The Gaia hypothesis* proposes that Earth is self-regulating and that living and non-living matter interact to form a synergistic and complex system that perpetuates the conditions necessary for life on the planet. The stunning beauty of our blue and green watery planet seen from space by the first astronauts, dazzled them and all of us when we saw the photographs. Earth Day and the environmental movement came from the realization of the uniqueness of our home. A new awakening is needed to appreciate the balance of systems which keep Earth habitable for life. We are each responsible for protecting the systems that provide us with clean air and water, healthy soils teeming with life and which make agriculture possible. We are each responsible for our daily choices.
I try to think daily about my actions – how I can do with less – what events happened to make a product and how was the planet affected. Each one of us does something every day that damages the earth in some way – driving cars, eating food grown in ways that damage the soil and release greenhouse gases, flushing toilets, digging soil, cutting trees, watering lawns, spraying pest control products and in all the ways we put our own wants ahead of the planet’s capacity to support them.
Wendell Berry proposed “17 Rules for a Sustainable Community” (Conserving Communities” from Another Turn of the Crank 1995). Here are a few:
Sustainable Rule #2: Always include local nature – the land, the water, the air, the native creatures – within the membership of the community.
Sustainable Rule #7: Develop small-scale industries and businesses to support the local farm and/or forest economy.
Sustainable Rule #8: Strive to produce as much of the community’s own energy as possible.
Sustainable Rule #13: Account for costs now conventionally hidden or “externalized.” Whenever possible, these costs must be debited against monetary income.