Jerry Yudelson Of The Godfather Of Green: Sustaining activism through cultivating a practice of eco-spirituality (podcast interview)
Jerry Yudelson (@jerryyudelson) is an engineer and the author of 12 professional books in the field of green building and sustainable development, including his latest book, The Godfather of Green: An Eco-Spiritual Memoir. Jerry was also a co-founder of the first Earth Day in 1970.
In this podcast episode, Jerry sheds light on his experience as a long-time environmental activist and what we can learn from the past decades of the environmental movement; how he sees the relationship between spirituality, mindfulness, and sustainability; and more.
To start, get a glimpse below into the conversation between Jerry and Green Dreamer Podcast's host, Kamea Chayne.
Musical feature: Trust The Sun by Yarrow by Kim Anderson
“The ability to have a centered place within is based on an ongoing practice of meditation and mindfulness—and that ability is essential to working with other people to get things done.”
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This is a conversation on Green Dreamer with Kamea Chayne, a podcast and multimedia journal illuminating our paths towards ecological regeneration, intersectional sustainability, and true abundance and wellness for all. This preview has been edited for clarity. Subscribe to Green Dreamer Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or any podcast app, and support Green Dreamer on Patreon so we can keep the show going and accessible to all!
On the power of people-led movements—such as climate strikes—in driving climate action:
"Air pollution you can see. Water pollution you can see. Disappearing salmon runs in the Northwest you can see (if you were a fisherman). The real problem today with climate change is it's so much harder to point to one thing or another as well, we have to fix this or that. The fact is we have to fix a lot of things in a very short period of time.
So, climate change is a much bigger challenge but I think we do have the power to [inspire action towards change] and it's happening worldwide so that's even more dramatic because a lot of the energy around the first Earth Day was limited to the United States. But now, it's a global movement and we have social media to spread things quickly."
On the connection between environmental activism and spirituality:
"For anyone who wants to do social work, there's this tension between self and other that has to go away for you to be truly effective in your work. You have to be willing at times to let others take the lead, you have to be willing at times to acknowledge other people's contributions, and you still get to do your work.
I think that ability to have a centered place within is based on an ongoing practice of meditation and mindfulness and it's essential to working with other people to get things done."
Final words of wisdom:
"Never ever give up."
