How The Wild Center’s Climate Solution Exhibit Inspires Taking Action & Making A Difference – Episode 110
Climate change is happening all around us. Droughts, flooding, shrinking glaciers, rising carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and wildfires are all consequences of climate change. At The Wild Center, the Climate Solutions Exhibit poses an important question, what can we do about climate change? In this episode, discover how different people are committing to being part of the solution and ways you can make a difference by gardening, farming, or composting. After listening to this episode, I hope you’ll consider how you can join the growing community of people working towards addressing climate change by leaning on your skills, talents, and interests.
If you haven’t yet, listen to the previous episode, Episode 109, where we visited The Wild Center, a natural history museum in Tupper Lake, New York, where you can discover the Adirondacks region through various interactive and immersive outdoor and indoor exhibits like nature trails, animal encounters, an elevated trail across the treetops, and more.
Listen to the podcast episode below.
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A special thank you to The Wild Center for an incredible introduction to the Adirondacks. All opinions expressed in this episode are my own. Guests featured in this episode include Birch Kinsey, Jen Kretser, and Shannon Surdyk.
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Climate Solutions Exhibit At The Wild Center
In this episode, we cover:
- [2:39] What to expect when visiting the Climate Solutions Exhibition at The Wild Center
- [6:19] How Birch Kinsey got introduced to farming at the age of 14
- [7:34] Why Birch Kinsey advocates for youth, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color growers and farmers
- [8:19] Gardening tips for beginners
- [12:01] Best vegetables to grow
- [17:42] About the Compost Exhibit & Demo at The Wild Center
- [19:24] What is composting?
- [21:09] Virtual experiences at The Wild Center
- [23:25] Ways to compost outside of your home
- How to get started composting
Watch the episode here:
Resources Mentioned
The Backyard Homestead (book): By Carleen Madigan, this book provides all the information you need to grow and preserve a sustainable harvest of grains and vegetables throughout the year regardless of your accessibility to land; raise animals for meat, eggs, and dairy; and keep honey bees.
Learn More About Climate Solutions Exhibit at The Wild Center
The Climate Solutions Exhibit is a 3,000-square feet indoor exhibition at The Wild Center that features the portraits of 12 individuals from the Adirondacks who have created climate change solutions. In addition to the oversized portraits and signage, pick up the telephone and hear their voices as they explain the climate solution they are working on. Also, don’t miss the hands-on tinkering studio and the ADK Map Moss Wall.
Some of the giant portraits in this exhibit include Neil Patterson, Jr., Assistant Director of SUNY ESF’s Center for Native Peoples and the Environment, who reconnects Indigenous communities and youth with their ancestral lands. Or Courtney Grimes-Sutton, who practices rotational grazing, a sustainable farming method that shifts animals to different parts of the pasture, so the land has a chance to rest and regrow between grazings.
These inspiring stories showcase that you don’t need to be a climate scientist to make an impact and can be a farmer, photographer, artist, and more. Anyone can contribute to the climate movement in some way — in your community, home, even talking to friends and family.
Visit The Wild Center
Website: www.wildcenter.org
TikTok: @thewildcenter
Instagram: @wildcenter
Twitter: @wildcenter
The Wild Center Address:
45 Museum Drive
Tupper Lake, NY 12986
About Birch Kinsey, Farmer and Youth Activist
“The local food movement aims to make food accessible by connecting community members to healthy, culturally significant foods using regenerative and non-toxic practices.
“I want to encourage Black, Brown, and Indigenous people to connect with the land, learn our empowering history, and make informed decisions.”
Photo by Dustin Angell.
Birch Kinsey is a Buffalo, New York, food-based environmental justice activist. Since 14 years old, Birch has been bringing awareness to how the climate crisis affects us all. Birch advocates for voices often unheard, like the youth, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.
Did you know that white farmers own 98% of private farmland in the U.S.? Historically Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) groups have been systematically excluded from land ownership.
Listen to this podcast episode on Spotify.
Gardening Tips For Beginners
Birch shares some helpful gardening advice.
1) Remember to honor and care for your soil. Nurture the microbiome and fungal biomom.
Know that there are fungal soil supplements, micro driesell soil additives that encourage fungal diversity. Your soil allows your root systems to absorb more moisture and nutrients.
2. Don’t start with bare dirt garden; start with a mulch garden. Hay will give you too many weeds.
If you have a raised bed or an in ground bed, make sure that you cover it so that the soil can retain moisture and nutrients.
3. Purchase seeds from local seed keepers. Your plants are likely to be more sturdy if they are from heirloom seeds.
Best Vegetables For Gardeners
- Legumes
- Beans
- Potatoes
- Cucumber
- Thyme and Oregano (fresh and dried)
- Tomatoes
- Mushrooms
Remember to grow what you enjoy eating.
What is composting?
Food waste is a large problem in the United States.
Rather than letting organic scraps like excess skins, ends of vegetables, and other produce rot in a landfill, you can help it break down easier in a compost system. After some time, you’ll get nutrient rich soil or compost coming out the other end.
Why is composting good for the environment?
With composting, food waste breaks down into healthy soil that you can then use to grow more food.
While you can compost at home you can also:
- Check with your county to find a composting program that will take your organic scraps.
- Contact your local trash removal service provider to see if they collect organic scraps.
- Connect with local farmers markets and stores that take scraps for their compost.
What is climate change?
Climate change is the long-term shift in temperature and weather patterns over time. Typically climate change occurs over thousands of years, but due to global warming, it’s happening a lot faster.
Some of this acceleration is due to burning fossil fuels such as oil, coal, and natural gas. A warmer climate can lead to extreme weather changes, heat waves, wildfires, food shortages, and acid in our oceans that affect sea life.
What are some easy climate solutions?
Getting involved creating climate solutions is a lot easier than you might think.
Some easy climate solutions include:
- Walking more often
- Using less electricity
- Turning off the lights when not in use
- Taking shorter showers
- Recycling
- Using reusable products like water bottles and bags
- Gardening
- Composting
- Not littering
Other Episodes You’ll Enjoy
Explore the Adirondacks and Get Closer To Nature At The Wild Center – Episode 110
How To Define Your Travel Style – Episode 102
What To Pack For Road Trips – Episode 101
5 Reasons To Visit Rochester, New York – Episode 86
Danielle Desir Corbett is an award-winning and 6x grant-funded travel writer and podcast host who went from financial struggle to visiting 27+ countries all without waiting until retirement. Her story is proof that budget doesn’t limit adventure. Tune into The Thought Card Podcast for practical strategies to travel smarter and live on your terms. Say hello: thethoughtcard (at) gmail (dot) com.
