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Jan 2026: community resilience

Each month, we break down our topic into four weekly modules. Catch up on previous editions here.​

This week's module: CONNECT

• ✅ CONNECT | Dream about the future of communities
• 🎯 LEARN | How do we build community resilience locally and globally?
• ACT | What is your pathway to community resilience as a neighbor and human?
• REFLECT | Art, poetry, and commitments

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Here's what we'll learn today Reader

I'm afraid that today's Changeletter might be more unhinged than usual because:

1) I am running off of half a brain cell. Launching our second Soapbox location in Portland has been great fun, but I am exhausted (worth it)

2) As authoritarianism plows on in the United States, my coping mechanism gets more and more into morbid humor. So. That's how things are going.

Since our theme is community resilience, before we get into our LEARN module below, I want to just remind you that we are the only ones keeping each other safe. Let's do what we can, be good neighbors, find solidarity, and make ourselves uncomfortable to keep ourselves secure.

There is resilience in resistance. May we all find it.

Now, let's talk about poop fish.

Onward.

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Your bite-sized action plan Reader

✅ LEARN about local and global community resilience solutions, real and imagined

Resilience is not a fuzzy concept. Sure, it means a lot of things to a lot of people, but let's keep it simple:

Let's define community resilience as the behaviors, processes, and infrastructure we create together to adapt and overcome the challenges of the future we deserve.

(Wikipedia's definition was fine, but let a girl have some fun 😘)

In this LEARN module, you have three solutions, all covered in the video below, that can be applied locally and globally. Below the video, I've posted three articles to go into into more depth on each one, as well as a short story about community resilience hubs.

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1. Solution 1: Coppicing. Do you know what coppicing is? I did not until today, and now I feel like a genius. I'm going to namedrop it into every conversation. I'm going to coppice my hair. Or something.
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   It's the process of cutting trees back without unaliving them, and it creates regenerative and resilient forests! Here's more about it from Reasons to Be Cheerful. Tell a friend!
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2. Solution 2: Poop your poop into fish. I'm sorry I know that sounded gross but it cracked me up to type it, and it's also accurate.
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   Big Toilet doesn't want you to know about this, but there are cities around the world that successfully and safely use wastewater to feed and grow fish, saving everyone (including municipal governments and households) looots of money Here's an article from The Guardian re Kolkata, India. If you're like ew! I would never eat a fish that eats my poop! I totally get it, but let me tell you, the factory-farmed stuff we eat on a regular basis is... well, that's for you to investigate. 🤢
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   Sanitation (and the breakdown of it) is one of the most significant post-disaster challenges, so it may be time to think seriously about the fish.
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3. Solution 3: Microgrids! Right now, most of us live in cities/municipalities where energy is fossil-fuel based and centrally controlled. This means, when something goes wrong, or when all the oil runs out because it's from, well, fossils, then it's oops all apocalypse for us. But, if we can control our own energy AND make it renewable, we're chillin. Wouldn't that be nice? Read about Puerto Rico's first-of-its-kind solar microgrid from Grist and figure out how you can get involved in microgrid efforts in your community.

Speaking of Grist, here's a fun short story about climate resilience hubs set in the future by the incredible Jamie Liu, and it won Grist's short story competition. There's banter and snark and delight!

Alrighty I'm off to go figure out how to put a fish in my toilet,

Nivi

(Please this is a joke, I'm not going to put a fish in my toilet. Don't report me)

Upcoming Soapbox events

We have WEEKLY events in Seattle AND in Portland! Both are on Tuesday evenings, same time, same place.
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​Our entire events calendar for ALL locations + virtual can be found here.