The ABC's of Sustainability

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Instagram: @colorsquadcollective

Creative Action is a nonprofit, art-based youth development organization that provides creative learning programs for central Texas youth.

Color Squad is a collective of teen artists who work together to design and implement public and community art. Each year, we explore a theme that is important to our community, research that theme through a series of workshops and interactions, and then create art that reflects that theme. Color Squad is a program of Creative Action.

This year in Color Squad, we chose to advocate for environmental sustainability. The artwork in this zine is the collective effort of 20 youth artists from the greater Austin area—each dedicated to the preservation of the global ecosystem. Each page represents a letter of the alphabet depicting a theme, practice, or natural process centered around the idea of sustainability. As civic-minded young people, we recognize that our future is dependant upon both what we do in our everyday lives as well as holding corporations and our government accountable. This zine serves as a guide for how people of any age can start taking small actions right now to sustain our planet.

Special thanks to: Capital Metro The Office of Sustainability, City of Austin Urban Roots Austin Creative Re-use Westcave Outdoor Discovery Center Matrex Kilgore

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BIODEGRADABLE

If something is biodegradable, then given the right conditions and presence of microorganisms, fungi, or bacteria, it will eventually break down to its basic components and blend back in with the earth.

Ideally, but not always, these substances degrade without leaving any toxins behind.

If you can choose, go with food containers, bags, packaging materials, and disposable spoons and forks that are biodegradable.

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Garden -

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ICE

CAPS

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WATER

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ARTISTS Advocacy-Awareness-Action / Elle Hebert.......................Page 4 Bees / Sophia Bare and Carmen Garcia........................Page 5 Bio-degradable / Anthony Womack..................................Page 6 Compost / Kai Pollock.......................................................Page 7 Cold Cycle / Carmen Garcia............................................Page 8 De-forestation / Sophia Bare.............................................Page 9 Drought / Louisa Najar.....................................................Page 10 Ecosystem / Beatrice Rose..............................................Page 11 Energy / Kai Pollock.........................................................Page 12 Fast-Fashion / Alex Nagle................................................Page 13 Fishing / Shoshana (Shoshi) Kaim..................................Page 14 Garden / Brianna Murillo..................................................Page 15 Gardening / Haley Platt....................................................Page 16 Home-Made / Ella Salerno...............................................Page 17 Ice Caps / Aye Aye..........................................................Page 18 Environmental Justice / Alex Nagle.................................Page 19 Keep your Cup / Beatrice Rose......................................Page 20 Local / Sophia Bare.........................................................Page 21 Light / Beatrice Rose.......................................................Page 22 Micro Plastics / Louisa Najar...........................................Page 23 National Parks / Elena Barrera........................................Page 24 Ocean / Riley Cruzcosa...................................................Page 25 Plastic / Elle Hebert.........................................................Page 26 Quantity / Elle Hebert......................................................Page 27 Renewable Resources / Jordyn Clayton.......................Page 28 Reduce-Reuse-Recycle / Ianna Hernandez...................Page 29 Sustainability / Elle Hebert...............................................Page 30 Transportation / Carmen Garcia......................................Page 31 Upcycle / Jordyn Clayton................................................Page 32 Veggies / Sophia Bare.....................................................Page 33 Waste / Carmen Garcia...................................................Page 34 Water / Aye Aye...............................................................Page 35 Xeriscaping / Quinn Erikson............................................Page 36 You / Sophia Bare............................................................Page 37 Zero-emissions / Anthony Womack...............................Page 38

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s teens in 2019, we are growing up watching our world and its ecosystems collapse in front of our eyes. We are burdened with the effects of over one hundred years of resource abuse and ignorance of the complex nature of our environments. Although these issues are now becoming evident, progress in creating solutions is far too slow. Looking towards the future, it will be our responsibility to save the valuable nature that we have left. We have not lost hope. With little actions like these, we are beginning our entry into the world of youth activism with the intention of sharing our voices on a greater scale. In this zine, you will find a few of the ways that we, as a global collective, can work together to create a real change.

- Color Squad -

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