August 2026: rewilding
Each month, we break down our topic into four weekly modules. Catch up on previous editions here.โ
This week's module: LEARN
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DREAM | imagine the wild world of the future
- ๐ฏ LEARN | learn about movements to rewild the world like depaving and more, including rewilding in urban spaces
- ACT | actions you can take asap for a wild future no matter where you live
- REFLECT | Art, poetry, and commitments
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Here's what we'll learn today Reader
HEY GUESS WHAT? WE REDID OUR WEBSITE fOR THE FIRST TIME IN LIKE 6 YEARS! This was an incredibly hefty project led by our online community + content lead, Kayla Hidayat. She spent MOONNTTHHHSS making sure the vibes reflect Soapbox. There are still some bugs we're working out, but overall, I am SO PROUD OF IT and so proud of Kayla and I hope you like our new digital face!
Other than that, I'm so overwhelmed I could melt into a puddle right now (everything is all good tho) so I am going to skip straight to the content of today's Changeletter on REWILDING.
It includes bison. The world is better with those shaggy floofs.
Today's Changeletter also covers depaving. It's one of the coolest movements/concepts I've learned about recently. Turns out you can just...do stuff to make your community more resilient.
So I hope you read this and then close your screen and then go do something, anything, that rewilds yourself or the world around you. Go on a walk. Dance. Plant a tree. Depave an entire parking lot.
Go on, the future is waiting.
NEW: I did the math on our donations and this is what I found
If we had 350 people donate at our default $28/month tier (or $350 a year), we would fully fund our annual general operating costs!! This is huge, especially because there are 8,000 of you on here! If you've been enjoying these Changeletters and want to support the larger movement of building joyful community spaces for climate action, I would love your support. It is so cool to have a path for a fully grassroots nonprofit so I can spend my time on doing the work instead of begging funders for money. (Get your work to match it too.) If you have a donor advised fund, it's extra easy to contribute <3
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Your bite-sized action plan Reader
Today, your task is to watch this video on depaving (or read the article that follows) and think about how you can get involved in local rewilding movements.
Depaving is a movement/concept where people remove pavement from urban spaces and rewild them. It's hella cool because anyone can do it! But of course, if your city/county/state supports you, it's much easier.
Here's a video from a county near mine in Seattle!
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This video is essentially a trailer that pitches depaving as a concept. Honestly, I'm surprised there haven't been that many popular newer videos, because this is SUCH A COOL WAY to get involved hands-on with building green spaces! In this project:
- Community members transform a 16,000sqft parking lot into an area that's usable for kids and isn't just pavement
- 50 volunteers depaved it over 3 days, and later, more volunteers installed trees
- I learned a new word: "grayscape," that defines the character of many of our neighborhoods and the endless asphalt
- We have over-paved our urban spaces, and it's harming everyone and everything. Polluted stormwater is often the highest source of pollution in waterways, because of the way it runs off of pavement and roads.
I'll leave you with this article on rewilding by Econews: Bison are released in Romania, with results that surprise even zoologists, as the plant biomass in the area increases by 30%.
There are so many people in this world turning up day after day to TAKE ACTION against our metacrisis. It's often said that hope is the antidote to despair, but I think it's missing a crucial step: action.
For me, there is no hope without action, and the more action I take in my community, the more people I meet whom I would never, ever give up on, not even if the world ends tomorrow.
You are one of those people for me, Reader.
Stay wild,
Nivi
A lil note ๐
Hello hello! If you enjoy the work we're doing at Soapbox through these Changeletters and more, pleeeasse consider contributing. This is how I make my livelihood and pay my rent (and my team!) and I would appreciate any support you can give. Thank you for being here!
Love,
Nivi
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