Land Trust Continues Earth Month Celebrations, Seattle U. Celebrates Earth Month. Apple Announces the Restore Fund, and You Can Attend the Georgia Virtual Tree-via Event.

LAND TRUST ALLIANCE LIST OF USA VIRTUAL EVENTS BY STATE

The land trust alliance has listed Earth Month virtual events from around the United States all month. The land trust alliance’s mission is to save the places people need and love by strengthening land conservation across America.

On April 27th,  Illinois’s Natural Land Institute is hosting a Virtual Book Discussion, featuring conversations about NATURAL VOICES: Celebrating Nature With Opened Eyes and will be led by the City of Rockford Poet Laureate, Christine Swanberg. Other authors in the nature themed poetry and prose anthology will participate in the discussion. Registration for this free program is required.

The state of Maryland is holding a virtual 5k through April 30th.  A route of your choosing that is at least 5K (3.1 miles) or more in length, and whenever it’s convenient for you, but by April 30th. In New York State, the Peconic Land Trust continues its Long Island Grown series bringing you the stories behind the work of local growers, chefs and producers of specialty items. Like all of these events listed here, you’ll find links to them at Theclimate.org/episodes, click on today’s episode, scroll down to the bottom of the transcript and click on the Deeper Dive links provided. Also in NY, the Mohonk Preserve hosts a series of Virtual programs and videos befitting its motto of, “Saving the Land for Life.”

Not to be outdone, Ohio’s Western Reserve Land Conservancy gloms onto this Earth Month’s theme of tree planting by celebrating trees in Cleveland. Now through April 30th, you’ll find virtual experiences include tree planting videos, webinars, and more. They’re working to rebuild Cleveland’s tree canopy by demonstrating the value and importance of trees for a health, vibrant community.

DEEPER DIVE: Natural Land Institute, Land Trust Alliance, American Chestnut Land Trust, Western Reserve (Ohio) Land Conservancy, Mohonk Preserve

SEATTLE UNIVERSITY CONTINUES ITS EARTH MONTH CELEBRATIONS

Earth Day is over, but Earth Month lives on, online. Sally P. in Seattle emailed us about some digital happenings hosted by the Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability at Seattle University in Washington. Dr. Mitchell Thomashow, author of “Know the World” will present approaches for environmental learning in his webinar, “To Know the World: Advancing Curriculum and Faculty Development for Sustainability in Higher Education.” That’s today, April 26th from 4-5 PDT.

April 28th is Stop Food Waste Day, a global day of awareness to eliminate wasted food around the world. Seattle University is holding a virtual event, “Driving Awareness to Fight Food Waste” on that day from 11-12:30 PDT. This year’s virtual event features 25+ speakers discussing the food waste crisis, Brought to you in partnership by Compass Group & Food Tank.

Also, “Building your Leafkit: How to Start a Sustainability Discussion in Class,” April 29 from 12:30-1:20 PDT. This is a webinar created by students for students. Hear briefly from professors who integrate sustainability in their classes, engage with students in discussion, and collaborate with others to build a leafkit.

Addressing food waste and sustainability matter to us because human-influenced climate change is partially due to excess emissions created from a.) creation of petroleum-based fertilizers; b) excess use of those fertilizers, and c) dumping of 7 billion pounds of food annually into landfills where they decompose anaerobically, outgassing methane, a powerful GHG.

DEEPER DIVE: Seattleu.edu

APPLE ANNOUNCES CREATION OF “THE RESTORE FUND”

Apple has announced a carbon removal initiative – the Restore Fund –  that will invest in forestry projects to remove carbon from the atmosphere while generating a financial return for investors.

Launched in partnership with Conservation International and Goldman Sachs, Apple’s $200 million fund aims to remove at least 1 million metrics tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, whilst demonstrating a financially viable model that can help scale up investment in forest restoration.

In a press release, Apple’s Vice President of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives, Lisa Jackson, said: “Through creating a fund that generates both a financial return as well as real, and measurable carbon impacts, we aim to drive broader change in the future — encouraging investment in carbon removal around the globe. Our hope is that others share our goals and contribute their resources to support and protect critical ecosystems.”

In 2018, Apple partnered with Conservation International, local government, and conservation organizations in Colombia to protect and restore a 27,000-acre mangrove forest in the country.

This effort is contributes to Apple’s broader goal of becoming carbon neutral across its entire value chain by 2030. The company will reduce 75% of its emissions through its supply chain and products by 2030, with the remaining 25% of emissions will be addressed by removing carbon from the atmosphere through the use of this fund.

Jackson, added: “Nature provides some of the best tools to remove carbon from the atmosphere. Forests, wetlands, and grasslands draw carbon from the atmosphere and store it away permanently in their soils, roots, and branches.”

DEEPER DIVE: Climate Action, Apple

MORE EARTH MONTH VIRTUAL EVENTS!

In keeping with the adage, “If a little bit is good, a lot is better,” we’re piling on the virtual Earth Month activities from listeners for you, your family or your colleagues to share. Alexis Ansparger out of Austin, TX hipped us to CLIMATE JUSTICE, a webinar hosted by EarthShare.org. on April 29th. In the United States, a zip code predicts both lifespans and the impacts of climate change on communities. How we build resilience in underserved communities / is critical. Of note, the EarthShare webinars are not free.

It’s Earth Month in Georgia, and the Nature Conservancy is holding an online TREE-via event: show off your nature knowledge in this team-oriented online tree-via game (get it? TREE-via??). It’s happening April 29th from 5:30-6:30 EDT. The Nature Conservancy’s mission is “preserving the lands and waters upon which all life depends.”

As with all of the events we highlight here on the climate daily, surf on over to theclimate.org/episodes page, find today’s episode, click on it. Scroll down to the bottom of the transcript and click on any of the links in Deeper Dive to register for them OR to check them out.

DEEPR DIVE: Nature Conservancy’s Tree-via, EarthShare