Artificial intelligence holds the potential to drive sustainability, from optimizing energy systems to improving resource management and combating climate change. However, the environmental costs of AI cannot be ignored, including the energy demands of training large models and the impact of hardware production on natural resources. This session explores both the opportunities and challenges AI presents for sustainability.   Never miss a Get to Know AI Session, join the Get to Know AI Group & automatically receive an invitation to all sessions. Join the Get to Know AI Group Click Join Group at the top of the group page Originally published at ai.nd.edu.

Join us for thematic tours inspired by our solo temporary exhibition by Clarissa Tossin, entitled All That You Touch, You Change. These focused experiences in the galleries seek to more deeply consider works of art in light of one of three central themes that are interwoven through the Tossin exhibition: Indigeneity, the Environment, and the Cosmos. During the tour, participants will engage with works from the exhibition space as well as selected pieces from our permanent collection. Our goal is to foster a broader conversation about the connections between art, culture, and the world around us. These tours are designed to provide educational experiences that invite a nuanced understanding of the themes that shape Tossin’s work. Interwoven: Thematic Tour, Indigeneity Thursday, February 27, 5:00–6:00 pm Wednesday, March 6, 12:30–1:30 pm Interwoven: Thematic Tour, the Environment Tuesday, March 18, 11:00 am–12:00 pm Sunday, March 23, 2:00 pm–3:00 pm Interwoven: Thematic Tour, the Cosmos Tuesday, March 27, 3:30–4:30 pm Friday, April 11, 2:00–3:00 pm Originally published at raclinmurphymuseum.nd.edu.

Interested in waste talk? Join us for a conversation as staff members from the Building Services and Sustainability teams provide an inside look into the various waste collection processes undertaken at Notre Dame. Come prepared with questions; there will be a question-and-answer session at the end. This guest presentation is for students and is being delivered as part of a course on waste management. Additional students are welcome and invited, but you must register! The number of registrants will impact the lecture location. Registered students will be notified via email of the finalized on-campus location. Space is limited, so register with this link today!  

Doug Marsh, vice president for facilities design and operations and University architect at Notre Dame, has shaped the campus over his 30 years of leadership. With projects like Campus Crossroads, the Arts Gateway, and global academic centers, he has overseen a 55% campus expansion while advancing sustainability and safety initiatives. This lecture highlights his career, from guiding Notre Dame’s Campus Plan to leaving a lasting legacy of beauty, functionality, and innovation. Register Here. Originally published at architecture.nd.edu.

This is the first competition of a three year engagement with ND, University College Dublin and Strathmore University centered around the UN Sustainable Development Goals where each university selects two teams to represent their schools and pitch to win $2k in prize money for the most impactful ideas and innovations. This year, the focus is on Food Sustainability. The competition is open to all attendees. Originally published at ideacenter.nd.edu.

In honor of World Water Day, join the Notre Dame Environmental Change Initiative (ND-ECI) for an afternoon of service dedicated to our beautiful campus ecosystem. ND-ECI's annual lake clean-up will take place Friday, March 21, 2025 from 2:30-4:30 PM. Beginning at 2:30 PM, we will move around the lake gathering trash from the shoreline. We'll reconvene at the Plaza to enjoy refreshments and discuss the treasures found. Interesting finds from past years included a bowling ball, television, stop sign, and more! ND-ECI will provide the gear (gloves, bags) - you bring your goodwill and energy! Originally published at environmentalchange.nd.edu.

Sponsored by the Office of the Provost, Connections Series events are specially designed for faculty, staff, graduate students, and postdocs to strengthen our sense of community, highlight the work of interdisciplinary institutes, centers, and other academic units, and build a culture of scholarly connection across disciplines, colleges, and schools. This semester, the Office of the Provost will continue the Connections Series and its focus on the Strategic Framework, highlighting two of the University-wide initiatives, the Arts Initiative and the Just Transformations to Sustainability Initiative, and showcasing the research of the 2024 Strategic Framework Grant recipients. Each event will include a short program featuring a conversation or presentation and include the opportunity for Q&A as well as for fellowship and conversation with your colleagues. Drinks and food will be served. In order to plan accordingly, we ask that you please RSVP below.  RSVP  Connect with the Just Transformations to Sustainability InitiativeTuesday, March 254:30–6 p.m. 215/216 McKenna Hall Originally published at strategicframework.nd.edu.

Pope Francis has called upon all of us as individuals to care for our common home, and University President, Rev. Bob Dowd, C.S.C., has asked us to address the ever-important question, "What do we owe each other?". In a divided world that is rapidly facing the consequences of climate change, it is critical to learn from one another and draw inspiration in ways that lift all of us up and care for our precious earth. In honor of Global Call to Action and Earth Day, Notre Dame Global and Notre Dame Sustainability are asking the global campus community to answer the question: What do we owe each other to better care for creation? How can we heed the Pope's call to care for our common home? Please consider recording a short video of yourself answering this question. Submissions may be included in an official Global Call to Action video to be shared during Earth Month! We encourage you to speak in your native language. All videos will be subtitled.  Submissions are due March 28 and should be 30 seconds or less. Please email your video to green@nd.edu.

Earth Month will begin on April 1, 2025! If you're planning an event that coincides with Earth Month, let us know! We can share and help promote your event. Submit your event here

Join us for From Purpose to Profitability: The Sprint Turnaround Story. Learn how Dan Hesse '75 rebuilt Sprint’s corporate culture, mainstreamed sustainability before it was fashionable, prioritized service to customers, and publicly championed the need for business to embrace stakeholder capitalism. Register here Cosponsored by the Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership, the Institute for Social Concerns, and the Klau Institute.  Originally published at mckennacenter.nd.edu.

Ray Gindroz, co-founder and principal emeritus of Urban Design Associates, will explore innovative approaches to revitalizing inner cities through the transformation of public housing projects into vibrant, mixed-income neighborhoods. Drawing on over five decades of experience in urban design, affordable housing, and participatory planning, Gindroz will discuss the role of architectural pattern books, traditional neighborhood design, and policies that support sustainable urban development. This lecture will highlight case studies from his extensive work with Urban Design Associates, showcasing strategies for fostering economic growth, social equity, and community resilience in urban environments. AIA CE credit avalible. Register Here Originally published at architecture.nd.edu.

Join the Office of Sustainability for a walk around campus to experience the beauty of Notre Dame. Participants will learn about some of the sustainability initiatives and investments happening at the University that may otherwise go unseen! Only 20 spots are available, so don't wait to sign up! Register here for the tour.This event is open to the public and will be weather permitting. Please be prepared to wear comfortable shoes and clothes for walking. Unable to attend the tour in person? Experience it virtually.

Curious to know how our food scraps power a local farm? Join Notre Dame Sustainability for a tour of Homestead Dairy, where you'll meet the cows who are reaping the benefits of our dining halls' food scraps and learn about the Grind2Energy system that provides power, bedding, and fertilizer for the farm. Transportation to and from the farm will be provided. This event is limited to 10 people, so don't miss your chance to see this incredible facility! Register today with this link.

Get an intimate look at how Notre Dame sources its greens for Campus Dining. Nestled right here in South Bend, Pure Green Farms is an indoor hydroponic farm that grows crisp, leafy greens without pesticides and is never touched by a human hand. Lead grower Chris Johnson will provide a tour of the facility and discuss how their operations are shaping the future of sustainable farming practices.  Transportation to and from the farm will be provided.  This event is limited to 10 people, so don't miss your chance to see this incredible facility! Register today with this link.  Due to the nature of this facility, participants with mobility concerns may have limited access to parts of the farm.

Join the Office of Sustainability for a walk around campus to experience the beauty of Notre Dame. Participants will learn about some of the sustainability initiatives and investments happening at the University that may otherwise go unseen! Only 20 spots are available, so don't wait to sign up! Register here for the tour.This event is open to the public and will be weather permitting. Please be prepared to wear comfortable shoes and clothes for walking. Unable to attend the tour in person? Experience it virtually.

2025 marks the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis' landmark encyclical, Laudato Si'. Much remains to be done to implement the encyclical's radical vision of integral ecology, but that vision has made a definitive impact on the work to preserve our common home, achieve integral human development, and build peace. This panel will address ways in which the principles of integral ecology can be operationalized to continue moving such work forward through the next decade and beyond. Panelists: Moderated by Richard (Drew) Marcantonio, assistant professor of environment, peace, and global Affairs, Kroc Institute for International Peace StudiesRev. Emmauel Katongole, professor of theology and peace studies, Kroc Institute for International Peace StudiesJennifer Tank, the Ludmilla F., Stephen J., and Robert T. Galla Professor of Biological Sciences  Diogo Bolster, associate professor and the Frank M. Freimann Collegiate Chair in Hydrology; associate director, Environmental Change Initiative  Sr. Damien Marie Savino, Melchor Visiting Professor, Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering and Earth Sciences; concurrent professor, McGrath Institute for Church Life  This event is co-sponsored by the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, Notre Dame's Environmental Change Initiative, and the Catholic Peacebuilding Network. Originally published at kroc.nd.edu.

Every sustainability champion needs time to care for their mental and physical well-being! Join yoga instructor Steve "Krojo" Krojniewski for a yoga session to unwind in the outdoors of our beautiful campus, and spend some time being mindful of this wonderful place we call home.  Limited availability of mats and blocks will be available. Participants are encouraged to bring their own.  Registration is limited to 30 participants. Register today with this link.

Taking action to care for our common home takes many shapes. For some, it may be cultivating a community garden. For others, it looks like trash pick-ups or reducing your personal greenhouse gas emissions. For others, it can take shape through learning and gaining empowerment to be the change you want to see in the world. This year, Global Call to Action (formerly known as Global Day of Action) will be taking place throughout the entire month of April but is especially highlighted during the week of Earth Day (April 22). To answer the ND Forum Theme, What do we owe each other?, Notre Dame Global and Notre Dame Sustainability are encouraging the global Notre Dame community to take part through learning this year and ignite yourself into sustainable action. To get started, our teams have cultivated book recommendations for your reading list:All We Can Save by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson (editor), Katharine K. Wilkinson (editor) (nonfiction, essays)There is a renaissance blooming in the climate movement: leadership that is more characteristically feminine and more faithfully feminist, rooted in compassion, connection, creativity, and collaboration. While it's clear that women and girls are vital voices and agents of change for this planet, they are too often missing from the proverbial table. More than a problem of bias, it's a dynamic that sets us up for failure. To change everything, we need everyone.All We Can Save illuminates the expertise and insights of dozens of diverse women leading on climate in the United States—scientists, journalists, farmers, lawyers, teachers, activists, innovators, wonks, and designers, across generations, geographies, and race—and aims to advance a more representative, nuanced, and solution-oriented public conversation on the climate crisis. These women offer a spectrum of ideas and insights for how we can rapidly and radically reshape society.Intermixing essays with poetry and art, this book is both a balm and a guide for knowing and holding what has been done to the world, while bolstering our resolve never to give up on one another or our collective future. We must summon truth, courage, and solutions to turn away from the brink and toward life-giving possibility. Curated by two climate leaders, the book is a collection and celebration of visionaries who are leading us on a path toward all we can save.Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (nonfiction, memoir, science)As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these lenses of knowledge together to show that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings are we capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learning to give our own gifts in return. Global by Eoin Colfer, Andrew Donkin (fiction, graphic novel)Time is running out for Sami and Yuki. Sami and his grandfather live in a village along the Indian Ocean. They earn their living by fishing. But the ocean is rising and each day they bring back fewer and fewer fish. Yuki lives in the far north of Canada where warming temperature are melting the ice. Polar bears have less food to hunt and are wandering into town looking for something to eat. Yuki is determined to do something to help the bears.     Go Gently by Bonnie Wright (nonfiction, self-help, science)An inspiring and approachable tip-filled guide to changing your habits, living more sustainably, and taking action, by Greenpeace ambassador Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter movies) Go Gently is a guide for sustainability at home that offers simple, tangible steps toward reducing our environmental impact by looking at what we consume and the waste we create, as well as how to take action for environmental change. The title reflects Bonnie Wright’s belief that the best way to change our planet and ourselves is through a gentle approach, rather than a judgmental one. This is a book of do’s rather than don’ts. It’s also an invitation to Wright’s followers to join her on this journey to sustainability. Going through every room in her home, Wright helps us assess which products are sustainable, and alternatives for those that are not. She shares recipes to avoid waste, homemade self-care products to avoid packaging, small space-friendly gardening ideas, and a template for creating your own compost system. Finally, to sustain yourself, there are exercises and meditation prompts to keep you energized, plus info on how to get involved in community and organizations.The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis by Amitav Ghosh (nonfiction, historyIn this ambitious successor to The Great Derangement, acclaimed writer Amitav Ghosh finds the origins of our contemporary climate crisis in Western colonialism's violent exploitation of human life and the natural environment. A powerful work of history, essay, testimony, and polemic, Amitav Ghosh's book traces our contemporary planetary crisis back to the discovery of the New World and the sea route to the Indian Ocean. The Nutmeg's Curse argues that the dynamics of climate change today are rooted in a centuries-old geopolitical order constructed by Western colonialism. At the center of Ghosh's narrative is the now-ubiquitous spice nutmeg. The history of the nutmeg is one of conquest and exploitation—of both human life and the natural environment. In Ghosh's hands, the story of the nutmeg becomes a parable for our environmental crisis, revealing the ways human history has always been entangled with earthly materials such as spices, tea, sugarcane, opium, and fossil fuels. Our crisis, he shows, is ultimately the result of a mechanistic view of the earth, where nature exists only as a resource for humans to use for our own ends, rather than a force of its own, full of agency and meaning.Writing against the backdrop of the global pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests, Ghosh frames these historical stories in a way that connects our shared colonial histories with the deep inequality we see around us today. By interweaving discussions on everything from the global history of the oil trade to the migrant crisis and the animist spirituality of Indigenous communities around the world, The Nutmeg's Curse offers a sharp critique of Western society and speaks to the profoundly remarkable ways in which human history is shaped by non-human forces.Picking Up by Robin Nagle (nonfiction, ethnography, anthropology)America's largest city generates garbage in torrents―11,000 tons from households each day on average. But New Yorkers don't give it much attention. They leave their trash on the curb or drop it in a litter basket, and promptly forget about it. And why not? On a schedule so regular you could almost set your watch by it, someone always comes to take it away. But who, exactly, is that someone? And why is he―or she―so unknown? In Picking Up, the anthropologist Robin Nagle introduces us to the men and women of New York City's Department of Sanitation and makes clear why this small army of uniformed workers is the most important labor force on the streets. Seeking to understand every aspect of the Department's mission, Nagle accompanied crews on their routes, questioned supervisors and commissioners, and listened to story after story about blizzards, hazardous wastes, and the insults of everyday New Yorkers. But the more time she spent with the DSNY, the more Nagle realized that observing wasn't quite enough― so she joined the force herself. Driving the hulking trucks, she obtained an insider's perspective on the complex kinships, arcane rules, and obscure lingo unique to the realm of sanitation workers. Nagle chronicles New York City's four-hundred-year struggle with trash, and traces the city's waste-management efforts from a time when filth overwhelmed the streets to the far more rigorous practices of today, when the Big Apple is as clean as it's ever been. Throughout, Nagle reveals the many unexpected ways in which sanitation workers stand between our seemingly well-ordered lives and the sea of refuse that would otherwise overwhelm us. In the process, she changes the way we understand cities―and ourselves within them.Reconsidering Reparations by Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò (nonfiction, philosophy, history)Reparations for slavery have become a reinvigorated topic for public debate over the last decade. Most theorizing about reparations treats it as a social justice project - either rooted in reconciliatory justice focused on making amends in the present; or, they focus on the past, emphasizing restitution for historical wrongs. Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò argues that neither approach is optimal and advances a different case for reparations - one rooted in a hopeful future that tackles the issue of climate change head-on, with distributive justice at its core. This view, which he calls the constructive view of reparations, argues that reparations should be seen as a future-oriented project engaged in building a better social order; and that the costs of building a more equitable world should be distributed more to those who have inherited the moral liabilities of past injustices. This approach to reparations, as Táíwò shows, has deep and surprising roots in the thought of Black political thinkers such as James Baldwin, Martin Luther King Jr, and Nkechi Taifa, as well as mainstream political philosophers like John Rawls, Charles Mills, and Elizabeth Anderson. Táíwò's project has wide implications for our views of justice, racism, the legacy of colonialism, and climate change policy.Thirty-Two Words for Field by Manchán Magan (nonfiction, history, language, Irish literature)The Irish language has thirty-two words for field. Among them – a field of corngrass Tuar – a field for cattle at night Réidhleán – a field for games or dancing Cathairín – a field with a fairy-dwelling in it. The richness of a language closely tied to the natural landscape offered our ancestors a more magical way of seeing the world. Before we cast old words aside, let us consider the sublime beauty and profound oddness of the ancient tongue that has been spoken on this island for almost 3,000 years. In Thirty-Two Words for Field, Manchán Magan meditates on these words – and the nuances of a way of life that is disappearing with them.   Whittled Away: Ireland's Vanishing Nature by Pádraic Fogarty (nonfiction, science, Irish literature)Nature in Ireland is disappearing at an alarming rate. Overfishing, industrial-scale farming and pollution have decimated wildlife habitats and populations. In a single lifetime, vast shoals of herring, rivers bursting with salmon, and bogs alive with flocks of curlew and geese have all become folk memories. Coastal and rural communities are struggling to survive; the foundations of our tourism and agricultural sectors are being undermined. The lack of political engagement frequently sees the state in the European Court of Justice for environmental issues. Pádraic Fogarty authoritatively charts how this grim failure to manage our natural resources has impoverished our country.But all is not lost, he also reveals possibilities for the future, describing how we can fill our seas with fish, farm in tune with nature, and create forests that benefit both people and wildlife. He makes a persuasive case for the return of long-lost species like wild boar, cranes and wolves, showing how the interests of the country and its nature can be reconciled. A provocative call to arms, Whittled Away presents an alternative path that could lead us all to a brighter future.If you plan to purchase physical books, consider supporting a local store like Griffon Bookstore in South Bend. If you decide to read one (or more) of the books listed above, let us know! Email us at green@nd.edu. Consider sharing a photo of yourself with the book in hand.

Taking action to care for our common home takes many shapes. For some, it may be cultivating a community garden. For others, it looks like trash pick-ups or reducing your personal greenhouse gas emissions. For others, it can take shape through learning and gaining empowerment to be the change you want to see in the world. This year, Global Call to Action (formerly known as Global Day of Action) will be taking place throughout the entire month of April but is especially highlighted during the week of Earth Day (April 22). To answer the ND Forum Theme, What do we owe each other?, Notre Dame Global and Notre Dame Sustainability are encouraging the global Notre Dame community to take part through learning this year and ignite yourself into sustainable action. To get started, our teams have cultivated book recommendations for your reading list:All We Can Save by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson (editor), Katharine K. Wilkinson (editor) (nonfiction, essays)There is a renaissance blooming in the climate movement: leadership that is more characteristically feminine and more faithfully feminist, rooted in compassion, connection, creativity, and collaboration. While it's clear that women and girls are vital voices and agents of change for this planet, they are too often missing from the proverbial table. More than a problem of bias, it's a dynamic that sets us up for failure. To change everything, we need everyone.All We Can Save illuminates the expertise and insights of dozens of diverse women leading on climate in the United States—scientists, journalists, farmers, lawyers, teachers, activists, innovators, wonks, and designers, across generations, geographies, and race—and aims to advance a more representative, nuanced, and solution-oriented public conversation on the climate crisis. These women offer a spectrum of ideas and insights for how we can rapidly and radically reshape society.Intermixing essays with poetry and art, this book is both a balm and a guide for knowing and holding what has been done to the world, while bolstering our resolve never to give up on one another or our collective future. We must summon truth, courage, and solutions to turn away from the brink and toward life-giving possibility. Curated by two climate leaders, the book is a collection and celebration of visionaries who are leading us on a path toward all we can save.Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (nonfiction, memoir, science)As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these lenses of knowledge together to show that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings are we capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learning to give our own gifts in return. Global by Eoin Colfer, Andrew Donkin (fiction, graphic novel)Time is running out for Sami and Yuki. Sami and his grandfather live in a village along the Indian Ocean. They earn their living by fishing. But the ocean is rising and each day they bring back fewer and fewer fish. Yuki lives in the far north of Canada where warming temperature are melting the ice. Polar bears have less food to hunt and are wandering into town looking for something to eat. Yuki is determined to do something to help the bears.     Go Gently by Bonnie Wright (nonfiction, self-help, science)An inspiring and approachable tip-filled guide to changing your habits, living more sustainably, and taking action, by Greenpeace ambassador Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter movies) Go Gently is a guide for sustainability at home that offers simple, tangible steps toward reducing our environmental impact by looking at what we consume and the waste we create, as well as how to take action for environmental change. The title reflects Bonnie Wright’s belief that the best way to change our planet and ourselves is through a gentle approach, rather than a judgmental one. This is a book of do’s rather than don’ts. It’s also an invitation to Wright’s followers to join her on this journey to sustainability. Going through every room in her home, Wright helps us assess which products are sustainable, and alternatives for those that are not. She shares recipes to avoid waste, homemade self-care products to avoid packaging, small space-friendly gardening ideas, and a template for creating your own compost system. Finally, to sustain yourself, there are exercises and meditation prompts to keep you energized, plus info on how to get involved in community and organizations.The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis by Amitav Ghosh (nonfiction, historyIn this ambitious successor to The Great Derangement, acclaimed writer Amitav Ghosh finds the origins of our contemporary climate crisis in Western colonialism's violent exploitation of human life and the natural environment. A powerful work of history, essay, testimony, and polemic, Amitav Ghosh's book traces our contemporary planetary crisis back to the discovery of the New World and the sea route to the Indian Ocean. The Nutmeg's Curse argues that the dynamics of climate change today are rooted in a centuries-old geopolitical order constructed by Western colonialism. At the center of Ghosh's narrative is the now-ubiquitous spice nutmeg. The history of the nutmeg is one of conquest and exploitation—of both human life and the natural environment. In Ghosh's hands, the story of the nutmeg becomes a parable for our environmental crisis, revealing the ways human history has always been entangled with earthly materials such as spices, tea, sugarcane, opium, and fossil fuels. Our crisis, he shows, is ultimately the result of a mechanistic view of the earth, where nature exists only as a resource for humans to use for our own ends, rather than a force of its own, full of agency and meaning.Writing against the backdrop of the global pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests, Ghosh frames these historical stories in a way that connects our shared colonial histories with the deep inequality we see around us today. By interweaving discussions on everything from the global history of the oil trade to the migrant crisis and the animist spirituality of Indigenous communities around the world, The Nutmeg's Curse offers a sharp critique of Western society and speaks to the profoundly remarkable ways in which human history is shaped by non-human forces.Picking Up by Robin Nagle (nonfiction, ethnography, anthropology)America's largest city generates garbage in torrents―11,000 tons from households each day on average. But New Yorkers don't give it much attention. They leave their trash on the curb or drop it in a litter basket, and promptly forget about it. And why not? On a schedule so regular you could almost set your watch by it, someone always comes to take it away. But who, exactly, is that someone? And why is he―or she―so unknown? In Picking Up, the anthropologist Robin Nagle introduces us to the men and women of New York City's Department of Sanitation and makes clear why this small army of uniformed workers is the most important labor force on the streets. Seeking to understand every aspect of the Department's mission, Nagle accompanied crews on their routes, questioned supervisors and commissioners, and listened to story after story about blizzards, hazardous wastes, and the insults of everyday New Yorkers. But the more time she spent with the DSNY, the more Nagle realized that observing wasn't quite enough― so she joined the force herself. Driving the hulking trucks, she obtained an insider's perspective on the complex kinships, arcane rules, and obscure lingo unique to the realm of sanitation workers. Nagle chronicles New York City's four-hundred-year struggle with trash, and traces the city's waste-management efforts from a time when filth overwhelmed the streets to the far more rigorous practices of today, when the Big Apple is as clean as it's ever been. Throughout, Nagle reveals the many unexpected ways in which sanitation workers stand between our seemingly well-ordered lives and the sea of refuse that would otherwise overwhelm us. In the process, she changes the way we understand cities―and ourselves within them.Reconsidering Reparations by Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò (nonfiction, philosophy, history)Reparations for slavery have become a reinvigorated topic for public debate over the last decade. Most theorizing about reparations treats it as a social justice project - either rooted in reconciliatory justice focused on making amends in the present; or, they focus on the past, emphasizing restitution for historical wrongs. Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò argues that neither approach is optimal and advances a different case for reparations - one rooted in a hopeful future that tackles the issue of climate change head-on, with distributive justice at its core. This view, which he calls the constructive view of reparations, argues that reparations should be seen as a future-oriented project engaged in building a better social order; and that the costs of building a more equitable world should be distributed more to those who have inherited the moral liabilities of past injustices. This approach to reparations, as Táíwò shows, has deep and surprising roots in the thought of Black political thinkers such as James Baldwin, Martin Luther King Jr, and Nkechi Taifa, as well as mainstream political philosophers like John Rawls, Charles Mills, and Elizabeth Anderson. Táíwò's project has wide implications for our views of justice, racism, the legacy of colonialism, and climate change policy.Thirty-Two Words for Field by Manchán Magan (nonfiction, history, language, Irish literature)The Irish language has thirty-two words for field. Among them – a field of corngrass Tuar – a field for cattle at night Réidhleán – a field for games or dancing Cathairín – a field with a fairy-dwelling in it. The richness of a language closely tied to the natural landscape offered our ancestors a more magical way of seeing the world. Before we cast old words aside, let us consider the sublime beauty and profound oddness of the ancient tongue that has been spoken on this island for almost 3,000 years. In Thirty-Two Words for Field, Manchán Magan meditates on these words – and the nuances of a way of life that is disappearing with them.   Whittled Away: Ireland's Vanishing Nature by Pádraic Fogarty (nonfiction, science, Irish literature)Nature in Ireland is disappearing at an alarming rate. Overfishing, industrial-scale farming and pollution have decimated wildlife habitats and populations. In a single lifetime, vast shoals of herring, rivers bursting with salmon, and bogs alive with flocks of curlew and geese have all become folk memories. Coastal and rural communities are struggling to survive; the foundations of our tourism and agricultural sectors are being undermined. The lack of political engagement frequently sees the state in the European Court of Justice for environmental issues. Pádraic Fogarty authoritatively charts how this grim failure to manage our natural resources has impoverished our country.But all is not lost, he also reveals possibilities for the future, describing how we can fill our seas with fish, farm in tune with nature, and create forests that benefit both people and wildlife. He makes a persuasive case for the return of long-lost species like wild boar, cranes and wolves, showing how the interests of the country and its nature can be reconciled. A provocative call to arms, Whittled Away presents an alternative path that could lead us all to a brighter future.If you plan to purchase physical books, consider supporting a local store like Griffon Bookstore in South Bend. If you decide to read one (or more) of the books listed above, let us know! Email us at green@nd.edu. Consider sharing a photo of yourself with the book in hand.

Taking action to care for our common home takes many shapes. For some, it may be cultivating a community garden. For others, it looks like trash pick-ups or reducing your personal greenhouse gas emissions. For others, it can take shape through learning and gaining empowerment to be the change you want to see in the world. This year, Global Call to Action (formerly known as Global Day of Action) will be taking place throughout the entire month of April but is especially highlighted during the week of Earth Day (April 22). To answer the ND Forum Theme, What do we owe each other?, Notre Dame Global and Notre Dame Sustainability are encouraging the global Notre Dame community to take part through learning this year and ignite yourself into sustainable action. To get started, our teams have cultivated book recommendations for your reading list:All We Can Save by Ayana Elizabeth Johnson (editor), Katharine K. Wilkinson (editor) (nonfiction, essays)There is a renaissance blooming in the climate movement: leadership that is more characteristically feminine and more faithfully feminist, rooted in compassion, connection, creativity, and collaboration. While it's clear that women and girls are vital voices and agents of change for this planet, they are too often missing from the proverbial table. More than a problem of bias, it's a dynamic that sets us up for failure. To change everything, we need everyone.All We Can Save illuminates the expertise and insights of dozens of diverse women leading on climate in the United States—scientists, journalists, farmers, lawyers, teachers, activists, innovators, wonks, and designers, across generations, geographies, and race—and aims to advance a more representative, nuanced, and solution-oriented public conversation on the climate crisis. These women offer a spectrum of ideas and insights for how we can rapidly and radically reshape society.Intermixing essays with poetry and art, this book is both a balm and a guide for knowing and holding what has been done to the world, while bolstering our resolve never to give up on one another or our collective future. We must summon truth, courage, and solutions to turn away from the brink and toward life-giving possibility. Curated by two climate leaders, the book is a collection and celebration of visionaries who are leading us on a path toward all we can save.Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer (nonfiction, memoir, science)As a botanist, Robin Wall Kimmerer has been trained to ask questions of nature with the tools of science. As a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, she embraces the notion that plants and animals are our oldest teachers. In Braiding Sweetgrass, Kimmerer brings these lenses of knowledge together to show that the awakening of a wider ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world. For only when we can hear the languages of other beings are we capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learning to give our own gifts in return. Global by Eoin Colfer, Andrew Donkin (fiction, graphic novel)Time is running out for Sami and Yuki. Sami and his grandfather live in a village along the Indian Ocean. They earn their living by fishing. But the ocean is rising and each day they bring back fewer and fewer fish. Yuki lives in the far north of Canada where warming temperature are melting the ice. Polar bears have less food to hunt and are wandering into town looking for something to eat. Yuki is determined to do something to help the bears.     Go Gently by Bonnie Wright (nonfiction, self-help, science)An inspiring and approachable tip-filled guide to changing your habits, living more sustainably, and taking action, by Greenpeace ambassador Bonnie Wright (Ginny Weasley in the Harry Potter movies) Go Gently is a guide for sustainability at home that offers simple, tangible steps toward reducing our environmental impact by looking at what we consume and the waste we create, as well as how to take action for environmental change. The title reflects Bonnie Wright’s belief that the best way to change our planet and ourselves is through a gentle approach, rather than a judgmental one. This is a book of do’s rather than don’ts. It’s also an invitation to Wright’s followers to join her on this journey to sustainability. Going through every room in her home, Wright helps us assess which products are sustainable, and alternatives for those that are not. She shares recipes to avoid waste, homemade self-care products to avoid packaging, small space-friendly gardening ideas, and a template for creating your own compost system. Finally, to sustain yourself, there are exercises and meditation prompts to keep you energized, plus info on how to get involved in community and organizations.The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis by Amitav Ghosh (nonfiction, historyIn this ambitious successor to The Great Derangement, acclaimed writer Amitav Ghosh finds the origins of our contemporary climate crisis in Western colonialism's violent exploitation of human life and the natural environment. A powerful work of history, essay, testimony, and polemic, Amitav Ghosh's book traces our contemporary planetary crisis back to the discovery of the New World and the sea route to the Indian Ocean. The Nutmeg's Curse argues that the dynamics of climate change today are rooted in a centuries-old geopolitical order constructed by Western colonialism. At the center of Ghosh's narrative is the now-ubiquitous spice nutmeg. The history of the nutmeg is one of conquest and exploitation—of both human life and the natural environment. In Ghosh's hands, the story of the nutmeg becomes a parable for our environmental crisis, revealing the ways human history has always been entangled with earthly materials such as spices, tea, sugarcane, opium, and fossil fuels. Our crisis, he shows, is ultimately the result of a mechanistic view of the earth, where nature exists only as a resource for humans to use for our own ends, rather than a force of its own, full of agency and meaning.Writing against the backdrop of the global pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests, Ghosh frames these historical stories in a way that connects our shared colonial histories with the deep inequality we see around us today. By interweaving discussions on everything from the global history of the oil trade to the migrant crisis and the animist spirituality of Indigenous communities around the world, The Nutmeg's Curse offers a sharp critique of Western society and speaks to the profoundly remarkable ways in which human history is shaped by non-human forces.Picking Up by Robin Nagle (nonfiction, ethnography, anthropology)America's largest city generates garbage in torrents―11,000 tons from households each day on average. But New Yorkers don't give it much attention. They leave their trash on the curb or drop it in a litter basket, and promptly forget about it. And why not? On a schedule so regular you could almost set your watch by it, someone always comes to take it away. But who, exactly, is that someone? And why is he―or she―so unknown? In Picking Up, the anthropologist Robin Nagle introduces us to the men and women of New York City's Department of Sanitation and makes clear why this small army of uniformed workers is the most important labor force on the streets. Seeking to understand every aspect of the Department's mission, Nagle accompanied crews on their routes, questioned supervisors and commissioners, and listened to story after story about blizzards, hazardous wastes, and the insults of everyday New Yorkers. But the more time she spent with the DSNY, the more Nagle realized that observing wasn't quite enough― so she joined the force herself. Driving the hulking trucks, she obtained an insider's perspective on the complex kinships, arcane rules, and obscure lingo unique to the realm of sanitation workers. Nagle chronicles New York City's four-hundred-year struggle with trash, and traces the city's waste-management efforts from a time when filth overwhelmed the streets to the far more rigorous practices of today, when the Big Apple is as clean as it's ever been. Throughout, Nagle reveals the many unexpected ways in which sanitation workers stand between our seemingly well-ordered lives and the sea of refuse that would otherwise overwhelm us. In the process, she changes the way we understand cities―and ourselves within them.Reconsidering Reparations by Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò (nonfiction, philosophy, history)Reparations for slavery have become a reinvigorated topic for public debate over the last decade. Most theorizing about reparations treats it as a social justice project - either rooted in reconciliatory justice focused on making amends in the present; or, they focus on the past, emphasizing restitution for historical wrongs. Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò argues that neither approach is optimal and advances a different case for reparations - one rooted in a hopeful future that tackles the issue of climate change head-on, with distributive justice at its core. This view, which he calls the constructive view of reparations, argues that reparations should be seen as a future-oriented project engaged in building a better social order; and that the costs of building a more equitable world should be distributed more to those who have inherited the moral liabilities of past injustices. This approach to reparations, as Táíwò shows, has deep and surprising roots in the thought of Black political thinkers such as James Baldwin, Martin Luther King Jr, and Nkechi Taifa, as well as mainstream political philosophers like John Rawls, Charles Mills, and Elizabeth Anderson. Táíwò's project has wide implications for our views of justice, racism, the legacy of colonialism, and climate change policy.Thirty-Two Words for Field by Manchán Magan (nonfiction, history, language, Irish literature)The Irish language has thirty-two words for field. Among them – a field of corngrass Tuar – a field for cattle at night Réidhleán – a field for games or dancing Cathairín – a field with a fairy-dwelling in it. The richness of a language closely tied to the natural landscape offered our ancestors a more magical way of seeing the world. Before we cast old words aside, let us consider the sublime beauty and profound oddness of the ancient tongue that has been spoken on this island for almost 3,000 years. In Thirty-Two Words for Field, Manchán Magan meditates on these words – and the nuances of a way of life that is disappearing with them.   Whittled Away: Ireland's Vanishing Nature by Pádraic Fogarty (nonfiction, science, Irish literature)Nature in Ireland is disappearing at an alarming rate. Overfishing, industrial-scale farming and pollution have decimated wildlife habitats and populations. In a single lifetime, vast shoals of herring, rivers bursting with salmon, and bogs alive with flocks of curlew and geese have all become folk memories. Coastal and rural communities are struggling to survive; the foundations of our tourism and agricultural sectors are being undermined. The lack of political engagement frequently sees the state in the European Court of Justice for environmental issues. Pádraic Fogarty authoritatively charts how this grim failure to manage our natural resources has impoverished our country.But all is not lost, he also reveals possibilities for the future, describing how we can fill our seas with fish, farm in tune with nature, and create forests that benefit both people and wildlife. He makes a persuasive case for the return of long-lost species like wild boar, cranes and wolves, showing how the interests of the country and its nature can be reconciled. A provocative call to arms, Whittled Away presents an alternative path that could lead us all to a brighter future.If you plan to purchase physical books, consider supporting a local store like Griffon Bookstore in South Bend. If you decide to read one (or more) of the books listed above, let us know! Email us at green@nd.edu. Consider sharing a photo of yourself with the book in hand.