We’ve made a mess, and now it’s time to fix it.
These are the unspoken mandates of Everglades conservation organizations working to restore healthy freshwater flow through the Sunshine State.
Water is life for planet and people. Therefore, when its flow is interrupted or cut off, there are dire consequences.
History of Water Flow
In Florida, freshwater from Lake Okeechobee in the middle of the state naturally flowed south through the Everglades and into Florida Bay and the present-day Florida Keys. In doing so, it nourished entire ecosystems.
According to the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD), farms and communities developed around the lake in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Catastrophic hurricanes in 1926 and 1928 caused millions in damage and deaths by flooding, prompting the government to step in to control the water.
The Army Corps of Engineers built a series of canals to severely restrict how much water flows through the state. Instead of coming south through the Everglades, most is now discharged east and west, through concrete sloughs dredged for this specific purpose.
The result has been catastrophic for this ecosystem that evolved around the flow of water. One of the most invisible harms is hypersalinity.
Hypersalinity Is Getting Worse
“In general, hypersalinity refers to the salinity in a coastal water body,” explained Steve Davis, the chief science officer at The Everglades Foundation. “Ocean salinity is roughly 35 parts per thousand (ppt). If you’ve ever swam in the ocean and tasted it, you know what that is. When salt content gets higher than that of the ocean, we call it hypersalinity.”
Florida Bay is a body of water that sits south of Everglades National Park, thereby receiving any freshwater flows through that ecosystem. It’s flanked by saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean. As such, it’s naturally a brackish environment.
A Florida Bay drone shot in 2022 shows the difference between algae blooms and clear water. The Everglades Foundation
Unfortunately, because of the restricted water flows through the state, Florida Bay currently receives less than half of its historical freshwater flows. “It’s all driven by water balance, and we changed the plumbing,” Davis explained. “It’s a wetland. If you deprive a wetland of water, especially freshwater, it’s going to have implications on the habitat and the ecology of the system in general.”
Basically, because of our water controls at Lake Okeechobee, Florida Bay, an 849 square mile area is becoming hypersaline more often and more intensely than ever before. Freshwater, like the water in Lake Okeechobee, has a salinity of zero. Ocean water typically has a salinity index of 35 ppt and historically, a healthy brackish Florida Bay might have had an index of 40. Florida Bay’s waters get trapped and evaporate in the shallow estuary, leaving salt behind. This is how the salinity of the bay begins to increase. Additionally, since rainfall helps to bring the salinity down, drought years exacerbate the effects. And, without freshwater coming down through the Everglades, there’s nothing to flush the system.
Steve Davis takes stock of the massive seagrass dieoff of 2017 following a hypersalinity event. The Everglades Foundation
Now, add in our disruptions to the natural flow of water from Lake Okeechobee, exacerbated by droughts and climate change. All this has caused Florida Bay’s salinity to reach up to 70 to 80 ppt – more than double that of the ocean, Davis lamented. In fact, we’re now at the point where average rainfall still results in salinity higher than the ocean, he said.
“This is devastating to the ecology and fisheries of Florida Bay,” Davis said. Effects he’s witnessed have been massive seagrass die offs and intense blooms of toxic algae. “It’s the downward spiral of the entire ecosystem. It goes from clear water to something that looks like pea soup.”
Green algae discharges from Lake Okeechobee show an ecosystem in decline. The Everglades Foundation
Heat Is a Double Whammy
That’s not all. Florida’s summers are notoriously, record-breakingly hot. In summer 2023, the heat disrupted the entire marine ecosystem and killed swaths of Florida’s already fragile coral reef.
“The combo of heat and hypersalinity is what is most devastating to the bay,” Davis said. “Hot, salty water doesn’t hold much oxygen, and oxygen is essential to the health of the bay and to large fish species that are highly coveted by anglers.”
Luckily, good rainfall and more freshwater flow through the current Everglades restoration of the Tamiami Trail prevented a hypersalinity event during the heatwave. But what happens during a drought?
Restoration and Combating Climate Change
“What Everglades restoration does is to push back against all that and keep those areas functioning as brackish areas, rather than hypersaline areas,” Davis explained.
The Everglades Foundation was formed to “replumb South Florida” and get water from Lake Okeechobee flowing south again, Davis said. A comprehensive Everglades restoration plan passed in the year 2000, and the Foundation’s role ever since has been to implement it. This involves constructing major infrastructure projects to free the flow.
The key project is an Everglades agricultural reservoir to be built south of Lake Okeechobee. “That’s the one that really does heavy lifting to get water south,” Davis said.
The above-ground reservoir full of freshwater would act as “drought insurance for the ecosystem” much like a rain barrel. During drier times, water could be used to water plants and agricultural lands and be sent south through the Everglades to Florida Bay.
By design, it will be a polluted reservoir because it’s taking in Lake Okeechobee’s “toxic slime” water and agricultural runoff from nearby sugar fields. Wetlands for treatment will surround the reservoir to help get that water clean before it’s used or sent south. These are engineered, highly managed wetlands, Davis explained. “If you stand in the middle of one, you’d think it was the Everglades. But it’s managed through soils, vegetation and how water flows through them to maximize the removal of pollutants – and especially phosphorus, which is our primary pollutant.”
As an important byproduct, the treatment wetlands will also sequester large amounts of phosphorus and carbon, helping to combat the climate crisis.
A comparison of historical, current and restored freshwater flow through Florida. The Everglades Foundation
Threats to Drinking Water
“It’s our water supply also,” Davis said. “We can’t forget that. Fundamentally, healthy Everglades are also responsible for providing our clean, daily freshwater supply.”
He’s talking about saltwater intrusion, a phenomenon already happening in South Florida. Sea level rise causes water to intrude deeper inland through the state’s limestone foundations. With no freshwater coming down the state to refresh underground aquifers, there’s no pressure asserted to keep these waters at bay. Saltwater is already penetrating into the Everglades and the Biscayne Aquifer, the state’s main drinking water supply.
Therefore, increasing freshwater flow would help to irrigate the entirety of South Florida, ensure that Florida Bay and nearshore habitats in the Florida Keys don’t become too saline, and protect the water supply. That’s a triple win.
Restoration Is a Good Investment
At Crocodile Point, healthy seagrass is visible through clear water in 2022. The Everglades Foundation
The Army Corps of Engineers broke ground on the reservoir project in 2023. It’s projected to be a multibillion-dollar project, but the economic benefits will measure well beyond that, experts believe. “We commissioned a study in 2010 that showed, conservatively, that Everglades Restoration delivers a 4-to-1 return on investment,” Davis said. “That’s enormous!”
Just how much money is that? About $20 billion worth, experts believe, if we follow today’s Everglades restoration plan.
Opposition and Stakes
The main opponent of the reservoir is Big Sugar. Three industrial sugar giants filed a lawsuit to stop construction because “they think that water belongs to them,” Davis said. All their claims were denied, and they each appealed. The case remains before the Court of Appeals.
According to Kelly Cox, Audubon Florida’s director of Everglades policy, “If Sugar wins their appeal on this, they will hold hostage significant volumes of water that should be sent south to Florida Bay. They don’t even use all the water they are already allocated, and they’re asking for more!”
“Everglades restoration is one of our biggest opportunities to build resiliency in South Florida,” Cox said. “With increasing climate threats to our communities, economy, health, and environment, restoration helps us sequester carbon, safeguards drinking water supplies, reduces storm impacts, and supports industries that rely on a healthy and thriving River of Grass.”
The post Restoring Florida Everglades Depends Upon Fixing State’s Freshwater Flow, Conservationists Say appeared first on EcoWatch.
https://www.ecowatch.com/florida-everglades-restoration-freshwater-conservation.html
Green Living
Classic Sustainability In Your Ear: The Ocean River Institute’s Natural Lawn Challenge for Climate Action
Turn back the clock with this classic interview that will get you ready for Spring yard care planning. A lawn may be beautiful but it can take a heavy toll on the environment, accounting for between 30% and 60% of residential water use in the United States. Rob Moir, Ph.D., is president and executive director of the Ocean River Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts. ORI works with residential lawn owners to heal damaged ecosystems by restoring coastal areas to lessen the destructive impacts of climate change. The benefits of a natural lawn reach far beyond reduced local water pollution, eliminating chemicals that can contribute to cancers, diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease, and other cellular diseases. Natural lawns are also better for local pollinators and store much more carbon than heavily fertilized lawns. If you considered removing your lawn to play a part in the battle against climate change, this interview may change your mind — a healthy lawn is a powerful carbon sink.
The Ocean River Institute is recruiting Massachusetts communities, town by town, to take a pledge to follow natural lawn practices in the Healthy Soils for Climate Restoration Challenge. You don’t need to live in Massachusetts to participate and learn about the alternatives to the traditional, chemical-intensive lawn practices that use Roundup, a source of glyphosates that kills soil-dwelling fungi and local pollinators, and fast-acting nitrogen fertilizers. You can learn more about the Ocean River Institute at www.oceanriver.org.
Rob has contributed many articles about climate change and the history of environmental change since this interview, including:
- Finding a Northwest Passage to the Sea
- Turning the Tide—How Land and Water Shape Our Climate Future
- Learning from Captain Scoresby’s Ten-gallon Fir-Cask
- Earth Savvy?
- Let the Ground Keep Falling Rainwater
- The Sultans of Swag Versus Looking at Clouds from Both Sides Now
- Subscribe to Sustainability in Your Ear on iTunes and Apple Podcasts.
- Follow Sustainability in Your Ear on Spreaker, iHeartRadio, or YouTube
Editor’s Note: This episode originally aired on May 30, 2022.
The post Classic Sustainability In Your Ear: The Ocean River Institute’s Natural Lawn Challenge for Climate Action appeared first on Earth911.
https://earth911.com/podcast/earth911-podcast-the-ocean-river-institutes-natural-lawn-challenge-for-climate-action/
Choosing your perfect gown can be one of the most exciting decisions for your special day, but for the eco fashionista, it can be a challenge to find a dress that fits your values and style — but these brands have exceptional sustainable wedding dresses you’ll swoon over!
Using earth-minded materials like hemp, cruelty-free peace silk, deadstock recycled fabrics and vintage lace, and producing consciously, either in small batches or handcrafting each individual piece made-to-order, the brands below meet high standards for transparency, ecological sustainability, and fair labor.
[For more sustainable wedding dresses, check out this guide to secondhand wedding dress sites!]
Note that the guide contains affiliate links. As always, we only feature brands that meet strict criteria for sustainability we love, that we think you’ll love too!
1. Christy Dawn
Dreamy dress brand Christy Dawn does not disappoint with their romantic bridal collection! Each piece is more swoon-worthy than the next.
Their three sustainable bridal gowns are made from regenerative silk charmeuse —sourced through BOMBYX, an innovative silk producer using best practices — and colored in a beautiful pearl silk with non-toxic dyes. Each dress is ethically cut and sewn by makers in Los Angeles earning living wages, as with the rest of Christy Dawn’s collections.
The Britta Dress and Fitzgerald Dress are 1920s inspired while the Athena Dress is a more modern (but equally romantic) option. All of these dresses are made-to-order with an estimated timeline of 4 weeks.
Conscious Qualities: Regenerative silk and organic non-toxic dyes, ethically made-to-order in Los Angeles
Price Range: $2,500 – $3,000
Size Range: XS – XL
2. Pure Magnolia
Blending the traditional with the modern, Pure Magnolia designs classic-inspired sustainable wedding dresses with contemporary touches. And each dress is made in their Canadian studio by seamstresses earning fair wages from eco-fabrics, such as organic cotton and hemp silk.
The brand sources recycled fabrics whenever possible as well, and recycles their scrap fabric through FABCYCLE.
Conscious Qualities: Eco-friendly fabrics, locally and fairly made, recycles scrap fabrics
Price Range: $845 – $3,300 CAD
Size Range: 0 – 28
3. Lost in Paris
Lost in Paris crafts each of their creatively designed bohemian-inspired gowns ethically in their Sydney, Australia studio. Unconventional yet undeniably striking, Lost in Paris’ dresses are made from vintage lace and cotton.
Investing in a dress from Lost in Paris is seamless — the brand offers at-home sample try-ons, offers train and sleeve adjustments on several styles, ships their dresses worldwide for free, and even accepts returns. Oh, and, if one of their ready-made sizes doesn’t work for you, you can get a dress designed to your measurements.
Conscious Qualities: Made-to-order model, uses vintage lace, locally made
Price Range: $950 – $3900 AUD
Size Range: XXS – XXL + custom sizing options
For More Slow Fashion Content:
4. Wear Your Love
Wear Your Love creates feminine, effortless dresses in their Northern California studio that are — in contrast to the majority of wedding dresses on the market — actually comfortable! The brand’s free-spirited designs are made with soft, earth-minded fabrics like organic cotton and each dress is made to order for each bride to their exact measurements.
There are also customizations available for each eco-friendly wedding dress such as train or no train, skirt or sleeve linings, back coverage, skirt style, and more.
Conscious Qualities: Eco-friendly fabrics, made-to-order model, locally and transparently made
Price Range: $680 – $1,700
Size Range: N/A; dresses are made to your measurements
5. Larimeloom
Based in Reggio Emilia, Italy, Larimeloom crafts exceptional custom-made dresses by hand in their atelier. The brand creates comfortable minimalist dresses from durable natural fabrics and colors them with natural or non-toxic dyes.
Larimeloom has also implemented zero waste design techniques, cutting their patterns strategically in order to minimize fabric waste.
Conscious Qualities: Made-to-order model, zero-waste designs, natural fabrics and dyes
Price Range: 650€ – 2,650€
Size Range: XS – XL
6. Sister Organics
Sourcing quality earth-friendly natural fabrics like organic hemp and cotton, Sister Organics creates classic, eco-friendly wedding dresses for UK-based brides.
Each dress is made to order in England, so you can select a pre-defined size, customize the length of a size, or get an entirely different dress made for your measurements.
Conscious Qualities: Eco-friendly fabrics, made-to-order model
Price Range: £125 – £390
Size Range: XXS – XXL + custom sizing
7. Indiebride London
Indiebride’s vintage-inspired sustainable wedding dresses are delicate and romantic yet free-spirited, offering a unique collection for the bride that wants to skip the conventional wedding gown and choose a piece that fits their individual style.
The brand’s conscious wedding dresses are handmade in London using majority natural fibers and can be altered or customized to your specifications.
Conscious Qualities: Made-to-order model, uses many natural fabrics, locally made
Price Range: £1,200 – £1,700
Size Range: 8 – 16 (UK sizes)
More Resources For Your Eco Wedding:
10 Secondhand Wedding Dress Sites for the Eco Bride
7 Ethical Lab-Grown Diamond Engagement and Wedding Rings
17 Brands with Conscious Dresses (great options for bridesmaid dresses in here!)
The post 7 Best Sustainable Wedding Dresses for Your Special Day appeared first on Conscious Life & Style.
Get organized in style with the beautiful sustainable dressers, wardrobes, and armoires from these furniture companies using responsibly-sourced FSC-Certified wood or upcycled wood.
Note that this guide includes affiliate links, which means we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you if you choose to make a purchase through these links.
What Makes A Dresser Sustainable?
As with anything in sustainability, there are various approaches that can make something “sustainable”.
Secondhand
With over 12 million tons (or 24 billion pounds) of furniture getting wasted each year in the United States alone, it’s definitely a great idea to look used when possible!
Secondhand not only helps divert furniture from the landfill, but reduces the need to extract new materials, whether that’s metal, wood, cotton, or increasingly, petroleum for synthetic fabrics and plastic.
Here’s where to look for secondhand dressers:
- Garage sales and estate sales (check EstateSales.net!)
- Facebook Marketplace
- OfferUp
- AptDeco
Responsibly Sourced Wood
Most storage furniture, like dressers, are made from wood (or engineered wood). While wood is a natural material, deforestation is a significant driver of climate change.
So, look for domestic or certified sustainably-sourced wood when purchasing wooden furniture. The largest most common certification is FSC, which stands for Forest Stewardship Council.
Even better is if you can find furniture made from reclaimed wood! This is basically upcycled wood that is being repurposed. This reclaimed wood can come from old barns, ships, factories, warehouses, or even wine barrels.
Non-Toxic Finishes
Unfortunately, many wood finishes contain harmful petroleum- and chemical-based solvents which can emit VOCs, or volatile organic compounds. While the toxicity is most severe during application and does reduce with time, the chemicals can build up in your home, so you may feel most comfortable minimizing risk of VOCs.
Why does this matter? Well, the EPA reports that indoor air can be 2-5 times more polluted than outdoor air — largely due to what we bring into our homes, from furniture to household cleaners.
Look for low-VOC finishes, water-based finishes, or natural oil finishes like linseed oil.
Where to Find Sustainably Made Dressers
I’ve done the grunt work for you and curated furniture brands with sustainable dressers, armoires, and wardrobes below!
1. Urban Natural
Highlights: Sustainably-Sourced Woods,
Price Range: $1,245 – $9,000+
For a one-stop shop for sustainable storage furniture, look no further than Urban Natural. The retailer has a stunning selection of timeless sustainable dressers (including non-toxic dressers for nurseries) made with responsibly sourced wood and several with non-toxic finishes too.
Urban Natural’s workshop partners use materials like solid oak, cherry, maple, and walnut — and many of the brands prioritize local sourcing as well.
2. Avocado
Highlights: Reclaimed or FSC-Certified Wood, GREENGUARD Gold Certified, Zero VOC Finish
Price Range: $1,939 – $3,999
Avocado’s sustainable dressers are made in Los Angeles in their own FSC-certified woodshop. Beautifully designed with a timeless mid-century modern or Scandinavian-inspired aesthetic, Avocado’s dressers are also built to last. Each dresser is made with either responsibly sourced FSC-Certified wood or reclaimed wood. Most of the company’s non-toxic bedroom furniture is also finished with a non-toxic zero-VOC finish to you can sleep easy.
3. Thuma
Highlights: Upcycled Solid Wood, GREENGUARD Gold Certified, Modular
Price Range: $1,165 – $3,495
Designed for maximum functionality and versatility, Thuma’s sustainable dressers give you endless options. Configure a couple drawers for a nightstand and add on more drawers vertically or horizontally for a full dresser that can fit any space.
The modular setup may be especially useful for families with evolving needs — you can add on more drawers if your needs grow or separate a large dresser into two smaller ones.
4. Medley
Highlights: Non-Toxic, USA Made
Price Range: $4,136
Medley’s sustainable dressers are handmade to order in California. The wide dresser pictured here comes in maple or walnut sourced domestically in the US.
The tops and sides are solid hardwood and FSC-certified, low-VOC CARB 2 compliant hardwood plywood is used in the rest of the dresser. The piece is finished with non-toxic natural beeswax.
5. MasayaCo
Highlights: FSC-Certified Reforested Wood, 1.2 Million Trees Planted
Price Range: $2,295 – $2,395
MasayaCo is committed to responsible sourcing for all of their sustainable storage furniture. Each FSC-Certified piece is made to order by skilled artisans in Nicaragua from 100% solid teak wood that comes from their own reforestation projects. Even more impressive, the company leaves 40% of these projects completely untouched to thrive on its own.
Their stunning credenzas could easily be used as dressers, too.
6. West Elm Sustainably Sourced Collection
Highlights: Non-Toxic and Responsibly-Sourced Options
Price Range: $879 – $2499
West Elm is a large retailer with options for more eco-friendly dressers. Among their selection, you can curate by filters such as GREENGUARD Gold Certified, crafted in Fair Trade Certified facilities, made from responsibly-sourced wood, and/or Contract Grade (i.e. high quality + durable).
7. Crate & Barrel FSC-Certified (Honorable Mention)
Price Range: $899 – $2,699
While Crate & Barrel does not have as many sustainability efforts as other large retailers like West Elm, the company has a vast selection of FSC-certified wood storage furniture, including dressers, chests, and full wardrobes or armoires.
You’ll find an array of woods and finishes as well, from weathered rustic natural wood to dark espresso-finished wood.
More Guides Like This:
21 Best Places to Find Sustainable Furniture
8 Gorgeous Sustainable Tables to Gather Around
Best Eco-Friendly and Non-Toxic Sofas to Relax In
The post 7 Sustainable Dressers and Armoires to Store it All Away in Style (2026) appeared first on Conscious Life & Style.
7 Sustainable Dressers and Armoires to Store it All Away in Style (2026)
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