During the Ei Era of Recycling Refinement, Elemental Impact (Ei) was a leader in the emerging food waste-composting industry. Founded in 2010 as the home to the Zero Waste Zones (ZWZ,) the nation's forerunner with commercial collection of food waste for compost, Ei made national and global-news headlines. While the ZWZ focus was on back-of-the-house operations, the Sustainable Food Court Initiative (SFCI) addressed challenging front-of-the-house-food waste collection.  Kathy Kellogg Johnson presenting on the 2018 USCC Ei-Hosted Panel photo courtesy of Holly Elmore Images ..read more

The act of eating, a task in which the entire Animal Kingdom engages, integrates within and influences the complete spectrum of earthly phenomena. From an individual perspective, what we eat directly impacts the physical vessel's immediate and long-term health. From a macro perspective, what we eat drives economic markets, commercial agriculture-crop choices and practices, societal justices and injustices, species extinction, and a myriad of other subtle and overt scenarios. In his superb Intentional Eating MasterClass, renowned journalist and author Michael Pollen substantiates how the a ..read more

As 2023 came to a close, Elemental Impact (Ei) Founder & CEO Holly Elmore accepted Florida Environmental Film Festival (FEFF) Founder & President Elizabeth Pickett Gray's invitation to serve on the FEFF Advisory Board. What an honor! Ten Thousand Islands  photo courtesy of Holly Elmore Images The FEFF mission is to present environmental films and educational events that advocate for broadening our knowledge of environmental issues impacting Florida. As a third generation Floridian, Elizabeth experienced first hand the native, wild Florida when waterways were pristine, wil ..read more

During the COVID pandemic, flaws in the national and global food systems were evident with the plethora of empty grocery shelves caused by supply chain and other challenges. Often, local producers came to the rescue by providing healthy, nutritious produce to communities through neighborhood farmers' markets and consumer farm visits. Recently planted garden Photo credit: Holly Elmore Images Additionally, there was a significant increase in home and urban gardening. A March 2022 University of Georgia (UGA) study, COVID-19 pandemic fueled massive growth in green industry, foun ..read more

On October 28, I AM HUMANITY hosted the first annual Humanity Day, a virtual celebration complemented with an in-person event hosted at the  Unitarian Universalists of Sarasota; the well attended Sarasota event honored local environmental leadership for their important work. Humanity Day panel discussion Photo courtesy of Holly Elmore Images Within an excellent panel discussion, Elemental Impact (Ei) Advisor Charles Reith showcased the environmental and community impact of the Suncoast Urban Reforesters microforests. Fellow Ei Advisors Tim Rumage, Ringling School of Art and ..read more

Image credit: Kabbalah.info As humanity toils with significant survival challenges - rising sea levels, extreme weather, diminished fresh water, excessive toxins and pollution, and more, ancient wisdom emerges from within the chaos with a message: collective consciousness is a solution. Working together in a holographic manner where ALL benefit is a must to ensure survival. ALL is defined as the entire spectrum of living species and ecosystems as well as inanimate earth resources. Within humanity, ALL refers to the various societal structures and ensuring that the worker population is ..read more

 After over a year of planning, 7th- and 8th-grade students at NewGate Montessori (NGM) planted a food forest on October 11, 2023 under the guidance of Zach Zildjian of ZZ Design Services. Due to limited space on the five-acre campus located in Lakewood Ranch, the food forest footprint is long and narrow along the parking lot.  NewGate food forest planting day Photo credit: Holly Elmore Images Secondary school guide Gillett Cole, who oversees 7th- and 8th-grade students, was inspired by the SURF - Suncoast Urban Reforestors - Colony Cove Microforest installation in June 2022 ..read more

In recent years, backyard food forests moved from an anomaly to an emerging trend in urban environments. Local food security, soil regeneration, as well as nutrition and habit for urban wildlife are common catalysts for designing and planting backyard food forests. In addition to backyards, small tracts of urban land contribute to the community ecosystem via food forests. Across the globe tiny food forests reside on former empty lots, school and corporate campuses, and common areas such as city parks. Food Forest Basics* According to Project Food Forest, a food forest, also called a forest gar ..read more

Since the 1970’s the Earth’s insect population suffered severe population declines as well as loss of diversity. The NY Times 2018 article, The Insect Apocalypse Is Here. What does it mean for the rest of life on Earth?, reported:  The German study found that, measured simply by weight, the overall abundance of flying insects in German nature reserves had decreased by 75 percent over just 27 years. If you looked at midsummer population peaks, the drop was 82 percent. An Atala butterfly emerges from its cocoon Photo credit: Holly Elmore Images According to the November 2 ..read more

Sunbaked sargassum mounds photo credit: HollyElmoreImages On Tuesday August 29 and Wednesday August 30, 2023, Hurricane Idalia's outer storm bands pummeled Florida’s Gulf Coast before making landfall on the peninsula’s big bend. In addition to significant flooding from storm surges, Idalia deposited tremendous mounds of sargassum seaweed infiltrated with boater and fishermen trash on barrier island and coastal beaches. Sunrise walks on Longboat Key, a barrier island nestled between Sarasota Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, revealed Hurricane Idalia's gift of sargassum along the normally pr ..read more