After the election, I had the good fortune to meet and work with activists for environmental and social justice. First, I attended a panel discussion of historic preservationists led by UMass professors, Max Page and Marla Miller. These folks are redefining the future of preservation as a tool to fight climate change and inequality. The second was the Board of Directors of the Building Materials Reuse Association who met in Chicago. This Board is a group of tool belt entrepreneurs, architects and organizers who reuse original materials from buildings and give it back to residents who reclaim their own whole communities.
I heard Max Page say, “We can’t build our way out of climate disaster, we have to preserve our way out of it.” And Anne Nicklin, CEO of the BMRA often calls us to envision and act to create a “world without waste.” That means no more throwaways of our great natural resources, including us people.
Ahead of us is the fair distribution of good wages and family-centered, community-focused work where women are equal in all fields. Ahead of us is saving our own local environments by stopping leaks in existing gas lines—not building new ones. Ahead of us is re-learning what democracy should look like---not giving our power over to bloated billionaires.
I heard Max Page say, “We can’t build our way out of climate disaster, we have to preserve our way out of it.” And Anne Nicklin, CEO of the BMRA often calls us to envision and act to create a “world without waste.” That means no more throwaways of our great natural resources, including us people.
Ahead of us is the fair distribution of good wages and family-centered, community-focused work where women are equal in all fields. Ahead of us is saving our own local environments by stopping leaks in existing gas lines—not building new ones. Ahead of us is re-learning what democracy should look like---not giving our power over to bloated billionaires.