The Austin Common

How To Make A Difference In 2024

Amy Stansbury — Mon, 08 Jan 2024 17:39:58 +0000

Looking for a way make a positive impact in 2024? Keep scrolling for some ideas! And remember to subscribe to our weekly newsletter or follow us on Instagram for updates on ways to get involved in our local community all year long.

You can take the survey here.

You can learn more about what VDRs do here and sign up for a training here.

You can learn more about the Jan. 23 meeting here and RSVP for the Jan. 24th online meeting here.

You can use the following links to sign up to volunteer with TreeFolks, the Shoal Creek Conservancy, and the Central Texas Food Bank.

You can learn more about Zero Waste Block Leaders here and sign up for the next virtual training session here.

You can sign up to become a Care Call volunteer (as well as look through other volunteer opportunities with Foundation Communities) here and sign up to become a Food Runner here.

Learn more about what it’s like to serve (and how to apply) with this post we published back in 2021.

Look through the I Live Here I Give Here list here.

The post How To Make A Difference In 2024 appeared first on The Austin Common.

Net-Zero Hero: Reza Cristián

Amy Stansbury — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 16:23:10 +0000

This post is sponsored by the City of Austin Office of Sustainability. (It was originally published on the city’s website on October 19th.) All Austin Common sponsors are screened by The Austin Common team to ensure they’re doing good for their employees, customers, our community, and the planet.

Meet Reza Cristián, founder of SUSTAIN THE MAG, co-founder of the Slow Fashion Festival, and our newest Net-Zero Hero. Through her everyday actions and community organizing, Reza is helping others understand that living a sustainable lifestyle can start small. From the clothes you wear to the ways you engage in community, Reza understands that there is a place for everyone in the sustainability movement — but especially for those whose experiences have been historically left out of the narrative.

We met with Reza at the Slow Fashion Festival and at her home in East Austin to talk about climate and mental health, her online publication SUSTAIN THE MAG, and how growing up in a Mexican-American family shaped her sustainability journey.

What inspired you to take action?

I was inspired to take action through the way I was raised. My parents — often unintentionally and just by default of being frugal and Mexican-American — shared ways for us to save money. They would have us recycle our cans and water bottles or take us to swap meets and thrift stores to purchase clothing items.

I also truly loved animals. When I was in middle school, I was inspired by my mother, who became a vegetarian first after reading and watching docs on animal abuse in the U.S. This led me to also become a vegetarian at age 12. I’ve since turned pescetarian.

I became more inspired to take action when I went to college in NYC. I was a first-gen college student in my family and met so many new friends who showed me the world of sustainability. From there, it was all uphill!

How did you do it?

While attending college in NYC, I was studying journalism, my dream major. It was then that I came up with the idea to start SUSTAIN THE MAG, a sustainable inclusive magazine. We’re currently only online with hopes of having a print version one day.

Before I started SUSTAIN, I saw a lot of magazines and blogs at the time that did not talk enough about sustainability since it wasn’t buzzworthy. The sites that were talking about sustainability didn’t showcase inclusivity and diversity. I wanted to change that and create a community that was the opposite of what high fashion profile magazines were.

That was five years ago. I brought that same community and mindset to Austin when I moved here four years ago. I’ve since hosted many clean-ups, mutual aid fundraisers, community fridge activations, and now co-organized a Slow Fashion Festival right here in Austin.

What’s been most rewarding about getting involved in this way?

Truly, it’s been rewarding seeing how I could use my connections with brands to raise funds for mutual aid. For instance, this past SXSW, I hosted an eco-concert and raised over $1,500 to help buy groceries for the local ATX Free Fridge Project. I enjoy hosting experiences for folks while also raising funds and bringing awareness to issues that many people may not think about in their day-to-day life. All of this can help shift the narrative of what sustainability looks like.

What’s been the toughest part?

The toughest part has been doing all of this while not having enough funds to allow me to work on these projects full-time. It can be challenging to also juggle other priorities. For this reason, I am looking to turn SUSTAIN into a non-profit, as we work strictly as a grassroots organization now.

In recent years, we’ve started to hear more about climate anxiety, especially among younger generations. What are some of the strategies or practices you use to avoid burnout and stay optimistic?

I have general anxiety already, and it’s gotten worse over the years since the pandemic. I have been so proud of my journey as I have asked for help and gone to therapy. I also try to work out as little or as much as I need to and gain movement in my body so I am not chronically online. I try to find the time to read or meditate more often.

Since moving to Texas, I have experienced more climate anxiety from seeing the dramatic weather events here — from the winter storms to extreme heatwaves. But again, I try to do my best to ease my anxiety as much as I can, and also have learned to live through the anxious thoughts and not let them overwhelm me.

Our interview will come out during Latine Heritage Month. Through all of your platforms, you’ve been vocal about the need to lift BIPOC voices in the climate space. Have you seen shifts around this since you started SUSTAIN THE MAG, and what do you hope the future of climate storytelling will look like?

With it being Latine Heritage Month and with myself being half Mexican- and Iranian-American, I have felt it necessary to push BIPOC voices in sustainability in the media. I also do this work through the Slow Fashion Festival by being conscious of who is participating as panelists, designers, models, etc. I had the idea for SUSTAIN THE MAG in 2017 and launched in 2018. As I’ve mentioned previously, inclusivity and diversity weren’t at the forefront of media or the environmental space until just recently, really in the last couple of years. I am glad it’s changing, but of course, it took a while to get here when, in fact, it has been BIPOC — specifically Black and Indigenous folks — who have been teaching and living sustainability for centuries.

I hope the future of climate storytelling continues to push more everyday change makers in this space — not just influencers with large platforms, but the BIPOC & Queer folks on the ground in their own communities actively doing the work without an agenda.

Is there a book, documentary, or other piece of media you would recommend for folks wanting to learn more about these topics?

This is a shameless plug, but I would like to plug SUSTAIN THE MAG. We have so many great writers from all around the world who have such incredible insights to share. We dive into multiple, intersectional sustainability topics in each edition.

What advice do you have for others?

I would tell people to not feel defeated by all that is going on and to do as much as they can. And if they have the privilege and money to do so, try to put in more work to provide for their neighbors, communities, etc. Sustainability isn’t just about small personal lifestyle choices but also about sharing resources and giving back to our communities as well.

The Slow Fashion Festival takes place every spring and fall. Learn more at slowfashionfestival.com.

To learn more about Austin’s net-zero goal and the actions you can take to support a greener community, view the Austin Climate Equity Plan.

Share your Net-Zero contributions with us on Twitter or Facebook, and use #NetZeroHero. If you know a Net-Zero Hero (or heroes!) who should be recognized for their efforts, send your nomination to sustainability@austintexas.gov.

The post Net-Zero Hero: Reza Cristián appeared first on The Austin Common.

Explaining The HOME Initiative

Amy Stansbury — Fri, 01 Dec 2023 04:00:36 +0000

On December 7th, Austin City Council will vote on the HOME Initiative, a proposal to allow up to three housing units to be built on single-family lots. The idea is to increase the city’s supply of “missing middle” housing, but like so many debates related to housing and land use, the issue is confusing and complicated.

That’s why we’ve broken down all the basics for ya in our latest guide!

PS – Looking for a deeper dive? Check out the latest episode of The Austin Common Radio Hour (on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or Google Podcasts). We explore this topic in much greater depth in that episode.

You can check out the city’s complete explanation of the proposed changes here.

You can look through that City of Austin/UT report here.

You can look through Jake Wegmann’s report, “Here Come The Tall Skinny Houses,” here.

You can look through Council Member Chito Vela’s HOME explainer here.

This quote is from the city’s Q&A report on the proposed land development code changes. You can look through that here.

You can sign up to speak at the December 7th Council meeting here.

Additional information for this guide comes from original interviews with Carmen Llanes, Council Member Leslie Pool, and Jake Wegmann.

The post Explaining The HOME Initiative appeared first on The Austin Common.

Too Many Leaves & Branches For Your Compost Cart?

Amy Stansbury — Thu, 16 Nov 2023 19:51:43 +0000

This post is sponsored by Austin Resource Recovery. All Austin Common sponsors are screened by The Austin Common team to ensure they’re doing good for their employees, our community, and the planet.

Is your green composting cart looking full? Don’t worry… You can place up to 15 extra items beside it!

We teamed up with Austin Resource Recovery to create this handy little guide on how to deal with all those extra leaves and branches this time of year.

austintexas.gov/composting

The post Too Many Leaves & Branches For Your Compost Cart? appeared first on The Austin Common.

Prop B & The Onion Creek Greenway

Amy Stansbury — Sat, 04 Nov 2023 17:23:07 +0000

Election Day is November 7th & if you live in Travis County, one of the things you’ll see on your ballot is Prop B, a $276 million parks bond.

This video goes over one aspect of that bond… the Onion Creek Greenway. If Prop B passes, $15.5 million will be spent to construct a trail along the creek, connecting Richard Moya Park to McKinney Falls Parkway (right outside McKinney Falls State Park).

PPS – If the video below doesn’t load, you can watch the video on YouTube here.

The post Prop B & The Onion Creek Greenway appeared first on The Austin Common.

Explaining Your Ballot: State Propositions

Amy Stansbury — Fri, 03 Nov 2023 03:12:08 +0000

The are 14 proposed state constitutional amendments on the ballot this year. In this episode we take a deep into several of them, including Prop 4 (property taxes), Prop 6 (water), and Prop 8 (broadband internet).

Our guests include state Rep. Vikki Goodwin, Jennifer Walker (National Wildlife Federation), and Kelty Garbee (Texas Rural Funders).

You can hear this episode on any of the following podcast services:

The post Explaining Your Ballot: State Propositions appeared first on The Austin Common.

Explaining Your Ballot: State Props

Amy Stansbury — Tue, 31 Oct 2023 02:04:10 +0000

Hey Texas! Did you know that you have 14 state propositions on your ballot this year? Keep scrolling for a rundown of what they all mean.

You can check out our Prop A guide here & our Prop B guide here.

Want to learn even more? Another great resource is the League of Women Voters Guide. And you can look through the endorsements issued by our two big local papers – The Austin Chronicle & The Austin American-Statesman.

The post Explaining Your Ballot: State Props appeared first on The Austin Common.

Prop B & The Gilleland Creek Greenway

Amy Stansbury — Fri, 27 Oct 2023 00:04:51 +0000

Election Day is November 7th & if you live in Travis County, one of the things you’ll see on your ballot is Prop B, a $276 million parks bond.

This video goes over one aspect of that bond… the Gilleland Creek Greenway. If Prop B passes, $30 million will be spent to construct a trail along the creek, connecting Northeast Metro Park in Pflugerville to Ben E. Fisher Park.

PPS – If the video below doesn’t load, you can watch the video on YouTube here.

The post Prop B & The Gilleland Creek Greenway appeared first on The Austin Common.

The ABCs and 123s of Your Ballot

Amy Stansbury — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 23:52:38 +0000

Live in Austin and Travis County? Watch the short video below for a quick explainer about what’s on your ballot…

PS – Be sure to always look up your personalized sample ballot on your county’s website before going to vote… That way you can be 100% sure of what’s on your ballot before you head to the voting booth.

PPS – If the video below isn’t loading, you can also watch it on YouTube here.

The post The ABCs and 123s of Your Ballot appeared first on The Austin Common.

$1 Billion For State Parks? Explaining Prop 14

Amy Stansbury — Thu, 26 Oct 2023 23:27:49 +0000

There are 14 proposed state constitutional amendments on the ballot this year. One of them, Prop 14, would create a $1 billion centennial parks conservation fund to grow our state parks system.

To tell us all about it, host Amy Stansbury sat down with Luke Metzger, executive director of Environment Texas, who helped get Prop 14 put on the ballot.

You can hear this episode on any of the following podcast services:

The post $1 Billion For State Parks? Explaining Prop 14 appeared first on The Austin Common.

The Austin Common

How To Make A Difference In 2024

Summary

Action Box

Net-Zero Hero: Reza Cristián

About The Author

Action Box

What inspired you to take action?

How did you do it?

What’s been most rewarding about getting involved in this way?

What’s been the toughest part?

In recent years, we’ve started to hear more about climate anxiety, especially among younger generations. What are some of the strategies or practices you use to avoid burnout and stay optimistic?

Is there a book, documentary, or other piece of media you would recommend for folks wanting to learn more about these topics?

What advice do you have for others?

Explaining The HOME Initiative

Summary

Action Box

Too Many Leaves & Branches For Your Compost Cart?

About Austin Resource Recovery

Action Box

Prop B & The Onion Creek Greenway

Summary

Action Box

Explaining Your Ballot: State Propositions

Explaining Your Ballot: State Props

Summary

Action Box

Prop B & The Gilleland Creek Greenway

Summary

Action Box

The ABCs and 123s of Your Ballot

Summary

Action Box

$1 Billion For State Parks? Explaining Prop 14