Circularity and Sustainability – What’s Wrong with the Fashion Industry and How Can We Change It?

Join the Kent Environmental Council as Noël Palomo-Lovinski, MA, MFA, Professor, School of Fashion KSU, and Justine Gallo, owner of Sun in Leo, and Kelsi Biondo, manager Branded in Kent’s present this engaging topic of sustainability in the fashion industry.  The event is Tuesday November 19th, at 7:30 at the Kent Free Library and is open to the public.

Click here for full program handout.

Click here for a full schedule of KEC meetings and events in 2025.

Please Join the Kent Environmental Council for our

NEW!! KEC Evening Meeting: SEEK Presentations and Discussion

SEEK – Saving Earth with Environmental Knowledge

Making an impact in Kent, Portage County, and Beyond

Monthly Meetings will include:

• News and Updates from the KEC
• 2-3 Short Presentations on pressing topics from KEC and community members
• Note: This is in addition to the Weekly Breakfast that meets at the Kent State University Hotel and Conference Center at 8:00 AM.  Consider joining us for good food and engaging conversations.

Quarterly Speaker – A special invited guest who is an expert on key environmental or conservation topics

2025 KEC Special Events

• Kent River Days
• Edith Chase Symposium
• Kent State Earth Day
• Who’s Your Mama Festival
• Reeds and Roots Earth Skill-share Gathering
• Kent Heritage Fest
• And more…

Please check back for updates on dates and topics.  For questions, please reach out to https://kentenvironment.org/contact/

The KEC membership is constantly reading engaging books.  We thought we would share some of these titles with you.  Take a look at the titles shared by members.  Leave a comment below if any of these are meaningful to you, or suggest new titles.  Members will periodically share excerpts from titles they are reading during our 2025 SEEK Monthly meetings.

Brad Brotje’s suggestions:

1. A Short History of Everything, by Bill Bryson
2. A Reverence for Wood, by Eric Sloane
3. Great Heart, by James Davidson and John Rugge
4. Mark of the Grizzly, by Scott McMillion
5. The Greater Cleveland Environment Book, by David Beach
6. Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, by Janisse Ray
7. The Botany of Desire, by Michael Pollan
8. Cradle to Cradle, by William McDonough
9. A Natural Sense of Wonder, by Rick Van Noy
10. Hot, Flat and Crowded, by Thomas Friedman
11. Surviving the 21st, by Julian Cribb
12. The Uninhabitable Earth, by David Wallace-Wells
13. The Story of More, by Hope Jahren
14. Entangled Life, by Merlin Sheldrake

Patti Koch’s suggestions:

1. The Book of Eels, by Patrik Svensonn
2. Beaverland, by Leila Philip

Todd Cartner’s suggestions:

1. A Sand County Almanac,  Aldo Leopold, (75th Anniversary Edition now $7.50 at https://www.aldoleopold.org/products/75th-anniversary-edition-a-sand-county-almanac )
2. Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder, Richard Louv
3. The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World, by Peter Wohlleben
4. The Climate Action Handbook, by Heidi Roop
5. Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson
6. The Sense of Wonder, by Rachel Carson
7. Bringing Nature Home, by Douglas W. Tallamy (anything written by Dr. Tallamy)
8. Sacred Earth Sacred Soul, by John Philip Newell
9. Crossings, by Ben Goldfarb
10. Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
11. The Social Conquest of Earth, by (EO) Edward O. Wilson
12. Dirt to Soil: One Family’s Journey into Regenerative Agriculture, by Gabe Brown
13. The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch
14. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, by Charlie Mackesy
15. The Alpha Female Wolf, by Rick McIntyre
16. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert M. Pirsig
17. How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton M. Christensen
18. Braving the Wilderness, by Brene Brown
19. The Beast In the Garden, by David Baron
20. Finding Your Element, by Sir Kenneth Robinson

Lorraine McCarty’s suggestions:

1. Our Fragile Moment: How Lessons from the Earth’s Past Can Help Us Survive the Climate Crisis, by Michael Mann
2. The Future Earth: A Radical Vision for What’s Possible in the Age of Warming, by Eric Holthaus.

Bill Wilen suggestions:

1. Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed To Reverse Global Warming, edited by Paul Hawken
2. Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?, by Bill McKibben
3. The Climate Book, by Greta Thurnberg
4. The Climate Action Handbook, by Heidi Roop
5. This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate, by Naomi Klein
6. Hot, Flat, and Crowded, Why We Need a Green Revolution and How It Can Renew America, by Thomas L. Friedman
7. 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save The Earth, by John Javna
8. Cheaper, Faster, Better: How We’ll Win The Climate War, by Tom Steyer

Karl Liske suggestions:

1. When Smoke Ran Like Water: tales of environmental deception and the battle against pollution, by Devra Davis
2. Radiation: What It Is, What You Need To Know, by Robert Peter Gale
3. Tyranny of the Gene: personalized medicine and Its threat to public health, by James Tabery
4. Green Guide Families: The Complete Reference for Eco-Friendly Parents, by Catherine Zandonella
5. Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson
6. The Connection Cure: The Prescriptive Power Of Movement, Nature, Art, Service, and Belonging, by Julia Hotz
7. Fatal Conveniences: The Toxic Products and Harmful Habits That Are Making You sick-and the Simple Changes That Will Save Your Health, by Darin Olien
8. How To Be a Conscious Eater: making food choices that are good for you, others, and the planet, by Sophie Egan
9. A Poison Like No Other: how microplastics corrupted our planet and our bodies, by Matt Simon
10. The Human and Environmental Impact of Fracking: How Fracturing Shale for Gas Affects Us and Our World, edited by Madelon L. Finkel
11. Animal Factory: the looming threat of industrial pig, dairy, and poultry farms to humans and the environment, by David Kirby
12. Better Basics For The Home: simple solutions for less toxic living, by Annie Bertold-Bond
13. The Long Reckoning: a story of war, peace, and redemption in Vietnam, by George Black
14. Sacrifice Zones: the front lines of toxic chemical exposure in the United States, by Steve Lerner
15. How to Sell a Poison: the rise, fall, and toxic return of DDT, by Eleena Conis
16. Poisoned Ground: The Tragedy at Love Canal, Film, screenplay by Jamila Ephron
17. Go Gently: actionable steps to nurture yourself and the planet, by Bonnie Wright
18. Start Now!: you can make a difference, by Chelsea Clinton
19. Islands of Abandonment: Nature Rebounding in the post-human Landscape, by Cal Flyn
20. Healthy House Building for the New Millenium: a design & construction guide, by John Bower
21. Not Just a Pretty Face: the ugly side of the beauty industry, by Stacy Malkan
22. Kennedy Green House: designing an eco-friendly Home from the Foundation to the Furniture, by Robin Wilson
23. Waste: one woman’s fight against America’s Dirty secret, by Catherine Coleman Flowers
24. Voices From Chernobyl, by Svetlana Alexievich
25. Mill Town: Reckoning What Remains, by Kerri Arsenault

For additional information, contact Todd Cartner @ (330)962-6792

Vote Yes on Ohio Issue 1
Ohio Constitutional Amendment Election,
November 2024

The Kent Environmental Council, dedicated to promoting sustainability and civic engagement, urges you to VOTE YES on Issue 1. This amendment is a vital change to the Ohio Constitution that will place Ohio’s congressional and State legislative districts in the hands of its citizens, not politicians.

Vote Yes on Ohio Issue 1

https://www.ohioredistrict.org

https://www.citizensnotpoliticians.org

Tuesday, July 9th
5pm-7pm
Theodore Roosevelt High School, Cafeteria
1400 N Mantua St., Kent, OH 44240

The City of Kent is working to connect neighborhoods to destinations in our region with additional choices for how people can get from their homes to where they’d like to go, including the option of not using a car.

• Visit resource tables and speak with representatives from:
  • City of Kent’s Sustainability Commission
  • City of Kent’s Engineering Department
  • City of Kent Parks and Recreation Department
  • PARTA and AMATS
• Participate in a community engagement activity to help:
  • Identify areas of bike and walk trail segments where there may be a lack of connection from a neighborhood to an existing route
  • Identify areas you would like to see a route created or improved

This important feedback will be considered and reviewed for fit with various applicable infrastructure and climate action planning decisions moving forward. All are welcome and we hope to see you there!

Tuesday, April 25, 2023

7:00-9:00pm

North Water Brewing,

101 Crain Ave, Kent, OH 44240

Join us for another World Café style Crooked River Environmental Network event, this time over your favorite beverage!

The World Café is an opportunity to talk and network with others. Each table will have a sign with the name of a topic. Choose a topic that interests you and meet like-minded folks

No pre-registration is needed.

Date: Wednesday, April 19, 2023
Time: 7:00 PM
Location:
UU Church Sanctuary (in the church building)
228 Gougler Ave
Kent, OH 44240

This event is free and open to the curious.

Our Speaker: Ted Auch

Ted has been researching the environmental, social, and economic impacts of oil and gas development including the mechanisms by which oil and gas get from where it is produced to where it is consumed and processed for plastics and export.

He has written on the interaction between energy production and water scarcity, the primacy of regulatory agencies like Ohio’s Department of Natural Resource, data inconsistencies across states with a history of fossil fuel production, and the demographics of natural gas pipeline resistance and support.

His writing has appeared locally in The Cleveland Plain Dealer, Crain’s Cleveland Business, Belt Magazine, and The Warren Tribune Chronicle. Ted’s photography has been published in countless articles and documentaries about the impacts of oil and gas development from The Wall Street Journal to the recent documentary “Hellbent” about the plight of the endangered Hellbender Salamander in Southeastern Ohio.

In recent years, Ted has increased his focus on the role that rail plays in the transport mechanisms for fossil fuels including the economics, labor, and environmental impacts of moving raw commodities and extremely volatile substances by rail.

He is an adjunct faculty at John Carroll University, a member of the NAACP Ohio’s Environmental Justice Advisory Board, the US EPA Environmental Justice Screen Science Advisory Board, and the Midwest Program Director for the FracTracker Alliance, a non-profit collection of researchers, cartographers, and big data analysts working to address the massive information asymmetries that exist between communities and the multinational corporations looking to extract resources by any means necessary.

He received his PhD from the University of Vermont modeling climate impacts on forest processes. Prior to that , he pursued an MS at Virginia Tech identifying best practices for optimizing reforestation on strip-mined lands in Central Appalachia.

Ted and his family reside in Shaker Heights.

Save the Date!

Nominations Being Accepted for Environmental Awards!

Edith Chase Award

The Edith Chase Conservation Award is given to “a living individual in recognition of his/her/their meritorious contribution to resource use, allocation, and protection, especially the natural environment. It honors creative work of particular effectiveness in applying scientific knowledge, promoting awareness, or other innovative work to the conservation of energy, habitat, water, wetlands or wildlife. Individuals nominated for the award have made significant and well-recognized contributions to conservation, either in a volunteer role or above and beyond the responsibilities of their professional role.”

Portage Park District Foundation’s Environmental Awards  

Tuesday, January 24, 2023

Hobbs Hall

Unitarian Universalist Church of Kent

217 N. Mantua Street, Kent, OH 44240

The KEC board is excited to be hosting another in-person World Café style Crooked River Environmental Network event after its annual meeting. (We did something similar at 2020’s annual meeting, just before the pandemic.)

The World Café is an opportunity to talk and network with others. Each table will have a sign with the name of a topic. Participants can choose a topic that interests them. After about 45 minutes, participants can move to a different table and topic, or network with some of our partner organizations.

5:00 p.m. – Community Potluck (Please bring a covered dish to share – Table service provided)

6:00 p.m. – World Café with Topic Tables (including renewable energy, bike/pedestrian-friendly community, permaculture, wetlands/clean water)

7:00 p.m. – More World Café Topic Tables or Networking with Partner Organizations

7:45 p.m. – Harvesting Insights and Connections

8:15 p.m. – Cleanup/Safe Travels

Registration for the event is required. On the registration form, please indicate the environmental issues that are most important to you.