The Waggle
Issue 80 Can shellfish waste help prevent urban floods?
Image
A swift fox and kit. Weighing a mere 3kg, the swift fox can hit speeds of 60kph.
blickwinkel / Alamy Stock Photo
Shepherd | Wildfire | Swift Fox • Jonathan Hawken
Yale Environment 360 has been running a contest to recognize the best environmental documentaries for over a decade, highlighting work that has yet to reach broad audiences. This year, a film about a Peruvian shepherd snagged first place. Christian Cordova Aliaga, along with his 150 goats and a couple of sheepdogs (Shakira and Chalupa), graze overgrown vegetation in California’s East Bay to prevent wildfires and fertilize the land. Head over to YE360 to watch Way of the Shepherd (9 mins.), but don’t stop there! Coming in second place is Burnt Country (18 mins.), featuring the indigenous fire practitioner James Shaw from the Australian Melukerdee Tribe of the Southeast Nations, whose history dates back as far as 60,000 years. The film highlights devasting AU fires in 1983, 2019, and 2020 and is filled with incredible shots of scenery and wildlife as James discusses the importance of protecting and restoring the land with low-temperature burns. Last but not least (technically third, but my personal favorite) is Return of the No’ouhah/Tok a’na (Swift Fox) (16 mins.), about reintroducing the adorably petite burrowing carnivores back into the Fort Belknap reservation.
Porous Concrete Prevents Floods • Claire Inciong Krummenacher
|
|
When crushed scallop and whelk shells are added to pervious concrete, they can improve its porosity.
|
Flooding has become an ongoing problem for the residents of Blackpool, England, in recent years. Could an inventive concrete mix introduced this year by the University of Central Lancashire’s Centre for Waste Management be part of the solution? The green concrete integrates an unusual ingredient: discarded shellfish waste from a nearby fish processor. When crushed, the shells’ shape enhances the porosity of the concrete and allows water to drain quickly rather than accumulate on the surface. In coastal cities like Blackpool, which are at high risk of inundation due to climate change-driven floods and a lack of greenery, concrete can double as both construction material and an urban drainage system. Incorporating food waste material has enormous potential to mitigate emissions from the cement industry (which accounts for over 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions) by decreasing the amount of emissions-heavy aggregate added to concrete to enhance durability. The team that executed the shellfish design is currently mapping where their design could be implemented outside of the United Kingdom, testing different shellfish species to adapt the formula to each location’s unique environment. To learn more, see the Green Cement Nexus.
"Seeds are the stories of us" • Juliana Birnbaum
|
|
Across Turtle Island, there is a growing intergenerational movement of Indigenous people proud to carry the message of the grand rematriation of seeds and foods back into our Indigenous communities (8 mins.).
|
Entering harvest season here in the Northern Hemisphere, I find joy in shaking the tiny pods on my overgrown arugula plant, catching the shower of tiny black seeds that tumble out. The act of seed saving is layered with meaning, as reported last week in “Reclaiming Culture One Seed at a Time,” an article on gardeners using the practice to reconnect with their cultural heritage and revitalize growing cycles. While editing our recently published Seeds Nexus, I learned about seed rematriation, the deeply intentional process of returning legacy crops to their original communities as an essential part of Indigenous food sovereignty. The term emphasizes the role of women as traditional seedkeepers and the movement as an opposition to patriarchal, corporate seed patenting structures. “Seed Mother: Coming Home” is a short film on rematriation as intergenerational healing and its role in reawakening time-honored pathways and planting seeds of hope and regeneration. Learn more about taking related action on our Plant Diversity Nexus and Women and Food Nexus pages.
Klamath River Runs Free Again • Scott Hannan
|
|
The Klamath River flows 257 miles through Oregon and N. California, eventually emptying into the Pacific Ocean.
|
The largest dam removal project in US history is now almost complete after crews demolished the last of the four dams on the Klamath River last week. It’s a significant win for tribal nations on the Oregon-California border who, for decades, have fought to restore the river to its natural state. The removal of the four hydroelectric dams — Iron Gate Dam, Copco Dams 1 and 2, and JC Boyle Dam — allows the region’s iconic salmon population to swim freely along the Klamath and its tributaries, which they have been unable to do for over a century. Man-made dams, warm water, and prolonged droughts have profoundly altered the river and the ecosystems that rely on it, especially impacting the salmon population. The Yurok Tribe in Northern California are known as the “salmon people,” the species are sacred to their culture, diet, and ceremonies. As the story goes, the spirit that created salmon also created humans; without the fish, people would cease to exist. Now that the dams are removed, the next task is to begin restoration work. The plan is to plant nearly sixteen billion seeds of almost a hundred native species across 2,200 acres of land in the Klamath River Basin. Representatives of the Yorok tribe have said that seeing the river reconnected is a form of gaining their land back, which is really the “ultimate reward.”
Relocalizing Democracy • George Biesmans
|
|
Cooperation Hull burst onto the scene with a hugely successful People's Assembly in Pearson Park on the 3rd of June, 2023, in which local people came together to share hotdogs and discuss the issues that matter most to them.
|
In a city on England’s eastern seaboard, an experiment in community-based democracy is taking place in the shape of a soon-to-be-established People’s Assembly in Hull. It’s a region where voter turnout has, in some places, dropped to as low as 13%. The People’s Assembly is the latest manifestation of a burgeoning movement for local democracy in Europe and, indeed, globally. The Hull initiative grew out of a belief that protest - though critical - is limited and that systems change can only be achieved by re-localizing democracy. Its vision statement sums up this potential: “There is wisdom everywhere. Every neighborhood has teachers, nurses, plumbers, grandmas – all with something unique to offer to every discussion”. The initiative is anchored in “Neighborhood Assemblies,” empowering people across the city to “discuss, debate, disagree and eventually come to decisions” on big, urgent topics - from food prices to responding to emergency flooding. When the People’s Assembly is established next summer, it will be an engine for local democracy, drawing on the diversity of views from each local assembly. The broader vision? A network of independent People’s Assemblies stretching across Britain, supplanting a two-party system which has left people disillusioned and disengaged. In the words of one of the project’s co-founders, beyond reshaping democracy, this is fundamentally about “relearning the forgotten skill of conversation, the lost act of participation, and the civic art of hearing and being heard.”
Take Action on Nexus
Find out how to cut energy and materials use to reduce emissions, stabilize the climate, improve quality of life, and benefit economies and ecosystems in our Efficiency Nexus.
Photo Credits
1. blickwinkel / Alamy Stock Photo
2. Kevin Britland / Alamy Stock Photo
3. BLM Photo / Alamy Stock Photo
Support our work
We rely on the generous support of our fellow regenerators! Please consider making a one-time or recurring donation to keep Project Regeneration and The Waggle going.
Want the Waggle coming to your inbox instead? Click Here to Subscribe!