THE GOODSENSE BLOG
An Open Letter from Paul

POSTED ON: 17 Nov 2008   /   POSTED BY: paul

Phrases like “save the planet” or “save the environment” don’t make much sense. The planet and the environment were here long before us, and will continue to be here long after us in some form, regardless of what we do or how we shape it. The earth doesn’t need to be saved. what we really mean is that we want to save ourselves and keep the environment tolerable (and even suitable) for us to live in.

We are not separate from nature, regardless of how we’ve built our society or how we sometimes think our lives are disconnected from the planet. We don’t live outside the system; we are part of the system of nature. Every living thing that exists on earth is part of nature – including humans. So nature is no more a resource than slaves were hundreds of years ago. We should not be allowed to own it, to use it recklessly or to treat it without respect. The earth has rights, like all of us, so it deserves fair and just treatment, and should be inhabited in a way that isn’t harmful or detrimental.

As a species, we are now so powerful that nature is an expression of our own consciousness – our wants and our whims. It has adapted to our evolution, and is now as dependent on us as we are on it. When we do wrong by nature, it suffers, and we suffer in the long term.

We can no longer function like this, and we need to completely re-think the design of everything we have and everything we do. Planning, process and function cannot happen in isolation anymore, since nothing in nature is isolated and everything is connected, even humanity. Energy has to be renewable, like the energy that powers all life – the sun. Energy can’t be negatively harvested from the ground, used carelessly and turned into harmful substances and byproducts that hurt and destroy life. Water needs to be clean and healthy – both entering all processes and exiting all processes. It needs to be free and freely available to all. We can take design cues from nature, since nature designs perfectly at all stages, with no excess and no true waste. We need to act and live fairly and justly, not greedily and in a shortsighted way.

That isn’t to say that we cannot and should not use any “natural resources,” because nature doesn’t work like that. Life in nature takes when it needs and only what it needs, and does so in a perfect symphony with all other life around it. Nature creates no negative waste, since any waste it produces is used as substance for other life, creating a circle. Humanity is currently existing out of sync with this circle and has built a straight line – where elements are taken, used, and discarded as waste that is not useful to any organism or to nature as a whole.

We can live better with less if we make things more efficiently, build them to last longer, and create in such a way that it positively affects all other life (instead of doing harm). we have technologies, products and ideas right now to help us. We’re an ingenious species that has evolved to the top of the food chain with our ability to think creatively and develop tools necessary for survival. We now have to harness our inherent abilities to build tools and processes that positively affect all of nature. We can be smarter if we slow down, become wiser with our use of resources, and more far-sighted with every choice we make.

Every government, company, community and individual has the power to change things, right now, without delay, through action. We can vote not just for elected officials, but also with our wallets and our consumption, as consumers, for products and companies that are aligned with making things better. this does not mean sacrifice, just better choices.

We know that changes need to be made, and we need to apply this awareness to do something. We can get involved and use each of our unique and individual abilities to spark this change. We can use our intellects and wisdom as a globally unifying force to create positive changes for the environment.

This can be our greatest hour to be good, and to do good.

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