Kristina Haddad is our Wonder Guide for episode six. If you’re looking for some motivation, passion and commitment when it comes to the preservation and celebration of wild places look no further! If you’re looking for someone thoroughly versed in environmental activism and justice, you’ve come to the right place!
Kristina is currently the program director at the environmental non-profit organization, 7th Generation Advisors. And while this job alone would be enough she also is an actor, teacher and life-long lover of nature.
Our conversation ranges from the big redwood trees of Northern California to her work to protect the Santa Monica Bay from pollution. We talk about her one person show, Save Sheldon! which follows the journey of an environmental activist and her attempt to save an ancient tree.
We also take a deeper look at how environmental racism continues to harm and perpetuate disadvantaged communities, specifically people of color.
Kristina reminds us that we’re out of balance as a society in terms of our relationship to the environment (or her preferred term “nature”) but also shares specific actions we can take right now to preserve, protect and defend our planet.
In the Where Art Meets Nature segment, DJ Shark and I discuss the great Talking Heads song, Nothing But Flowers. Again, DJ Shark points out the magnificent subtleties of another song that has nature at its center.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2twY8YQYDBE
And DJ Shark can be found at his radio show, All Time is Now, http://www.alltimeisnow.com/All_Time_is_Now.html
In the There’s No Planet B segment Kristina and I look at two important non-profits doing magnificent work to empower communities and preserve forests. They are The Fund for Wild Nature and Sequoia Forest Keeper.
In the 3×3 Main Street Challenge we go to the glorious city of Juneau, Alaska. We start at the iconic restaurant The Hanger on the Wharf. They are across the street from Main Street in Juneau and their address is 2 Marine Way, Juneau, AK 99801.https://www.hangaronthewharf.com/ 3 minutes from there is the Mount Roberts Nature Center. https://www.stepintoalaska.com/about-us/mt-roberts-nature-center/
Less than 30 minutes away is the Mendenhall Glacier, https://www.alaska.org/detail/mendenhall-glacier-visitor-center
And if you get on the ferry in Juneau also known as the Alaska Marine Highway you can be in the great city of Haines and observe the thousands of American Bald Eagles there.
http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/aspunits/southeast/chilkatbep.htm
Like an Adam and an Eve
Waterfalls
The Garden of Eden
Two fools in love
So beautiful and strong
The birds in the trees
Are smiling upon them
From the age of the dinosaurs
Cars have run on gasoline
Where, where have they gone?
Now, it’s nothing but flowers
Now there are mountains and rivers
You got it, you got it
Now we got something for dinner
We got it, we got it
Now it’s all covered with flowers
You’ve got it, you’ve got it
I wish I had a lawnmower
You’ve got it, you’ve got it
I was an angry young man
And I’d pretend
That I was a billboard
Standing tall
By the side of the road
I fell in love
With a beautiful highway
This used to be real estate
Now it’s only fields and trees
Where, where is the town
Now, it’s nothing but flowers
The highways and cars
Were sacrificed for agriculture
I thought that we’d start over
But I guess I was wrong