For Hannah Hazewinkel, nature has been a part of her whole life. From Ranger Rick magazines to camping trips, nature camps and climbing trees, she has been amazed by everything that exists in the natural world.

“As I got older, I started to realize more and more that the plants, animals and ecosystems that I loved so much were in grave danger,” Hazewinkel said.

Inspired by her love and appreciation for the earth (as well as a senior capstone course), Hazewinkel developed a new, collaborative space for like-minded individuals. She described it this way:

“The idea of The Earth Warriors Community is to create a place where people who have a high reverence for nature and who care about environmentalism can come together to share ideas, information and celebrate the work that we do to protect the environment,” Hazewinkel said.

The Earth Warriors Community is an online space for people who want to fight for the protection of our planet and its resources. Much of its mission is centered on sustainability practices and cooperating with different communities of people and environments. Hazewinkel founded the website after being assigned her Lyman Briggs Senior Seminar capstone project. Overall, the project had to encompass two takeaways: it had to be related to climate change and it had to encapsulate what she learned in her four years of Natural Sciences. Initially, the website was a blog until Hannah decided to continue expanding upon the importance of taking care of the earth as well as creating a unique digital space for people of like-minded intentions to learn more.

The Earth Warriors Community stands for respecting one another, holding integrity, defending all creatures’ rights to clean air and water, and much more.

“Here we honor the work and passion of those who strive for better relations with Mother Earth. We write about environmental issues, striving for scientific integrity by citing reliable sources. We also recognize the ways in which our connection to nature influences our lifestyle and spirituality, recognizing the validity in everyone’s thoughts and beliefs, because diversity is what makes a community strong,” said Hazewinkel.

Hazewinkel dedicates herself to her studies in ecology, zoology and botany so that she can work in conservation and education. She became a vegetarian almost two years ago as a protest against destructive and cruel factory farming practices. She cooks with whole ingredients whenever possible; she recycles, uses natural and biodegradable hygiene products and buys many secondhand materials as well.

“Most importantly, I preach my love for nature openly every day, so that it’s clear to everyone what my mission is, and why environmentalism is the most important battle that we will ever fight,” said Hazewinkel.

“The people that have inspired me for this project are millennials. They’re people that I have gone to school with, people that I’ve worked with at the university and the [Fenner] Nature Center. [They’re] largely millennials, but I don’t want to shut the gate on people who are older, or younger.”

She sees the passion from her fellow comrades for making the world a better place and creating a better future for all. “There are these people who have these strengths, this expertise outside of natural sciences, but they have these goals to promote this and they believe in the importance of sustainability and environmentalism.”

In the end, Hazewinkel is always looking for more people to join the battle of protecting the earth and understanding the importance of the environment. She hopes that The Earth Warriors Community website will become a collaborative space for learning, understanding and a means of action between people of all backgrounds, areas of expertise, passions and much more outside of her Lyman Briggs Senior Seminar capstone course.

To learn more about The Earth Warriors Community, check out myearthwarriors.com.