The problem with Earth Day

It’s one day. There have only been 50 Earth Days. On these days trees have been planted and environmental groups have demanded action, all to save this one planet we call home. On April 22 humans come together and honor the land that sustains us, the water that nourishes us.

But we should be doing this every day. Environmentalism should be a way of life.

One day you’ll be in charge of a home and you’ll have to care for that home because it’s the right thing to do. That means power washing the siding, painting the foyer, and trimming those hedges. It’s what we do, period.

But we dump toxic waste in people’s backyards and tell them it’s safe. We crack holes in the earth and pollute clean water. We avoid climate change because it means we can have an expansive economy (and, therefore, nicer things). Our future is ignored while our resources are exploited.

Practicing gratitude is a step towards waking up and treating our Mother like she deserves. Being aware of our habits can have massive impacts on our footprint. And taking responsibility can change things for the better.

Gratitude, awareness, and responsibility. This is how we can make every day Earth Day.

What Makes a Gift

I once herd it said that, “A gift is only a gift when it’s given a second time.” The man I heard this from said it was a Native American tradition, one that involved a selfless sharing. In the age of personalized packages sent across the world at the click of a button, this tradition has lost traction.

What would it mean to give the gifts you receive a second time? It would be case specific, but there also are probably some similar principles evident throughout. Perhaps, that if something is given to you, it isn’t really yours but is now under your jurisdiction. Maybe this is a reminder that nothing is really ours, that everything is merely borrowed from Mother Earth.

If that’s the case, then maybe giving a gift a second time entails honoring the gift by using it for a life-affirmative purpose, one that returns life back to the earth we take from. Maybe. Or maybe, more simply, it’s about using gifts for a purpose greater than yourself. This broader vision would surely culminate in giving back to source.

As the days of gift giving come to an end, think about the gifts you’ve received throughout your life, both the tangibles and the intangibles. Respond to them with gratitude. Then, and only then, should you share our gift with the rest of creation, affirming it in its holy wholeness.

How to Honor a Glacier

In environmental chemistry today, my professor brought up how the people of Iceland had a funeral for a glacier which melted due to climate change. In class, I voiced my opinion for why having a funeral for dying parts of the earth was a good thing, why personifying nature isn’t woo-woo but might just be necessary to actually make change. Sometime after class, my professor emailed me, saying my perspectives may have swayed her opinions. I replied with a further defense of my stance. Here is that response.

“Here’s a more elaborate perspective on the matter:

As a global society, we wouldn’t be where we are today without science.  That’s quite an understatement.  Speaking rather generally, though science has brought us very far, it’s also managed to almost wholly neglect any spiritual component or connection to the natural world.  We have become separate from nature.  We have been more or less conditioned to see this planet as something we can extract resources from, not someone that’s alive, that has a place at the table.  I believe the scientific community has a lot to learn with respect to the indigenous religions and belief systems of the Americas and other places across the globe.  Maybe it’s time we, as a society, stopped judging native people’s sun dances and conversations with trees and started listening.  I think they were on to something.

If we started treating earth as Mother Earth, maybe people would start worrying about her.  When we worry, we care–then we are moved to action.  I sincerely think we need more than just good science to convert the masses.  We need some reason for everybody to care, something that goes across partisan lines.  I think a funeral for a glacier is a step in the right direction.”

Our Sun

Our sun is hot. Because of its hotness, it produces heat that travels to Earth as electromagnetic radiation. This radiation bounces off Earth’s surface and goes back towards the sky. As it travels back up, atmospheric gases trap the heat and Earth is warmed.

There’s a big difference between the sun being hot and the sun producing heat. Because the sun is hot, it produces heat. But the sun does not become hot because it produces heat; therefore, the sun’s hotness is a cause while the sun’s heat is its effect.

Our bodies are typically warmer than our environment. All the heat in our bodies came from heat (or energy) generated by the sun that’s travelled to Earth. Once here, it’s been been stored in the chemical bonds of plants through photosynthesis. When we eat these plants (or animals that ate these plants), we breakdown the chemical energy and use it for various reactions within our bodies. These reactions produce heat, so we produce heat. In this way we hold the power of the sun within us, but we are not the sun. We produce heat like the sun produces heat, but our likeness to the sun doesn’t make us the sun.

Instead, we are extensions of the sun’s rays that have made it to Earth. The warmth you feel while standing is the sun is the same warmth you feel when you touch your skin. This once unbounded, untethered solar energy is now inside you. Though seemingly contained, this energy is still free to change its environment by bonding unlike substances together. This is how bridges are built.

We are not the sun, but we can be like the sun (if we try to be).