Plant With Purpose
About Our Work
When planting trees, be sure to tell the whole story
Don’t oversimplify the complex, and don’t over-complicate the simple. This simple charge is one that’s stuck with me throughout years of work in communications and storytelling focused on international development and climate solutions. Both of these errors have the potential to do harm. The world of international development is full of cases where complex problems […]
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About Our Work
Why Spiritual Renewal?
Plant With Purpose’s mission encompasses a threefold approach. The three spheres of environmental restoration, economic empowerment, and spiritual renewal are integrated, leading to transformational change. While we believe strongly in the relationship between these areas, they each have unique nuances, especially the area of spiritual renewal. It is less tangible than environmental restoration, and it […]
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About Our Work, Academic
The Spiritual Stakes of Endangered Species
The following is a guest contribution by Christian environmental writer, Betsy Painter. Betsy Painter is a creative writer and conservation biologist who is passionate about environmental care and its human dimensions. She has studied Religion and Ecology in graduate school with a focus on the beautification of nature in the redemptive Biblical narrative and its […]
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All, Resources, Sustainability, Updates
How Black History paves the way for a more sustainable future
Being sustainability-minded typically comes with an orientation toward thinking about the future. After all, one of the ultimate goals of sustainability is to leave the planet better than one found it as a loving act toward future generations. So what role does history, specifically, Black history play in this? A significant role. In order to […]
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Dominican Republic, Environmental Restoration
Andres from Zumbador
Like much of the world, Andres relied on land to live Getting to Andres’ farm from any of the Dominican Republic’s main roads takes a series of dusty streets and switchbacks. The closer you get to the farm, the more and more it starts to look like the Garden of Eden, with coffee, bananas, cassava, […]
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Living Sustainably, Resources, Sustainability
Greenwashing: Avoid Falling Prey to Deception While Trying to Do Good
By Hannah Arledge Evidently, going green is good for business. Over the past five years, internet searches for sustainable goods have increased by 71%. As global concern heightens with images of Amazonian deforestation, ocean garbage patches, and the lived experience of increasingly erratic weather patterns, consumers are looking for avenues to lessen their role in […]
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Environmental Restoration, Sustainability
Discover the Roots of Regenerative Agriculture in Indigenous Cultures
By Hannah Arledge While regenerative agriculture has created buzz in recent years, many ideas that seem innovative or groundbreaking often harken back to indigenous ways of stewarding the earth. Thousands of years of cultivation and local adaptations have shown us that best practices are centered around respect and mutuality. When we talk about regenerative agriculture, […]
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About Our Work, Climate Solutions, Environmental Restoration
What is Regenerative Agriculture?
By Hannah Arledge The term “regenerative agriculture” seems to mean something slightly different to everyone. In fact, in a study published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, scholars found that “across 229 academic journal articles and 25 practitioner websites… only 51 percent of research articles that used the term supplied any sort of definition. Meanwhile, […]
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About Our Work, Our Response, Updates
Rising to Meet the Need: Global Program Expansion
The following is a session transcript of a conversation hosted as part of our Online Global Conference originally aired on Friday, October 8, 2021. We are launching or expanding work in countries and watersheds around the world: Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Mexico, and even a new country! Meet our program team […]
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Climate Solutions
Refocusing the Climate Change Conversation: A Conversation about Environmental Restoration
The following is a session transcript of a conversation hosted as part of our Online Global Conference originally aired on Wednesday, October 6, 2021. One of the most important things we can do about climate change is talk about it, but that isn't always easy! Between scientific complexities, surging anxieties, and societal divides, it's hard […]
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About Our Work, Our Response, Updates
Hope Restored: A Conversation About Spiritual Impact
The following is a session transcript of a conversation hosted as part of our Online Global Conference originally aired on Tuesday, October 5, 2021. Do trees, farming, and savings really connect people to God? Spiritual renewal is happening around the world through our work. Come learn about the exciting next phase of our commitment to […]
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About Our Work, Our Response, Updates
Empowered Women are Leading the Way
The following is a session transcript of a conversation hosted as part of our Online Global Conference originally aired on Thursday, October 7, 2021. One of the most compelling aspects of our global work is the way women and girls are empowered to lift their communities. In fact, many global observers believe empowered women may […]
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About Our Work, Our Response, Updates
The Change is Real: Measuring Impact & Results
The following is a session transcript of a conversation hosted as part of our Online Global Conference originally aired on Monday, October 4, 2021. We did a deep dive into our work over the past three years and what we discovered will surprise (and encourage) you! What’s working? What are we improving? See our “report […]
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Climate Change
Everything you need to know about drought
By Hannah Arledge Drought can feel like the default setting for those of us living in the western United States. 2021 has only intensified this reality, charting some of the highest temperatures in the American West and pushing us into the second most severe drought in the last 1200 years. As a result, states like […]
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Climate Solutions, Meditations
Eco-discipleship: The act of studying and learning from creation
The Good News of Jesus is Good News for all of creation. One of the core ideas underlying the practice of ecological discipleship (eco discipleship), is drawing closer to God through study and engagement in the natural world. Musician Audrey Assad expresses, “I used to laugh at people who called nature a church. It mystified […]
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