A future to avoid on display with Maya Lin’s Ghost Forest

April 22, 2021June 4, 2021 Guest Writer

NEW YORK CITY — How do you persuade naysayers that climate change is real, that the earth is fragile and needs protection? How do you call people to action to forestall environmental collapse and the natural world’s death? American architect and sculptor Maya Lin‘s latest effort is “Ghost Forest,” an installation of 50 Atlantic white cedar trees, each some 40 feet tall, and each defoliated and dead. Looming over Madison Square Park like a warning, the trees look cadaverous. “I wanted to create something that would be intimately related to…

Thrift Bandit is eastern Iowa’s socially responsible outlaw of recycled fashion

August 31, 2020October 21, 2020 Guest Writer

When they realized they were both wearing “polyester grandpa pants” and cardigan sweaters, Michael and Stef Duncan knew they were destined for each other. They didn’t realize those grandpa pants would also inspire a business they would co-run. Thrift Bandit is the online vintage venture of Michael (from Burlington in southeast Iowa) and Stef (from Jerico in northeast Iowa), who describe themselves as “nerds running this out of our basement.” Launched in the summer of 2019, Thrift Bandit seeks to provide an alternative to first-hand, mass-produced disposable clothing — and…

Des Moines’ history of systemic racism said to be built around housing restrictions

June 14, 2020December 1, 2020 Christine Hawes

The city of Des Moines intentionally undertook policies in the 1930s and 1960s to limit housing options for Black residents, writes a University of Iowa student. In addition, writes Ross Clowser, the city’s failure to clean up areas deemed by the EPA to be contaminated with toxins have hit Des Moines’ Black residents harder than the general population. As a result, living in Des Moines can be as hard for a Black person as living in some of the nation’s most segregated communities, Clowser writes in a 2018 paper he…

Honor 50th annual Earth Day online this year

April 22, 2020January 31, 2021 Guest Writer

Today is the 50th celebration of Earth Day, and as I researched through the cancelled events, I felt a sadness that this historic day could not be celebrated in the way it deserves. But even though we are sheltering in place and can’t get together for Earth Day, this is a great chance to reflect on how we as individuals can reduce harm on the planet. What are you doing from inside your own home to push for change this Earth Day? What will you to do to ensure clean…

Climate change effects are far-reaching in Iowa

March 21, 2020February 20, 2021 Guest Writer

Iowa is far from the coasts, and far from the polar ice caps. But it is not far from the effects of climate change. Climate change affects Iowa in a very real way, affecting our crops and our personal health. “Greenhouse gases are warming the atmosphere and the oceans, which means more evaporation.” says David Osterberg, a professor of environmental health at the University of Iowa and the founding director of the Iowa Policy Project. Even an increase of just one degree has a dramatic effect, he explained. That heightened…