Katrien Vander Straeten

Who am I?

I am a Belgian living in Boston. I hold an MA in Communication Sciences, an MA in Philosophy, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy. After all that, I left the academic life to become a full-time mom to one lovely daughter (who is about to turn two), and a freelance writer of non-fiction and fiction. I am currently working on publishing my first novel (in Dutch) and completing an adventure novel (in English). I also write a daily blog, called MamaStories.

Our Children's Future

I used to be a Feature Writer for Customs and Holidays here on Suite101, but after a year I decided to change my focus to more urgent, environmental issues.

I came to the immense and complex problem of environmental destruction, global warming, ecological poverty, peak oil, and environmental activism the hard way: by having a child. "Having a child puts things in perspective": it's an old saw, but one that still cuts and now only becomes sharper with time.

Through my daugher's eyes I am seeing the next generations more clearly and am brought face to face with my responsibility to make their world better, safer and healthier.

My Articles on Suite101

In these articles I investigate the issues and the many ways of avoiding and remedying waste and destruction. These range from the small (such as the three R's: Reduce-Reuse-Recycle) to the large (head for the hills, live off the grid, grow your own food).

I follow breaking news, present digests of scientific data (the latest studies on global warming or the dying of the bees), report on technological measures (and whether they are what we need), and listen in on the opinion-makers (from President Bush to homesteading bloggers to island-dwellers cast adrift).

Look for my articles in Environmental Activism, Food and Drink, Gardening, Reading and Writing, Education... The future cannot be contained in one single topic!

Recent Blog Post