Maya K Van Rossum Of ‘The Green Amendment For The Generations Movement’: 5 Things We Must Do To Inspire The Next Generation About Sustainability And The Environment
An Interview With Martita Mestey
Speaking of straws and cups — I keep a reusable straw and a pack of reusable wooden cutlery in my backpack and a set in my car — so when I want or need them, I can say no to the plastic option.
As part of my series about what we must do to inspire the next generation about sustainability and the environment, I had the pleasure of interviewing Maya K. van Rossum.
Maya K van Rossum is the Founder of the Green Amendment For The Generations Movement, a national nonprofit dedicated to inspiring passage of Green Amendments in every state that would recognize and protect environmental rights on par with other inalienable civic and political freedoms. Known as “The Delaware Riverkeeper” Maya is also the leader of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network. The 2nd edition of her book The Green Amendment, The People’s Fight For A Clean, Safe & Healthy Environment will be released on November 1, 2022.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about how you grew up?
I grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. My father was a scientist and my mother spent much of my childhood in school pursuing, part-time, her Ph.D. in mathematics. My mother was Dutch and my father was British. They believed in the importance of travel and had lived in a number of countries — I was born in India, a country that is still close to my heart. We came to the United States when I was an infant and lived in a small twin house that was the last on a dead-end street and sat nestled next to a beautiful little forest. (A woodland that was eventually decimated for a highway, which broke my heart.) My parents raised me to be mindful of the environment. We rode our bikes everywhere no matter the distance. I remember vacations camping in national parks and days spending hours in the forest by my home. Every fall, my mother would collect the trash bags of leaves people had put out for garbage collection, because to her, those leaves were a renewable resource perfect for compost. At first, I was embarrassed when people would see us picking up their trash bags of leaves, but as I got older, I realized picking up those leaves was a way for us to help nature — it prevented the leaves and the plastic bags from taking needless space in a landfill and provided leaves for our compost that could eventually turn into soil. And when folks looked at us crosswise, it was not uncommon for my mother to give a wave and shout — good morning, hope it’s okay we are just taking these leaves for compost — thereby engendering friendly feelings, providing an explanation and a gentle environmental lesson all at the same time. This annual ritual of leaf collection helped teach me to be mindful of the way I live on this planet, regardless of what others think and do. My mother sparked the environmentalist in me.
Was there an “aha moment” or a specific trigger that made you decide you wanted to become a scientist or environmental leader? Can you share that story with us?
Being an environmental advocate is an expression of the different aspects of who I am — me loving nature, believing in equitable justice for all. Throughout my life, when I have seen or heard of injustice, I have wanted to stand against it. I recall 3 girls during my early years in school who were bullied and unable to stand up for themselves. It was not part of their personality to do so, but I could see the deep pain they experienced whenever the bullying began. My automatic reaction was to stand with them, to stand up for them and to use my words to back down their aggressors. I was always a bit different myself and while people being unkind does certainly affect me, it does not cower me and instead inspires me to evaluate who I am and what I believe in.
If I had to pick an aha moment — although there are several — I think it would be elementary school. I was very young, maybe 7? One morning when lining up to go into school I noticed a beautiful red cardinal lying dead on the ground. It had flown into the large windowpanes. I started to cry. I asked my teacher for a shovel to bury the bird. I was told “no” that we had to go inside and start class. This response was unacceptable to my 7-year-old heart, soul and mind. The teacher must have been frustrated with my unwillingness to leave the bird uncared for on the ground because the next thing I recall I was looking down at the big, polished, black shoes of the school principal telling me to go inside to class. The tears streamed down my face. I remained adamant that the bird needed care, even in death. I’m not sure the inner strength that helped me stand firm, and resolute in my commitment to care for the little bird, but my heart, soul, and body would not let me back down. If Mr. Warnick had truly wanted, he could have forced me inside, taken me to his office for punishment, called my mother to come and get me — I’m not sure if I realized all the options. But I remember, vividly, the beauty of the male red cardinal dead on the ground. Eventually, Mr. Warnick relented and took me to get a shovel to bury the bird. That day I learned, if you are committed and persistent (whether it be hours, days or years) you can find a way to change the minds of decisionmaker and inspire them to do the right thing to protect our earth and the other critters that share it with us.
I have a number of stories like this. Each taught me a lesson that helped me become who I am today. That is a book I hope to write one day — how adults can help children become champions for nature and social justice.
Is there a lesson you can take out of your own story that can exemplify what can inspire a young person to become an environmental leader?
The way we inspire young people to become leaders is to support their natural inclinations to want to care for animals and nature. I see it all the time in children — they marvel over a flower or a fluttering butterfly; they agonize over an animal laying on the side of the road that is injured or perhaps dead. As adults, rather than try to rush them past these moments, we need to nurture those natural feelings of loving care for nature and help give them expression through action. For me it was the need to bury the bird. At other times it was to check on the roadside animal and if it was still alive to scoop it up and offer it care (ideally by taking it to a wildlife rehabilitation center). And at yet other times it was to stop and marvel at the butterfly, admire the bright orange mushroom, or literally to smell the flowers. When we nurture the natural care children have for the environment and help them find ways to care for it when something is wrong, we teach them that there is always something that can be done to make a difference and that with time, care and thought they can figure, find and follow that path.
Can you tell our readers about the initiatives that you or your company are taking to address climate change or sustainability? Can you give an example for each?
As the Delaware Riverkeeper, I and my organization spend a good deal of time working to defeat the ongoing proliferation of fracking for fossil fuels here in the U.S. Fracking for natural gas is devastating for our environment, human health, and the climate. Natural gas extraction using fracking releases tremendous volumes of methane which is one of the most devastating contributors to a warming climate. When one looks over a 20-year time frame, methane is 86 times more potent for warming the climate than carbon dioxide, and so preventing its release is one of the strongest actions we can take in the next 10 to 20 years — the period during which we have to act on climate changing emissions if we are to avert climate catastrophe.
The first part of this work has been to stop fracking before it starts. At the Delaware Riverkeeper Network we secured a moratorium back in 2010 from an often unnoticed, but very powerful, interstate agency, that prevented fracking from happening anywhere within my watershed, which includes portions of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. To this day we continue to fight to turn that moratorium into a complete and permanent ban against all aspects of fracking for gas from shale.
The second part of this work has been to battle against natural gas pipelines, pipeline compressor stations, and facilities to export the gas as liquified natural gas (LNG for short). Infrastructure projects such as these collect the gas from the places where it is fracked and transport it for end use either here in the United States, or increasingly to foreign countries. This gas transportation infrastructure inflicts its own devastating harm on the environment — cutting through forests and rivers, releasing health-harming pollution to the air and environment, devastating critical habitats, and forcing communities to live next to these dangerous facilities that have at times literally exploded devastating lives, and releasing climate-changing methane and other emissions. The infrastructure also induces more fracking — it is part of an ongoing circle of environmental and climate destruction. Without the pipelines and LNG exports, there is no reason to frack, and when we stop fracking there is no reason for more pipelines, LNG exports, nor the industries and other uses dependent on fossil fuels. Throughout all our work at the Delaware Riverkeeper Network we make the case that clean and renewable energy options are available here today, so it is time to wind down the fracking and fossil fuels and instead invest in clean and renewable energy, which research has shown can support our energy needs if we start to build it out.
The third and most powerful way I have been working to ensure our government is required to do everything it can to address the climate crisis and to protect our environment for future generations is to secure what I have called constitutional Green Amendments. Green Amendments are constitutional amendments added to the bill of rights section of our state constitutions that require environmental rights, including the right to a stable climate, as well as clean water and air and healthy environments, to be protected as powerfully as we protect other fundamental rights like speech and religious freedoms. Giving all people a constitutional right to clean water and clean air, a stable climate, and healthy environments is a way for people to ensure that every time government passes a law or regulation, issues a permit, or undertakes some other action, they must prioritize the protection of our climate and environment; and when government fails there is the potential for people to go to court to enforce their environmental rights. Only 3 states have amendments of this kind; my goal is to get them in every state and ultimately in our federal constitution.
As the Delaware Riverkeeper, I and my organization used Pennsylvania’s Green Amendment to defeat a very pro-fracking law that was going to allow fracking for gas from shale to expand exponentially, including in the heart of residential communities as close as 300 feet from homes. The law also gave the industry automatic waivers from even minimal environmental protection standards. Without the Pennsylvania constitutional Green Amendment protecting the environmental rights of the people of the state, there would have been no way to stop this devastating law from going into effect because there would have been no higher power to check what the legislature and governor were doing in passing this law. While fracking is happening in the state, we did prevent its mass expansion and proved that constitutional protection of environmental rights is a powerful tool.
Can you share 3 lifestyle tweaks that the general public can do to be more sustainable or help address the climate change challenge?
A very small but important step people can work towards is to stop with all the single use plastics. Plastics are made from fossil fuels and as such are not only a pollution source when they find their way into our forests, rivers, and oceans, where they inflict devastating harm on ecosystems and wildlife, but they are also a major and growing reason why industry keeps fracking and extracting fossil fuels. So, whenever you can, say “no” to plastics. Bring your renewable cloth bags with you for shopping and if you forget it one day then use your hands to carry your purchases. Use a reusable cup for hot coffee at the stop and shop; hot drink cups are lined with a thin layer of plastic so saying “no” to their use is a big help. When you buy that cold drink at the local coffee shop, bring your reusable cold cup and if they refuse your cup then take your business elsewhere, you can forgo your drink until you find a merchant who cares. Avoid water and soda in plastic bottles — once in a while is okay, but as a daily practice it adds up to lots of harm. Try to buy products in cans or glass. Bring your own water in a reusable bottle from your home faucet if it is safe to drink. When giving a party, don’t succumb to the easy option of throwing away plastic or Styrofoam plates, cups, and cutlery; invest in reusable ones that you can wash and use over and over again. There are lots of inexpensive options and over time you will save not only the earth but your bank account. If not affordable for you, then pick food options that can be eaten with just fingers and placed on a paper towel or napkin and that don’t require that plastic cutlery and plate. And for drinks, buy things in recyclable tin cans that don’t require you to offer a throwaway cup at your party.
Speaking of straws and cups — I keep a reusable straw and a pack of reusable wooden cutlery in my backpack and a set in my car — so when I want or need them, I can say no to the plastic option.
If you have a garden, fill it with native plants and reject the nonnative species. Birds, butterflies, pollinators, and wildlife need the food and habitat that native plants provide. And if you have a property with a lawn, try to replace as much of that lawn as you can with native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers. Lawns provide no ecological value. At the same time, when it rains lawns fail to soak the water into the soil like a garden or forest landscape can; the result is the water rushes off the landscape into the local storm drain and becomes a contributor to flooding downstream. Not only does replacing your lawn with native plants increase habitat, reduce flooding, and help alleviate drought, but it will increase the beauty of your home and increase its market value. There is ample research to show how healthy native gardens with trees and shrubs enhance communities and property values. If you don’t live in a home with a garden or lawn option, you can always approach your local government or school and ask if you can plant a native garden on their property as a way of enhancing the community and providing all these wonderful environmental benefits.
And when you can, use your voice to speak with friends, family, and decision makers in your town/city/county about the importance of environmental protection. Among this circle, you are likely to be a much more effective messenger than someone like me. People often hear best from those they know or are politically accountable to.
Ok, thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview: The youth-led climate strikes of September 2019 showed an impressive degree of activism and initiative by young people on behalf of climate change. This was great, and there is still plenty that needs to be done. In your opinion, what are 5 things parents should do to inspire the next generation to become engaged in sustainability and the environmental movement? Please give a story or an example for each.
Supporting future advocates requires not just words, but experiences, and adults that lead by example. I was fortunate to have a mother who did this for me. Every fall when my mother drove around our area collecting those big plastic bags of leaves others were throwing out for trash, I would feel a bit embarrassed but knew she did it because it was one way, she could make a difference. I watched how the leaves made lovely soil in our garden and my mother re-used those plastic bags in a myriad of ways. Over time, as I learned, I became proud. As an adult I repeat this same ritual in my own life. My daughter too has gone through the same experience of embarrassment turned to learning turned to pride. So, the 5 things I suggest all focus on leading by example, even when it may feel a bit uncomfortable for you or the youth you are seeking to inspire.
Help the youth in your life engage in hands-on ways of protecting the earth that are more than just recycling a can or bottle — participate in a stream clean up, community native planting project, or volunteer stream monitoring program offered by a local environmental organization. There are bound to be lots of options readily available. Or you can create your own opportunities: ask the township or school if you can turn a plot of lawn into a native butterfly garden and then undertake the project together; investigate whether you can volunteer at the local wildlife rehabilitation center; or learn about an issue a local organization is working on and offer to help distribute flyers or information.
Support and encourage the children in your life to join a protest or march so they can see the power and empowerment protest and nonviolent civil engagement brings. Help them find the event, make the signs, and join with them in standing up for what you and they believe in. As you engage, talk with them about the power of protest, reinforce that a protest is a form of democracy and way of engaging in civil society, and when they feel embarrassed because one of their friends or neighbors questions or ridicules the act, talk with them about how that makes them feel, why it is important to stand strong for what you believe despite what others think, and help them feel the strength that standing for justice brings.
Encourage your child to find an issue they care about and engage by writing letters, attending a township meeting, and testifying at the podium. Learning early about how to participate in the public decision-making process through written comments, verbal testimony at a hearing, or signatures collected on a petition can help ensure that as they grow into adults, they value the importance of active civic engagement. This active engagement can teach the positive feelings that come when your efforts are successful, but also help teach how to effectively respond when the outcome is not what you had hoped for. Whether the issue is animals, plants, fossil fuels, environmental justice, police brutality, voting rights, opposing the use of factory farm meat or eggs in the school cafeteria, standing against the racist use of Native American names and imagery as a school team mascot — whatever it is, help the youth in your life find an issue that resonates with them and then help them navigate a way to engage in the government or community decision-making around that issue. Not every child will be willing or wanting to engage with verbal testimony, it’s important not to try to force young people to engage in ways that might be frightening or too hard for their personality type — helping them stretch their wings is good, pressuring them into activities that are frightening for them is not fair and can have the effect of making people shy away from future engagement.
It is also important to support children as they engage with nature — whether it is taking a walk in a naturalized park, marveling at a passing bird or butterfly, playing in or around your local stream (if it is too polluted, then staying on the banks but still marveling at its flow and talking about the sadness of its polluted situation). No matter where you live there are ways to engage with the natural world so help your child find them and enjoy. But I want to be clear, in my opinion this is not enough; it is important to help children find ways to speak for, and help nurture, nature too. Enjoying nature gives the love and sense of connection that can support and inspire other ways to engage; it is not enough on its own for effectuating change.
Encourage your child to make personal choices that make a difference and to learn that it is valuable to make little sacrifices to protect nature. If there is a safe way to do it, encourage them to walk or bike to the local shop or their friend’s home rather than ask for a ride in the car. Ensure they also say no to the plastic bags or disposable cups when shopping. When they go to a friend’s birthday party where you suspect there will be throw away plates and cups, help your child remember to bring their own reusable cup, plate, straw, and cutlery so they aren’t part of that throw away culture, and help them navigate the emotions of doing something different from their peers.
How would you articulate how a business can become more profitable by being more sustainable and more environmentally conscious? Can you share a story or example?
There is always an option for doing things more protective of nature, no matter what kind of business you run. And advertising that you are doing things in a sustainable way will encourage customers to pick your offerings over that of your competitor. There are so many kinds of businesses it is hard to offer one universal option. But a big one that crosses business models would be investing in clean and renewable energy. There are many pathways to going clean from investing in your own rooftop solar system to signing up with a company that will cover the equipment and installation cost with an agreement that you pay them a monthly fee. Or perhaps you can join forces with others in your community to support a community solar system. However you do it, investing in solar on your roof or other clean energy options will reduce the fossil fuel footprint of your business, help others to see this action as one that is achievable, and may very well reduce your monthly electric bill depending on the option you choose.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I think my ever-present touchstone is my mother whom I sadly lost a long time ago. But she was always my shining light of support who taught me by her actions rather than words. As a young child when I learned that companies who made baby formula were offering it to mothers in third world countries for free for a few weeks to try — just long enough for their own milk to dry up and make them dependent on the product they would now have to buy — my mother’s reaction to my upset was to encourage me to write a letter to the company. I was young and my mother was not very politically involved but she knew she had to help me find a way to channel my energy. I got a letter back from the company telling me they were going to end that practice. I think the company must have gotten an onslaught of letters when the news of this abuse broke publicly. Without knowing it, I was part of a national movement to get them to end this practice. My mother didn’t know it either. But she knew that there was an injustice and that I wanted to do something to make a change. And in the end, I was part of a larger movement that did make a change. What a powerful lesson!
You are a person of great influence and doing some great things for the world! If you could inspire a movement that would bring the greatest amount of good to the greatest amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I have the honor of saying that I am, right now, doing just that, inspiring a movement that I think can help save the world, and at the very least will save many lives here in the United States of America. My national movement, founded just a few short years ago, is focused on securing highest constitutional recognition and protection of the rights of all people in the United States to clean water and air, a stable climate, and healthy environments through the passage of what I call Green Amendments. I genuinely believe that the Green Amendment movement is the most powerful way to bring transformational change and environmental protection across our nation and across generations for needed environmental, climate and environmental justice protection. So, for me, it is not about coming up with that good idea, but about growing my Green Amendment movement and ensuring it succeeds.
Why does my Green Amendment movement matter?
Here in the U.S. people have rights to free speech and religion, the right to bear arms and to freely assemble, but they do not have the right to clean water and air, a stable climate, and healthy environments. Instead of protecting the basic needs of all people to a clean, safe, and healthy environment, U.S. laws prioritize legalizing environmental pollution and degradation through reviews and permitting. As a result, communities across the nation are suffering from pollution, degradation and the growing impacts of an unstable climate with communities of color, Indigenous communities and low-income communities being disproportionately targeted for highly polluting and environmentally degrading activities.
It is the mission of my Green Amendments For The Generations movement and organization to transform this legal paradigm through the passage and enforcement of constitutional Green Amendments in every state constitution across our nation, and ultimately at the federal level. Green Amendments are constitutional amendments, added to the Bill of Rights section of a constitution, which recognize and protect the inalienable rights of all people, including future generations, to pure water, clean air, a stable climate, and healthy environments. Green Amendments put environmental rights on par with other civil, human, and political rights — like speech, due process, and property rights. We all know how powerfully those other fundamental rights are respected and protected — well now that same power comes to bear for the environment.
In addition to providing tremendous legal strength for environmental protection, the grant of constitutional protection for environmental rights emotionally and intellectually empowers people to raise the expectations they have of their government officials and to advocate more firmly, actively, and confidently for environmental protection. Environmental advocates are no longer easily dismissed as tree huggers — they are now recognized constitutional champions.
To date, this movement has inspired Green Amendment proposals in 11 states including New York (which actually passed November 2021), New Mexico, New Jersey, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Washington, Hawaii, Iowa, Arizona, Vermont, and West Virginia. We are also working with communities in a growing number of additional states that are seeking to advance the Green Amendment concept where they live, including (but not limited to) Michigan, Colorado, and Connecticut.
Do you have a favorite life lesson quote? Can you tell us how that was relevant to you in your own life?
“Everything happens for a reason.”
I think it is really important to try to learn the value or lesson in everything good or bad that happens in my life. It is easy when something bad happens or things don’t work out to focus on the bad and be unhappy about it, but I don’t think that serves my work or life goals of protecting the earth and securing constitutional Green Amendments in every state and at the federal level. Failing to look for the good, even in the bad things that happen, or the failures I experience, or the difficulties/challenges I face, just makes me unhappy and serves no purpose. The truth is, as an environmental activist I experience more failures than successes. And the challenges for the basics like funding to advance this work that serves so many tends to include more no’s than yeses. So, if I didn’t find the good even in the defeats and bad experiences, I probably would have quit a long time ago. But what purpose does that serve? It just lets the bad guys win. But if I look for the good, for the lesson, for the silver lining, then I can learn something from every experience and I also can maintain the positive outlook I need to take on the environmental challenges and personal attacks for being an outspoken environmental activist I have to experience every day.
What is the best way for people to follow you on social media?
The best way is probably twitter, Facebook or Instagram. You can follow me personally and, through my posts and bio, connect back to my Green Amendment and my Delaware Riverkeeper work.
On Instagram I’m @MayaKvanRossum, @greenamendments and @delriverkeeper
On Twitter I’m @MayaKvanRossum
And on Facebook I’m just Maya van Rossum
My Green Amendments For The Generations movement is on all of these platforms as well, and so too is my Delaware Riverkeeper Network.
You can also subscribe to the Green Genes podcast (find all the pathways at: https://linktr.ee/GreenGenesPod ) I do weekly with my daughter, talking about environmental hot topics for about half an hour each week and discussing them through a generational lens — she is 26 and I am quite a bit older and yet we are both fighting for the same environmental victories and values. You can find it on Spotify or google podcasts.
However, you’d like to engage, please do. I really believe in my work, and we can only be victorious saving our Earth if we all get active and engaged.
This was so inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!
