Half the languages spoken on our planet will be extinct by 2100. When a language dies, we lose more that a point of view; we lose traditions that connect people to place— and to each other. We lose deep cultural wisdom: myths and fairy tales, knowledge of plants and animals, humor, prayers, and recipes.

We created this line of greeting cards hoping to keep these fantastic words in circulation. One of our goals is to raise awareness about the import of language vitality. Did you know language loss is closely related to species loss? Where languages flourish, so do plants and animals! Life and culture; it’s like Mac ‘n Cheese. Inextricably entwined. (We’ll be adding more information about this relatively new field of “biocultural diversity” soon.) Every card purchase supports nonprofit organizations who strive to the preserve and protect the links between language, landscape and life. Our first chosen organization is Terralingua.org. We agree with their view that a healthy environment, resilient cultures and vibrant languages are a matter of social justice and basic human rights.

To encourage the kind of thinking that will help us find individual and collective solutions to global problems, ConnectingDotz uses words and images to make our fundamental connectedness more apparent. We strive to support others doing aligned work. And we believe in laughter, so look out for some funny words coming down the pike!

We’d love to hear from you. If you know a great word you think we should add to our collection, drop us a line.