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5 Great Environmental E-Newsletters To Spice up Your Inbox

By: Denali Selent

As busy college students, I’m sure our day to day email inboxes all look pretty similar- a slew of Canvas notifications, club meeting reminders, and campus updates. Naturally, sorting through all this mail to distinguish what’s important and what's not can be time consuming and frustrating. While email is a convenient and quick mode of communication, it has developed into a chore for many of us. 

If you find yourself in this boat, I have one word for you- newsletters! While it might seem counterintuitive to fix the issue of an exhaustive inbox with yet more emails, subscribing to a few newsletters you enjoy can be a quick and fun way to brighten up your inbox. Since discovering the art of newsletters in 2020, I have found myself once again looking forward to checking and sorting through my emails!

For those who are unfamiliar, e-newsletters are communication products released by an organization or company that contain links to articles, stories, news, and other relevant information pertaining to that organization. While some newsletters are just focused on sharing important updates, many are simply for reader entertainment and education. Newsletters are often set up in a very easy-to-read format, and allow readers to quickly scroll through them and see which links or stories catch their attention. 

Lucky for us as GreenHawks, numerous environmentally-focused newsletters exist. Each newsletter is unique in length, style, and topic, so I hope that this list will help you choose a newsletter or two that suits your style! 

How to Save a Planet

How to Save a Planet is a popular environmental podcast run by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Alex Blumberg, and it has an associated newsletter. The newsletter not only highlights topics covered on the podcast, but dives deeper into many of the stories covered. Recent episode topics have included everything from kelp farming as a climate solution to indigenous environmental practices of the Yurok tribe, and you can sign up for the newsletter here.  

The Good Trade

The Good Trade is a popular media outlet covering all things related to sustainable living. The website has both a daily and weekly newsletter, each including a wide variety of topics. In general, each edition contains an inspirational quote/note, a “Listen” suggestion such as a song or podcast, a recipe to bake or cook, information on a sustainable brand or product, and an article to read. Sign up for the daily newsletter here, and the weekly newsletter here

The Climate Crisis

The Climate Crisis is a weekly newsletter written by Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, and produced by The New Yorker. This newsletter is your go-to for all things climate change related, including pertinent news on activism, policy, and climate science. Sign up for the newsletter here.  

The Sierra Club Insider

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If you’re looking to sign up for an environmental newsletter, but aren’t excited about the prospect of another email filling your inbox daily or even weekly, the Sierra Club Insider may be right for you! The newsletter is sent out twice a month, and features an assortment of sections including everything from major policy initiatives to great environmental books to check out. Sign up for the newsletter here

Grist 

Grist, a popular environmental news source, offers not one, not two, but six different options for newsletters you can have delivered to your inbox! Each newsletter ranges in topics covered, including options for federal policy news, climate science, upbeat stories, and more. My personal favorite is “The Beacon”, which is a daily newsletter featuring uplifting and inspirational environmental news—something I think we all can appreciate. Check out the different options here.  

While this article features five  great environmental newsletters, dozens more exist. If you have a favorite that wasn’t mentioned here, leave a comment below to share it with GreenHawks!

Photo courtesy of Pixabay.