Happy Earth Day

Last summer, I happened to be in Massachusetts, and visited the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge. It was the end of August, not usually prime birding season, but I was hoping to see a few birds.

And indeed I did. I happened to catch the annual migration of tree swallows heading south to enjoy winter in the tropics.

The word awesome doesn't begin to describe it.

These days, nothing matters more than getting out the vote. The midterms are a beacon of hope, if only we can get people out to the polls, and I want to focus all my energy that way. But before we get swept up in the maelstrom of election season, I wanted to take a spring day to think about birds.

I don’t usually write about the environment in these posts. No one wants to hear environmental bad news. Especially, no one wants to hear about climate change. Climate change is a loser with voters. And I can understand why. It’s too vast, too frightening, too uncontrollable. The mere thought provokes an unpleasant shiver down the nape of the neck. It’s a reminder of our mortality. Voters don’t want to contemplate climate change any more than they want to contemplate making their own funeral arrangements.

What works at the ballot box is not despair, but optimism. Like a bird humming cheerfully outside your window.

[photo credit P. Slawinski]

As Noam Chomsky once remarked, “Optimism is a strategy.” In honor of Earth Day, I want to highlight an optimistic strategy that is truly effective. Bird-friendly coffee.

Coffee grows best in places where there are stable temps never below freezing, consistent rainfall, and high humidity. In a word, rainforests. One of the reasons that rainforest habitats are so threatened is that all our favorite stuff grows there, like chocolate, tea, palm oil, and coffee. Rainforest habitats make prime coffee farms.

Now the thing is that you can grow coffee two ways. Fast or slow. Or to put it in farmer’s terms, sun or shade.

To grow coffee fast, here's what to do: cut the trees, bulldoze the land, apply chemical fertilizers, hire cheap labor for slave wages, and douse the plants with pesticides.

But there’s a better way. Coffee plants can grow in the shade. They grow more slowly, but aficionados claim the taste is richer and more complex.

So here’s how growing bird-friendly coffee works: don’t cut the trees. Let the coffee ripen slowly, in the shade of a diversity of canopy trees. And where you have trees, you have birds. The birds eat the bugs that would eat your coffee plants, so there's less need for pesticides. The leaf-enriched soil needs far less chemical fertilizer. And the birds have a place to spend the winter.

(photo credit P. Danese)

The thing is that this isn’t only for the benefit of rare tropical species we’ll never see. Bird-friendly coffee directly benefits our local birds, like tree swallows, hummingbirds, and warblers, that migrate to the tropics for the winter.

The Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center is the gold standard for coffee that is bird-friendly and organic. Look for the Smithsonian Bird Friendly® certification when you shop for coffee.

The SMBC says “the Bird Friendly seal indicates that those coffee or cocoa beans were grown using science-based practices designed to protect habitat for migratory birds and other wildlife.

“North America has lost nearly three billion birds since the 1970s. Much of that decline can be traced to the tropics, where intensifying agriculture leads to deforestation and degradation of vital habitats that many birds depend on for their migration journey.”

(photo credit J. Schneid)

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology states, “Three-quarters of the world’s coffee farms grow their plants in the sun, destroying forests that birds and other wildlife need for food and shelter. Sun-grown coffee also often requires using environmentally harmful pesticides and fertilizers. On the other hand, shade-grown coffee preserves a forest canopy that helps migratory birds survive the winter…it’s delicious, economically beneficial to coffee farmers, and helps more than 42 species of North American migratory songbirds…Find out where to buy Bird-Friendly coffee in the U.S. and Canada”.

So in honor of Earth Day, lift a cup of coffee to the birds. They're counting on us to save their winter homes, all those beautiful tropical trees. Enjoy your coffee, relax, and take a break.

Then get ready for election season. It's going to be awesome.

Dear Friends,

Are you furious about the state of the world and wondering what to do about it? I hope you’ll continue to check out The Optimistic Activist.

Every now and then I post some ideas for doing something. How to get out the vote, spread the word, and support progressive candidates. Ideas for simple but effective activism. As easy, as practical, as do-able as I can make them.

Together, I think, we can really make a difference.

“Optimism is a strategy for making a better future.”

--Noam Chomsky

Anitasanchez.com