Sexual Health Emergency Preparedness Kits |
From Stephanie Feldstein, Population and Sustainability Program Director |
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The climate crisis has a disproportionate effect on women and gender-diverse people, but sexual and reproductive health concerns are often left out of emergency preparedness plans. To highlight the importance of preparing for sexual health disruptions during extreme weather events, this month the Center is distributing sexual health emergency preparedness kits at events across Florida for FEMA’s National Preparedness Month. The kits include condoms, emergency contraception, period products, pregnancy tests, and lubricant.
“These items help people get ready for climate-fueled severe weather emergencies,” said Center campaigner Kelley Dennings, who worked with partners in Florida to spearhead the effort. “Family planning is a climate change solution, so the kits can play a part in mitigating these extreme weather events, too.” Read on for the latest on why condoms should also be on teens’ back-to-school shopping list, food at Climate Week NYC, and a link between bat deaths and deaths of human babies. |
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New research shows that human population growth over the next 50 years will lead to expanding cities and towns, increasing human-wildlife overlap across 57% of the planet by 2070. The study also found that overlap will have a greater impact than climate change on forcing animals to relocate in search of resources.
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Condoms Are a Back-to-School Essential |
Binders, pens, and notebooks are staples on most high-schoolers’ back-to-school shopping lists, but as Center organizer Malia Becker wrote last month in Ms. magazine, parents should seriously consider condoms an essential back-to-school item, too.
Condoms shouldn’t seem like a shocking addition to the list. In 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that 48% of U.S. high school students surveyed hadn’t used a condom the last time they had sex. The Center helps ensure that young people have access to condoms — like we did when we recently sent thousands of Endangered Species Condoms to colleges and universities across the country. But parents of teens also need to take an active role in supporting their kids’ sexual health.
Here’s one thing you can do: “When you’re feeling tender … think about the hellbender” is more than a catchy rhyme on our Endangered Species Condoms packaging — it’s a call to action. Hellbenders have declined by more than 80% and face ever-increasing threats. Tell the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to protect hellbenders now.
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Join Our Food Day Panel During Climate Week NYC |
The Center and World Animal Protection recently coproduced a white paper with 50-plus contributing organizations around the world that outlines a global roadmap for ending factory farming and shifting to a food system that protects animals, the climate, workers, and community food security. Your organization can join the movement by endorsing the white paper.
If you’re going to be at Climate Week NYC in person, join our Food Day panel on Sept. 24 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. The event will launch the just transition framework to a U.S. audience and discuss opportunities to adapt the roadmap to empower local and regional food movements to advance a worker-driven, wildlife-friendly, plant-rich food system. Sign up to RSVP.
Here’s one thing you can do: Learn more about how corporate agriculture harms biodiversity, people, and the planet by following the Center’s new Rooted in Policy blog.
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Study: When Bats Die, More Human Babies Do, Too |
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Save the Date: Fifth Annual Food Justice Film Festival |
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In a new documentary, filmmakers go looking for an answer to why endless plastic debris ends up in the ocean despite all efforts to recycle. Single-Use Planet tells the powerful story of how policymakers sold out the health of communities and the environment for the sake of the plastics industry.
The film helps viewers understand why we need to turn off the tap for single-use plastics and — even more importantly — how we can make it happen. It’s available to purchase as a DVD and for classroom rentals and community screenings. Here’s one thing you can do: Plastic accumulating in our oceans and bodies is a global crisis. Learn about how the Center is fighting it. |
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Wedding Planning in the Age of Climate Change |
It’s nearly impossible not to think of the ever-changing climate as you’re planning a wedding these days. From deadly heat waves and intense flooding to rampant wildfires and increasingly dangerous air-quality conditions, we’re seeing more extreme weather than ever before. And in the United States, hurricane season and peak wedding season happen to coincide.
Clearly the climate crisis is a far vaster problem than rain on your wedding day. But between travel, food, flowers, and decor, weddings have a bigger impact than many people realize. A new Medium post by Center staffer Linda Rico lays out ways to keep the climate in mind while you plan your celebration.
Here’s one thing you can do: Check out our Wildlife-Friendly Wedding Guide — great for planning a wedding or any event while being eco-conscious. |
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Wildlife Spotlight: Florida’s Black Creek Crayfish |
The Black Creek crayfish is colorful, with a black carapace, a white or yellow dorsal stripe, and a rust-colored abdomen with black stripes. The species occupies a small range in the lower St. Johns River Watershed in northeastern Florida. Due to degrading water quality from agricultural activities and invasive species, the crayfish’s future is uncertain.
The Center has been fighting for the Black Creek crayfish since 2010, when we petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service to protect the species. Just a few weeks ago that effort finally paid off when the Service proposed to protect the Black Creek crayfish under the Endangered Species Act.
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Center for Biological Diversity
P.O. Box 710
Tucson, AZ 85702
United States
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