September 12, 2021

by drplasticpicker

Part of the wonderful thing about blogging is that it just gets my creative juices flowing in the morning. We had some HUGE climate wins this weekend. To the extent that I could hardly believe it. I had to roll up in a fetal position with happiness that it all got done. I am but a bit player in all of this, but an active bit player. I know I have a ripple effect on it all.

Harvard University has a $42 billion dollar endowment. I will no longer say Crimson University. I went to Harvard University. I am no longer ashamed (I wasn’t really ashamed but it leant an air of mystery to the whole thing when I started this blog). There was a grass-roots alumni movement called Harvard Forward, led mostly by young alumni that worked to displace the old-fogey Board of Directors with younger more climate conscious board members who would vote to divest from fossil fuels. Through alumni networks, we all mobilized to get our alumni friends to do write in votes. I can say for two weeks I worked every connection I had. This was true throughout the country, as we all canvassed our friends. It happened. Even Mr. Plastic Picker voted. Harvard divested it’s $42 billion dollar endowment from fossil fuels. We donate yearly to the University.

And then we are moving forward with the Rewild Mission Bay work. I was going to stop by the Kendall-Frost preserve yesterday but our son had a birthday party to attend, and I needed to be around in the morning to get all the things he needed. But we have joined their coalition and will help the Family Practice doctors do the same. Actually let me pause and send the emails. [PAUSE] Just sent that beautiful email. Tangential at times but beautiful. This will happen. The Rewild Mission Bay team has been working for years on this already, and we are just jumping on board at the end to help push it to the finish line. And that article I need to write with a colleague, we are going to write about the rewilding wetlands work because it is all related. And soon we will go visit the Turtle Rescue in the Yucatan. Yes we will.

I’m also looking into establishing two solar farms on property our family has on the outskirts of town. It doesn’t make sense to build in fire-prone areas, but to build a solar farm – makes sense. Might as well make some money trying to save the earth. I’m not sure if these numbers are real, but it looks like $1000-$2000 an acre per year for solar farm land leases. But what if we own the actual solar farm itself? It’s always important to dream. And I like figuring things out. So we might become solar farmers.

And that is my crazy world of trash art near the vegan cookbooks I’m using more. Science writing and trying to rewild the local wetlands. I’m an action oriented kind of person so I need to complete projects. Each trash art person is a project completed and then gifted to someone. I created something out of stuff that would have gone to the landfill. And with climate work, there are so many beautiful wonderful projects to complete. More than enough to fill up the decade of concerted environmental activism I promised to my children and the earth. I’m on year 3 of 10, and I’ve become a THREENAGER climate and health activist. If you know two and three years olds, you know we are full of energy and forces to be reckoned with! LOL. Signing off your litter-picking pediatrician who finished all her charts yesterday and made 10 phone calls on my off time to discuss lab and xray results with you because I care. And I don’t let anyone tell me how I practice medicine. And I don’t let anyone tell me how I will help save the earth. Got to do it my way!!!