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Now Playing | Produced in the year 2007, a photographic essay realized in recognition of the indigenous roots, portrayed twelve adolescents belonging to Eleutério do katu, RN Brasil. Twelve years later the photographer returns to Katu in search of these protagonists, now adults, to know about his personal trajectories and his world views.

CNN published the story of a U.S. family that moved to Costa Rica, and it changed their lives completely. Kema Ward-Hopper and Nicholas Hopper decided to get married in the Central American nation, and years later, they made the decision to permanently relocate. Now, they live in one of Costa Rica’s blue zones, an area […] The post US Family Finds New Life in Costa Rican Blue Zone appeared first on The Tico Times | Costa Rica News | Travel | Real Estate.

Several family-friendly events, many of which are free, are being held around the Houston region before, on and after Earth Day, which is Monday.

A seemingly idyllic place to raise a family turns into a nightmare for Wisconsin residents whose water supply was contaminated by PFAS, Richelle Wilson reports.

Past Presentation | Story of a gopher tortoise who became lost in a development of homes, and the family who befriended him and helped him back to nature.

The EPA recently set new limits on the toxic chemicals used to make everything from nonstick pans to firefighting foam. Here’s how to protect yourself and your family.

Soil bacteria use proteins to power nanowires, forming an underground electrical grid that supports life and impacts methane emissions. To “breathe” in an environment without...

A new species and genus of fairy lantern, tiny glass-like white plants that feed on fungi, has been discovered in Japan. In the country renowned...

Past Presentation | Daniel Balima is a senior horticulturist from Tenkodogo, a small Sub-Saharan African town in Burkina Faso, where he lives with his large family and has worked since he was born 67 years ago. Daniel as a child falls ill with polio and, although growing without the use of his legs, he is able to follow his father in the family nursery, walking on his hands. He works immediately with great passion and talent so much that his disability, which for many in Africa means a marked destiny, is for Daniel an opportunity: "I could take two paths: begging or taking my life in hand and devoting myself to work with dignity." Daniel has chosen and won this great challenge and, every day, he sows and cultivates with great effort and gratitude many vegetables and plants. In over fifty years of activity he has given life to more than a million trees and this is what is most important for Daniel because, as he tells us, his country, because of the drought, needs many trees and does not stop, on the contrary, he dreams of planting another million.

The winning photographs capture moving moments in the midst of tumultuous global events

Now Playing | Twenty minutes outside of Visalia, amidst the seemingly endless rows of citrus trees, Yolanda Cuevas packs enchiladas with shredded chicken for her husband Benjamin, their adult daughters and two teenaged grandchildren in her modest single-story home. Their house is the first one off the main drag, one of 83 lining the two crumbling roads that comprise the tiny town of Tooleville. Yolanda must wash the tomatoes for the salsa first in the sink and then again with a splash of clean water from a 5-gallon jug. The process is arduous, and though she’s resigned to do it, she’s not happy about it. Along with Tooleville’s several hundred other residents, Yolanda’s family has survived on bi-weekly delivery of water to their homes for the past 12 years. It’s an annoyance for the family, and it’s expensive for the State of California, which has been paying for the replacement water since the discovery of Chromium-6 (the same chemical featured in Erin Brokovich) in the water. The simpler solution would be to consolidate the town’s water system with that of its larger, affluent neighbor to the west, Exeter. And for this purpose, Yolanda has become a reluctant activist, attending community meetings in Tooleville and lobbying for consolidation at Exeter’s city council meetings under the expert guidance of Pedro Hernandez, an organizer with the Leadership Counsel. While Exeter has resisted the consolidation since it was first proposed, organizers like Pedro feel that this could be the year Exeter finally succumbs to the growing community pressure and brings Tooleville into the fold. The decision will echo around the Central Valley and across the state, as hundreds of similar community water systems find themselves in a nearly identical predicament.

Cinema Verde presents an interview with Casey Beck the director of "The Great Divide." Twenty minutes outside of Visalia, amidst the seemingly endless rows of citrus trees, Yolanda Cuevas packs enchiladas with shredded chicken for her husband Benjamin, their adult daughters and two teenaged grandchildren in her modest single-story home. Their house is the first one off the main drag, one of 83 lining the two crumbling roads that comprise the tiny town of Tooleville. Yolanda must wash the tomatoes for the salsa first in the sink and then again with a splash of clean water from a 5-gallon jug. The process is arduous, and though she’s resigned to do it, she’s not happy about it. Along with Tooleville’s several hundred other residents, Yolanda’s family has survived on bi-weekly delivery of water to their homes for the past 12 years. It’s an annoyance for the family, and it’s expensive for the State of California, which has been paying for the replacement water since the discovery of Chromium-6 (the same chemical featured in Erin Brokovich) in the water. The simpler solution would be to consolidate the town’s water system with that of its larger, affluent neighbor to the west, Exeter. And for this purpose, Yolanda has become a reluctant activist, attending community meetings in Tooleville and lobbying for consolidation at Exeter’s city council meetings under the expert guidance of Pedro Hernandez, an organizer with the Leadership Counsel. While Exeter has resisted the consolidation since it was first proposed, organizers like Pedro feel that this could be the year Exeter finally succumbs to the growing community pressure and brings Tooleville into the fold. The decision will echo around the Central Valley and across the state, as hundreds of similar community water systems find themselves in a nearly identical predicament. Our full catalog of video interviews and streaming films is available to members at cinemaverde.org.

Past Presentation | The history of humanity and of our planet in four minutes. An eco-friendly statement developed in a single shot that has it all: humor, action and tragedy.

Now Playing | An experimental short film from Iran.

Past Presentation | This episode looks at a range of sustainable practices young Edmontonians are engaged in to bring local, healthy and delicious food to local tables. Host Paula Humby plants an apple tree.

Now Playing | A boy is watching a soccer game on TV and gets so excited he forgets he’s in the middle of a haircut. Oops!

Past Presentation | “Now, I think I'm the coolest of the creatures in the sea but sometimes it's confusing - even just for me! 'Cause I'm a little polyp - maybe not what you call 'hip.' They named me a 'cnidarian' - who knows, but some librarian??”

Now Playing | A young girl trying to get to school on time… but sometimes you need to stop and pick a pomegranate! Right?!

Now Playing | A man and his daughter are used to living in harmony and peace with nature, but some disruptions change their lovely little life.

Now Playing | Jenny goes out for a drink with a polar bear, and they hit it off. But can they solve the bigger problems the world faces?

Past Presentation | Year after year, family members of an indigenous ethnic group of Huicholes, from the Sierra Madre of Nayarit and Jalisco, leave their communities with their entire families to work as tobacco laborers. Including pregnant women and children, they live at the tobacco fields and are exposed continuously to chemicals that cause many chronic and serious illnesses.

Now Playing | Our garbage accumulates and gives life to a plastic monster. We wish his reign to be short. It is probably time to think over how we produce and consume to pollute less.

Past Presentation | A joyful film about connecting to the land and the community. Produced over 4 years it follows the Salatins, a 4th generation farming family who do ‘everything different to everyone else’ as they produce food in a way that works with nature, not against it. Using the symbiotic relationships of animals and their natural functions, they produce high quality, nutrient-dense products.

Past Presentation | In 1974 the Dolores Cyclone flooded the town of Charco Redondo and its inhabitants were forced to go into exile and found a new community. Four decades later, the Salinas Tello, an afromestizo family, lets us enter their privacy, while preparing the town's patronal celebration. Through them, we learn about their daily lives and “They made us the night” draws a sketch about their identity, marked by tonales, devils and cyclones.

Now Playing | In Sierra Maestra, Cuba, José Manuel explains to his granddaughter Malena his world view through deep knowledge of natures' mysteries. Plants and people have great resemblances and must respect each other. José Manuel hopes that Malena inherits the knowledge that he obtained from the father and she becomes a great mountain tree.

Now Playing | A man who lives alone on his island goes on an unknown journey caused by the rising ocean. After witnessing a catastrophe on the way, he finds hope again with other people. But when the ocean rises again, this time he makes an unexpected decision to another unknown.

Good morning, Inequality Insights readers. I’m CalMatters reporter Wendy Fry.  This week we have two essential stories from our California Divide team that you won’t want to miss.  Reporter Justo Robles reported that the state is considering zeroing out funds for the CalWORKS family stabilization and job subsidy programs to help balance the budget.  He […]

Past Presentation | Mountain Man is a social issue documentary that chronicles, in verite style, Joel's struggle to find a balance between an obligatory fast paced Orange County lifestyle and the natural beauty in Orange County and the greater Southern California area that goes seemingly unnoticed. This short documentary follows the ebbs and flows of Joel's work in Naturalist for You. He struggles to attract participants but also experiences the triumphs of fostering inspiration. He struggles to support his family, while also maintaining a constant dedication to his organization.

Now Playing | A little girl lives in a village with her mother where water sources are dwindling by day. Drought effects her imagination, even her doodles and drawings. Not only people but the nature struggles with the unrelenting aridness. This little girl though, never loses hope. She tries to do as best she can, sacrificing from herself for her beloved nature.

Now Playing | A look at the monumental problem of bird collisions in Chicago, the deadliest city for birds, just ahead of Houston and Dallas. According to scientists, what happens in Chicago can affect bird populations across North America. As many as one billion birds die each year in the United States due to building collisions, but there are people who care and work hard to change this.

Past Presentation | The Far Eastern, or Amur, leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) is one of the rarest subspecies of the cat family. Today the Far Eastern leopard is on the brink of extinction. With the example of Far Eastern leopard our film is discussing what is going on with biodiversity in the world, what are the key challenges humankind is facing today in this sphere. Are we facing sixth extinction? And what are the key features of humankind which can help to avoid that?

In 2021, when Keisha Lance Bottoms, then Atlanta’s mayor, revealed plans for a new $90 million police training facility, she told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that the project was essential “if we want the best, most well-trained officers protecting our communities.” Its classrooms, shooting range, and simulated city streetscapes would, according to the project’s website, help […]

Now Playing | Michael Bauch, a Long Beach resident and independent filmmaker, noticed that many of his local errands involved short rides which were less than three miles. In the summer of 2007 he and his family went to Amsterdam, to document the biking and walking culture that is so natural to the Dutch people. The film suggests that we in the U.S. re-examine our view of bicycles.

Now Playing | At the start of the pandemic, in 2020, my then nine-year old daughter began coming to my bed in the middle of the night — something she hadn’t done in years — and I returned to a practice of recording her dreams upon waking. This was a dream she had October 20, 2020 while still living in Brooklyn — before I took her — for her first time ever— to spend half the year living in St. Croix.

Now Playing | Too much stormwater can be a big problem! This educational stop-motion animation series illustrates the causes of - and solutions to - dirty stormwater runoff. Join the Drain Ranger team, including Engineer Betsy, Juniper, Sophia and Ben as they discover ways we can all help keep our lakes, rivers and streams clean. This is Video 4 of the four-part series, and is titled: Dirty Stormwater Runoff: Advanced Engineering Solutions

A new PBS documentary called "Poisoned Ground" tells their story. And a local activist shares how the actions of women across the country more than 40 years ago paved the way for her fight to clean up contaminated sites in Greater Houston.

Now Playing | The documentary tells the challenges of daily life of a young couple who left the city for life in the country, wanting to see their children grow up in a rural environment with a strong connection to nature. Marju Kivi, originally from Estonia, and Marco Gonçalves, Portuguese, are aware that moving to the countryside was a risky step, but they struggle daily to make their dreams come true.

Now Playing | Highlighting one of the coolest and most ambitious projects in the history of rare species conservation, this short film takes us to Kaua'i, Hawai'i, where a group of passionate plant people are working to save some of the rarest plants on the archipelago -- and tell us why we need a new generation of biodiversity lovers to help battle the extinction crisis.

Past Presentation | The Protectors of the Wood Adventure Series is an illustrated story of a group of teenagers who save the world from climate change. Phoebe comes home from college to discover shocking changes threatening Middletown, her familiar childhood home. A gigantic corporation already owns many local businesses, and is threatening to destroy the lands, legends, and heritage of her family and friends. Mysteries arise as Phoebe unravels the secrets in her small town and realizes that they are connected to a global conflict. Together, Phoebe and her group of friends risk their lives to save the beautiful world around them called home.

Past Presentation | Elephant Keeper is the story of an elder indigenous mahout who is adjusting to a new job in ecotourism in the remote jungles of Sainyabuli Province, Laos. Senior mahout, Mr. Tong, arrives at the Elephant Conservation Center (ECC) in search of work to support his family, and is paired with Mae Dok, the Center’s sweet and stubborn 60-year-old elephant matriarch. As he adapts to a new routine away from home, Mr. Tong finds a confidant in his elephant charge. The immersive contemplative nature of the cinematography allows the audience to feel present within the action and story in a complex narrative rich with visual metaphor and symbolism, exploring themes of Extinction & Conservation, Industrialization & Globalization, and Culture & Identity.

Now Playing | When Louise Coghill saw the first plume of smoke begin to rise behind her parents property, she could never have predicted that in less than four hours, it would become a wall of flames, swallowing everything in its path. A photographer by trade, Louise has travelled the world documenting everything from the nomadic wanderers of Mongolia, to base life at Mount Everest. Capturing the extraordinary comes naturally to Louise, so when her family home in the semi-rural Western Australian town of Gidgegannup became engulfed in flames, her first instinct wasn’t to take shelter, it was to pick up her camera.

Past Presentation | In the Spring of 2004,Madison, WI passed a law allowing single-family homes the right to raise poultry in the back yard. Previous to this law, poultry was allowed inside the home, but not outside. Coops were not permitted, nor was raising poultry inside the garage. Today it is legal to have 4 hens (no roosters) in a coop, no closer than 25' from the nearest neighbors living quarters. Butchering within the city limits is still not allowed. Mad City Chickens started out as a group of like-minded, pro-poultry people (also known as the "poultry underground"). Our aim is to educate the urban population on the benefits of raising ones own food, and to bring to light the misconceptions people might have about the raising of poultry in an urban setting.

Past Presentation | Before starting a family, the director, daughter of an industrial chemical distributor, embarks on a journey to find out the levels of toxins in her body and explores if she or anyone else can do anything to decrease toxins in the body. Soozie learned that hundreds of synthetic toxins are now found in every baby born in America, and the government and chemical corporations are doing little to protect citizens and consumers. With guidance from world-renowned physicians and environmental leaders, interviews with scientists and politicians, and stories of everyday Americans, Soozie uncovers how we got to be so overloaded with chemicals and whether we can control our exposure. Can we hit the reset button, or is it too late?

Now Playing | This Argentine production depicts the conscious and subconscious energies that each one of us has, which have the ability to influence others, ourselves, and our surroundings -- positively and negatively. We all have seeds from our past and it is up to us to work to make them conscious and transform them positively. Our energy can be passed on to others, to close ones, strangers and places with a strength that we do not realize. It is an invisible force, which we are not always aware we have or that it has the power of changing the world and its environment. It is up to individuals and human society to channel this energy to allow our future earth to be healthy and prosperous.

Past Presentation | This documentary shows the mammoth challenges being faced by the Ifugao in the globalisation age and asks whether it will be possible to maintain the unique rice terraces while also doing right by the young generation of Ifugao. Based on the story of a family from Banaue, the film shines a spotlight on the generation conflict within the Ifugao people. While the father still works as a rice grower, his son is a tourist guide in Banaue, taking visitors on tours of the rice terraces. In addition to this story, the film explores the various efforts being made to keep alive the unique cultural landscape and rich tradition of the Ifugao. As well as featuring the breathtaking landscapes of Hungduan or Batad, the film will include scenes from the Imbayah Festival in the Banaue at the end of April.

Past Presentation | After observing exceptionally abnormal rates of cancer in his Minden patients in the mid 1980s, Pakistani-born oncologist Dr. Hassan Amjad became the southern West Virginian town’s greatest champion, advocating fiercely for recognition of the persistent risk to human health caused by carcinogenic PCBs left from the mining industry. Some thirty-five years and three EPA clean-up attempts later, Minden remains largely ignored even as its population has dwindled from over 1200 to just under 250. When Hassan passes from a massive heart attack at the age of 70, his unsuspecting daughter Ayne, also a physician, inherits his decades-long advocacy efforts overnight. Grief-stricken but spurred by her father’s mandate to “help others” at all costs, Ayne hatches an ambitious plan to relocate the entire town to a 97-acre plot of land purchased by her late father as a retirement site. As she mobilizes allies in Minden and beyond, she is surprised to discover that her biggest challenge is an attachment to home that makes the town’s most endangered residents reluctant to leave. When a global pandemic unexpectedly thrusts Ayne into a powerful state government position, she sees an opportunity to move past her stalled relocation efforts and expand her locus of impact well beyond Minden. Ironically, the more Ayne pours herself into this new role, the more distance she creates from her closest allies – the Minden activists that have been involved since her father’s work began some four decades earlier. What’s more, her new work requires that she abandon her private practice and her hopes for a family of her own, subsuming her identity almost completely. As pressures mount on all sides – the creeping sickness of Minden’s aging residents, the growing sense of futility around achieving meaningful change in the cancer-stricken town, and the never ending political stresses associated with working at the state level – Ayne enlists the help of her personal lawyer to build a class-action lawsuit against the EPA in a last-ditch effort to help. Minden’s activist residents bristle at the new attorney’s aggressive approach, and this partnership implodes in dramatic fashion when small town gossip leads to accusations of fraud. Left with few options, Ayne feels stuck between a deeply ingrained mandate to “help others” that is the legacy of her late father and the increasing realization that she is sacrificing her own life in an attempt to do so. With the cathartic acknowledgment that her father’s death continues to haunt her, she must choose between her sense of duty and her own happiness. IMPOSSIBLE TOWN shows us tireless social and environmental struggle through the eyes of a cast of characters that complicate common rural Appalachian stereotypes. Dr. Ayne Amjad alone is a study in contrasts: a devout Republican with a strong activist bent, a daughter of immigrants who is a pillar of her largely white community, and a wealthy physician-turned-public-servant who spends her time advocating for her disenfranchised and low-income neighbors. With Ayne and the rest of our cast, nothing is as it seems. In addition to adding to the breadth of stories about how environmental catastrophes disproportionately affect the poor, IMPOSSIBLE TOWN has much to say about our complex relationships with home – the connections we form with the places we’re from, and the difficulty we have in letting go of those places, even when they’re killing us. Through the ambitions of Ayne and other Minden activists, the film explores the persistent modern American fantasy that complex issues are best solved through singular heroes and miracle solutions rather than the decidedly grittier work of slow and patient social, political, and legal exercises. Most poignantly, IMPOSSIBLE TOWN is an ode to the way we commune with our parents long after they’ve left this plane, their aspirations and legacies lighting our paths to unanticipated destinations, their absence leaving a painful void in our lives that never fully heals.

Earlier this year, one of the nation’s most influential medical associations released a new set of guidelines for treating childhood obesity. And it nearly broke the internet. The recommendations, issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics for the first time in 16 years, say that pediatricians should stop taking a “watchful waiting” approach and instead […]

Past Presentation | Low Coal is an exploration of what it’s like to live with the coal industry. Telling the stories of activists and injured miners, Low Coal makes the case that strong and resilient Appalachian communities are paying a heavy price for the benefits to the region that the coal industry provides. This price is paid by the people in the areas around the mines, whether or not they have a formal relationship with the mining industry. The film profiles UMWA members who have worked to improve conditions in the deep mines, and shows what it was like for the community around the Upper Big Branch mine disaster. It also shows what it’s like for people who are having their family histories and communities destroyed by Mountaintop Removal. The film makes a strong effort to distinguish between purely profit-driven mine companies, like Massey Energy, and the individuals who are tasked with doing difficult, dangerous, and thankless work of mining coal.

Now Playing | "It's really hard being a fire family. Every day it's getting worse." -Brett, wife of Marin County Battalion Chief in California.Every day, Americans who live close to the land and sea face the dangers of climate change—from a firefighter in California, to a beekeeper in Arizona, to a climate refugee losing her home in Florida. The changing climate affects our food systems, water and way of life. These American families are in the trenches sacrificing everything while facing depression, PTSD, and suicide—collateral damage of a crisis unchecked. Award-winning filmmaker, Peter Goetz, captures America's faces and voices, shot in 2020 leading up to the presidential election. Goetz and the Biden campaign made history, producing the first national climate spot to run during a presidential election. But this film dives deeper into the American climate crisis to explore the lives of the people who are sounding the alarm, worried about their grandchildren’s future, asking, "If not us, then who?" This is a story of the resilience, perseverance, and ingenuity of the American people. Ever hopeful, they collectively take on a common enemy. As the young, Navajo solar visionary Brett Issac insists, "We've got to turn this train around before it's too late."

The truth behind some of the most expensive “certified humane” milk in the country

Manske runs conventional crop operations in Iowa and Minnesota, including managing a 1,000-acre family farm in northern Iowa, and primarily plants a rotation of corn and soybeans. Because corn requires nitrogen fertilizer to grow, Manske is concerned that further consolidation of the fertilizer industry will drive his input prices up more. “It’s kind of like, […] The post An Iowa Fertilizer Plant Purchase Spurs Antitrust Concerns appeared first on Civil Eats.

Court finds in favour of group of older Swiss women who claimed weak policies put them at greater risk of death from heatwavesWeak government climate policies violate fundamental human rights, the European court of human rights has ruled.In a landmark decision on one of three major climate cases, the first such rulings by an international court, the ECHR raised judicial pressure on governments to stop filling the atmosphere with gases that make extreme weather more violent. Continue reading...

Food sources are dwindling in the Canadian lagoon where the 2-year-old killer whale, named by local First Nations people, has been stranded since last month.

In southeast Michigan, Jason Grostic's family farming dream was shattered by PFAS contamination in biosolids used on his farm, raising concerns about regulatory gaps and the need for more stringent testing. Teresa Homsi reports for Harvest Public Media. In short: Jason Grostic's farm was shut down due to PFAS contamination from biosolids, highlighting a widespread issue with these chemicals in agriculture. Michigan, despite extensive PFAS investigations, is among the few states testing biosolids, while others wait for federal guidance. Grostic is suing for damages, as he faces bankruptcy, underscoring the personal and economic toll of environmental contamination. Key quote: “We're still putting PFAS into lots of products that are making their way into our wastewater and being concentrated in biosolids." — Shelley Megquier, Maine Farmland Trust Why this matters: Biosolids are the nutrient-rich organic materials resulting from the treatment of domestic sewage in a treatment facility. While they can be beneficially used as fertilizer or soil amendments to improve soil health and reduce the need for chemical fertilizers, their potential to contain PFAS has raised environmental and health concerns. The concern with PFAS in biosolids is that these substances can accumulate in the soil and then potentially leach into groundwater or be taken up by plants, entering the food chain.

From the waning shrimping industry to the national emergency no one's talking about to climate change erasing Black cemeteries in the South — these are the five stories you should be reading this Earth Day.

Writers, artists, photographers and researchers share the stories behind the stories

The step follows an extraordinary move that requires utilities to reduce the levels of carcinogenic PFAS compounds in drinking water to near-zero.

More than a third of the Navajo Nation lacks running water. As the tribe nears a pact with Arizona over water rights, a California nonprofit looks to help.

Nine states this week sued the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over a rule that makes publicly traded companies disclose some climate-related information to potential investors. The lawsuit, led by the state of Iowa, comes after 10 states separately sued the SEC over the rule last week. The rule in question requires publicly traded companies...

The largest and most comprehensive studies of ‘Havana Syndrome’ point to stress or group psychology as likely explanations for most “anomalous health incidents”