Watch the episode here

Listen to the podcast here

Environmental justice and social justice are inseparable – when people take advantage of earth’s resources for their greedy purposes, disadvantaged communities suffer even more. Environmental creative and activist Leah Thomas coined the term “intersectional environmentalism” to define her mission to protect both people and planet from destruction. She joins Corinna Bellizzi to shed light on the unfortunate climate realities across cultures and communities that must be taken care of as soon as possible. Leah puts into the spotlight the environmental injustices happening in marginalized areas and why supporting local organizations is key in finally addressing them. Find out how genuine actions, even from the grassroots, can give birth to a more equitable future and a more inspired climate movement.

About Leah Thomas

Leah is a celebrated environmentalist based in Los Angeles, CA. Coining the term ‘eco-communicator’ to describe her style of environmental activism, Leah uses her passion for writing and creativity to explore and advocate for the critical yet often overlooked relationship between social justice and environmentalism. Leah founded and launched the non-profit Intersectional Environmentalist, a platform and resource hub that aims to advocate for environmental justice, provide educational resources surrounding intersectional environmentalism, and promote inclusivity and accessibility within environmental education and movements in 2020 – which has since become a leading resource for diverse and accessible climate education.

Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leahpthomas/

Guest Website: https://www.leahthomas.com/

Guest Social: https://www.instagram.com/greengirlleah/

Additional Resources Mentioned:

BOOK – The Intersectional Environmentalist by Leah Thomas: https://amzn.to/4oM4jxo

PODCAST – As She Rises hosted by Leah Thomas: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/as-she-rises/id1585244876

Show Notes:

• 01:45 – Why Environmental Issues And Social Justice Are Inseparable [02:14]
• 05:13 – How Leah Experienced Awakening On Environmental Justice [05:37]
• 08:37 – Writing The Book The Intersectional Environmentalist [08:57]
• 12:23 – Biggest Challenges In Advocating For Intersectionality [12:41]
• 20:00 – How Writing Her Book Changed Leah’s Perspectives On Intersectionality [19:58]
• 25:31 – Understanding Rewilding As An Ecological, Personal, And Cultural Restoration [25:26]
• 28:29 – What’s In Store For The Newest Season Of As She Rises [28:24]
• 31:16 – Supporting And Strengthening Local Environmental Organizations [30:58]
• 34:09 – How Craft And Sustainability Go Hand-In-Hand [33:46]
• 35:54 – Educating People About Climate Through Music Festivals [35:26]
• 38:13 – Do Not Forget To Take Care Of Yourself [37:43]
• 40:03 – Episode Wrap-up And Closing Words [38:47]

BUILD A GREENER FUTURE with CARE MORE BE BETTER
Together, we planted 36,044 trees in 2025 through our partnership with ForestPlanet. We screamed past our goal of planting 20,000 trees thanks to subscribers like you!

NEW CAUSE PARTNER FOR 2025-2026 SELECTED!
If you value open dialogue, sustainability, and social equity, I invite you to support our new cause partner — Prescott College. To learn more about this effort and to support the show, visit: https://caremorebebetter.com/support/

Follow us on social media:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/caremorebebetter
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@caremorebebetter
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caremorebebetter
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CareMoreBeBetter
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/care-more-be-better

—

Rewilding, Intersectional Environmentalism, And Rising Voices With Leah Thomas

In this episode, we’re joined by someone whose work has profoundly shaped modern environmental discourse. She’s an Author, Activist, and Eco-Communicator, Leah Thomas. Leah coined the term intersectional environmentalism and founded the nonprofit of the same name. Now one of the most accessible and inclusive platforms for climate education worldwide. She is also the creative force behind the latest season of As She Rises, a podcast weaving climate storytelling with poetry and place-based narrative.

Several questions in our dialogue come from students in Dr. Emily Affolter’s Imagining Sustainability course. It’s aboard this Semester at Sea with 27 students who have been exploring Leah’s work for months as they journey across oceans, across cultures, and of course, climate realities. Leah, welcome to the show.

Thank you for having me.

Why Environmental Issues And Social Justice Are Inseparable

Of course. We’re going to have several questions from our students at Semester at Sea. As we get started, I was hoping you could first talk about what sparked your awareness that environmental issues and social justice are inseparable.

I didn’t really grow up in a very outdoorsy family, or I never really used the term environmentalist until I was probably at least 25 or something like that. I studied Environmental Science and Policy, not necessarily because I thought I was a passionate environmentalist. All I really knew is just I liked being outside. I liked going on walks, I liked trees. I learned that can be all there really is to it, just having an appreciation of the earth.

I was frustrated. I was sometimes the only Black student in my classroom and we would breeze over topics that were talking about the environmental justice movement or it was a specific chapter in a textbook, but it wasn’t the entire textbook. I just realized that I couldn’t really separate my identity from the data. When I was looking through things about air quality, I wanted to dive deeper and look at how air quality and pollution were impacted by things like race. I kept seeing that Black and Indigenous communities or low-income communities that they were facing the brunt of environmental injustices.

I was in Orange County. That also helps provide a little bit of context in terms of the demographic makeup, but I just felt like I couldn’t really separate myself from the data and it felt really personal and I just felt like I couldn’t be an environmentalist if I didn’t also care for marginalized communities that were being impacted the most.

That’s how I stumbled across intersectional theory, by way of feminism. I was also in a lot of feminist spaces when I was in college. I had moments of this isn’t quite it because I feel like I’m taking my Black identity along with my feminism. I was in Orange County and that wasn’t always met with a positive reception or I would hear things along the lines of, “We have to advocate for all women and then we can talk about race.” I didn’t understand why race always felt like a separate thing when it came to feminism and also environmentalism. That’s when I found intersectional feminism and also environmental justice. I just felt so seen and heard and validated and ran with it.

I have a couple of reflections that come just from your share. One of which is that I heard a very similar story from that early inspiration from Maiya May, who hosts a PBS series on environmentalism. Here she was wanting to be a meteorologist, but also as a young Black woman and feeling like she was the standalone in so many of these conversations that she was the outdoor enthusiast and many of her community didn’t understand that.

How Leah Experienced Awakening On Environmental Justice

I think that challenge is not unique and just coming forward and talking about your experience, that is the beauty of exploring intersectionality. Applying it to environmentalism, it makes so much sense. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed your work. Also, so have the students aboard Sea, doing their semester abroad. This is from Dr. Emily Affolter’s Imagining Sustainability class. Have you always thought of the connection between the environment and humanity, or did something else inspire you?

I was really inspired, unfortunately, by some of the events that led up to the racial justice awakening of 2020. Unfortunately, a lot of that had to do with things like police brutality and racial discrimination. I grew up outside of Ferguson, Missouri, which was the birthplace of where we even started seeing the hashtag Black Lives Matter. I happened to be studying Environmental Science at the exact same time that the Ferguson uprisings were happening in St. Louis.

When I was in my classroom, I think my brain was really preoccupied. I remember I went to a protest and then we turned on CNN and I go, “Those were my parents.” My parents are out protesting in Missouri. I’m out here in Orange County in a class of people who don’t look anything like me and I’m learning about beginner environmental things like the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.

I just got so frustrated. I was filled with that college rage that a lot of people probably remember and can look back on. I just thought what’s the point of studying about the Clean Air Act if I turn on the news and people back home are not only dealing with an unjust criminal justice system, but they also don’t even have clean air.

I think my brain short-circuited when I was probably nineteen years old and in my brain, the only solution that brought me comfort was maybe this wouldn’t have happened if everybody had access to, I don’t know, processing in a park or if everybody had access to clean air, clean water in a safe and healthy living environment. I don’t know if it was always intertwined, but I think because it collided with that really significant event in my community. My very understanding of environmentalism was always intertwined with like, how can we make sure communities like Ferguson don’t go through this anymore?

I felt like environmental justice needed a bit more of a larger stage. It’s a movement that’s been around for so long, but again, I was frustrated that it was optional in my classroom. I think as a reserved person, I don’t really speak unless I have anything to say. At that time, I just thought, “This shouldn’t be optional. We need to all be learning about this,” and also how can I help my hometown? I wish I had a better answer that it was always intertwined in me and I always knew that I wanted to think about environmentalism this way, but it was really informed by Ferguson.

Writing The Book The Intersectional Environmentalist

So much happened in just a two-year span. I also was inspired by those moments to create this show. That’s why it’s social impact and sustainability is care more be better. We invite people to care more about social and environmental issues so we can create a better world, and like you, I was like, “What can I can contribute to this piece? I’d already been speaking in media on behalf of companies I worked with, so why didn’t I just do this my own?” Now we’re a few years in and I really am curious to see what sorts of initiatives that you’re most excited by with your work and with a not-for-profit intersectional environmentalist.

This is a tough question to answer at the end of 2025, going into 2026, because if you were to ask me this question even 2 or 3 years ago, my answer would be so much more optimistic. The only reason I wrote the book is because it’s the book that I wish that I had when I was studying environmentalism. It basically goes over my college experience.

I was studying environmental science, I was learning at that time we were having the women’s marches and things like that with the pink hats and everything. I was learning about social justice, feminism, and environmentalism at the same time. I just thought, “I wish I would’ve known about intersectional feminism as soon as I started college,” or, “I wish that would’ve informed my environmental practice and all the things that I wish I had when I was in school.”

That’s why I wrote the book. I also just really wanted environmental justice education to be mandatory in all environmental programs. It seems like that’s something that’s happening. Even with the prior administration, we finally got billions of dollars specifically for environmental justice. We had an environmental justice council that was made up of by people like Dr. Robert Bullard, the father of environmental justice and younger climate activists, like a lovely activist named Jerome.

It seemed like we were in this environmental justice renaissance. Even though the environmental justice movement began in the ‘80s, we were finally seeing the funding that was necessary to go to low-income communities, Indigenous communities and Black and Brown communities impacted by environmental hazards. Now it seems like almost overnight, the majority of that funding is being cut. Even words like intersectionality and climate change and environmental or social justice are being censored.

It’s hard for me to sit with that question because it seemed like we were on the right track and we were making progress. Right now, it seems like a lot of that work is we have to switch gears. It might have to happen through mutual aid or specific foundations or schools that are brave enough to take a stance against some of the censoring. I feel like I’m still trying to grapple with that right now. I wish I had a more optimistic answer, but progress was happening and it will happen again. We’re in this interesting period where there’s such a stamping down on anything related to EJ.

I feel you at every turn. We got news that forever chemicals are going to be sprayed on foods and that’s okay by the EPA. What is happening? I just featured a guest on the show that was focused on the dangers of forever chemicals and how we need to work to keep them out of our food supply to only turn around and see this happen. What gives me hope, and perhaps what will also give you hope, is that when things get this bad, this fast, you sure as hell inspire a lot of people to stand up and be counted.

Biggest Challenges In Advocating For Intersectionality

I believe that the walk back will be just as intense in the opposite direction very soon. That we will start to see that progress happen again. I frankly don’t think we have a choice. It’s just going to happen. At least that’s my book right now. I think you’ve discussed some of my questions already when I ask about like, what have been the biggest challenges advocating for intersectionality and environmental spaces that are presently resisted? I don’t know if you have more to add to that story.

Even when I was working in some of my dream spaces that really cared about corporate sustainability, that was my background, I used to work in the outdoor industry for a short period of time before going out on my own and starting Intersectional Environmentalist. The environmental movement is filled with so many well-intentioned people that actually sometimes make talking about intersectionality or diversity and inclusion more complicated because there are a lot of people who clearly care about the earth, they clearly care about animals. I would say the fragility is almost at an all-time high because no one wants to be associated with anything that they might consider bad.

When I came along and was talking about environmental justice and the importance of not separating race or all these sorts of things from environmentalism, I was met several times, whether in a classroom setting, a nonprofit setting or a corporate setting with things that were like, “We need to get the carbon out of the atmosphere and then we can care about this thing,” or, “This just isn’t our priority right now,” or, “I feel like we’re funding this big green organization, so do we really need to fund like these smaller climate justice org?”

We are already funding big green organizations. We must set aside resources to fund smaller climate justice organizations as well.

I hear it too. I was so encouraged when I interviewed Paul Hawken, not once, but twice on this show. He is just so clear with the fact that these are inseparable issues. That the climate issue is our number one issue. However, if you don’t address the education of girls and climate justice at the same time that we’re not going to make progress. We’ll essentially be beating our heads against a brick wall, which I completely agree with too. How do we say yes, and as opposed to no, this?

We need more yes, ands absolutely in the climate space and it seems like a lot of people seem to be on the same page and even in the last couple of years, it seems like the environmental community is more accepting. I was reading an article on the New York Times about the Sierra Club and it’s complicated, but they lost I think over 60% of their membership or something like that in the last couple of years.

The article was unpacking and exploring did DEI “kill” the Sierra Club. Even having that dialogue reminds me of some of the sentiments that were being said even just five years back or even further back, etc. I think it’s time for us as an environmental movement to really examine what do we stand for. I don’t know. I guess I understand that some people might want their environmentalism to be separate from racial justice or all those sorts of things, but we’re just in a really interesting time period.

Can we just say what an inflammatory bullshit title right now? That is one of the most click-baity titles I could come up with. It’s like, obviously, they’re pointing to DEI as something that they think was problematic for the Sierra Club. I would argue that the Sierra Club got a little bit too big for their britches and was treating all of their sponsored individuals who spend money to keep them afloat.

I don’t know. They’re a big company. They didn’t adjust or adapt. I think when you become so large, a lot of the large NGOs, the percentage of money that they’re putting towards the causes that they support is lower than the smaller NGOs. People adjust where they spend their money because they start to see those things. I think it was a little bit of a lifting of the veil. It’s like, “Only 70% of resources that you’re raising are going to do the work.” Just because you have a pretty calendar or something like that that comes to you doesn’t make the work that much more impactful. How can you do things differently?

How Leah Finds Inspiration In Content Creators And Entertainers

You mentioned in your book Pattie Gonia. As we’re recording this, I think they just finished a 100-mile hike in drag, living in the outdoors and streaming some of their experience in that time to draw attention to a lot of issues, but namely our parks and defunding of parks. I wonder if you have any perspective on that or things that you’re seeing in media that you find encouraging.

I love Pattie AKA Wyn Wiley. They’re such an amazing environmental creative, and I think for so long, so even when I worked at Patagonia, I remember hearing about Pattie Gonia and thinking, “This could be the coolest collaboration or minds coming together.” Even then, Wyn was really shaking things up years ago in the environmental space. I love the way they’re taking up space and showing people, advocating through drag and sometimes being very funny and comical and whimsical and all those things.

Really just saying, “I’m going to take up space as a queer person and ensure that queer people feel safe in the environmental movement.” That’s something that I haven’t really thought about a lot. Sometimes when I’m going hiking, I think about being Black outdoors, but then thinking about how many queer folks probably feel unsafe on hikes or in the outdoor space or combating misogyny or homophobia, etc., just being in outdoor spaces.

I really admire content creators or entertainers like Pattie that are showing so boldly that environmentalism can and does mean something different to different people and everyone deserves to take up space. Not only that, going off of what we were talking about earlier, I love that they’re saying, “And we can mobilize a grassroots movement to fundraise $1 million for environmental organizations.” I think I saw it was an average of $30 donations.

We can mobilize a grassroots movement to fundraise a million dollars for environmental organizations.

I haven’t seen anything like that since, I don’t know, even like the Bernie Sanders campaign or something like that when people were giving these small amounts of money to add up to this big goal. I think people should listen to folks like Pattie of like, “This is what environmental awareness could look like.” It could look like a drag queen in heels hiking across mountain ranges to fundraise. There were thousands of people that contributed an average of a $30 donation. Stories like that are what I think are keeping me really optimistic and feeling good and feeling like there is hope in a future.

How Writing Her Book Changed Leah’s Perspectives On Intersectionality

You’re causing me to also think about how you wrote intersectional environmentalism as you express the story because you made a choice to write it in a highly accessible introductory format with a lot of stories, including some of those early interactions in the environmental space with people like Pattie Gonia. Why was this important to you? From the student Semester at Sea question, they ask, how did writing this book change your own perspective on intersectionality?

Getting a book deal when I was 25 years old, I was actually on unemployment at the time because I left my job at Patagonia. I made the decision not to come back. I had two options. I could go back to Patagonia and help them with their diversity and inclusion or go out on my own and be on unemployment and try to start something with Intersectional Environmentalist.

At that time, I just remember a very shy person, but I was going viral on social media and I thought, “If there was anything that I could direct this virality to, it would be, one, making sure people know that there are so many environmentalists of different backgrounds that are advocating for environmentalism through their personal identity, whether it’s ecofeminists or people like Pattie or people like Jose Gonzalez who founded the Latino Outdoors.

When I was working in the outdoor industry, occasionally, I would hear feedback like, “Maybe we didn’t have any Black surfers in a campaign.” Someone would say something along the lines of, “I don’t know any Black surfers.” I really wanted to answer that question of like, “Here are the Black surfers. Here are the drag queens that also care about the environment. Here are the ecofeminists.” I wanted to silence anyone who said anything like that.

I wanted to show people that intersectional environmentalism can look different for different people, whether we’re talking about disability, justice, queer rights, racial justice, etc. When I wrote the book, I wanted it to be rooted in community and not just my perspective. That’s why I wanted to include, I think there are over twenty contributors, again, because I wanted to show people this is what intersectionality means to me, but here’s what it means to so many other people. I wanted people to feel represented in the book. The second question was, how has my perspective changed after writing?

Yes. How did writing this book change your own perspective on intersectionality?

I think it healed something in me writing it. I didn’t notice at the time, but again, being a student, being a young person in this world, especially now, I feel a lot of protective energy over some younger Gen Z and especially Gen Alpha. I don’t know how they’re navigating this. I try to think about the fact that even seeing An Inconvenient Truth, at least I was probably in middle school, it wasn’t taking over my life. For so many of these Gen Z-ers, they grew up in a world where that was a fact or maybe even that movie was out when they were a baby or something like that. They’ve lived in a reality where the climate crisis has, for them, probably been plastered all over TikTok, their eco anxiety is at an all-time high, etc.

I don’t know. I really feel like writing this book changed my perspective because it was so healing for me and just that experience of getting everything that I had all of this young angst out onto paper. It made me realize I want other young people to be able to experience that, even if it’s not writing a book, which is a therapeutic process of finding out who they are. Intersectionality is how I was able to accept myself and feel seen and heard and validated. I really want to help other young folks figure that out and feel seen and heard and validated and included in the environmental space.

I also just want to give everybody a hug because I can’t imagine what that would be like growing up like that. When I was running around in the Midwest, I wasn’t thinking about the climate crisis when I was looking at fireflies and things like that. I think about younger kids in Missouri maybe not even seeing any fireflies and just growing up in a completely different world. That’s something that’s been on my heart.

I think the book has definitely changed me because the receptiveness from a lot of Gen Z-ers saying that it’s something that gives them hope or even the way that I chose a rainbow on the front cover or some of my visuals are usually really happy in whimsical. I think people need to check on the kids. They’re not alright.

As someone who’s raising two kids who are Gen Alpha right now, I have a lot of the same concerns. The fact is even the schools are putting on plays that are featuring environmentalism as a topic. They’re integrating creativity and their exploration and understanding of the challenges we face. I think that is really where we need to focus because we’re going to need creative solutions like that’s flat out where we need to keep our minds.

Understanding Rewilding As An Ecological, Personal, And Cultural Restoration

I think through writing and through expression, more people will help things along those ways. I agree. Now you’ve been speaking out more about rewilding, which is one of my favorite topics and I would love for you to talk about ecological restoration as a personal and cultural restoration. How do you define rewilding?

I love this. I’m also talking to a friend of mine at the organization Rewild after this. I think it’s what’s giving me hope. I never really knew that I would get to this place where it seems like conservation and restoring lands and culture would be my main focus lately. As She Rises, this latest season was all about rewilding. Even going through the scripts for those episodes, I walked away feeling so joyful and it just made me better understand why we need more of a reciprocal relationship with the land. So many of the stories that are featured throughout the podcast feature women who are doing incredible things to restore the earth. It’s just so cool.

One of the episodes, people just put a ton of oysters in the water in New York and it’s such a beautiful thing. There was a lovely couple that had buckets of rocks that they were dumping into the ocean, into the sea and that ended up saving their community and it doesn’t get washed away into the ocean or an episode on Agroforestry.

I think I got into this because I was a park ranger when I was in college. I did two summers where I was interning at national historic sites and one of those sites was called Nicodemus. It was a town of less than 100 people, but it’s the first town west of the Mississippi that freed African Americans went to after slavery to start their own town. They were living in dugouts at one time and there was a church and a post office.

When I was there, I was there to retell the cultural history and restore the land and show people that Black history is environmental history and it’s quite literally in the soil because people were living in dugouts so they were sleeping there and building their home and building their towns and things like that.

When it comes to rewilding, I think part of it, like you mentioned earlier, is restoring the land and showing that it’s possible to live in alignment with the earth and simple nature-based solutions like reintroducing oysters to pump out pollution or again, a bucket of rocks to save a coastal community or agroforestry. These are things that can have success stories and show that another future is possible. Part of that is also reviving the cultural history of the indigenous communities that are also a part of that story or the various other communities that might be a part of an environmental story.

What’s In Store For The Newest Season Of As She Rises

Wildcrafted herbs and things along those lines, we’ve been doing this for as long as man has existed. I think embracing that is something we can all benefit from. Thank you. Now, with the newest season of As She Rises, it weaves climate narratives and poetry in a very powerful way. What stories or themes anchor this season that you feel most connected to?

I think oftentimes, in the environmental space, I hear a lot about individual action versus systems change. Sometimes, pitting those two things together or even lately, I’ve been hearing a lot of dialogue of people saying things like, “It’s all a sham. My individual actions don’t matter. The systems need to change,” this pessimistic attitude, which I completely understand. Sometimes things do feel really hopeless.

In this season, again, it just shows you when well-intentioned people sometimes with no environmental background at all, just decide to do something slightly differently and the tremendous impact that can have. For example, one of the episodes that I had mentioned, there’s this lovely couple where they decided to start dropping rocks essentially into the sea. It’s because the city wasn’t doing it. That’s what happens sometimes with environmentalism in small towns.

You might think that little parking lot over there would be a great space for a community garden or like garden plots or what if we just had more trees? The theme of the season is what happens when people say, “I think I can actually do that. Even if I don’t have support, I’m going to try to figure it out.” This season, my favorite theme that really flew throughout it was, what happens when individuals realize that they’re powerful?

Sometimes, in that moment, they don’t even feel powerful, but they just decide to do something a little differently and experiment. Sometimes they might fail. Overall, I just think that people are rewarded when they try to do a little good for their community and it just shows you how powerful we are as individuals and not to put individual action.

Not to put that against systems change, but for people to realize if we’re all individually doing things and even doing things that match our skillset and things that we’re naturally talented at and we apply that to the movements that we care about, that’s actually how we see systems change. I think they’re really lovely stories. In one of the episodes, you might cry a little bit. I won’t have a spoiler for that one, but I really enjoyed this season and the feminist themes throughout as well in the poetry.

Supporting And Strengthening Local Environmental Organizations

I’d like to integrate another question from Semester at Sea. There are so many communities impacted by environmental justice. What would you say is the best solution to making sure all of these communities are heard and supported globally? It’s a huge question. I still want to give love to the person who asked it like, “I feel you.”

Really just supporting the local grassroots environmental organizations in your community. I think when I started out and when I was in college, there was a lot of, “I’m the only one who feels this way.” I was in Orange County, so maybe in my classroom, but that probably wasn’t the case. There were probably other students if I started talking to them who also were like, “I think this is an important thing to talk about.” I just kept it to myself and I was really angsty and looking back at that time period, I felt so alone. You see that a lot when people are in college. They’re starting to learn things for the first time about the world and what they’re passionate about and their identity and it can feel really isolating.

I would encourage people to really find community because one of the beautiful things about the internet and social media, even though it feels few and far between, is that you can find community and you can find other people that care just as much as you do. I would encourage people to really get grassroots and find organizations in their community that are probably doing the work.

Think about your neighborhood and type in neighborhood environmental justice organization, really get familiar, get hyper-local with the issues that are in your community. Second, find the organizations that are doing the work. On intersectional environmentalists, we have an environmental equity database that people can check out. There’s also another organization called Catchafire that I really like. They post volunteer opportunities from nonprofits that might need everything from helping them with the marketing plan to helping them with the fundraiser, whatever it is.

Get really local. That’s the way to go. If we’re all strengthening our local environmental justice organizations and participating in mutual aid, that is going to lead to systemic change. Starting local, especially when, unfortunately, the federal government isn’t necessarily funding this work, I feel like it’s our responsibility as community members to find ways to fund or help grassroots initiatives and movements that are happening in our own community.

If we strengthen our local environmental justice organizations and participate in mutual aid, we will eventually achieve systemic change.

How Craft And Sustainability Go Hand-In-Hand

You might develop some amazing friendships on the way. In fact, I’m sure you will. Love that. I’d like to talk about your vision as we head forward. When you imagine the next decade, what does a more intersectional, rewilded, equitable environmental future look like to you?

I started a crafting club and I think the future is built on craft and craft and sustainability also go hand in hand. I realized I didn’t know how to sew or mend or all these different things, so I made the commitment to try to make things before I bought them. I started taking wood shop classes, sewing classes, learning how to make jam, milk, bread, all these sorts of things.

One, it makes me smile because it makes me think of my grandmother and my great-grandmother and the things that they were already doing and some of these skills that I seem to have lost along the way. I would encourage people to come back to that because sometimes, the most sustainable option, honestly, is taking the power into our own hands.

I don’t have to go shopping at a certain corporation if I can learn how to make some of these things myself or if I don’t know how to make it, I know a friend or an artisan that’s local in the community that knows how to make it. When I think about the future, I think an intersectional future would include crafting as a radical act and then also the basics, clean air, clean water, and hopefully, a safe and healthy living environment for everybody, which feels funny to even have that as a pie in the sky ideal. That’s where I’m at right now.

Educating People About Climate Through Music Festivals

Are there specific projects or dreams that are calling to you next?

I’ve been working at music festivals lately, trying to help them find ways to educate people about climate. I’m working on a project right now called Earth Calling, which is an extension of a music project I did called Earth Sessions. I’m curious to just better understand how culture can be a powerful tool to get people to engage with environment and equity at the same time. Not in a way where we just an artist has a concert and then we put up a video that’s like save the earth in the background.

Culture can be a powerful tool to get people to engage with the environment and equity at the same time.

Just understanding how these could be opportunities to maybe give away books or have panels at Coachella, which we experimented with. People talking about environmentalism and social justice. It’s not perfect. Sometimes we do things that might be a little corny, but I do think that is something I’d like to explore a little bit more, how music can be a powerful vehicle for positive change.

I’ve seen even concerts that have been put on purely to support Earth and Brian Eno being involved with projects where he brings all sorts of collaborative musicians together to have 1% of all proceeds go to the planet. I think there are bound to be more of those. One of those creators featured our show and a song they created called Drop in the Bucket. That’s Donna Grantis. She was a guitarist who worked with Prince when he was still alive. She’s really phenomenal. I’ll send you that episode as perhaps a little bit of inspiration because I think it was just phenomenal. I was so honored to be a part of that project.

Do Not Forget To Take Care Of Yourself

I personally would embrace anything like that again and again. If anybody reading has some collaborative ideas that they want to explore, I’m here too. I’m sure, Leah, that your doors are open through social channels. If people wish to connect with you, they can. Are there any other closing words you want to offer?

I would tell people to really take care of themselves. Self-sustainability is part of the equation, and that also leads to community sustainability and planetary sustainability. In this moment right now, I think a lot of people are trying to figure out, “What do I do next? What do I vote for? What do I do? How do I survive?” I want to tell people to remember that self-care needs to be a part of that equation or even just having time to process the collective grief that I feel like many of us are experiencing. Also, to not shy away from those emotions, whether their anger or sadness, because processing them is a step in the direction that we have to go in to hopefully get out of this mess.

Thank you so much, Leah, for joining me. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this conversation and I appreciate your ongoing work. I hope that you’ll consider coming back in the future to have deeper conversations. Hats off to you for keeping the journey going and for inspiring so many. Thank you.

Thank you.

—

Episode Wrap-up And Closing Words

As we close, I want to acknowledge our cause partner, Prescott College. Through Care More Be Better, we provide monthly support to help advance their mission of sustainability, education and environmental leadership to learn more or join me in supporting their work. Please visit CareMoreBeBetter.com/support.

I should also tell you that Dr. Emily Affolter, who is abroad now with Semester at Sea and those 27 students, she is the chair for the PhD program in Sustainability Education at Prescott College. I’m involved there. I’m pursuing my PhD in Sustainability Education. It’s a phenomenal program, amazing individuals and all of them just as heart-centered as those people like Leah Thomas, who we just featured on the show.

Her book, I believe, is required reading. It’s an exceptional audiobook, too. If you don’t have time to read, I believe it’s about 4 hours and 10 minutes and you can get it on Audible or wherever you prefer to listen. Many libraries will also have copies available. If you don’t have the funds to spend, you can always research that. Use a free library app. I use Libby and download it as it’s available to give it a listen. You could read it on your Kindle or do it that way, too.

With the cost of things continuing to rise that are required for daily living, looking to those avenues and offering support is always a very strong and viable option. It’s not too late or hard to get involved. If you have something that’s inspiring you, just start with a simple task local in your community, in some way in which you feel you can be a part of the change.

I want to again thank Leah for spending time with us, for sharing her wisdom, her creativity, and her generosity. All of you, thank you, now and always, for being a part of this show and this community because together, we can really do so much more. We can care more, we can be better. We can create a better future that we all want to live in. We can even rewild our communities and restore the connections to Earth that truly do sustain us all. Thank you.

Important Links

• Leah Thomas
• As She Rises
• Minisode: Introducing Paul Hawken + Regeneration
• Creating A Spark In Climate Activism Through Music With Donna Grantis
• Leah Thomas on LinkedIn
• Leah Thomas on Instagram
• The Intersectional Environmentalist