August 2026: rewilding
Each month, we break down our topic into four weekly modules. Catch up on previous editions here.
This week's module: LEARN
- ✅ DREAM | imagine the wild world of the future
- ✅ 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
The subject line of this email comes from a policy director, and that's all I'm going to say for now. You'll have to read through the actions for the full context.
I feel like my subject lines used to be way more unhinged in the past so this is a note to myself to be more feral on here. THAT'S REWILDING BABYYYYYY.
This past week, I went camping for five days. I watched the Perseids meteor shower at the top of a mountain in a national park and slept under the stars and watched the sunrise in the morning (2nd pic). It was one of the most amazing life experiences EVER. I swam in a river with no one around and I read a book in a rainforest and I slept on the forest floor. I wasn't intending it to be so in line with this month's theme of rewilding, but here we are. Pics attached, and a Twilight pic for fun.
Anyway, welcome to our ACT module on rewilding! I have a bunch of fun options for you, and many are activities you can do with the whole fam!
Let's rewild the future. Read on for butts.
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 DO SOMETHING towards rewilding.
I've color coded the actions, ski slope style, and arranged them by difficulty (subjective; it's my opinion)
- 🟢 Download the iNaturalist app to identify plants. You also get to contribute to science! This is one of my favorite apps on my phone and you can get it here.
- 🟢 Download the Merlin app to identify birds from their picture or song. Another fun easy and hella cute action! Here's the link.
- 🟢 Do something that makes you feel wild. Solo dance party? Primal howl? Karaoke? Cold plunge? Do it!! And remember, this is why we're alive.
- 🔵 Remove something invasive. Go on a walk in your neighborhood and use the iNaturalist app or the abundance of the world wide web to figure out what invasive plants are rampant in your area. Where I live, it's super easy to identify and pull out morning glory, which chokes other plants, and it's a very satisfying thing to do. Himalayan blackberries are also invasive in Seattle, and those take a higher level of skill/tools to remove, so I eat the blackberries and it's climate action because birds can't eat them and spread the seeds hee hee.
- 🔵 Plant something native. One of the simplest actions you can take today is to go to your local nursery and plant something native. Often, you can find a wildflower mix that's native to your area and shake it around when it's a good time.
- ⚫️ Spend a few hours volunteering with your local depaving movement (or get some friends together and DIY it). Search "depaving [your city]" and see what comes up. Or... "depaving tutorial." Bonus if you use your local tool library to rent tools for depaving.
- ⚫️ Find out how your public lands works. It's easy to lose nuance in the climate movement and to think "hey we can never cut down a single tree ever!!!" But when you think about the world we live in, remember that all our resources have to come from somewhere. As the policy director of the WA DNR said last night at Soapbox Seattle, "we all have to wipe our butts." (DO NOT get into a bidet discussion with me right now, that's not the point.......or maybe it is. Are bidets a rewilding action? I say yes.) ANYWAY. To change our systems, we must understand them first. We learned last night that in Washington State that forest clearing is incentivized, because in Washington, the Department of Natural Resources has a constitutional obligation to use lands for building + funding schools. Cutting down and selling trees = $$$ = funding. To change these incentives, we have to look at the whole system before having a knee jerk reaction of right vs. wrong. Everywhere is different, so spend an hour understanding how your land works. Who's in charge? Are they elected? How do they decide their priorities? Lots to explore!
Love,
Nivi
A lil note 💚
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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