All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis

The authors in All We Can Save provide many ideas for how to create active solutions to climate change. A common sentiment throughout the book is that our current systems are not working to eradicate climate change. The leadership, economy, and social institutions that currently exist are not doing enough to make meaningful developments. It is therefore up to regular people who care about the environment to join organizations and communities and come up with creative solutions for our warming planet. It’s time for all Americans to engage in politics at a local and national level and vote for people who will make decisions with the planet and future generations in mind.

Many of the authors recognize that it’s easy to resort to passive resignation when we realize how much work needs to be done to eliminate fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissions. This sense of being overwhelmed is such a common symptom of facing climate change that a new field of ecopsychology has developed to discuss and treat eco-anxiety, climate grief, pre-traumatic stress disorder, and other climate-related mental health conditions (238). These are all valid reactions, and it’s important to honor those. Nevertheless, burnout ultimately deprives us of our ability to engage in the fight against climate change.

The actionable ideas the writers in this book provide help provide a sense of hope and purpose to those who might be struggling. For example, Jane Zelikova gives ideas for how to improve our relationship to the soil in ways that could reduce carbon emissions: These include “reducing tillage, planting a diversity of crops, and growing cover crops” (290). Emily Stengel provides a model for regenerative ocean farming, a process that can filter ocean water and sequester carbon from the atmosphere (297). Judith D. Schwartz describes the process that one couple discovered of collecting rainwater using rain barns or barrels (312). All We Can Save devotes particular attention to designing buildings and landscapes with the climate in mind. Jainey K. Bavishi describes one project in New York City that brought together communities and professional designers to come up with solutions to prevent flooding (162). Amanda Sturgeon proposes implementing biophilic design into our homes to connect humans to their natural environment in a way that has been lost for centuries (167).

Some of the actions All We Can Save proposes are less tangible. Favianna Rodriguez takes an artist’s point of view and writes that culture and storytelling have the potential to shape society; this means that we need more “compelling and relatable stories that show us what a just, sustainable, and healthy world can look like” (121). We must all engage in the process of building a culture where we tell stories about the environment and cultures from different points of view and using different mediums. Rodriguez suggests that giving artists and culture-makers of color a platform will engage those who are most marginalized and motivate them to join in the transformation that is necessary for our society.