The New Dream Blog
In our blog, we feature stories, tips, and commentary from contributors around the world on topics ranging from
consumerism and parenting to how to live a fuller life with less. Enjoy!
Interested in contributing a guest post? Please review our submission guidelines.
Solutions to the Pandemic Are Hiding in Plain Sight
by Ashley Colby | June 8, 2020
Normally, in times of crisis, we look to the technocrats—highly trained doctors, technologists, and bureaucrats—for answers. What if we looked to how communities take care of each other instead?
Partner Update: Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood Adopts New Dream’s Kids & Commercialism and Kids Unbranded Programs and Assets
February 19, 2020
Our longtime partner, Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC), has officially adopted New Dream’s work in this area. CCFC is committed to helping children thrive in an increasingly commercialized, screen-obsessed culture, and is the only organization dedicated to ending marketing to children.
What We See and What We Know (Or, Why We Need to Question Overabundance)
by Kate Parker | February 18, 2020
What is lost when we're confronted with a constant state of overabundance? What are the hidden systems that prop up these manifestations of largesse? And who are they good for?
Why I Stopped Combing Through Chemicals and Took My Hair Care Into My Own Hands
by Jasmine Curtis | February 18, 2020
Many of the hair and beauty products marketed to Black women—from dyes and relaxers to lipsticks and makeup—pose serious health and environmental risks. Jasmine Curtis wants to change that.
Is It Wrong to Want to Give Your Children What You Never Had?
by Kelley Dennings | December 16, 2019
A strong advocate of experiences over gifts, Kelley talks about her own struggles with trying to make holiday memories less about what’s under the tree and more about spending time together.
Why Witches? This Halloween, Put on Your Pointy Hat and Summon Your Inner Subversion
by Guinevere Higgins | October 22, 2019
One person's take on how New Dreamers are like witches.
The Threads That Bind Us: One Woman's Perspective on the Border Crisis, Climate Change, and Our Choices as Consumers
by Amber Cadenas | September 17, 2019
We can't ignore the connections between our own behaviors as consumers and many of the wider crises facing our world, including climate change and the realities of climate-related migration.
"The Struggle in Rural Kentucky, Being a Black Producer, Is Real"
May 10, 2019
New Dream speaks with Tiffany Bellfield about the challenges she's faced as a business woman of color, and her contributions to her community as a holistic farmer, producer of botanical products, wellness practitioner, convener of women’s retreats, and mom.
Youth Perspective: Why We Need Equity and Empathy to Move Our Communities Forward
by New Dream | April 16, 2019
Former Youth Fellow Josmar Torres talks about the challenges facing his community and the important roles that empathy and political change can play in creating a brighter, more equitable future.
Be There for People: Life Lessons from a Fifth Grader
by Jen Patterson | April 9, 2019
New Dreamer Jen Patterson shares her experience working as an academic coach and being personally challenged and inspired by a student's poem.
What You Want From New Dream: Key Themes and Messages on Equity and Consumption
January 14, 2019
New Dreamers share their thoughts about the connections between consumerism, class, and race; our new focus on equity and consumption; and what you’d like to see from New Dream in the future.
Whatever Happened to Waste Reduction, or Preventing Waste in the First Place?
by Kelley Dennings | January 10, 2019
Advisory Council member Kelley Dennings considers why the recycling community may be abandoning the once-worthy goal of waste reduction, and offers thoughts for refocusing these efforts.
Question Consumption This Thanksgiving
by Guinevere Higgins | November 9, 2018
New Dream's Guinevere Higgins outlines four ways you can think more deeply about your Thanksgiving holiday and create a more authentic and meaningful experience for your family and friends.
Facilitating a New Dream
by Selena D. Cozart | November 7, 2018
Facilitator Selena Cozart explains how our current social and political climate presents us with a unique and irresistible opportunity to engage in discussions of equity and justice.
Activism in a Place Where Eco Isn’t the Norm
by Christine Kane | October 18, 2018
Retiree and New Dreamer Chris Kane shares some of her strategies for being an eco-activist in her adopted home state of Florida.