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New York Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
An Ode to Joy, in Climate Action
Reporting on climate change isn't exactly uplifting. After all, the climate crisis is one of the scariest existential issues of our time. But there I was at a recent soccer game in Burlington, to see a team called the Vermont Green, in the middle of an ebullient scene that showed that climate awareness could actually be really fun. Kids squirted one another with water at the stadium's water-bottle refill station, learned about local environmental causes at nearby information tables and raced about in team jerseys made of recycled fabric and T-shirts reading 'Climate Action Now.' The Vermont Green has a mission of promoting environmental justice and climate action, and I wrote about them this week for our 50 States, 50 Fixes series, which highlights an environmental success story in every state. For our latest batch of articles, Catrin Einhorn profiled a social media influencer from Alabama who consistently goes viral by enthusiastically championing biodiversity and native plants. The notion that joy is integral to fomenting action or shifting behavior isn't a new one, but it's one that, on its face, seems intensely at odds with the grim reality of climate change. Several Vermont Green fans told me that finding joy was essential to climate action because it helped build resilience. 'We've been doing climate work for a long time, and finger-wagging and guilting and shaming really doesn't work,' said Celina Barton, a Vermont Green fan and grass-roots environmental organizer who also works to decarbonize buildings and homes. 'When you bring together people in these team-oriented, joyful kinds of gatherings, I find we make a lot more headway in shifting human behavior.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
New York Times
4 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
In Vermont, a Soccer Team That Plays for the Planet
50 States, 50 Fixes The Vermont Green Football Club champions environmental work and draws sold-out crowds, with the help of free ice cream. By Cara Buckley Photographs by Kelly Burgess It was game night in Burlington, home of the Vermont Green Football Club. The evening, in early June, was unfolding in its usual way. The stands were packed, the crowd was roaring and stamping its feet, with hundreds of Crocs and Birkenstocks pounding metal bleachers. But there were signs that the team was playing for bigger stakes. Players wore jerseys made of recycled fabric, spectators who biked to the game were rewarded with raffle tickets, and the food trucks offered vegan eats. Before the night was over, the announcer, Tom Proctor, made the same announcement that he does at every home game. 'Please take all your trash and recycling out of the stands with you and put them in the appropriate bins,' Mr. Proctor, who is from England, thundered through the loudspeaker. Bottles and cans should be empty, he continued, and food waste should go into the compost containers. 'Thank you for pitching in for the planet!' he added brightly. 50 States, 50 Fixes is a series about local solutions to environmental problems. More to come this year. Vermont Green is an amateur soccer club with a mission. Its founders want to offer quality soccer while championing a larger cause befitting Vermont, a state that has pledged to conserve half of its land by 2050 and that generates nearly all of its electricity renewably. Inspired by the Forest Green Rovers in England, known as the world's greenest football club, the Green's founders embraced climate action. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
