This website uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience while browsing it. By clicking 'Got It' you're accepting these terms.
Most recent
Trending
Top Videos

The best of EcoWatch, right in your inbox. Sign up for our email newsletter!
Here's How This Artist Is Fighting Against Trump's War on the Environment
By Clara Chaisson
Like so many citizens of the world, Monica Rowand spent the weeks following the presidential election feeling panicked about how the Trump administration could roll back years of hard-fought environmental progress. "I really didn't know what I could do," she said. But as she watched the Trump cabinet fill with climate change deniers, an image of a protester she saw kept coming back to mind: a woman wearing nothing but body paint that spelled out a simple fact, "Climate change is real."
"Polar Bear Plight," painted by Cheryl Ann Lipstreu on Bethany Tuttle.People, Planet, Paint
The photo, from a protest in November, became a symbol of hope to Rowand. She channeled her frustrations into action, and less than a month later, People, Planet, Paint was born. The project is using body painting to spread awareness about environmental issues. It officially went live on Inauguration Day.
Naked bodies slathered in depictions of swirling seascapes and glowing coals are attention grabbing, to be sure. And we need as many eyes on climate change as we can get. But it's more than that. "I feel it's more relatable," Rowand said. "It's an actual human that's delivering the message to you, as opposed to something that's stagnant on a wall or on a computer screen."
Devon Weiland paints CR Hall at the event in Boulder, ColoradoSkyelar Habberfield
Rowand spent three years working in communications for the environmental nonprofit Global Green before enrolling in a sustainability-focused MBA program. "It was really hard to get people to listen" as she tried to communicate the threats of global warming, she said. "I would do the check of 'Wait, would I look at this? Would I read this?'"
The medium of the human form also reminds us that climate change will leave no body untouched. Accordingly, Rowand's project is all-inclusive. "All shapes welcome, all sizes welcome, all colors welcome, definitely," she said. "[It's] just inherent to the art form."
"Drowing Waters" painted by Jocelyn Goode on Amy Hope.Jarrett Robertson
So far, People, Planet, Paint has held two painting events, one in Boulder, Colorado and one in Baltimore. Artists and models in the two cities created "Bodies of Change," which depicts the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and other global environmental issues. Each image is paired with additional information on what's at stake and concrete actions individuals can take.
Rowand takes inspiration from how quickly people came together to make People, Planet, Paint a reality. Artists, models and other volunteers answered the call, a local business in Boulder donated space and photographers pitched in to document the event. "It's not me on an island. Clearly, other people are willing to step up and take action."
"Wood You?" painted by Niazja Rios on Coral LopezJarrett Robertson
Going forward, People, Planet, Paint aims to produce two projects a year, focusing on specific issues related to climate change and sustainable development. Next up: the People's Climate Movement on April 29. Get ready for some skin, Washington, DC.
Reposted with permission from our media associate onEarth.
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Under 45? Lowering Your Cholesterol Now Could Prevent Heart Disease Later, Study Suggests
Many people don't begin worrying about their cholesterol levels until later in life, but that may be increasing their odds of heart problems in the long term.
Measles Killed More Than 140,000 People in 2018, Mostly Young Children, Despite a Safe Vaccine
Measles infected nearly 10 million people in 2018 and killed more than 140,000, according to new estimates from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Most of the people who died were children under five years old.
Nestlé cannot claim that its Ice Mountain bottled water brand is an essential public service, according to Michigan's second highest court, which delivered a legal blow to the food and beverage giant in a unanimous decision.
A number of supermarkets across the country have voluntarily issued a recall on sushi, salads and spring rolls distributed by Fuji Food Products due to a possible listeria contamination, as CBS News reported.
Trending
If you read a lot of news about the climate crisis, you probably have encountered lots of numbers: We can save hundreds of millions of people from poverty by 2050 by limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, but policies currently in place put us on track for a more than three degree increase; sea levels could rise three feet by 2100 if emissions aren't reduced.