Stewardship Resources
How do we care well for what
sustains life?
Even if you never book a session or get to work with me, I want you to leave my site knowing one thing you can do tomorrow.
Stewardship begins when we stop seeing nature as scenery and start experiencing it as relationship. Spend time in conversation with the living world. Learn the names of the trees on your street. Listen for birdsong. Sit beside a river.
Participate in Sustainable Food Systems
None of us gets to opt out of the food system. Every meal connects us to soil, water, farmers, animals, laborers, ecosystems, and economies. I was born into an American food system that often prioritizes efficiency and low prices over the long-term wellbeing of the land and the people and animals within it. Stewardship begins with paying attention to those relationships—and choosing, when we can, to support systems designed to keep nourishing life into the future.
Books
Braiding Sweetgrass — Robin Wall Kimmerer
The Serviceberry — Robin Wall Kimmerer
In Winter's Kitchen — Beth Dooley
Sistah Vegan — edited by A. Breeze Harper
Farming While Black — Leah Penniman
The Third Plate — Dan Barber
The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen — Sean Sherman with Beth Dooley
You don't need to build a perfect pantry overnight. Pick one relationship in your food system and tend it better. Learn your egg farmer. Join a CSA. Grow basil. Ask where your fish came from. Small acts of attention are how stewardship becomes practice.
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Know who grows your food. Buy directly from farmers when you can. Farmers markets, CSAs, farm stands, and regional food services keep you closer to the people and land feeding you.
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Look beyond the front of the package. It might say Organic on the label, but does it have a USDA Organic certification? Organic does not mean “no pesticides whatsoever,” but it does restrict most synthetic fertilizers and pesticides and require practices intended to conserve biodiversity and ecological balance.
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Learn what animal-welfare labels actually tell you. Cage-free means hens can move around indoors; free-range mean hens have outdoor access, but there are loop holes. Pasture-raised eggs is more meaningful.
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Support farming that leaves something behind. Regenerative agriculture centers soil health, water management, biodiversity, and long-term productivity rather than extracting from the same land indefinitely. Practices can include minimizing soil disturbance, maintaining living roots, diversifying crops, and keeping soil covered.
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Remember the pollinators. Agricultural choices affect more than the crop being grown. EPA guidance specifically recognizes pesticide exposure as a risk that needs to be managed for bees and other pollinators.
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Include workers in your definition of sustainability. A food cannot really be called ethical if the people catching, growing, packing, or processing it are being exploited. Forced labor has been documented in global seafood supply chains, including fishing vessels connected with Thailand.
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Grow something. Herbs on a windowsill count. Tomatoes in a pot count. Saving seeds counts. Growing even a little food changes the relationship from consumer to participant.
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Waste less of what required so much to produce. Plan around what you already have, eat leftovers, freeze abundance, compost what remains, and remember that food waste is also wasted soil, water, labor, and energy.
Ready to support a better food system?
SPECIAL OFFER
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Plant Stewardship
We don't just consume plants—we enter into relationship with them. Every tea, tincture, bundle of herbs, or essential oil comes from a living ecosystem and a lineage of people who have cultivated, protected, and shared that knowledge. Stewardship asks us to become curious about where our plants come from, who harvested them, and how we can receive their gifts with gratitude and reciprocity.
Before working with a plant, ask three questions:
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Where did this come from?
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Who has traditionally stewarded this relationship?
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Is there a way I can receive this plant with gratitude and reciprocity?
You don't need an apothecary or a garden to begin. Choose one plant. Learn its history, where it grows, how it's traditionally used, and who has carried that knowledge forward. Relationship grows through curiosity, not consumption.
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Choose ethically sourced herbs. Support companies that are transparent about where their plants come from and who grows or harvests them.
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Learn before purchasing. Some plants—such as white sage, palo santo, frankincense, and myrrh—have experienced overharvesting or hold deep cultural significance. Before bringing a plant into your life, learn its ecological story and cultural context.
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Honor lineage. If a plant belongs to your cultural or spiritual tradition, deepen that relationship with respect. If it doesn't, ask how you can approach it humbly—or whether another plant native to your own place or lineage might serve a similar role.
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Get to know your local plants. Mugwort, pine, cedar, juniper, spruce, yarrow, nettle, and countless other plants have supported communities for generations. Sometimes the wisest teacher is already growing nearby.
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Grow something yourself. Even one pot of calendula, basil, mint, or tulsi changes your relationship from consumer to caretaker.
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Support pollinators. Native flowers, reduced pesticide use, and diverse gardens help sustain the insects and birds that make plant life possible.
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Buy with discernment. Stewardship includes asking who profits from the products we purchase and whether our dollars support communities, workers, and ecosystems we believe in.
Ecological Stewardship
Every ecosystem that sustains life deserves our attention. The health of our communities depends on the health of the ecosystems that support them. Stewardship means remembering that our choices ripple outward—to pollinators, forests, waterways, wildlife, and future generations. Whether close to home or across the globe, caring for the Earth begins with paying attention and choosing to participate.
Links
Biodiversity & Wildlife
Public Lands
Pollinators
Regenerative Agriculture
Oceans
Indigenous Stewardship
Stewardship doesn't always begin with a grand gesture. Plant one native flower. Learn the name of your local watershed. Support a conservation organization. Show up for a public meeting. Pick up litter on your walk. Small acts, repeated consistently, become part of a larger culture of care.
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Plant for pollinators. Choose native flowers and reduce pesticide use to help support bees, butterflies, birds, and other essential pollinators.
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Protect public lands. Parks, forests, rivers, and open spaces belong to all of us. Stay informed about policies that affect them and lend your voice when they're threatened.
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Support conservation organizations. Whether local or global, the people protecting habitats, restoring ecosystems, and advocating for biodiversity need sustained public support.
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Support businesses that give back. Seek out brands that invest in conservation, fair labor, regenerative agriculture, and circular design—not just profit. I.e. Patagonia,Cotopaxi, Tentree, Allbirds, PACT
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Reduce unnecessary waste. Use less plastic where you can, repair what you own, compost when possible, and remember that "away" is still somewhere.
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Be mindful of technology's environmental footprint. As AI, cloud computing, and digital infrastructure continue to grow, stay curious about their impacts on water use, energy consumption, biodiversity, and local communities.
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Learn from your local ecosystem. Spend time in nearby parks, notice seasonal changes, learn the native species around you, and develop a relationship with the place you call home.
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Think globally, acting locally. The Amazon, coral reefs, wetlands, and old-growth forests matter—but so do the creek, park, and street trees in your own neighborhood.
Home & Daily Ritual
Stewardship begins at home. The way we move through our ordinary days shapes the world around us. The habits we cultivate, the attention we give, and the rhythms we return to become quiet acts of stewardship—for ourselves, our communities, and the living world.
Remember:
The goal isn't to do everything. Choose one practice. Tend it well. Then let it become part of the way you move through the world.
Choose one practice that helps you feel more connected—to your home, your body, your community, or the season you're in. Stewardship isn't about perfection. It's about returning, again and again, to what matters.
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Cook more often. Preparing your own meals deepens your relationship with food, reduces waste, and reconnects you with the ingredients that sustain you.
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Compost when you can. Return nutrients to the soil rather than sending them to landfill.
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Eat with the seasons. Notice what's growing around you and let nature, rather than the grocery store, inspire your table.
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Create seasonal rituals. Mark the solstices, equinoxes, harvests, or personal milestones as opportunities to pause and reflect.
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Spend time outside. Walk without headphones, learn the names of local plants and birds, or simply sit quietly and observe. Relationship begins with attention.
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Set digital boundaries. Protect time for rest, creativity, and presence. Be intentional about what—and how much—you consume online.
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Stay informed without becoming overwhelmed. Build a relationship with trustworthy journalism that keeps you engaged without leaving you depleted.
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Practice gratitude. A simple moment of thanks before a meal or at the end of the day can shift consumption into reciprocity.
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Volunteer your time. Stewardship isn't only about what we buy; it's also about what we're willing to give.
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Know how to participate. Save the contact information for your local representatives so speaking up for your community and the places you love is one step easier.