Keeping kids safe, healthy, and entertained while managing busy schedules filled with sports and activities can be overwhelming, especially for working parents who also have a long list of non-kid responsibilities. This busy life leaves a relatively limited amount of brain space or energy for activism in any issue, let alone something as daunting as climate change or other major environmental issues.

Lauren Teichner and Jen Beuthin get it. As mothers of young children themselves, the Traverse City professionals know what it’s like to have no gas left in the tank. But they’re also constantly thinking about the world their children will inherit, and staying idle in the face of major environmental issues just didn’t seem like a viable option.

Last year, the pair founded Northern Michigan Climate Families, a group organized to “play, learn and protect the Earth.” The first goal is simple enough—create a program for education and action about climate change and other environmental matters that fits into the fragmented and volatile world of parenting.

Read more about the group in this week's Northern Express, sister publication of The Ticker. The Northern Express is available to read online, or pick up a free copy on newsstands at nearly 700 spots in 14 counties across northern Michigan