Right to a Healthy Environment

"We now realize that the layer of arable soil is a thin hope on which to pin the fate of human culture. Yet we abuse this fragile layer terribly by using chemicals in agriculture and by dumping our toxic waste into it." 

excerpt from  Tree: A Life Story by David Suzuki and Wayne Grady

Dear Reader,   
  
You are a wondrous creature of the Earth. Beneath the layers of identity you have created, you are magnificent, you are wild. And as a creature of this world you are utterly dependent on the natural elements the world provides: clean air, clean water and nourishing soil. Yet shuttered up in human made structures you forget your umbilical connection to the natural world. You don't require hair products for survival, nor do you require the latest in gadgetry or craft supplies. You are already good enough without all of these. In fact, you are splendid. 

 But you, like the rest of human kind and a great many other fascinating species of this world, cannot survive without unpolluted air, water and nourishing soil. Far too many people, myself included, make lifestyle choices which are polluting those natural elements our very survival depends upon. And still far too many people do not have even their most basic needs met. It is high time for thoughtful people to  engage in conversation and take action towards environmental stewardship and social justice. Perhaps you are the thoughtful person I am referring to.

The right to clean air, clean water and clean soil is not recognized by our Canadian Constitution as a basic human right. Taking action towards legally enshrining our right to a healthy environment is a step in the right direction. Choosing to live more gently in the world by supporting local initiatives caring for nature as well as ensuring our human needs are met in the simplest, most sustainable ways possible is another good step. The future of a great many species, the human species included, depend upon the choices you make as you go about living your daily life. And as I go about living mine as well.

And to all of you who already live your lives with the deep and abiding knowledge that you are  magnificently complex creatures of the wild Earth, may I follow humbly in your footsteps.

In warmth, 

Jill MacCormack
Best wishes for 2015!  
                                             
I just finished reading a local library book I borrowed called Tree: A Life Story by David Suzuki and Wayne Grady and I loved the book so much I want to own it. Instead I am sharing it with you. Seek it out for yourself. It is one of the best books I've read in recent years. It is a brilliant and lyrical telling of the life cycle of the majestic Douglas Fir tree woven through the complex interconnections a single organism engages in over a lifetime. It is provocative, humbling and altogether beautiful--a compelling reminder that we are all intricately interconnected creatures of a magnificent webcycle called LIFE. Where does a tree end, and where do we begin?

 Learn more about our right to a clean environment