Featured Articles from The Butterfly Effect

02
Mar

Food as Sacred: The Deep Connection between Cacao and the Indigenous Bribri Culture of Costa Rica

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An Interview with Mainor Ortiz Ortiz, by Sara Nelson Sara Nelson: In 2016 I began a series of trips to Costa Rica with the intention of learning rainforest field botany. However, after apprenticing with a brilliant herbalist, chocolate maker, and Scottish Costa Rica transplant named Ancel Mitchell, my focus veered towards understanding the dynamics of...
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23
Feb

Mission to the Earth. Creating Biodiversity at One’s Place of Worship

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In the spring of 2020, we were in the first stages of the pandemic and religious services at my church had been suspended. Entry to the church was limited, making any effort to do interior maintenance impossible.
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16
Jan

Dog Waste is Harming the Environment. In Many, Many Ways…

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Our gentle dog Ruby was diagnosed with malignant melanoma last year. She was diagnosed shortly after we rang in the supposedly post pandemic New Year with the resolution: “have more fun.”
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24
Dec

Schoolyards: A Vast Resource. Growing Fruits and Vegetables, and Learning about Food at School

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“One evening I watched a documentary on Netflix called “Fed Up” and that was all it took to get the wheels spinning in my head about the foods we feed our children in school.
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29
Nov

Urban Agriculture: Market Gardening Comes to Town

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Local food production is one of the key components of a climate crisis solution. The spread of the urban agriculture phenomenon across the U.S. is encouraging in this regard.
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02
Oct

Claim Dirt Where You Can. Rewilding Beyond Your Own Yard

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soft landings graphic
26
Sep

Grounded and Surrounded

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How you can help wild animals come in for a soft landing.
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23
Aug

Stories of Making Change: People Doing Good Things in the Place Where They Are

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The Overlooked Space Between Street and Sidewalk:How a Smart Urban Garden Design Can Create Community for People and Insects
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10
Jul

The Great Egret

Sun shining down upon the nearly five-foot wingspan of the great egret illuminates the pure white feathers of this bird.
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