Bonaire Residents Fight for Climate Justice, The Possibility of Tenderness, Wastewater to Wealth and more.

About this episode

The episode discusses climate justice in Bonaire, the reflections of poet Jason Allen-Paisant on his Jamaican heritage, and innovative methods for converting wastewater into fertilizer by William Tarpeh.

The Dutch special municipality of Bonaire in the Caribbean is already experiencing dangerous heat and could see a fifth of its land disappear under rising seas by 2100. But the Netherlands is discriminating against these overseas citizens by failing to adequately reduce global warming emissions and develop adaptation plans to help them cope, according to a January 2026 Dutch court decision. Also, poet and author Jason Allen-Paisant left his native Jamaica to gain a graduate school education and prize-winning poetry career in England and France. He now looks back with wonder at the green of Jamaica where generations of his ancestors fed and healed his family. He shares this history in his book The Possibility of Tenderness: A Jamaican Memoir of Plants and Dreams. And urine is packed with nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen, which can be pollutants when they enter the environment unchecked. But these can also be turned into vital fertilizer to nourish our crops, and 2025 MacArthur Fellow William Tarpeh, an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at Stanford University, is developing methods for “refining” wastewater. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit…

People in this episode

Guests: Jason Allen-Paisant, William Tarpeh

Topics covered

• climate justice
• poetry
• wastewater management
• environmental adaptation
• Caribbean issues

Keywords

• Bonaire
• climate justice
• Jason Allen-Paisant
• William Tarpeh
• wastewater
• fertilizer
• Caribbean
• poetry

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Stanford University

Books & works: The Possibility of Tenderness: A Jamaican Memoir of Plants and Dreams

Places: Bonaire, Netherlands

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