This book is narrated by Ivan, a gorilla who was captured as a baby in Africa and has lived much of his life in a mall, a living exhibit for humans to gape at through glass walls. Ivan pretty much accepts his lot in life, until he meets Ruby, a baby elephant taken from her family (as he was taken from his).

The book is fiction, but is inspired by a real-life gorilla who spent nearly 30 years without seeing another of his kind. And although the book was written for middle-grade students, it has gotten rave reviews by older kids and adults as well.

The One and Only Ivan addresses a variety of issues, from animals in captivity, to compassion, to what makes us human, to the inconsistent relationships we have with other animals.

Check out reviews like this one for more about the book.

Have you read the book? What did you think?

~ Marsha

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Each week we round-up the news you need to know about humane issues, from human rights and environmental preservation, to animal protection, to media and culture, to activism, education, and changemaking.

“The global afterlife of your donated clothes” (via NPR) (5/21/13)

“Buying clothes from hell? Who bears the ethical responsibility for preventing future sweatshop catastrophes?” (commentary) (via Ethics Newsline) (5/20/13)

Amazon deforestation rate has jumped 88% in the last year (via Mongabay) (5/18/13)

Study says Senate support for environmental protection decreases when unemployment is high (via Conservation) (5/17/13)

New survey says teachers endorse social emotional learning, but lack resources, priority (via Education Week) (5/15/13)

Study says “driving boom is over” (via GOOD) (5/15/13)

“Why isn’t New Orleans Mother’s Day parade shooting a ‘national tragedy’?” (commentary) (via The Guardian) (5/15/13)

Researcher decoding complex prairie dog language (via Treehugger) (5/14/13)

“America’s first climate refugees” (via The Guardian) (5/13/13)

“How kitty is killing the dolphins” (via Scientific American) (4/29/13)

Make a Video Pitch – Be Part of the Conference!

Image courtesy jdn/Flickr.

No, I’m not talking about the stuff that we don’t need or want. We should definitely chuck that out the first chance we get (to a thrift store or a friend or the recycle bin, as appropriate). I’m talking about stuff that we need and want and use and find ourselves needing (or wanting) to replace.

Steeped in consumer culture, almost before we are born, we’re used to upgrading, replacing, and buying new stuff – new computers every couple years, new cars every few years, new clothes, new appliances, new gadgets. All that out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new not only contributes to the destruction of the planet and the suffering of people and animals, but it costs money that we don’t need to spend. And that’s an important factor in today’s economy.

My husband and I make an effort to extend the life of our stuff.

We had our Geo Metro car for more than 17 years before we had to replace it (with a used car). My first laptop lasted for more than six years. We took good care of both to help them last longer, and when the hard drive on my laptop blew, I replaced the hard drive, rather than get a whole new system (even though I wanted one).

We still use the plates and silverware we received as a wedding gift almost 28 years ago. We repair our clothes (or just live with the holes) until they’re too worn to wear, and then we turn what we can into rags or dog toys or whatever we can think of. We get our shoes repaired at a store down the street. A few years ago we refurbished our 19 year-old bikes, instead of getting new ones (though we recently replaced them and sold our old ones cheap to someone else, since they still have some use in them). My husband bought an off-brand mp3 player several years ago and happily eschews all the suggested upgrades, the original providing just what we needs. We bought a vacuum cleaner at a big box store more than 10 years ago; it was supposed to last for 3. When it finally died we replaced it with a repairable vacuum. We try to get good stuff (when we can afford it), and then wring every bit of usefulness out of it that we can, before we have to replace it.

Of course, we’re not always successful. Sometimes we’re lured by shiny new things that we’re sure will reduce our stress or add more happiness to our lives. And some things break well before their time, with no good replacement options. The point is that we strive to be mindful in our choices and creative in our reuses.

For those of us wanting to decrease our negative impact on the planet and others, there are plenty of opportunities to reuse, mend, maintain, and extend the stuff that we all have, so that we don’t have to spend the money or resources to replace it quite so soon. We can also practice a little delayed gratification when the marketers try to woo us with their must-have gadgets and ways of making us think their products will make our lives easier or better.

Experiment. Take something that still works that you’ve been meaning to replace, and see if you can’t make it work for you a little longer. Then try it with something else. The planet — and your pocket book — will thank you.

~ Marsha

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Image courtesy of jeff_golden/Flickr.

In a previous post, “Hold the Straw, and Other Tips for a Humane and Sustainable Life,” I wrote about my frustration every time I receive a straw in my glass of water at a restaurant. I just can’t understand why restaurants would choose to use a single-use, petroleum-based product that becomes trash in minutes, especially when they are wholly unnecessary and cost money, time, and effort. It just seems like such a lose-lose decision.

At one local restaurant where I eat periodically, they bring water with a straw so fast that I often don’t have time to request my water sans straw before it’s in front of me at the table. I’ve gotten into the habit of asking the server to please hold the straw before I’m even seated.

Recently, the server happened to be an environmental advocate herself, and not only did she hold the straw when I explained why I’d asked, she decided that she would hold the straw from now on with every table. And then she informed the kitchen of her decision.

I loved that. By using my voice, I created an immediate system change. So simple.

So use your voice. You’d be surprised at how quickly you can make a difference.

~ Zoe

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm; Above All, Be Kind; and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDxDirigo talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“
My TEDxYouth@CEHS “How to Be a Solutionary”

Continue the conversation! Leave your comment below, and “like” and share this post via your social media sites.

I noticed that you have begun discussing the problems facing planet earth, such as (list examples here, e.g., pollution, habitat destruction, overpopulation).

Wonderful! You are beginning to use your thinking skills to reflect on the impact of humanity’s choices and ways you can make choices that do more good and less harm.

In these two boxes are animals for you to observe. I hope they will help you to figure out more about what is happening to Earth and why. Be very careful with the animals in these boxes and DON’T let the animal in box #1 get out! In that box is the most dangerous animal in the world! 

The animal in box #2 is a wonderful animal. When you know more about her (or him) you can introduce her to everyone you know. This is the most powerful animal in the world!

Starting with your teacher and with box #1, look inside the boxes, one by one.  Pass them around very carefully and quietly, so as not to disturb either of them.

Thanks for trying to do something to save beautiful planet Earth.

Love,

The Universe

So begins The World’s Most Powerful Animal,  a humane education lesson for elementary school students exploring the positive and negative impacts our choices have on the planet and how we are both the most dangerous and most powerful animal.

The lesson uses the mystery of a letter from the universe and two boxes with intriguing labels to spark students’ curiosity and begin the exploration of the power we have to do both good and harm.

After the “hook” opening, students then explore the choices humans make and which ones hurt or help people, animals, and the earth.

At the end of the lesson, students focus on ways they can be solutionaries (by choosing one powerful action they can take to help the planet and everyone on it).

As an extension, students can create pictures of themselves as the world’s most powerful animal. They can make their drawing/artwork as imaginative or as real as they want (older students might prefer another medium). Then they can make a list of some of the things this powerful animal (them) does now — and especially things they promise to try to do to help the planet, other species, other people, etc.

The World’s Most Powerful Animal is one of our most downloaded activities! Enjoy!

Download the complete activity.

~ Marsha

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One of the beavers swimming by.
Image copyright Edwin Barkdoll.

Pleasure is so seductive, so desirable. Even the word itself is somewhat onomatopoeic. Who would eschew pleasure?

Virtually all of us, at least some of the time.

We may say no to pleasures that carry a heavy price, such as gambling or unprotected sex. We may forego the pleasure of foods that are produced through cruelty to animals, or reject certain forms of entertainment, such as cruise ships, that come at the expense of the environment.

But most of us still seek out pleasure, often as a reward for our hard work, our completion of chores, and for many of us, our activism. And there’s nothing wrong with doing so.
But what we sometimes forget is that the time we lavish on pursuing pleasure might sometimes be better spent pursuing joy.

What’s the difference between pleasure and joy?

Pleasure is time-bound and fleeting; joy suffuses our whole being and often becomes integrated into our personality, accessible even in challenging times. Pleasure is often the direct result of sensory stimulation; joy may well from the inside out. Pleasure often comes without any connection to others (for example, when watching a favorite TV show); joy often carries a deep connection not only with other people, but with other species and the earth itself. Pleasure doesn’t usually lead to a desire to give, but joy often inspires generosity and acts of goodness.

Recently, I made a conscious decision to pursue joy over pleasure.

We saw thousands of mosquito larvae.
Image copyright Edwin Barkdoll.

My husband and I had worked most of the weekend cleaning up after a leak in our basement created a big mess. We were both tired by Sunday afternoon and would have been happy to pursue a bit of pleasure by taking a short walk with the dogs, eating a good dinner and watching a movie on Netflix. Instead, we chose to pursue joy. We headed to the wilderness—land nearby called Otter Bog—where we go to experience the mysterious, amazing, ever-changing natural world. It was a glorious, sunny late afternoon, and the Lyrid meteor shower would be peaking early the next morning.

After a hike with the dogs, we sat at the bog, which surrounds a 13-acre pond, to wait for the beavers who usually arrive at dusk. Sure enough, two huge beavers were gnawing on sticks (as we ate sandwiches for dinner) before entering the water to glide by (see the photo above). We watched a pair of Bufflehead ducks and saw a Bald Eagle and an osprey. We were serenaded by the sounds of tiny frogs called Spring Peepers. Their peeps beckoned, and we decided to visit them. When we got to their boggy patch of reeds and water, the noise was deafening (watch this video). When our ears couldn’t endure the sound any longer, we continued to “Sometimes Pond,” a meadow gradually turning into a pond from beavers’ creating several dams along the stream that flows through it. We got to see those beavers, too, though barely, because by now it was dark.

salamander egg cases
Image copyright Edwin Barkdoll.

Our next destination was a vernal pool deep in the woods to see salamander eggs. Earlier in the week there were no egg cases, but there had been a warm, rainy evening a few nights later, and we felt confident there would be a few. What we didn’t expect was to see swarms of squirming mosquito larvae (see photo), thousands upon thousands of them. We discovered some salamander egg cases, too, gelatinous white globs that look like eyes (see photo). We were relieved to know that when they hatched, the salamander larvae would feast on the mosquito larvae.

We trekked back and slid into our sleeping bags. The alarm would be going off at 3:45 a.m., because I was intent upon watching the meteor showers. Later, as dawn broke, I was greeted by three kinds of warblers and watched a Hooded Merganser land on the pond. The beavers came by for a morning visit, too, before we left to go to work.

And while I slept little and fitfully, and shivered in the 25-degree morning for several hours, this was joy.

Such joy (coupled with wonder, reverence and awe) makes my commitment to work to protect this beautiful planet ever more fierce, which is why I bothered to write this long post. Without fierce commitment, we may be left only with this: a pursuit of pleasure that often comes—albeit unintentionally—at the expense of the natural world that sustains us all.

Our children are growing up with fewer and fewer opportunities to experience joy and wonder in their ultimate home—the earth—and more and more indulgences of pleasure (usually in the form of screen time) in what we call home: the buildings in which we reside. Without a connection to their ultimate home, and without experiencing the joy that comes from that connection, our children may grow up unwilling and unable to take the necessary steps to ensure that our planet remains healthy, and that other species thrive despite an ever-growing population of pleasure-seeking humans.

My message for today? Now and then, consider choosing joy over pleasure. Feed your fierce commitment to protecting life: yours and the generations of all species to follow.

~ Zoe

Zoe Weil, President, Institute for Humane Education
Author of Most Good, Least Harm; Above All, Be Kind; and The Power and Promise of Humane Education
My TEDxDirigo talk: “The World Becomes What You Teach“
My TEDxConejo talk: “Solutionaries”
My TEDxYouth@CEHS “How to Be a Solutionary”

Continue the conversation! Leave your comment below, and “like” and share this post via your social media sites.

“This is Water,” a video (9 min) featuring an excerpt of a commencement speech given by author David Foster Wallace,  offers some terrific insights on choice, mindfulness, awareness, and the real value of education.

Some of my favorite excerpts from Wallace’s speech:

“You get to consciously decide what has meaning and what doesn’t. That is real freedom. That is being educated and understanding how to think. The alternative is unconsciousness.”

“The most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about.”

“If I don’t make a conscious decision about how to think and what to pay attention to, I’m gonna be pissed and miserable. … Because my natural default setting is the certainty that situations like this are really all about me. … It’s the automatic way that I experience the boring, frustrating, crowded parts of adult life, when I am operating on the automatic, unconscious belief that I am the center of the world, and that my immediate needs and feelings are what should determine the world’s priorities.”

“Most days, if you’re aware enough to give yourself a choice, you can choose to look differently at [those around you].”

“If you’ve really learned how to think how to pay attention, then you’ll know you have other options.”

Use the video as an important reminder about paying attention, and as a springboard for discussion with others.

~ Marsha

Continue the conversation! Leave your comment below, and “like” and share this post via your social media sites.

Each week we round-up the news you need to know about humane issues, from human rights and environmental preservation, to animal protection, to media and culture, to activism, education, and changemaking.

Study says “people of color nearly invisible on evening cable news” (via Colorlines) (5/14/13)

Study shows it’s “not too late to reverse dramatic declines in biodiversity” (via Treehugger) (5/14/13)

“Big media, big bullying and what you can do about it” (commentary) (via New American Dream) (5/13/13)

Research says “nearly 2 of 3 children exposed to violence, crime, and abuse” (via Education Week) (5/13/13)

In wake of Bangladesh tragedies, some big retailers agree to plan to improve safety (commentary) (via NY Times) (5/13/13)

“Teens on a mission to SAVE the animals” (via Jakarta Globe) (5/12/13)

“Passion for animals spurs student to action” (via PressDemocrat.com) (5/12/13)

“Mom bloggers build a network for activism and change” (via Forbes) (5/12/13)

Kind-hearted Indian villages rescue baby elephant (via Treehugger) (5/9/13)

Group works to fill in gap on climate education in classrooms (via PBS) (5/7/13)

“The benefits of character education” (via The Atlantic) (5/6/13)

Writing down acts of kindness inspires students to do good (via NBC News) (5/6/13)

Neither we nor reporters usually delve into these studies and examine the details in depth. Who has the time?

We can’t put every scientific study we hear about under a microscope, but we can develop the critical thinking skills that will help us better assess the validity and relevancy of these studies and help students to do the same.

One thing we can do is consider the studies themselves. A recent AlterNet article, “6 Ways Scientific Studies Can Trick You,” highlights some of the tactics (sometimes intentional, sometimes not) that can affect the conclusion of a study, such as:

1. Start with a wrong assumption.

2. Throw out data you don’t like.

3. Set improper threshholds.

4.  Share findings that aren’t statistically significant.

5.  Design the study to get the desired results.

6.  All of the above.

Although we’re taught that science is an objective undertaking, the truth is that variables, data, and framing can be manipulated.

Dr. Ben Goldacre’s TEDx talk “Battling Bad Science.” is very helpful in demonstrating how evidence can be distorted and studies can be manipulated.

In fact, there are so many instances of manipulation, inaccurate information, errors, and even fraud and plagiarism occurring in scientific studies now, that websites like Retraction Watch have popped up to monitor and report on them.

Additionally, all of us, scientists and citizens alike, bring along our own biased lenses. Just one example:

For hundreds of years, the common practice (and common thought) has been to require conducting experiments on animals, and the belief that animal experiments are relevant and necessary to help humans. But recent research is causing some to begin questioning the validity of studies using animal testing (at least for testing the safety of chemicals), saying that:

“The results of these experiments challenge the longstanding scientific presumption holding that animal experiments are of direct relevance to humans. For that reason they potentially invalidate the entire body of safety information that has been built up to distinguish safe chemicals from unsafe ones. The new results arise from basic medical research, which itself rests heavily on the idea that treatments can be developed in animals and transferred to humans.”

These new studies themselves need to be evaluated, but the potential ramifications throw a whole lot of previously-accepted science into question.

And then there’s the way scientific studies are reported. As Gary Gutting mentions in a recent New York Times commentary:

“Media tend to present almost any scientific result they report as valuable for guiding our lives, with the entire series of reports accumulating a vast body of practical knowledge. In fact, most scientific results are of no immediate practical value; they merely move us one small step closer to a final result that may be truly useful. Too many news reports present experimental results as providing good advice on which we can reliably act.”

Gutting goes on to offer the idea of a labeling system for scientific reporting to help clarify the validity and importance of a study:

“Is it merely a preliminary result (a small-scale heuristic study meant to suggest a hypothesis that will itself require many stages of further testing before we have a reliable conclusion)?  Is it a larger-scale observational study (showing a correlation but by no means establishing a causal connection)?  Is it a large-sample randomized controlled test (establishing a causal connection, given specific conditions)?  Or, finally, is it a well-established scientific law that we know how to apply in a wide range of conditions?”

Scientific studies and their reporting offer a valuable opportunity to hone critical thinking skills and to remind us not to blindly accept what we read or are told. In fact, since science is wrapped in such a cloak of authority and credibility, it’s vital that we look beyond those news headlines and dive deeper into the details — and teach students to do the same.

~ Marsha

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