To Save Nature, Get a Life
Too often, we respond to urgent reports about the decline of nature with a shrug of the shoulders. Since many impacts are embedded within gigantic industrial systems such as the way we manufacture, farm, make energy, and collect used materials – we often don’t feel there’s much we can do.
We forget that if we speak with one determined voice, we can and must re-create those huge systems to be more sustainable. And in various aspects of our lives, individual actions can help nature grow back:
Internet user: The digital universe may sometimes make us crazy, but it also enables political participation and beams awareness into our brains. In less time than it takes to microwave a dish of potatoes, you can be one of half a million signers of a climate change petition; plant a tree with your online contribution, or research options for green personal care products.
Meal Planner: A household’s meal planner can be a hero in helping nature bounce back. The average American diet, heavy on the meat (more than 200 pounds a year) requires twice as much water – and three times land area per person – as an equally nutritious vegetarian diet.
Vacationer: Vacations can be great fun for travelers (up to 800 million of us a year) but sometimes not so much fun for nature. Excessive air travel is one of humanity’s most troublesome habits, as is tourism-related development that can destroy world-class natural areas. Taking vacations closer to home is a start, and combining that approach with purpose-driven time off, for example agritourism, is even better.
Employee: Choosing a nature-friendly job can be one of the most satisfying ways to make a difference. Ask Steve Golden, now a senior manager with the National Park Service. “Every day I partner with people – from the South Bronx to the wilds of Maine – working to save their rivers, trails, and open spaces. I think I may have the best job there is.”
Shopper: According to a Natural Marketing Institute survey, green certification labels have a major effect on consumer decisions. Among the early adopters of green products, 75 percent are more likely to buy products with green labels such as Energy Star, Recycled, USDA Organic, and Fair Trade. And they will pay more for the quality assurance these labels offer: things like efficiency, good stewardship of the land, and monetary support for workers.
Recycler: Individuals don’t recycle, cultures do. Paying by the bag or trashcan for everything we don’t recycle (the Pay as You Throw policy) turns recycling into a consumer sport. If we want to pay less for trash collection, we can generate less trash, which means buying products with packaging we can recycle, and products that are concentrated, repairable, durable, designed to resist fashion swings.
House and landscape maintainer: Entomologist Douglas Tallamy looks at the protection of nature through the eyes of an insect. He’s observed throughout his career that native insects don’t thrive on non-native plants and that a land without insects is a land without most forms of higher life. He’s reclaimed his own property in Pennsylvania, replacing all the alien species with natives. More insects, more birds…
Educator and student: In a great little book called Beyond Ecophobia, elementary school teacher David Sobel writes, “Children are disconnected from the world outside their doors and connected with endangered animals and ecosystems around the globe through electronic media.” To teach children about birds, he likes to craft wings out of cardboard boxes and let his fledgling students become the birds, build nests, and only then bring out the bird books.
David Wann is the author of a trilogy of culture-shifting books: Affluenza; Simple Prosperity; and The New Normal: An Agenda for Responsible Living. His website is www.davewann.com
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