Reinforcing our Foundations

By Chad Marvin

It can often be seen that people will view something ultimately based upon how it will help them, not based upon what deeper impact it may have on their life. An example: you are walking through a nature preserve and you reach a wide stream, too big to cross. Well timed, you look around and notice that further downstream there is a fallen log extending across the stream. You now think to yourself “ I have a way to get across.” You are not thinking about what this opportunity may expose you to, what it could allow you to see, how it might change your life beyond the fact that you will now be on the other side of this stream. 

Moments like this; the depthless connections that we unconsciously and almost instinctively make while interacting with the world are the materials that construct the decrepit and wobbly framework of our environmental foundations today. Nowhere in this contemporarily ordinary scenario is there any gratitude for the fallen tree that has given itself up to be a bridge showing what wonders lie ahead. Nor is there even any appreciation shown for the walk through the preserve, or even any true desire expressed to get to the other side. People in the world today are too used to this type of relationship, where if you want something, it is there for you and you take it and that’s all there is to it. Where is the appreciation? Where is the sense of romanticism? Where is the sincere interest in the boundless sphere that we are so fortunate to live in?

As the wise Henry D. Thoreau once said “Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. Let these be your only diet-drink and botanical medicines.” This insight is one that would have been far more common to have in the time Thoreau lived in. When only a few loggers cut down trees and even if they did, it actually meant something, after seeing a tree go down Thoreau asked, “Why does not the village bell sound a knell.” Displaying an obvious connection to nature and the organisms within it, Thoreau is essentially asking for a funeral-like occurrence to take place for the death of a tree. Here is a truly beautiful moment, one unlike what we commonly see today. What caused Thoreau to have such intimate ties with this tree is his environmental foundation. From 1817-1862 when he lived, the world was a much different place, one with vast natural scenery, much of it untouched by man. This gave Thoreau and people from his time the frequent chance to connect with the environment. Thoreau displays this ubiquitously throughout his works, like in Walden when Thoreau moved out to the woods of main, built a cabin and lived there for two years. He wrote extensively about his life during that time, discussing many things however one theme or idea that was most prevalent was his obvious enjoyment for living in solitude with nature. Thoreau talked about how he never felt alone in the woods, even at night; for he knew that there were countless creatures walking among him and in that he found company. What was commonplace to him in finding companionship in nature and its residents is now unfortunately for most a rare and even scary experience. This is the result of our environmental foundation. For most people only camping trips or hikes can provide such an experience and even so when you stop for a second and listen, odds are you’ll still be able to hear cars zipping by on a nearby road. It can still be nice to go to the woods and walk around but what are you getting out of it if these artificial exposures are what is most prevalent? People should really try to take a Thoreauvian approach when interacting with their surroundings. It takes more than just being in nature today to build a strong environmental foundation. It takes thinking about where you are, what it was and what it is now. Moreover while thinking in this way, it is imperative to hold a strong sense of passion for this environment in the forefront of your brain.

More than just thinking about the issues in our environment, we must challenge them. When Rachel Carson released Silent Spring she was not just releasing a book, she was confronting the use of chemicals and pesticides, namely DDT. In doing so, Carson forced people to pay attention to nature and realize the fact that it was being decimated. If we care about are environmental foundation then why would we let toxics seep into it? Carson proved to the world the importance of nature, that it was being harmed and that this was in fact harming us as people. She forced change to occur immediately. It took immense hard work and sacrifice; in fact Carson lost her own life shortly after publishing as a result of studying the pollutants so closely for so long. But to her it was worth it, she essentially planted a billion seeds and watered and fertilized each one before dying. What she did gave regenerative results far beyond measure to the environment. She did so because she loved nature and it was worth devoting her life to save millions, it is this type of love that needs to be carried along with Thoreau’s passion as we move forward in confronting the future problems of the world.

Regarding the environment in endearing terms today may seem like hugging a person that is slowly shrinking, however Wendell Berry is living proof that it can be done. He offers this advice in his poem Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front “Say that your main crop is the forest that you did not plant, that you will not live to harvest.” Meaning that people today need to prioritize what nature is left and not only preserve it but tend to it like a crop and see that it grows. Berry is whispering the stunning secret to us that we can still have a strong environmental foundation today and even better we can make it even stronger tomorrow. If his words are not enough, he backs them up with actions. When Berry bought a property in Kentucky he quickly started to connect to the land and grow his environmental foundation through these connections “I had planted a small orchard; the next spring we planted our first garden. Within the following six or seven years we rebuilt the barn, greatly improved the garden soil, planted berry bushes, acquired a milk cow.” You might just think “ok he farms” but really Berry is offering great wisdom, that we can make our own natural environment and that although perhaps the forest he referred to in his poem may not be for us, there are still many other things we can benefit from from nature. Berry is presenting the reader with powerful and inspiring ideas that if utilized have the potential to reinforce our environmental foundations with the sturdiest of materials.  Applying this in combination with Thoreau’s passion and Carson’s determination and you will have not just an environmental foundation but an environment that will last and grow for generations.

We the current generation living on earth today should consider ourselves lucky.  We did not cause the damage to the environment, we were just placed in a situation where that has been the norm. But by looking back we can see that not all people in the past were the source of our dilemma.  Many have even offered solutions to problems they themselves would never have to face. Thoreau, Carson, Berry and so many more have provided us with a vast array of tools to resolve the issues we face. We are at a pivotal point now where we need to take advantage of this and start to restructure the environmental foundation of the world before the damage done to it is just as much our fault as the ones who first started chopping trees down in the forests of Maine back in the 1800s.