A Renewed Focus 2026
Dear Partners in Green,
It has been awhile since I have written those words.
Unfortunately, the website was down due to the sudden death of Suzanne, the woman who designed the site, and guided me through what was a new terrain for me. Upon her death in December I considered just letting it go, wondering if it even made a difference, but I changed my mind — or my mind was changed for me — by the reality of the world we now inhabit, and the dire future those who are to follow will inherit.
And maybe not by chance I was directed to a new web person willing to take on the site, to update, refresh, and renew.
So here we are.
Much has happened in our world in the last few months; distressing is an understatement. But despite the war, the loss of life, and the devastation to our natural world, we are still consumers — or should I say we are still consuming.
The statistics are staggering.
In an article from the blog Change Climate Project titled The Case For Climate Action in 2026, I learned that globally about $60 trillion of economic activity is tied to consumers.
And the article reminds us that “where there is money there are emissions: the carbon from all the energy and raw materials to make, market and move, and use consumer products adds up to billions of tons, which is a substantial share of global emissions.”
And that the “emissions from the apparel industry alone are bigger than the emissions of all but five countries in the world. And the apparel slice makes up only three percent of the consumer economy pie.”
The intent of the article was to encourage businesses to turn away from fossil fuel and toward renewable energy, which I applaud, but it reminds me of the enormity of the “apparel slice.”
We must reduce, reuse, recycle. Shop your closet and maybe even your friend’s closet. And you can do it now, today.
You can make a difference, not only by what you do, but how you share what you are doing. Your caring may lead others to caring.
There is so much to distract us, but we are talking about life on this planet for those who will be inheriting it. We must be good stewards; the alternative is unthinkable.
An Encore…
Let Them Not Say
by Jane Hirshfield
Let them not say: we did not see it.
We saw.
Let them not say: we did not hear it.
We heard.
Let them not say: they did not taste it.
We ate, we trembled.
Let them not say: it was not spoken, not written.
We spoke,
we witnessed with voices and hands.
Let them not say: they did nothing.
We did not-enough.
Let them say, as they must say something:
A kerosene beauty.
It burned.
Let them say we warmed ourselves by it,
read by its light, praised,
and it burned.
Thank you for being on this journey.
Wishing peace and health to you
and your loved ones.
Till next time,
Beth
Copyright © 2017 by Jane Hirshfield. Originally published in Poem-a-Day on January 20, 2017, by the Academy of American Poets.
*Change Climate Project
Blog/Perspectives, The Case for Climate Action in 2026 Part 1
Austin Whitman, Feb. 26, 2026
