Welcome to Expanded Environmentalism, where we believe that the environment is not just "out there," but permeates every dimension of our existence.

Our mission is built on three guiding principles:

• First, we believe in engaging with the more-than-human world through direct experience and sharing those encounters through art, writing, music or other modes of expression.

• Second, we recognize that nature is everywhere—in our homes, our workplaces, and even in virtual spaces. Our separation from the natural world is an illusion shaped by the structures we've built, yet natural patterns persist in our daily lives, sometimes in surprising ways.

• Lastly, we embrace both the weird and the mundane aspects of our more-than-human ecosphere. By welcoming the magical, supernatural alongside scientific ways of understanding the world around us, the more-than-human becomes curious, alive and new.

Join us in this journey to notice the small "wow" moments, transmit them to others, and diversify our collective experiential ecosystem.

Engage with the more-than-human world through direct experience and share that experience.

Practicing Expanded Environmentalism could be inspired by something as simple as experiencing one’s skin as it makes contact with different qualities of air and then translating those observations through writing, art, music, etc. Expanded Environmentalism encourages a polyculture of ideas and sharing different ways of knowing the more-than-human world. A complement to other forms of environmentalism, which encourage larger group efforts aimed at protecting the environment from degradation and promoting sustainable practices through advocacy, policy change, and community action, Expanded Environmentalism focuses on zooming in, noticing those small “wow” moments inspired by the more-than-human world and transmitting those moments to others. To mirror our diverse planetary ecologies, Expanded Environmentalism aims to diversify the accounts of our collective experiential ecologies.

Realize that the environment is not just something “out there,” but is also in here and everywhere in between.

That we would feel separate from nature - inside our homes, work environments and commercial structures has more to do with the paradigm through which these dwellings were created than anything having to do with a simple indoor/outdoor binary. Our habitats don’t by and large mimic the natural patterns of the more-than-human world. We have reshaped natural elements such as wood, rock and metal so that they are barely recognizable from their original forms and now exist as components of living spaces aimed to serve a breed of humans detached from our more-than-human existence. 

And yet, we do seem to take natural patterns with us - even as we migrate into virtual realms. There is, for example, an uncanny resemblance between mushroom mycellial growth and a map of the internet. What other natural patterns are we unintentionally taking with us? Or, who’s to say that our grid-system rectangular realities and flatscreen TVs aren’t manifestations of nature playing with different forms? How in control of our world are we really? Are we merely an expression of life constantly seeking novelty over a long arc of time? Are we the authors or merely the players?

Embrace the weird and the mundane alike when considering our more-than-human ecosphere.

We need a more magical way of understanding the more-than-human world. Indiginous cultures accepted as part of their environment, those things that couldn’t be perceived in consensus - or physical reality: faeries, gnomes, shapeshifting animals, astral beings and so on. This more supernatural approach to interfacing with the more-than-human world seems to have created a more sustainable model - whether or not one accepts these beings as “real.” 

By contrast, our modern paradigm views the world in more lifeless and material terms, where there are resources to be extracted for economic growth and human profit. This material, human-centric model has proven unsustainable. Expanded Environmentalism welcomes more magical ways alongside scientific models of interfacing with the more-than-human world. All are welcome: non-corporeal spirits of various kinds, UFOs/UAPs and the entire high strangeness pantheon. That realm called “cyberspace,” has already accustomed us to non-physical realms. Is cyberspace, and now AI (or emergent intelligence) an expression of an ancient desire to interact with different planes of existence similar to our indigenous ancestors’ desire to interface with non-corporeal realms?

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Global Land Acknowledgment

We acknowledge the interconnectedness of all life and the profound impact of human actions on the entire biosphere. We recognize the Indigenous peoples across the globe who have been stewards of these lands for millennia. We acknowledge their deep cultural, spiritual, and ecological connections to the Earth, connections that have been disrupted by colonization, exploitation, and environmental degradation.

We also recognize that the same forces that have impacted Indigenous communities have also had devastating effects on the flora and fauna that share our planet. The ecosystems that sustain us have been altered, and countless species have suffered and continue to suffer from habitat destruction, pollution, and climate change.

In making this acknowledgment, we commit to highlighting a variety of perspectives across cultures that promote a more rooted relationship with the Earth and all of its lifeforms.