`Author:` ## Summary _[All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis](https://www.google.com/search?kgmid=/g/11j5h1ylpr&q=All+We+Can+Save+-+a+brief+overview+of+this+ecological+book)_ is a 2020 bestselling anthology that highlights a diverse range of women's voices in the environmental movement. Curated by Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, a marine biologist, and Dr. Katharine Wilkinson, a climate strategist, the book was born out of a desire to address the lack of female representation in major climate discussions. #### Core Philosophy and Structure The book is structured around the idea of a "feminist climate renaissance"—leadership rooted in compassion, connection, and collaboration rather than the patriarchal models of competition and extraction. It is organised into eight thematic sections: - **Root**: Explores origins and foundational climate justice. - **Advocate**: Focuses on legal and political action. - **Reframe**: Discusses how we talk about and culturally view the crisis. - **Reshape**: Covers physical changes, such as biophilic architecture and resilient city design. - **Persist**: Highlights fierce activism and long-term community building. - **Feel**: Addresses the psychological and emotional impacts, including climate grief and "solastalgia". - **Nourish**: Looks at natural solutions like regenerative agriculture and ocean farming. - **Rise**: Focuses on collective action and multi-generational movement building. #### Diverse Contributors The anthology features essays, poetry, and art from over 60 climate practitioners. Notable contributors include: - Scientists & Academics: Katharine Hayhoe (atmospheric science) and Kate Marvel (climate science). - Activists: Naomi Klein, Varshini Prakash (Sunrise Movement), and youth leader Alexandria Villaseñor. - Indigenous Leaders: Sherri Mitchell and Tara Houska. - Poets: Mary Oliver, Alice Walker, and Joy Harjo. #### Reception and Impact Reviewers from Smithsonian Magazine named it one of the top 10 science books of 2020. It is frequently described as a "big tent" approach to climate work, offering a "balm" for climate anxiety while providing concrete, solution-oriented guidance. The book's success led to The All We Can Save Project, a non-profit that nurtures climate leadership through "Circles"—self-led reading and discussion groups. > [!info] > [All We Can Save](https://www.allwecansave.earth/anthology) > “A mosaic that honours the complexity of the climate crisis like few, if any, books on the topic have done yet ... a feast of ideas and perspectives, setting a big table for the climate movement, declaring all are welcome.” > > – _Rolling Stone_ ## Quotes ### On Action & Expertise - "You don't have to know the details of the science to be part of the solution. And if you wait until you know everything, it will be too late for you to do anything." — Alexandria Villaseñor, *Calling In* (p. 25) - "The goal is not self-purification but structural change. 'Hypocrisy' is the price of admission in this battle." — Bill McKibben, cited in *A Field Guide for Transformation* (p. 444) - "May I be the tiniest nail in the house of the universe, tiny but useful." — Mary Oliver, cited in *A Field Guide for Transformation* (p. 451) - "Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity." — Tao Te Ching, cited in *We Are Sunrise* (p. 264) ### On Systems & Power - "Climate change is not the problem. Climate change is the most horrible symptom of an economic system that has been built for a few to extract every precious ounce of value out of this planet and its people." — *An Offering from the Bayou* (p. 432) - "The same patriarchal power structure that oppresses and exploits girls, women, and nonbinary people also wreaks destruction on the natural world. Dominance, supremacy, violence, extraction—these hallmarks of patriarchy fuel the climate crisis just as surely as they do inequality." — Ayana Elizabeth Johnson & Katharine Wilkinson, *Begin* (p. 13) - "One of the projects of colonization, capitalism, and White supremacy has been to make us forget this sacred connection to soil. Only when that happened could we rationalize exploiting it for profit." — *Black Gold* (p. 399) - "No one can unilaterally choose to live in a low-carbon economy." — Leah Cardamore Stokes, *A Field Guide for Transformation* (p. 444) ### On Community & Cooperation - "When disasters happen, the person right in front of you is your best chance at survival." — *Community Is Our Best Chance* (p. 475) - "Part of this will be learning to work by the principle of collaboration rather than competition. It's so different from what we've been taught—to be individualistic and to strive for personal success." — *Calling In* (p. 27) - "We unravel as one or we regenerate as one." — *Onward* (p. 480) - "Citizenship, at its core, is a sacred trust between the individual and collective." — *Becoming a Climate Citizen* (p. 190) ### On Nature & Reciprocity - "In nature, nothing exists alone." — Rachel Carson, cited in *Solutions Underfoot* (p. 379) - "By recognizing, at last, the ubiquity of sharing and chaperoning, by acknowledging the fact that communal traits are quite natural, we get to see ourselves anew. We can return to our role as nurturers, each a helper among helpers in this planetary story of collaborative healing." — Suzanne Simard, *Reciprocity* (p. 39) - "Existence is fractal—the health of the cell is the health of the species and the planet." — *What Is Emergent Strategy?* (p. 71) - "Basically, what we need is life: life to transport water and regulate heat; life to seed the rain; life to slow down moving water so that it has a chance to infiltrate." — *Water Is a Verb* (p. 416) ### On Storytelling & Culture - "The function of art is to do more than tell it like it is—it's to imagine what is possible." — bell hook, *Truth Be Told* (p. 175) - "The stories that we tell about ourselves and our place in the world are the raw materials from which we build our existence." — *Wakanda Doesn't Have Suburbs* (p. 200) - "Right now, the stories that many of us are telling about ourselves are hurting us." — *Wakanda Doesn't Have Suburbs* (p. 201) - "Monoculture deadens our collective potential." — *Harnessing Cultural Power* (p. 178) ### On Grief & Mental Health - "If your heart is breaking, you're on my team." — *Under the Weather* (p. 331) - "Solastalgia" — the distress caused by environmental change impacting people while they are directly connected to their home environment. Coined by Glenn Albrecht. (*Under the Weather*, p. 320) - "Maybe we need a word for a difficult truth: that when the world is ending, our health depends on closing ourselves off to awareness of this fact." — *Under the Weather* (p. 331) - "Psychological self-care is not a luxury. A balanced, resilient mind is a kinder and more compassionate, alert, productive, and effective mind." — *The Adaptive Mind* (p. 366) ### On Justice & Transformation - "We must have a radical transformation from extracting, polluting, and dominating policies and practices that negatively impact our communities to regenerative, cooperative systems that uplift all rights for all people." — *At the Intersections* (p. 273) - "We must transform from a disposable, single-use, individual society into one that sees our collective, long-term humanity, or else we will not make it." — *An Offering from the Bayou* (p. 434) - "Taking a stand with the land is far more accessible than many realize...the decision to build community and live a life of empathy, balance, and humility is a values shift badly needed." — *Sacred Resistance* (p. 297) - "We are living under food apartheid." — Germaine Jenkins, *Black Gold* (p. 404) ### On Hope & Determination - "This shit ain't over yet. Possibility still exists." — *Onward* (p. 481) - "We are a miracle. Our task and our opportunity is to face a seemingly impossible challenge and act in service of what is possible." — *Onward* (p. 481) - "Building community around solutions is the most important thing." — *Onward* (p. 481) - "There is joy in acting upon our love for the Earth." — *Water Is a Verb* (p. 417) ## Key takeaways - **You don't need to be an expert to act.** The book repeatedly pushes back against the idea that you must understand all the science before contributing. Showing up with whatever you have is enough. - **Community is the answer, not individual perfection.** No one can unilaterally choose a low-carbon economy. Structural change matters far more than personal purity, and the people around you are your best defence when things go wrong. - **Cooperation is as natural as competition.** From fungal networks sharing nutrients between trees to hunter-gatherer societies cooperating through storytelling, nature and human history both show that collaboration—not rivalry—is foundational to survival. - **Indigenous knowledge is central, not peripheral.** Indigenous peoples have been preparing for this moment for generations through prophecy, land stewardship, and kinship-based worldviews. Centring their voices isn't optional; it's essential. - **Grief and action aren't opposites.** Climate sorrow—solastalgia, eco-anxiety—is a rational response to a sick society. Naming these feelings builds solidarity rather than isolating you. Rest without guilt so you can stay in the fight. - **Reframe the problem.** Climate change isn't the problem; it's the most severe symptom of an extractive economic system built for a few to profit from the planet and its people. Treat the root cause, not just symptoms. - **Small consistent action compounds.** Be the "tiniest nail"—show up daily however modestly. Cumulative, collective action is how systems actually shift. ## Notes `Concepts:` [[Ecology]], [[Activism]], [[Art]]