Sustainability Resources

Local Organizations/Resources

DeKalb and the surrounding areas offer many opportunities for partnership and collaboration on sustainability efforts. Some local resources include:

• DeCarbon DeKalb
• DeKalb County Community Gardens
• DeKalb County Forest Preserve Department
• DeKalb County Soil and Water Conservation District
• DeKalb County Watersheds
• DeKalb Park District
• Kishwaukee Water Reclamation District
• Nachusa Grasslands

In addition, several local businesses, schools and organizations are sponsors and collaborators of our Edible Campus program.

Websites

• Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts: provides research, training and consulting related to sustainable development in the arts
• CleanTech Group: provides research, consulting and events to promote sustainable growth powered by innovation
• Global Footprint Network Carbon Footprint Calculator: compares the resource demand of people, governments and businesses to Earth's capacity for regeneration
• Treehugger: covers topics such as technology, transportation and design in a way that’s both authoritative and accessible
• United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: created to be a blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet
• Verdemode: features eco-travel, sustainable living and green design tips, as well as ethical businesses and more

Videos

• The Most Important Thing You Can Do to Fight Climate Change: Talk About It: TED Talk by Kathryn Hayhoe on climate communication

Podcasts

• Breaking Green Ceilings, hosted by Sapna Mulki: features interviews with underrepresented voices of the environmental community
• Climate Changers, hosted by Ryan Flahive: features interviews with leaders in the battle against climate change on topics like regenerative agriculture, sustainable food and clean energy
• The Energy Gang, hosted by Stephen Lacey and Katherine Hamilton: features well-informed and well-connected hosts and producers in the world of renewable energy
• Green Dreamer: Sustainability and Regeneration From Ideas to Life, hosted by Kamea Chayne: explores environmental justice from the perspective of marginalized peoples around the world
• How to Save a Planet, hosted by Alex Blumberg and Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson: features informational conversations with experts and tools/instructions on sustainable actions

Books and Articles

• Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer: ushers us into a more sustainable future by reminding us of past knowledge from Indigenous peoples
• Brundtland Report (1987): important work that described how global environmental problems were primarily the result of the poverty of the South and the North’s non-sustainable patterns of consumption/production; called for the now common strategy of "sustainable development"
• Climate Justice: Hope, Resilience and the Fight for a Sustainable Future by Mary Robinson: tells the stories of people who took action against environmental and human rights injustices
• Crabgrass Crucible by Christopher C. Sellers: demonstrates how the environmental movement originated within suburbs; focuses on New York and Los Angeles in the mid-20th century
• Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough and Michael Braungart: discusses issues in the manufacturing industry
• Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist by Kate Raworth: offers a perspective on development, government policy and corporate strategy that addresses social and ecological challenges
• Dumping in Dixie by Robert D. Bullard: chronicles the efforts of five African American communities to link environmentalism with social justice issues
• How Bad Are Bananas?: The Carbon Footprint of Everything (2020 update) by Mike Berners-Lee: a follow-up to the original novel; uses more current data to quantify carbon footprints

When I work with students, I am motivated to be the best possible resource for them to excel in their NIU career and beyond. The fact that I am passionate about the environment and work with students studying the environment is a win-win situation.