[Announcer] This is a production of Wedu PBS, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Sarasota.

Support for Good Natured is generously provided by: Candi Packett, the Volo Foundation, and the Bernard F. and Mary Ann Powell Foundation.

[soothing music] [Ashley] I come to places like this to feel at peace.

The golden light, the give and take of the tides.

It feels endless.

Like I'm being held within the rhythms of the earth.

But it's hard to hold on to that feeling now.

Everything is happening so fast.

[laughing] I love that photo.

That's the worst.

Look at our bangs.

Is that your little sister?

Yeah.

[Ashley] When I was a little girl, my sister and.

I used to play outside in the yard a lot.

We would play out in the mud, get super dirty.

Pick some flowers and sticks and stuff and make little altars.

That was when I first started feeling a deep connection to nature.

I grew up right outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Look how cute you look.

To help people at all times and to live by the Girl Scout Law.

I was a Girl Scout from kindergarten through 12th grade.

We did a lot of different stuff outside.

I remember this trip because we ended up hiking up a nearby mountain, and I think that was like my first time doing that big of a hike.

And I was so excited that I used one of the Girl Scout leaders phones to call mom at the top.

It's an achievement.

It was an achievement.

Those experiences gave me the most joy, and I felt the most myself when I was spending time outside.

Happy birthday.

My parents filmed pretty much everything.

I got a hello Kitty camera.

I got my hands on a camera so early in life.

Get away!

This is my movie star.

I'm a movie star.

And that led me to want to go to film school, which got me into documentary filmmaking.

And that is where I am now.

I moved to Florida a few years ago and currently live on the Gulf Coast, on the front lines of a changing climate.

Florida is a land of contrasts.

We have one of the fastest growing populations, but also some of the most extreme climate risks in the nation.

More frequent brushfires, more extreme flooding, and stronger storms are some of the threats here in Florida from climate change.

Ocean temperatures are warming at an unprecedented rate.

Hot tub level water.

The change is impacting animals and plants.

Thousands of dead fish continue to show up in St. Pete.

We turn now to the devastation of Hurricane Helene.

Oh my goodness.

It's being described as biblical devastation.

Mandatory evacuations.

Right now they are underway.

The tragic aftermath of Milton leaving millions without power.

Scientists and climatologists have been warning that this is now our new reality.

Everyone experiences it differently, but the state of our planet and the impacts we're seeing here in Florida make me really anxious.

It's like this background noise of doom and gloom that people push aside just to get through their day.

Humans play a crucial role in the environmental crisis, but the sheer volume of information and clashing voices on the topic is overwhelming.

I don't know what to do and I end up feeling stuck.

[Ashley] Growing up immersed in nature always helped me feel grounded.

Our bodies are made up of the same basic elements as everything else in the universe.

But modern life has shaped this idea that humans are separate from our environment.

I feel it myself, as my days get filled with routines that pull me further away from the earth beneath my feet.

I've been asking myself, how do I reconnect?

And I decided to make a film about it.

We are going to be going around Florida to be getting different perspectives from people who are working in environmental roles.

So are we going to be in the swamp?

We will be going into the Everglades.

I'm unsure how to approach this on my own, so I want to reach out to people who are actively working on ways to help the planet.

What steps are people taking to create a future we hope to see?

Can strengthening our connection to the earth help us redirect the path we're on?

What can we control and what is out of our hands?

[Ashley] We're getting on the road today and our first stop is in South Florida.

We are officially on our way.

When people think of Florida, sunshine and beaches come to mind.

Beneath the water's surface lies Florida's beautiful coral reefs.

When I was 13, I went on a snorkeling trip to see them up close, and they've captivated me ever since.

They attract tourists from all over the world, but they're also the also the canary in the coal mine for the health of an entire ecosystem.

In the Florida Keys, coral reefs are bearing the brunt of global warming.

To understand more, I talked to Bailey Thomasson from the Coral Restoration Foundation about their work to help corals adapt.

[Bailey] Here in Florida.

There's a lot going on.

These poor corals have a lot against them.

We have local stressors of pollution, direct hits and tourism hits as well.

And then we also have the global anthropogenic factors of ocean warming and ocean acidification.

And so we are trying to give them the best shot that we can to help them adapt to the changing oceans.

[Ashley] Corals play an important role not only beneath the water but above it too.

[Bailey] Coral reefs provide many services to humans, whether they live on the coast or not.

The reef itself obviously provides incredible amounts of habitat for fish, which supports global fisheries.

If they go, then the fish go.

They also dispel up to 97% of wave energy.

We have tropical storms and hurricanes hit quite often.

And when those come through from offshore, they hit our coral reefs first.

[Ashley] The corals act as a line of defense, reducing the strength of waves heading toward our coastlines.

Without the corals, the impacts could be far more destructive, affecting livelihoods and infrastructure.

[Bailey] Coral restoration was founded so that we could help kick start the natural recovery cycle of coral reefs.

In 2007, we collected samples of some of the last remaining colonies of elkhorn and staghorn corals, which are the two main species that we work with.

And we started propagating them.

Corals are wonderful, insanely intricate animals.

We are now up to over 50,000 pieces of coral in our care that we grow at one time, and after they reach a certain size, we outplant them back to the reef.

[Ashley] I went out to get a firsthand look.

Being in the water with the corals was magical.

But it was hard to witness the damage.

Some parts of the reefs were really struggling.

[man talking] Soaring ocean temperatures off the coast of Florida hitting well over 90 degrees.

It's devastating and deadly to the coral and marine life.

[Bailey] Due to an extreme marine heat wave that's come through the Florida Keys.

The oceans are no longer, at this point in time hospitable for the corals, and it's causing a lot of mortality and stress.

[Ashley] Bailey explained that when corals are stressed by heat, they expel the algae living in them and become bleached.

If the temperatures don't drop quickly, they have only weeks to recover before they before they risk death.

The extreme conditions are catastrophic for the corals.

[Bailey] So we had kind of started to make preparations, but we just didn't really know how bad it would be.

You can see all the corals and the coral trees under the water, and all you could see was stark white corals throughout the entire nursery.

[Bailey] That was a really, really hard day for us.

We'd all been there from the start, from the for that nursery, and we were so excited that we'd finally hit our goal.

You see their growth, you see their successes.

And and that's why it felt like the death of a friend.

[Ashley] It was pretty, pretty grim to see all of this wildlife right below you.

Just dying.

You hear about this a lot, but to see it in person is is a bit different.

[Bailey] To a lot of people, corals look like rocks, you know, how could you care so much about something?

But to take care of these endangered species that could have gone extinct, had restoration and implementation, not stepped in.

And to see it kind of go right before your eyes was was heartbreaking.

[Bailey] So we made the decision and partnered with some really wonderful organizations to move a lot of the corals that we have in our care out into land facilities so that we could control water parameters like temperature, which is the most important.

[Ashley] The Coral Restoration Foundation partners with the Keys Marine Laboratory to bring the corals on shore into tanks.

[Dr. Cynthia] We had the availability of more than 60 tanks and tables temperature controlled, so that all of our restoration partners could bring corals in to the keys marine lab, get them adjusted to the cooler water that they should be experiencing on the reef to get them cooled down, and now just to hope to keep them alive.

We're basically provided a refuge for them.

[Bailey] They're really getting a lot of TLC in these water tanks, and we're hoping that after the waters offshore cool off, all these corals can be moved back to our offshore coral nurseries and continue with the process.

[Dr. Cynthia] These ancient creatures, these corals that live for hundreds if not thousands of years, are trying to tell us that there's something very wrong with the environment and with the ecosystem, and we need to listen to them.

[Bailey] Humanity is facing the collapse of an entire ecosystem.

For the first time since we've been knowledgeable about the effects that climate change can have, and this has to be in the wake up call for us because we're going to lose incredible biodiversity in the matter of years.

[Ashley] After experiencing the devastation of the coral reefs, I realized how quickly a species could die off and how things we love could easily disappear.

How can we let this happen?

I'm grieving for our planet.

I know that in order to move forward, I need to address the emotions that leave me feeling isolated.

I headed just outside of Gainesville, Florida to talk about it with Brittney Rivers, a licensed mental health counselor.

[Ashley] I think for years I have really felt alone in having these feelings because I wasn't able to have conversations with people about it because it's really emotional, um, and vulnerable to talk about as well as I felt like other people weren't experiencing it in at all, or maybe in the same way that I was.

[Brittany] That is a natural response to the weight of the situation that we're facing, is that it's normal to have these feelings of overwhelm and confusion and anger and grief, anxiety, every kind of emotion about what we're facing.

[Ashley] The mental health community has terms to describe emotions related to the changing climate.

Two of them are eco grief and eco anxiety.

[Brittnay] Eco anxiety is defined as this fear of what's going to happen with climate change.

Like how big of an impact that can have?

With eco grief, it is that unknown about that future loss and how much things might change in terms of our personal lives and our families, and also the ecosystems and environments we're living in.

Something that I've learned about that was actually helpful for me was this concept of post doom.

What if you don't need hope?

What if things are going to drastically change and fall apart?

How do I want to spend the time that I have?

What is meaningful to me?

What do I value?

That's part of the grieving process, is sort of letting go, of trying to preserve a certain way of of life or things having to be a certain way.

Part of deconstructing the issues that are causing climate change in this ecological loss are really orienting ourselves within the ecosystem, within the Earth and the universe, and being in active relationship with these other beings.

Something that we're trying to address in the mental health field is cultivating more spaces for people to get together and talk about this without that pressure to figure out what to do about it, but just to sit with these emotions and give each other space to be in community with them.

[Ashley] I'm not often in spaces with people where I'm invited to process emotions, so I decided to join a group nature walk to hear how others are feeling.

Thank you all for joining us today.

Brittany led us along a trail through the Prairie Creek Conservation Cemetery, a place that offers green burials while protecting the land for future generations.

Being in nature always makes me think about the cycles of the earth.

Birth, life, death, and back around again.

We were encouraged to connect with the land and everything around us in a reciprocal way, not just going for a walk and expecting nature to take our pain and grief away, but also recognizing that the earth is hurting too.

It was a quiet, beautiful walk through the woods, and we had the chance to share how the experience felt for each of us.

[woman talking] Being here begets wanting to be here.

How can we be better stewards?

[man talking] Trying to connect to the place I think naturally makes you slow down.

[woman talking] Something that amplifies people's grief.

Is this abandonment of collective action.

So if I want to add another feeling to the mix, I think some anger is also good because anger can be motivating.

[man talking] Well, the sad thing is that sustainable solutions are out there.

So if you talk about a new a new generation that needs to make a change, it's change that systemic problem.

[Ashley] With everything going.

The vast amount of human impact.

I feel like oftentimes people are kind of just like, well, I don't want to talk about it.

And I understand because like, talking about grief is really hard and anxiety and, um.

I understand how easy it is to suppress it.

Um, and so I'm just really grateful that all of you came together to, to share in this today and being open and vulnerable.

So thank you.

Being with others and hearing their thoughts was really helpful.

It was comforting to know I'm not alone.

[Ashley] Taking in the beauty of the sunshine state reminds me why I moved here in the first place.

But Florida's rapid development is putting a lot of pressure on our natural environment.

As more people move in, habitats are being destroyed to make way for new roads, houses and businesses.

The expansion threatens Florida's ecosystems from wetlands to wildlife, making it harder to protect the state's biodiversity down to the micro level.

I'd even be down to go a little bit closer, because we're getting so much grass here, and you could get more.

At the Triangle Ranch in Sarasota, Florida.

I met with microbiologist Dr. Erica Diaz Almeyda, who studies tiny organisms called microbes to better understand our changing habitats.

So this is the topsoil.

All right cameras are set.

[Ashley] What does a microbiologist do?

[Dr. Diaz] We study life forms that are so tiny that you cannot see with your naked eye.

[Ashley] In the web of life.

Every element plays a role.

And I learned that microbes are among the most important.

These microscopic organisms help maintain balance in nature, breaking down waste and cycling nutrients.

[Dr. Diaz] There are single cell organisms, and they've been around 3.7 billion years in this planet.

You find them from the air to the canopies to the deepest of the ocean inside us.

If we count the number of cells of our body.

Only 10% of our cells are human.

90% are microbes.

So first of all, you should care about this because you should never feel alone.

You are never alone.

[Ashley] Within our own bodies, these tiny creatures work tirelessly, especially in our gut, where they contribute to digestion, support our immune system, and even impact our mood.

[Dr. Diaz] Our health depends on our gut health, depends on our microbes.

That's determined by what you eat.

Right now we have a lot of issues with what we eat.

Processed foods that are not alive so they are not contributing to feeding our microbes the same way that our gut microbiome works.

That is helping us digest soil.

On your backyard is basically breaking down larger organisms, like dead insects or dead roots, and making it available for others.

What you do by taking care of your lawn in a sustainable way increases not only the plant biodiversity, but also your microbial diversity.

I wanted to study this ranch because they've been raising cattle sustainably.

They don't add anything to the pasture, no chemicals.

They being good at maintaining the ecosystem.

When we disturb the soil, we can kill the microbes that have been there, forming their ecosystem for hundreds of years.

In one day.

I didn't realize how easily these unseen networks of life can be affected when scientists focus on microbes like this.

They can spot environmental threats and changes faster than what we can see with the naked eye.

These organisms can give us early warning signs about what's happening in our ecosystems.

[Dr. Diaz] There's a lot of people moving into Florida, a lot of things going around the river.

[Ashley] So how can we manage an ecosystem responsibly.

So when we use sustainable practices, we're not just helping ourselves.

We're also keeping important cycles running smoothly, which help our ecosystems thrive.

[Dr. Diaz] Our health depends on environmental health.

We are part of nature and we are subjected to to this framework.

We cannot escape.

[Ashley] As Dr. Diaz spoke about environmental disruptions spreading across Florida.

I thought of the impact on the Everglades.

One of the biggest wetlands on the planet.

The mistreatment of this place breaks my heart.

It's like no other place I've ever been before.

We're deep in the woods and getting absolutely destroyed by mosquitoes, but also followed by a ton of butterflies.

In the quietness and quietness and serenity of the Everglades, I feel a sense of relief from the noise and demands of my life.

The relationship between the water and the mangroves, the animals basking in the sun, others searching for their next meal.

It reminds me of the need to just be.

To slow down and see the connections of everything around me.

But the minute I go back to my day to day, it fades away, replaced by the fast pace of life.

[Ashley] I want to see through a different perspective and hear from people whose ancestral roots are deeply tied to tied to the earth and to this area.

So I met with three members of the Seminole Tribe of Florida to learn about their relationship with the land and their reservations across Central and South Florida.

[Joseph] There's no other place like this here in the world.

There's no other Everglades in the world maintaining and taking care of a landscape that took care of us historically.

You know that's important to us.

[Ashley] For the Seminole tribe, land is integral to their way of life.

In the 19th century, they endured the Seminole Wars, which were a series of battles between the US and indigenous peoples in the South.

To members of the tribes, this was seen as one constant war, driven by the U.S. trying topush the Seminoles off their land, causing pain and displacement of indigenous peoples.

They fought fiercely to defend their land and people, which makes their homeland even more sacred to them.

[Joseph] We've always remained here as indigenous people to this land.

So we have a great holistic understanding of how the environment works.

[Cody] The land and me are one.

We're not separate.

And I think most indigenous people think that way too.

You see how everything is interconnected when you're in nature more.

[Krystle] Maybe people don't understand how much people impact the environment.

Even though we can go out to a forest and level it down pretty quickly.

They don't see how long it takes for a tree to grow or a plant to grow.

Once you go out and you see how much has disappeared and not come back, I think you really start to, to appreciate it more and to fear what else could be lost.

[Joseph] Within my lifetime.

[Joseph] I've been able to notice a difference out here on the reservation.

Visibility of water has changed a lot due to the increase of invasive plants.

It contributes to the turbidity and it creates a more difficult environment for fish to thrive.

How long have you been boating?

[Joseph] My grandpa had a boat and took us out on the lake pretty often and on the canals.

So I grew up on the boat.

Grew up fishing with them.

My grandparents.

My mom didn't like the fish, but she loved to eat fish.

So that was my my job.

Going to get fish for everyone.

I remember growing up being able to fish in the canals and pull out, you know, native fish and eat them, but now most of it's invasive species.

My grandpa, when I grew up fishing with him on those canals, he would talk about, you know, we used to be able to walk up to the bank and fish and, you know, harvest anything that's at the water's edge.

But now that's a lot different.

I can't even imagine a life like that, because how the structure of the waterways has been has been permanent in my lifetime, so I can't even imagine what it would look like back then.

You know, you feel for the environment because, you know, some of those things are lost and they'll never be regained.

We're going to finish up this bit.

Head it down.

Hello?

Yeah.

10 or 15 minutes.

There you go.

You're welcome.

Most indigenous tribes.

When we plan for the future, we think of the next seven generations.

So it's not about what we're doing now for ourselves.

It's to make sure that we always prosper.

And we keep going.

[Ashley] With increasing risks of rising sea levels, severe storms and extreme heat in Florida.

I learned that there's growing uncertainty about the future of the reservations and whether they will remain habitable.

[Joseph] The tribe definitely feels that impact.

A lot of tribes across the country have had to have that difficult conversation of relocating from the reservations.

That's why we are full steam ahead on these issues is to make to make sure to protect the communities and make sure all our needs are met.

[Cody] The environment, the world.

Everything is so much different now than it was for me as a child.

And I want them to, um, I want my kids and their kids, you know, to have a future I don't want to lose.

You know, um, the reservations, I, I feel like in the future, we're going to have to move north, and I don't want to leave my land.

I can only do so much as a Seminole on my own lands.

But I can't control what people are doing around me.

So I hope the word can get out there and everybody can, you know, get involved and want to take a step to help.

Do you have one or you have one?

JJ, Cody and Krystal all work in environmental roles within the Seminole Tribe of Florida, with sustainability at the heart of their efforts.

[Krystal] We do a lot of community events and outreach to educate community members and learn from community members as well.

Also, to affect the policy of the tribe, to try to be more forward thinking in how climate change will affect our reservations.

[Ashley] The climate team is exploring holistic solutions and one of their goals is focused on food sovereignty.

Just a little bit.

[Krystal] But food sovereignty is the idea that you have full control over your food.

So what gets grown and what your community eats out here in Big Cypress, it's what most people would call a food desert.

Anybody that lives out here has to drive at least 45 minutes to their local grocery store, and the only thing in here is a local convenience store.

>> This is Tuscarora white corn.

This is one of our main staples.

[Krystal] Our entire community came to plant the garden, and it felt amazing.

[Cody] All the tribes that we've networked with, they all came together and they came down and they shared their food, they shared their knowledge.

And we were able to reciprocate that and give them back the same thing.

That was wow, that smells really good.

That smell.

[Krystal] When you grow your own food, you really understand how long it takes for that food to be.

That is the connection back to Earth.

You see how intertwined everything is.

Hopefully this garden and other initiatives in the future can provide more stability for the community members that live out here.

[Joseph] You know, I want to be able to take my future grandkids or whoever that may be, to these places where my grandfather taught me how to fish.

But I get a lot of fulfillment in what I do in my job because I know I'm working towards providing that reassurance to people in the community that, you know, there are people that care about these spaces and we're trying to preserve them.

[Ashley] The idea of respecting the earth seems simple, but modern life makes it seem so complicated.

Our well-being is directly tied to the health of our planet.

The land that we live on and the air that we breathe are essential for life.

But we take them for granted.

We've drifted away from a sense of reciprocity.

We take, but we don't give back.

Do you feel like you're not doing enough?

I think I feel some guilt because I'm trying to do my best, but at the same time, I'm living in a city that all around me there is unsustainable practices, including what I myself am doing.

It's really interesting.

Even just sitting here having such a contrast of hearing the birds and the wildlife around me, but also the sounds of the highway and how drastically different it makes me feel.

I'm still really struggling to figure out how to reconcile with these things.

Thinking back to when I was a kid, the remedy was always in the natural world.

In my heart, I know it's not just about protecting the planet.

It's about rediscovering our relationship with it.

In Coral Gables, just south of Miami, I reached out to Tigrilla Gardenia, a nature inspired mentor and coach, to get insight into how our human experience is intimately linked to even the tiniest sprout.

Maybe like five, five, six.

During the interview, take one.

[Tigrilla] So I started working with plants about 12 years ago and really stepping deeper and deeper into the intelligence of plants.

How is it that plants are able to do the amazing things that they do?

And I realized that I, as a human being, am a part of the natural world.

I'm an, I'm an animal, and I have my connections into the plant world and all these different aspects.

And so why is it that our societal norms.

Why is it that our conditioning has taken us so far away from that, that natural way of being, that flow?

And so when we started, when I started to look and understand what it is that plants are doing, I realized that this is our natural state.

[Ashley] Plants are deceptively simple beings, but their lives are very similar to humans.

They communicate among themselves, react to stimuli, and adapt to change.

Yet we think of ourselves as unrelated and separate from each other.

[Tigrilla] The disconnect with nature is this really interesting phenomenon.

There was a study done called The Nature of Americans, and what they found in this study was that for American adults, nature is out there.

In other words, like, I have to go somewhere where it's away from civilization and that's what nature is.

When they asked the children, to children, nature was, oh, look, there's like grass growing out of the sidewalk, right?

And that's the best example of the disconnection that we have.

We try to think of ourselves as like these humans living in these urban environments.

And the nature is far away from me.

But everywhere I go, nature is around me.

So I can see nature.

I can be in be in nature, and I am nature.

That disconnection is not just a disconnection with something external to me.

It's a deep disconnection with my own nature.

We think of plants as objects.

We think of the natural world as this commodity, as this thing.

Rather than recognizing it as a part of me and a part of everything around me.

And that is the big shift that needs to happen, that people have to understand who they truly are in order to then understand what I'm here to do.

[Ashley] Yeah, it's the aspect of like healing self to be able to heal communities, heal the earth.

[Tigrilla] The natural world is a constant shifting of stability and then instability, because without instability you don't grow, you don't evolve, so the biggest obstacle is that people want to find balance, but balance is a temporary state because if you're always balanced.

You're never moving.

Being in nature changes us fundamentally.

So when I spend time in nature from a scientific perspective, my cortisol levels drop.

So 20 minutes immersed in a natural environment of whatever sort it could be your local park.

And in just 20 minutes, my cortisol levels drop by 50%.

[Ashley] How do we tap into the wisdom of the plants?

[Tigrilla] Step outside of your house and just look down.

That's it.

Like that's where it starts.

Or go to your the houseplants that you have had sitting there in the corner and probably forgot to water and just sit and just allow yourself to be open to receive.

And I know it sounds a little woo sometimes, but scientifically speaking, it's not because that I start to breathe in what that plant is breathing out.

We are already physiologically connected.

What happens when we live in a society where everything can be connected and where we can live in harmony with the other beings of this planet.

[Ashley] Talking with Tigrilla made me think more about plants as living beings.

Curious to learn even more about what plants can do.

I met up with Tritone Crisantemo, who has tapped into an unexpected form of artistry.

[Tritone] The master plants.

orchestra is a group that translates the bio-feedback of plants into music.

To measure the plants, we use the system of electric resistance.

So basically we send in a very small current of electricity, which is similar to a current that is already in the plant that they produce within their own bodies.

And from the sort of meeting of these two waves of electricity, we can get a certain number or frequency and that number, that measurement, we turn that into a musical note.

So the higher the electric resistance, the higher the musical note, the lower the electric resistance, the the lower the musical note.

[Tritone] That musical note is then sent into a synthesizer or any other sound producing source.

And in that way, plants can play music akin to a human finger or human hand moving, or the keys of a piano.

[Ashley] It was fascinating to see that plants generate electricity and how technology can help us perceive them in a different way.

[Tritone] Well, part of the fun thing is, is the reaction that we get from people.

I don't know if I would go on with it.

If it, if we didn't have a positive reaction because that's what we're trying to create.

We're trying to positively influence humanity or people through music.

I listen to nature in the best ways when I don't differentiate between what nature is and what I am.

That's the sort of space where where things really, really connect with with nature, because it's really one, one hole.

And that seems to happen sometimes during our concerts that people feel the sort of reconnection with, with what is already happening in nature, in themselves.

[Ashley] After listening to plants play music, my perspective definitely shifted.

I began looking at the world a little differently.

Being outside, I paid more attention to everything around me.

The patterns of sunlight through the trees.

Feeling the sun on my skin.

Listening to water flowing.

Nature is for everyone to enjoy.

But a lot of us stay indoors in our free time.

Having community to take that step with can make all the difference.

In St. Petersburg, Florida.

I spoke with Dr. Hillary Van Dyke, who is an adventure curator with Get Black Outside, focused on getting communities of color to enjoy nature through recreation.

[Hillary] Get Black Outside is a national organization.

We do campouts throughout the country in partnership with the US Forest Service.

We camp in Ocala National Forest.

They learn all about the health of the plants, as well as what types of animals live in the forest.

I really get a lot of joy in helping other people experience the outdoors.

When I started joining groups to do outdoor activities.

I felt a little apprehensive.

But when I started.

Going with Hillary's group, it was a completely different experience.

This one has that extra layer an extra sense Of community.

So I just wanted to see if we could work together as a unit.

Looks like we can and we can hold on.

GBO gives us an opportunity to be around people who look like us.

I think the the relatedness component means a lot for us.

Just being out amongst people you can relate to on a deeper level.

[Ashley] Strengthening our relationships with each other can also strengthen our connection with the natural world.

[Hillary] I do really believe that if you get people recreating, they will care more about the environment.

And then through that care, they might also change how they live a little in order to have an effect.

I feel so energized by this space, and I have never gone on a hike with you before, and I want to do more of it.

123 "Earth Day".

[Hillary] What gives me hope with the work that I do is not only empowering black residents to recreate more in nature, but also to be a part of conservation efforts in nature.

[Ashley] In addition to get black outside, Hillary also leads local conservation efforts.

We're working with Pinellas County government to install and put in some oyster habitats to recruit oysters along the shoreline at Philippi Park.

We had our first session to build what is called oyster volcanoes.

We had so much fun.

A lot of those people have been to recreation events with me over the years, so it was really cool to see them transition into this space where they actually were doing the work of conservation.

I think for everyone, it was really impactful to realize how such a small thing can be so important to your environment.

Most of us are so focused around work and technology that we forget to appreciate all the beauty that is right outside our door.

I want this planet to be the best that it could be, not only for me, but I'm thinking about my children and future generations.

Once you feel connected to the land, you actually appreciate the ways in which the land helps you just be a better, more alive human.

I found a lot of joy being with people who are all pitching in to give back to the Earth.

Over the course of filming, I've realized it's a lot less daunting when we're in it together.

Right.

I actually got a really great macro shot here of this little sprout coming up.

It has been a journey.

I'm in a lot better headspace than when we first started.

I feel like the hardest experiences teach me the most.

And this whole journey has been the most beautiful experience that I've ever had.

And I know it's been challenging, but I wouldn't change anything.

I can't believe we're so close to being done.

Reflecting on how far I've come.

Made me think of what's ahead.

What new ideas can we bring to the table?

And action.

The challenges we face will take not only our commitment, but also our creativity.

And that moving water is going to push this turbine here.

And it's going to cause this generator to turn into electrical energy, right?

What if we looked to the wisdom of the earth to create new technologies and find solutions for the future?

In Land O'Lakes, Florida, Rosebud Continuum is putting these ideas into action.

My journey with a lot of this started in studying into the indigenous histories, which is where the name Rosebud came from, the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, and we want to bring the indigenous voice back into modern technology.

Mitakuye Oyasin.

It's Lakota.

That means we are all related.

What affects one affects all.

We want to make sure that we do good for future generations as part of what we do.

And when we see something that isn't working, then we speak out about it.

And then we do more than speak, we act.

And one of the things we noticed.

The idea here is to be able to bring the community in nd engage them in, different ways, that we can educate them on, all aspects of sustainability.

There's something that every single one of us can do to make the world a better place and to make it more sustainable.

I was amazed at the variety of projects they have to teach and promote sustainability.

From composting toilets to alternative energy sources.

They're also practicing regenerative agriculture and teaching others how to do it, too.

Yeah.

We're going to extend the pineapples out further and then put the pollinator garden right here.

We have food forest and we have no till gardening to show people how they can grow their own food at home.

We're eventually going to wrap the food forest around our entire property.

But parts of it, like what you see next to me, is about seven years old.

And so we have a diversity of fruit trees.

These are all examples of how you can create a microclimate, and you're able to grow things that wouldn't otherwise grow in an area.

Hibiscus breakfast.

Have you tried them?

It's actually pretty good.

Oh, yeah.

[Ashley] Not far from the food forest.

I also got a look at an inventive way to harness energy.

So behind me, this is our gravity battery.

Basically, you have a storage of water at the top, a mass of water, and that's your potential energy when you release that water.

It's gravity fed.

And as it comes down, it goes into a pump.

And that pump is able to generate electricity just from the gravity of the water coming down.

So the gravity is pulling the water down.

It's turning this generator and we should have lights.

And that's how you get a gravity battery.

With young people inheriting a planet in crisis.

It's inspiring to see an organization collaborating with students and teaching the next generation to think outside the box.

Are we ready to feed the dragon?

Yes.

There isn't any soil.

What do we do?

How do we grow?

All you need is a dragon biodigester and food waste and toilet waste.

And you've created Lush Life once again.

So this is the Biodigesters are probably the simplest and most ancient technology that we have.

Everybody can avail themselves of the magic of turning organic wastes into fuel and fertilizer.

In the inlet pipe.

You inoculate it with some kind of manure or lake mud that has the microbes that will do the bio digestion.

You have them in your guts and your intestines, and then every time you feed it with the feed pipe here, you're going to be pushing water.

Since the water level is right up to here, it's going to spill out.

And that's your liquid fertilizer.

Having the biodigesters is essential feature.

What else could we do?

Then it led, of course, to composting.

Then it led to experiments in food grinding.

We just started saving everything when there's no such thing as waste, because the garbage can has been removed from your mind, then you see the world differently.

Changing our outlook on things we view as waste could be a game changer.

It's an opportunity to repurpose and innovate.

Macroplastics like all of this, take up a lot of space and nobody wants them around.

When you get it down to this size, then it's easy to use it as a replacement for gravel and sand in concrete.

A lot of people around the world are doing this.

We're a little slow here in the United States.

So here at Rosebud, we're trying to be a leader.

A hundred percent of the so called garbage that other people have.

We're able to successfully turn into fuel, and fertilizer and recycled product, and into statues and paving stones.

Climate has always been changing.

Now it's changing at a rate that is incompatible with human civilization and with most large life forms.

It's a bad time.

What we want to do, and we're sitting in a greenhouse.

So this is the obvious metaphor, is we want to cool the average temperature off, or it's very uncomfortable and it's life threatening.

So what would you do?

Would you continue pumping in gases that are keeping the heat from getting out, or would you open the windows?

Would you put in put in a fan?

Would you lower the temperature here?

You'd do anything you can do regardless of who's to blame.

It's so important for the whole community.

To be involved in what we're doing, because we can't do it alone.

We don't all agree on a lot of aspects of life, but we do all agree on the fact that we need to do better by our Earth.

Whether you come from the so-called right or the so-called left, they're just two wings of the same American eagle, right?

I mean, it needs a left wing and a right wing, or the eagle can't fly.

But you don't want one wing fractured or one wing to be too long.

So what you do is you say, okay, start.

Start beating those wings and let's not beat each other and let's see how this thing flies.

And you go, oh, that didn't work so well.

Oh, that did work.

So we don't have conversations here about who's to blame.

We think that's counterproductive.

We are about solutions.

And we've got these drawdown solutions and we try them out.

Oh I don't know what I've been told.

I know what I've been told.

I'm going to recycle until I'm old.

Do you ever feel overwhelmed?

And what keeps you going?

It's easy to give up.

It's hard to keep going, but it's so important.

I have four grandkids.

The oldest one is 50 years younger than me.

50 years.

Look what we've done in the last 50 years to this planet.

What are we going to do in the next 50 years?

I want this to be a livable planet.

Here at Rosebud, everybody's having these conversations in context, in situ and being willing to be vulnerable and say, I really don't know.

And then you go, well, you know what?

Nobody really does.

And that's okay because we're going to figure it out together.

At the start of this project, I was filled with doubt, anxiety and all the emotions tied to the unknown.

Faced with the scale of our environmental crisis, I just shut down.

I couldn't imagine a future without the places I love.

But as I moved through those feelings, I started coming back to life.

As I talked with people who believed that each small step mattered, I found a deeper sense of purpose.

The way through defeatism is through action.

For me, my action is I'm going to dedicate my life to figure out if I can contribute.

All you can do is hope, and all you can do is work through it and be part of that sort of change that is is leading the way.

What I feel is great hope, because I know that there are these incredible levers that we've created to move the world.

And here's what happens when you study sustainability sciences.

You see the levers.

You know how they can be used.

You just feel like, can we get we get to enough people in time so we.

Can move that darn.

Lever to get this thing moved?

Start out, make one change in your life and just do it one step at a time.

Nobody's asking you to change everything about your life.

If we all do that, it will make a difference.

Even if nobody's listening.

Just do your part and be confident in that you are making a change no matter how little.

[Ashley] I learned that the only constant in nature is change, which is both beautiful and terrifying.

People like clear cut answers and happy endings, but we're part of a planet that's in constant motion, going through cycles and seasons for billions of years, the Earth has lessons of resilience and rebirth to teach us.

If we listen, it will take all of us coming together with our individual skill sets to create the future we want to see.

I can't fix everything on my own, but I can choose my actions and how I show up.

I want people to understand that it doesn't matter your level of education, it doesn't matter your politics or what you believe in.

This is a learning process.

This is all of our first time on earth.

We don't have to start from scratch.

Solutions are there and there's so much to do.

Hopefully that continues on into a new generation of environmentalists.

In my opinion, the most important aspect right now to lead the way is the individual that recognizes themselves as a being of nature.

Try to be the nexus, be the love, be the change that you would like to see.

On the bottom of all the despair and all the things that we have.

There's a fundamental, we call it a frequency of love, but that love splits itself in into everything that exists.

If you love someone or you love something, you keep making that choice that ensures their survival.

My relationship with nature has really been a way that I've been able to find myself and my family, and.

My sense of belonging again.

We are the land.

We're a part of it.

And as long as we take care of it, it's going to take care of us.

When we see that everything is intertwined, we care for each other, the earth and all that is around us, with love and empathy.

We have the power to start a new chapter, not just for us, but for all life on this one planet we call home.

Support for Good Natured is generously provided by Candi Packett.

The Volo Foundation and the Bernard F. and Mary Ann Powell Foundation.