waste activist, took.

From manatees to koalas to pangolins, endangered wildlife was a recurring theme among 148 submissions to the 2022 One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest. Students ages 8 to 25 revealed the impact of weather extremes and plastic pollution on people, animals, and the planet, with a new note of urgency about the climate crisis in their short films.

Let's toast to a cleaner, greener, healthier future for our planet during our 4th annual Filmmakers Toast! This year's beverage is the Oceania, created by mixologist Denisse Soto CEO of La Chingona Mik, based in Chicago. If you're joining us from home, here are the recipes, with and without alcohol.

I like to travel and enjoy taking pictures of my surroundings. Photography has always been a passion of mine along with pursuing a career in nursing. One of my goals is to make a change in the world by sharing issues and letting others know so they can make a difference with me. Writing the Clean Future Blog about environmental issues and reviewing films about pollution help me broaden my knowledge. I hope we all will think about our actions and use our voices.

Both the Film Fest and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) aspire to address a vexing question: how do we all—scientists, advocates, policymakers and public—communicate the deep significance of anthropogenic (human-caused) global, biological and geophysical change?

When you click on a screening link to watch a One Earth film this coming season, Garen Hudson is on the other end, making sure all systems are a go. As One Earth’s technical director, he’s literally behind the scenes. But today he gets his moment in the limelight.

It’s what you’ve been waiting for. . . our 2022 lineup of tide-turning films is here! All screenings are free (with a suggested $8 donation) and open to the public. Seventeen virtual events will screen during the week of March 4-13. If the Omicron surge cooperates, we will be adding up to 15 in-person events—they will be offered at the same times and days as the virtual events.

Over the years, One Earth has framed our festivals with themes that represent a call to action: “This is the Moment” (2018), “All In” (2019), and “Power of We” (the election year of 2020). Last year we celebrated our 10th anniversary with “10 Years of Inspiring Change.”

As the imperative to act only grows stronger, our 2022 theme – “Turn the Tide” – reflects the wave of catastrophes rushing in at us and the need for us to push back, so we can avoid the worst case scenarios that threaten to sink our hope for a healthy future for our children.

The Plastic Bag Store may appear to be any other storefront grocery; however, the items found here are all created from trash picked up off of New York City’s streets. Inside, you'll find your healthy and hearty kale made from L.L. Bean delivery bags, oranges made from thrown away Toys "R" Us bags, some “Bagarino” frozen pizza, and "Bag and Jerry's” Ice Cream. You'll even find some of your favorite magazines like “Bag Appétit” and “Bagmopolitan.”

For over 40 years, Chicago’s People for Community Recovery (PCR), has advanced the cause of social and environmental justice. PCR’s initial mission was to press for repairs in Altgeld Gardens, a Chicago Housing Authority development on the South Side of Chicago. However, under the leadership of Hazel Johnson, known in many quarters as Mother of the Environmental Justice Movement, PCR turned to the more serious problems of urban environmental pollution when the group learned that the Southeast side of Chicago had the highest cancer rate in the city.

Join us in welcoming three new young leaders who will be helping to promote our March and April film festivals. They’ll be helping to write the One Earth newsletters you receive in your inbox, the film descriptions you see on our website, the social media posts you enjoy in your feeds and much more. 

It’s time to look back and celebrate all the things we’ve accomplished together this year. Here’s 2021 by the numbers.

4,046 attendees at 26 film watch parties
At each of the virtual events during the main Fest Season in March and during Earth Week in April, we learned about the climate crisis, were presented with more than 250 action ideas, and pledged to take action.

Each year, the One Earth Young Filmmakers Contest receives amazing short film entries from all across the U.S. The submissions are rolling in ahead of the Jan. 5 deadline, and we are preparing to evaluate them. In 2022, we are excited to announce a new prize level—“The Environmental Activism Prize”—to elevate both the young filmmakers and the organizations on the frontlines of climate change activism.

As 2021 draws to a close, it seems appropriate to take a look back—to update some of the stories and follow up on some public policy issues I’ve covered for the eNews over the past year. Such a review calls, too, for a brief assessment and a look toward the future. The opinions expressed are mine, not those of One Earth Film Festival or its governing board.

In the October eNews, I previewed some of the anticipated themes of COP26, the annual United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties, which concluded on November 13, in Glasgow, Scotland. Now comes my post-mortem.

Lake Michigan, one of Chicagoland’s great treasures, is connected to the Mississippi River by a series of waterways, including the Little Calumet River, which flows through several south-side Chicago neighborhoods, carrying nearly two centuries of African American history. The African American Heritage Water Trail honors this history and the remarkable stories of African American freedom seekers and trailblazers who traveled, lived, worked, and overcame enormous obstacles around this river and its banks. Please stop right now and visit this beautiful website, where you’ll find everything you need to understand the trail and the stops along its way.

Join One Earth in offering a warm welcome to our new “squad member,” Jillian Patton, Development Director. She is fresh off a thirteen-year stint in New York City, where she was most recently part of the Development team at NYU School of Law. She was also previously part of the team that raised money to develop the storied High Line, a park built on a former elevated train line on the West Side of Manhattan. Established in 2009, it helped provide a model for similar urban greening projects nationwide, such as Chicago’s 606 path that runs along an old rail line here in the city.