Welcome To Earth Month!
It’s Earth Month! A time to celebrate our planet, cherish our natural world, and recommit to protecting it from harm. While Branch & Bay Design Studio is always centered on sustainability, this month is a special time for my business. It’s my 2 year anniversary! And it’s a chance to reconnect with my primary mission of using creativity to create a better world.
There are so many ways that we can be helping the planet this month (and every month!) Design and art are my vehicles of choice. It’s through helping eco founders and creatives that I can help connect changemakers with an audience that supports their work. And when we build movements, we build momentum for real change.
Let’s explore the many ways Earth Month is so special.
You might want to help the earth in a different way than me. I recommend trying some of these actions:
Supporting an environmental organization you care about
Planting a tree or garden or even houseplant
Making art about a cause that speaks to you
Try composting or donating compost to a community garden
Go to a beach or park cleanup in your town
Any and all of the above works! Small actions build a wave of change. Your voice matters!
I’m so grateful to have been doing this work not just in my business for the past couple of years, but throughout my life. Environmental science grabbed a hold of my heart and never let go, and being where I am today is all thanks to the mentors and educational experiences I’ve had. No matter what I work I do or phase of life I’m in, nature will be the thread that connects it all.
Everything I share this month will be centered around our earth. Design and creativity are a crucial part of our resilience in the face of climate change and habitat destruction, and I’ll be highlighting just how essential it is. A visually stunning brand helps an environmental organization gain lifelong donors. Considering circularity in the design process allows the final product to be sustainably made. Messaging that reaches the heart creates a tidal wave of change. Amplifying diverse voices in our creative work ensures everyone is heard and considered as we strive to build a more equitable society. Sustainability can and should be deeply intertwined with design and creative expression!
Not to mention, this stuff is fun! We can make activism an exciting experience when we connect it with self expression. It’s my goal to make this possible for all the incredible eco founders, creatives, activists, and scientists seeking creative support right now. I love getting to use color and typography and research and illustration to craft a final product that means something. Drawing out the threads of meaning from a nature-based mission, project, or brand to make its visual representation is truly wonderful work.
I know things feel bleak right now. It can be hard to focus on sustainability when our basic civil liberties are being attacked. Trust me, I am also questioning everything and wondering if my work is just a drop in the bucket. But what we need is joyful resistance. Making art, showing up in community, celebrating our wins. Environmental and social justice are deeply intertwined and have been for centuries (shout out to Intersectional Environmentalist). Our relationship with the planet and with each other has been impacted by the effects of our capitalist system and systemic racism in this country. We must keep working to create a better world for every single person, even in the face of fear and oppression. Even if it’s just attending one protest or making an art piece, you are doing something to help. When there are so many of us working for change, we can overcome anything thrown our way.
So this Earth Month, I encourage you to do one thing, big or small, to help the planet. There are many incredible causes to support within the world of environmentalism. If you love the ocean, the forests, our National Parks, animals, wildflowers, people living on this planet, then there is something for you. We have a long road ahead, but our connections will be everything during this time.
And if you’ve supported me or my work in any way over the past two years, I am so grateful for you! Thank you for being here with me. Happy Earth Month!
Til Next Time,
Sarah
Dive Into the Sapling Log!
