Orr Biophilia vs. Biophobia

“The death of our civilization is no longer a theory or an academic possibility; it is the road we’re on.” (Peter Goldmark pg. 241)

– We are definitely on the road to the death of our civilization. We pour harmful chemicals into the environment and the air and no matter how much we say we need to stop, it doesn’t seem like we can. This past century has taught us that as a society that if we want to keep growing we have to keep inventing new ways to destroy resources and the environment while also keeping to our old ways. We need to realize as a civilization that the faster we use up and destroy the resources around us, the faster we destroy ourselves. I remember back to when I was a little kid and the area I grew up in use to be full of woods, pastures and meadows but now its just homes, mall, banks, restaurants and other industrial creations. This once beautiful farm land that existed there is now just a memory that fades with time and that’s just local. We do this on a global scale and it don’t seem like we intend to slow down enough to actually have a helpful impact on he environment. We need to do something or else our future generations will suffer for our mistakes.

http://searchoflife.com/evolution-man-nature-earth-destruction-death-doom-2014-03-12

” The need for tax shifting—lowering taxes on income while raising those on environmentally destructive activities— has been widely endorsed by economists.” (Plan B pg. 244)

– I completely agree with this statement and the economists endorsing this idea. We as a society use coal and natural gases for fuel because it’s cheaper than using renewable resources but cheaper comes with a price. If we were to decrease income tax then people would have more money to be able to install renewable energy sources on their houses or cars and businesses would be able to switch. Plus by raising taxes on mining and collecting coal and natural gases it will reduce our consumption of it and allow for the Earth to natural heal itself. Even if the taxes were to only last for a limited amount of time, as long as we were able to give the Earth and the environment enough time, the pollution in the air would decrease and the destructive of Earths resources would slow down instead of being used up at a fast rate. We are all about trying to find new ways to help restore of environment, why not impose the true economic value on the natural resources we need but continue to use up.

http://www.tlportfolio.com/client/dolomite-mountains/

“There is much that we do not know about the future.” (Plan B pg. 241)

– There is no way to ever know what the future as in store for us but we can easily predict what can or could happen by analyzing our choices and predicting what could come from them. People say you can’t go against your fate and I believe that to be true in a sense but through our everyday choices we can decide our own fate. I believe we have two fates, one that leads us down a dark and sad road and the other to a light and happy road. Our future and fate are decided by our choices and nothing else. It would be easy for us as a civilization to predicts what our future would be like if we continue to consume resources at the rate we do.Though we would just be predicting and not know for sure until it happens but its a start to us making the decisions that will keep us on the road we are on or switching to a road that could either help or harm us. It all starts with a choice.

http://coffeeandcigarettesclub.com/beautiful-nature-236/

“One of the questions I hear most frequently is, What can I do?” (Plan B pg. 266)

– Everyone always asks what can I do but after being told what they can do, most don’t do anything. Why ask the question if you’re not going to do something with the answer you receive. It’s kind of like how everyone is all about Earth Day when it comes but on the other 364 days of the year, the Earth doesn’t mean as much to them as it does on that one day. If you are willingly to ask the question then why not do something when you get the answer. If everyone was to ask What can I do and use the answer they get, we as a society would be able to benefit the environment much more. Just imagine what 7 billion people can do with an answer from What can I do?.

http://coffeeandcigarettesclub.com/beautiful-nature-236/nature-wallpaper-hd-1920×1080/

“Ever since civilization began, each generation has left the next a planet similar to the one it inherited. Our generation may be the first to abandon that tradition.” (Plan B pg.55)

– We are the ones that have abandon the pattern of preservation and living with the land. Are earlier ancestors were able to live off the land with only what they needed to survive and nothing more. We consume everything in our path just so we can say we have it or that we had it and have moved on to something better. Before the industrial revolution, our ancestors treated the land as a living thing and with respect but once we were able to get our hands on what we called “the industrial future” we threw all that respect out the window. For thousands of years our ancestors were able to keep the Earth in similar condition while passing it down from generation to generation. Yes, each generation left their own scar upon the land but none as big as our generation. Our generation has crumbled mountains, scorch valleys, plowed rainforest’s and dried up rivers. We are turning our planet into a wasteland and we are now only starting to do something about it. We broke a tradition that has dated back for thousands of years in just a century of our presents.

http://searchoflife.com/evolution-man-nature-earth-destruction-death-doom-2014-03-12

“Two thirds of the polar bear population could be gone by 2050.” (Plan B pg. 62)

     -Due to increasing global temperature and pollution, polar ice caps are melting at an extremely fast rate. And where do polar bear hunt, well it just happens to be on the ice sheets that are melting faster and faster every year giving polar bears less time to hunt and provide for their newly born young. Polar bears already have a hard time catching food. According to Blue Planet, 1 in every 20 seal pup finds, a polar bear is actually able to get a meal. Because of the melting ice sheets, polar bears have come to eating the young of other polar bears just to eat. So because of our pollution and the damage we have caused the Earth, Polar bears are not only dying off due to lack of hunting grounds but also because they are killing each other off just to get some food. If we don’t act now there will be no stopping the destruction of polar bears.

www.greenpeace.org

“Plan B is shaped not by what we have done in the past but by what we need to do for the future.” (Plan B pg. 76)

     – I absolutely agree with this quote. The past is in the past and it can not be changed. So it is up to us to look forward to the future and take the necessary steps we need to in order to keep the survival of our species and all other species on Earth alive in the future. From reading Plan B, I have seen that although it talks about the past and how land ethic was so much different back then but it also mainly talks about what we need to do in order to have a sustainable and long lasting future. The past is there for us to learn and grow from while the future is there to give us hope and promise that we can change our habits. Plan B is like a guide to follow although it doesn’t mean that Plan B is correct but Plan B is a start and that’s all we need to begin change.

www.greenpeace.org

“Do what needs to be done, and check to see if it was impossible only after you are done.” (Plan B pg. 76)

     – Things are only impossible if you believe they are. Changing the world is not impossible it happens everyday and it has been happening since the beginning of mankind. We have shaped the Earth into what is it today, into what we have wanted it to be whether some incidents or damages were planned or not. Just within then the last 60 years, mankind has made a major change. Slavery has been recorded all the way back to ancient times and although slavery isn’t completely gone, we have been able to make it look bad within society and shun anyone who agrees with it. What ever mankind puts their minds to, we are almost always able to achieve so long as it within universal laws. People thought traveling through the air, or exploring the bottom of the ocean, or traveling into space or even that the Earth was round were impossible but we have achieved all of those and continue to strive farther and farther. So who’s to say that we can’t do the same for the environment. It’s not impossible to change, all we need to do is find away to spark that change so everyone else will get aboard.

www.greenpeace.org

“From time to time I go back and read about earlier civilizations that declined and collapsed, trying to understand the reasons for their demise.” (Ch.1 pg. 3)

– I feel as though today our society loves to talk about the past and say that there is a lot to learn from their mistakes. But when it comes right down to it, all it is is talk. Although past civilizations didn’t have the technology or resources we have today, Plan B still mentions about how they overused the land. I feel as though at anytime point in human civilization, we have been over using the land and not allowing for it to heal. We keep using the land for our own personal gain and think that as we advance and discover more resources that we can keep consuming them at a high rate. But unfortunately the more we take advantage of the land the more we throw the natural balance of the environment out of whack. We have to start realizing that our consumption of the land and resources will come back to bite us if we don’t start changing our consuming habits now. We need to start looking at the past and see what damage they did to the environment with the resources able to them at the time and then apply it to ourselves today and see if there are any similar patterns between how we use the resources able to us and how they used their resources. If there are then we need to change our patterns since the resources we use today are 100 times to 1000 times worse than what earlier civilizations used.

dreamatico.com

“We are in a race between political tipping points and natural tipping points.” (Preface pg. xii)

     – There is always a constant struggle between political and natural sides. We as a society expect our government and political leaders to keep advancing and making life easier for us while also keeping in tack the beauty we find in life. But as we have seen, the more politics comes into play whether for war, economics, etc. everything natural in our world seems to become used and destroyed so we can have the overcome we want to have. Political leaders not only use our technology against the land but also use naturally made chemicals and resources from the land against the land. There are so many political weapons that can be used today that can wreak havoc upon the world and the natural side is defenseless to stand against them. But it will come a time when the world wants to restore the natural balance that we have thrown off and with that restoration could come a climate/weather change for the entire world that we as humankind could never defend against. Both sides are reaching there tipping points just depends on which side will fall first and how that side will act to restore its sides power.

http://searchoflife.com/evolution-man-nature-earth-destruction-death-doom-2014-03-12

“In addition, protecting endangered species almost always requires close international cooperation.” (Ch. 1 pg. 23)

     – Without cooperation from everyone across the global, it will be almost impossible to save endangered species. Its hard to protect and save something when there are others out there who don’t care and keep destroying it for personal, political or economic gain. One, major problem that stands in the way of international cooperation in protecting endangered species is the black market. The black market is all about making money at any cost whatsoever. Black market is a the biggest problem when it comes to protecting endangered species. They kill for money and don’t care about the damage they are causing. What I want to know is what are they going to do once they kill off every exotic and highly priced species out there? How will they make their money or worse, what will they target next to continue making that income they killed off? I believe that if we, intentionally, can become one and get a handle of the black market, i don’t mean complete shut it down since that would be impossible, we could start protecting endangered species a lot more easily. We also see that some Asian cultures/countries tend to not care about protecting certain species because they are used for medicine, food or to make beauty products. One example is sharks. Sharks are the Apex predator of the ocean and if we continue to let Asian culture kill them off at alarming rates then the ocean will all out of balance and will effect life as we know it. So it requires for everyone, all countries to agree and come to terms on how we should be protecting endangered species and lowing our levels of consuming of other species.

 https://cnaturalescristorey.wordpress.com

“A world where population has stabilized, forests are expanding, and carbon emissions are falling is within our grasp.” (Ch.1 pg. 27)

     – I completely agree with this quote. We as a society are beginning to understand the errors of our consuming ways and are trying to find ways to lessen or stop those habits. The biggest problem we face is the world’s population control. We continue to grow at a fast rate and are running out of room in some countries for everyone to live. There are more people being born then there are people dying. There is a birth every 8 seconds and a death every 13 seconds so based off those numbers there are 3 births before there are 2 deaths. Once we figure out how to control the rate at which the population grows then that’s when we will see forests regrowing, carbon emissions falling, animals repopulating and the natural balance being restored. I think that if the government is able to restrict the areas on which people are able to develop on then society will begin to see that we can’t keep growing at the same rate we have been. Now the question is: How will our society be able to do that? What measures have to be taken for people to get the point? Unfortunately, there is no right answer to those questions. We already see that China has a one child policy but they still have the largest percentage of the worlds population living on their soil. So once we control ourselves on an international level then we will be able to restore and heal the damage we have done upon the Earth’s environment.

www.conservationjobsuk.com

“Biodiversity means the diversity of life—the rich diversity of life forms on our beautiful planet.” (pg. 38)

– It is amazing to watch documentaries now a days and see all the unique and one of a kind species, whether plant or animal, that live on our planet and more keep getting discovered every day. It’s amazing to see that the placement of our planet is in the perfect location within our solar system so that it is able to host such a wide range and variety of species. Just think of all the ecosystems there are are Earth and how each habitat within them is unique to that ecosystem or the area its in. We have life that flourishes underwater, on land, in blazing heat, in the harshness of the cold, in complete darkness and much more. Just when we think that the planet can’t surprise us with anything new, we find a new ecosystem with new and undiscovered species of plants and animals living within them. These are just some of the things that make the biodiversity on our planet and our planet in general so amazing!

dreamatico.com

“The destruction of biodiversity translates into the destruction of the diversity of the livelihoods of the large majority of Third World people who make their living as farmers, fisherman, craftspeople and healers.” (pg. 39)

    – So in order for some countries to get where they are today, like the U.S., they had to destroy a lot of biodiversity along the way to become so industrialized and successful. But now we are seeing undeveloped countries are wanting to become developed and the only way they know how to, at least the fastest way they know how to is to destroy all the biodiversity around them and capital off what they are able to take from that diversity and eliminate the rest that is useless to them. But what most undeveloped countries use to make money is by capitalizing off the diversity around them and creating livelihoods out of that. We see that there are a lot of fisherman, craftsman, and farmers that live in these countries and if their governments were to start developing and industrializing then they’ll start to see that their livelihoods will begin to disappear along with the disappearance of the biodiversity in that surrounding area. So of these people have had generations of their family making a life through the diversity of life in their environment and because for the quest for greed, power, money and strength, some countries are willingly to give up those traditions of their people and destroy their surrounding biodiversity if it means they can one day possibly reach to half the level of the U.S..

veroniquepalmer.com

“Humankind is one among millions of other species. It does not have a right to push other species to extinction, or to manipulate them for greed, profit and power without concern for their wellbeing.” (pg. 40)

– This quote speaks volumes. Mankind is not the only species that lives on Earth, so we need to stop acting like we are the only things that matter and exist. We have turned the destruction and killing of innocent animals in a sport just to make money or to show power. Who gave us the right or permission to destroy something innocent and believe that we have the right to play God in which we (mankind) get to pick what species gets to live and which gets to die. I know we would go insane if another species evolved in a way that starts to target us as a food source or as a way to show dominance. Thousands to millions of species have lived before us and will continue to live after us because their evolution process is more about surviving against us and our destructive methods rather than just evolving in a way that could potentially be a threat to our survival. But what we as humans need to realize is that if we keep destroying one species and another that it will become right back around to us and we will ultimately be the ones who bring upon the end and destruction of our very own species.

peacetour.org

“Species now become extinct at the rate of 27,000 per year— 1,000 times the natural rate— and human greed and desire for profit are the primary cause of most of these extinctions.” (pg. 41)

     – This quote is so disgusting to know or hear when you realize that all those species who have probably been living on Earth a lot longer than we have, are being killed off because of destructive and the pathetic ideals we convince ourselves are the right things to do. It seems like everything seems to feel the negative side to our quest for money and power. Why is it that we are the only species that has evolved into such a way where the killing of 27,000 other species a year is justified as long as we can make money in the process? The natural rate is suppose to be 27 species a year. Can you imagine just what type of unique and one of a kind species could still be alive today if we weren’t so greedy and self obsessed with ourselves and our way of living. We are killing off species that later down the road could have played an important role in our survival and way of life but because at the moment in time, we had no use for them so we killed them off. Humans are the most disgusting and barbaric species on Earth.

www.snipview.com

“Only within the moment of time represented by the present century has one species—man— acquired significant power to alter the nature of his world.” (pg. 153)

– I definitely agree with this quote above. When we look back since the beginning of man, there hasn’t been a species to rival man on the evolutionary and adaptive process on Earth. We have evolved from being a species that did the minimum to survive to a species that now consumes and takes anything we want or think that belongs to us. We are the only species to take the natural surrounding and environment and use it in anyway we see fit. What other species has evolved to become greed over the land and the environment. Species that have existed before and longer than us haven’t even evolved to that extreme. So why was it necessary for our species to evolve and take over everything and destroy anything that gets in our way or anything that we have felt threatened by? Granted we have been the only species to evolve in a way for us to acquire that power to takeover but when did we lose our value of the land that the first of our species had.

searchoflife.com

” The most alarming of all man’s assaults upon the environment is the contamination of air, earth, rivers, and sea with dangerous and even lethal materials.” (pg. 153)

  – It is very alarming to see how man is so reckless in the fact that we just have been pouring damaging chemicals and waste into the environment for centuries and have now, with the last half of a century, taken a notice to how much we are destroying our environment. Back then we did it so we could have what we wanted from the environment but now that what we have been throwing into the earth is coming back to hurt us, we care. Hundreds to thousands of years ago, the night sky use to be covered with a blanket of stars of all colors but now because of all the chemical and light pollution we have put into the air, we will never see what our ancestors got to fall asleep to every night all those years ago. Also, out of the 70% of water that covered the Earth, only 1% of it is freshwater. And it is coming to a point where country’s are going to war because of how limited freshwater supply is in their area and out of that 1% available, we have contaminated about half of that supply and made it lethal to any species to drink.

emilysquotes.com

“Man can hardly even recognize the devils of his own creation.” (pg. 154)

  -Man will never be able to recognize the devils of his own creation until that creation comes back around to harm us. We never seemed to care about what we were putting into the environment when we were industrializing our society but as soon as we began to connect what we are doing to health problems or concerns that when we take action. Man believes that what he does is for the betterment of the future and ourselves but half the time we use methods that are deathly to not only us but also to the environment and everything else that lives. We tend to create things to make our lives easier and it turns out later on we find out that we have made things are for us for how much we have damaged surrounding areas with dangerous chemicals and waste. Until we are able to realize that we need to use methods benefit us and the environment in the long run rather than making things easier for us in the short run.

cuxycava.freewebsite.biz

“There are no other Everglades in the world.” (Douglas pg. 104)

-This quote stuck out to be because it is 100% accurate. What makes the Everglades the Everglades is its unique and one of a kind environment/habitat. The Everglades has a mysterious beauty to it. Almost as if it is an environment where anything can be found. I mean in today’s time we hear about how so many different types of species are able to survive out in the wilderness of the Everglades and not just native species but also invasive species. It is almost like the Everglades is meant to be a type of place where almost any type of animal species can survive. This in general gives the Everglades its mystery. What about the Everglades makes it possible for species, that are not suppose to be found in this area of the world, able to survive and prosper? Also, because it is the only environment of its kind in the world, that alone means that the Everglades has secrets yet to be discovered to the world. This quote just gets me thinking about how it is the only Everglades in the world yet we keep destroying piece by piece of it. Mankind needs to realize fast that the Everglades is one of a kind and that once it is destroyed it can’t be brought back.

www.miamidiscounttours.com

“To the early Spanish they were truly mysterious, fabulous with a wealth they were never able to prove.” (Douglas pg. 105)

– This quote kind of ties in with my first quote in the way i’m thinking about it. Here Douglas talks about how the Spanish viewed the Everglades as “mysterious, fabulous with a wealth”. I believe the Spanish were able to see upon first glance that the Everglades were not like an environment they had encountered before. Which is why they probably thought that the Everglades hid some type of capital wealth like gold or silver within. But I believe the Spanish were looking at its wealth from a different perspective instead of looking at it as a mysterious and fabulous environmental setting. I mean the Spanish was the first to discover an environment that was one of a kind to the world yet they were only looking at it as a gold/silver mine. That is why they were never able to prove it’s wealth because the wealth they were seeking never existed in that environment. The wealth the existed in the Everglades was its mysterious life energy that flowed throughout the Everglades. Though since the judgement of power was based of material wealth and not environment wealth, the Everglades were overlooked and passed on.

 

www.floridatrend.com

” The earth was shrunken and old, the continents almost as we know them, already split and re-formed and taking shape within the all-encompassing ocean, when the Floridian plateau was still a part of the floor of a warm, tranquil, equatorial sea.”(Douglas pg. 129)

    – This quote stands out to me because it’s weird to think that Florida was never a part of the continent’s design. It was born from the Earth shifting it’s crust around. Florida was born by the sea which gave it’s environment something unique and one of a kind compared to the rest of Earth’s land that had been around for millions of years. Had the Earth never shifted the way it did, Florida would have never been born nor would have the Everglades. It’s weird to think that something that had been surviving underwater for all of its life can all of a sudden survive in the air. Florida was born unique and is why I believe it is able to host an environment such as the Everglades.

www.tourismontheedge.com

Briefly describe who the character is and their role in the novel.

– The character I have chosen for this blog is Solomon MacIvey. Solomon MacIvey is the son of Zech MacIvey and the grandson of Tobias MacIvey. We are introduced to Solomon MacIvey at the beginning of the book where he is an 85 year old on his way from Miami back to the place where he grew up in Punta Rassa. He is a very wealthy man who made his money from tearing up the land for construction and business projects.His life in the book is seen to be a sad grab for power. It wasn’t until after his father’s death, that Solomon really became obsessed with power and began to want to use his money to leave his and the family businesses mark on the land. He refers to himself as “the least of the MacIveys”. It’s only when he meets Bonnie, a young waitress, that he begins to change the way he has been looking at everything in his life. Later on, the story tells us about how Bonnie died in a hurricane which then connects us to the beginning of the story where Solomon is leaving Miami to head back to Punta Rassa to live out the rest of his short life. But before he gets to Punta Rassa, Solomon has a reunion with Toby, who happens to be his half brother. It is there where Solomon has come to make amends with Toby about how he let power and greed change his character and ruin the land that his family had been so in love and happy to live and be a part of. After leaving Toby, Solomon heads to Punta Rassa and lives the rest of his days in his family’s cabin and dies from a heart attack.

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What is the relationship between the character and their environment and the natural world?

– From the reaction we see in the beginning of the story where we are first introduced to Solomon MacIvey, we see that he has a sense of accomplishment when looking at everything that has become to be but realizes that the land will be forever change and keep on changing for the worse. He has a strong connection to the environment because he goes to Toby and talks to him about how he regrets everything he did to the land and wishes it could return back to the way it was before everything was harvested and used for industry. I mean he is going to live the rest of his life out in a cabin trying to reconnect with his childhood of growing up with his family in Punta Rassa instead of living in his mansion with all of his money. We also see that he has truly realized the extent of his relationship with the environment although its too late to go back, his does everything in his power at that time to make up for his part of destroying the environment.

Where does this character experience a strong sense of place and what legacy will/did they leave behind for others?

– Solomon MacIvey experiences a strong sense of place at his family’s cabin in Punta Rassa. Although the way he lived his life you wouldn’t think so but it is the place he has chosen to die at. He came into the world there and he wants to leave the world at the same spot. He returned home showing that his family’s cabin is his sense of place. But only only did he choose to back there to live out the rest of his days but he used his fortune to protect his family’s land and cabin so that no one could ever use that land for development purposes. The legacy he is leaving behind will help protect the land that has yet to be touched by development so that anyone can see the beauty of what Florida’s environment and wildlife can be like. He also leaves behind a portion of his wealth and Rolls to his driver so that he will never have to work again because Arthur had always been there for him and listened to him when he needed someone to talk to.

sbvandesande.wordpress.com

How do you relate to this character?

– I relate to Solomon MacIvey because like how he lost his sense of place for a while, I feel as though I’m beginning to lose mine. All I want to do now a days is move away from Florida and my hometown so I can gain all the success and wealth I want for myself. But I also feel like I will eventually return to my sense of place, which is Tampa, FL, because of all the memories I have lying there, the houses I grew up in, the fact that I lived there for the first 18 years of my life, and it’s the place that made me and grew me into the person I am today. Just like how Solomon felt at peace and relaxed when he got back to his family’s cabin, that is what Tampa is like or i’m hoping will be like for me when I choose to return back to it.

quantifiedtampabay.com                

“Conservation is a state of harmony between men and land.” (Leopold pg. 62)

– I completely agree with this statement. In order for conservation efforts to be successful, everyone has to have some type of involvement that helps preserve the land. Yes, conservationist do an excellent job of conserving our environment but it only takes a handful of people to destroy that all the hard work they do for the environment. We truly can’t have full harmony until everyone understands and acts on conserving our environment. There has to be that right balance, too little and conservation efforts get overshadowed  but too much can also effect our needs for survival.  It just how our ancestors lived thousands of years ago. There was harmony between men and land which allowed for conservation ideas and ideals to be created in all cultures. A lot of ancient cultures looked to the land as power and life itself and in return valued and respected the land. We will never achieve true harmony if we don’t learn how to conserve and live with the land instead of destroying and taking it over for our own selfish needs.

www.conservationjobsuk.com

“When one of these non-economic categories is threatened, and if we happen to love it, we invent subterfuges to give it economic importance.” (Leopold pg. 65)

        – This statement is so accurate that it makes me sick! It is seen all the time in today’s society. We don’t seem to care about nature until it is on the brink of extinction. For the last one hundred years we can see this. People would go out and hunt game and kill off thousands of animals in a short period of time and no one seemed to care because money ran it. It wasn’t until there species number got low enough to the point where if something wasn’t done to preserve their species then the world would lose out on future economic profit from that species. It’s sick how we only tend to really care something when our economic resources start to take a hit. Whatever happened to protecting and caring about something because it’s the right thing to do or it’s the natural thing to do? Greed will be the thing that drives our society to wipe ourselves out later on in the future.

www.123rf.com

“Most of this growth in governmental conservation is proper and logical, some of it is inevitable.” (Leopold pg. 67)

       – Governmental conservation is never proper and the only logical thing that comes from it it so they can win votes. Whenever the government takes action, for the most part, in nature and the environment isn’t because they truly are concerned about its protection but only to make their image and reputation better and to keep themselves in office. I mean who doesn’t vote for a tree hugging politician? I just see it as a way for the government to say look we care about the environment but secretly are complaining about conserving the area because they could have used it for economic gain but know that they would lose votes and their image would look bad. If the government truly cared about the environment then they would have started protecting it a long time ago instead of destroying and killing everything off for economic gain and then start worrying about why a species is about to die out. I mean a third of the world’s rain-forests have been destroyed for paper and building materials. Those environments are special and support certain species of life that can’t survive anywhere else in the world. But they didn’t seem to think long about it before they destroyed a third of it and continue to destroy what is left of the world’s rain-forest. Not everything has to be about business, sometimes it’s ok to protect something because it’s the right thing to do.

 

emilysquotes.com

“Perhaps the most serious obstacle impeding the evolution of a land ethic is the fact that our educational and economic system is headed away from, rather than toward, an intense consciousness of land.” (Leopold pg. 75)

     – We as a society are exposed to new technological advances and that we must have to newest, greatest, most expense thing in the world to be cool/happy. We see this everyday when a new Apple IPhone comes out and within seconds all stores are sold out for the next few months because of all the back orders that need to be filled. Parents now a days rush out to get their kids the newest video game or the newest video game consul to keep them happy. I remember when I was a kid back in the 90’s and even the early 2000’s, I would always choose to go outside than stay inside or if I wanted to stay inside my mom would make me go outside if she thought I was sitting in front of the TV for too long. Schools should be educating children on the importance of the environment and having lessons outside or giving them extended recess time to show them that there is so much more you can gain from being outside than they can from playing a video game all day. National parks should be celebrated for their beauty and visited more because they can should you nature that can only be found in that specific park. I just want to know what kids now a days think kids did before video games were even a thing?  We need to teach our kids about living a balanced life between being inside and being outside. And the first place that starts is at home!

www.corischumacher.com

“If you can find an environment where the attention is automatic, you allow directed attention to rest. And that means an environment that’s strong on fascination.” (Louv pg.6)

– I completely agree with this statement here that Louv quoted from Stephen Kaplan! I know for me during my years in elementary school recess was my favorite time of the day. I hated being trapped in a classroom having to learn about five different subjects in one day. I didn’t have the attention to sit still and focus on subject that I found boring after five minutes. Don’t get me wrong, I did my schoolwork like I was suppose to just because I didn’t want to get in trouble by the teacher or by my parents not because I wanted to do my schoolwork. Looking back now, I definitely see the difference between the kids who loved being outside more than inside, the kids who loved being inside than outside and the ones who found enjoyment in both. I was always the one who loved being outside more than inside especially when I was in school. Now I was never diagnosed with ADHD, I was sure thought to have it. I always felt like I was being forced to think and do work when at school but I always looked forward to that one hour of pure freedom called recess, where my mind was able to be free to do and think about whatever I wanted to. I mean what kid really likes being trapped in a room with a bunch of other kids and have one adult tell them what to do, when to do it and how to do it. Kids are meant to be creative, playful and most importantly a kid is meant to be a kid. I know every kid is different on how they look at school and what they would rather be doing but no one can deny that spark or that itch you get as a kid when you would rather just be enjoying life the way you see it than being told what to do.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recess_(TV_series)

“I never saw a bear before. I’m scared of bears, but when I saw them, I had no stress. I was calm, free.” (Louv pg. 13)

    – This quote describes just how society relates towards nature. It’s so easy for people to say that they are scare of something because of how that thing is used in movies, stories, on TV or in books. This quote talks about how a girl says she is scared of bears yet that was her first time actually seeing a bear. Now how can someone be scared of an animal they have never seen before but once they see them existing in their own habitat, they aren’t scared anymore? It shows you just how much we as a society label and judge animal before actually seeing their true beauty as an animal. Yes, everyone thinks a zoo can allow them to get an up close and personal view of a wild animal but about 99% of the time the animals in the zoo were born at the zoo. A zoo can’t truly show the beauty nature gives to animals when they are wild and free. We were once wild and free but just because we have evolved into the species we are now doesn’t mean we have the right to label other species with fear because we refuse to know nature as what it meant to be and only view it as what we want it to be.

aduphoto.com

“Contact with nature is as impotrant to children as good nutrition and adequate sleep” (Louv pg.12)

    – I absolutely agree with this statement. Children are meant to have fun and laugh not worry about what life has in store for them later on in life. Children aren’t robots, they have emotions, mood swings, and thoughts of their own. We all see what happens to kids when their parents rob them of a good and healthy foundation at home, they turn to the streets or to drugs/alcohol/food as comfort in place of what they lack at home. Nature gives children the power to reach deep into their imaginations and turn it into whatever they want it to be. Maybe one day it’s climbing the worlds tallest tree, exploring a jungle, swimming in the deepest part of the ocean, etc. Nature allows for kids to express their creative to no end and allows them to be themselves instead of what their parents, siblings, or friends think they should be. Children need a constant connection with nature in order to remain balanced. We as humans tend to fear the unknown and by reducing the amount of contact our children have with nature because we as adults/parents think it can be unsafe only increases their fear of nature itself. The best memories I have of my childhood consist of being outside in nature whether it was playing sports, hiking in the woods, camping, going to the beach, whatever it was, nature played a big part in making it worth being a memory.

www.chicagowilderness.org

“Our brains are set up for an agrarian, nature-oriented existence that came into focus five thousand years ago” (Louv pg. 5)

    – Mankind has always been a part of nature in some form or another. From our very beginning to who we are now, nature has always been stepping stool for us to grow and adapt/evolve from. Today, it seems like our brains are programmed to be a part of technology and be focused on improving the things around us. Since our very existence we have lived off of nature. Nature has always been programmed as a part of us, it’s the changing way we view nature that has changed our view of nature. I believe that as kids, the programmed part of the brain that allows us to want to be a part of nature is there. As we grow up and become adults our brains push aside that programmed part because now nature is only a distraction that keeps us from achieving our academic and professional goals. Back then, nature helped mankind achieve their goals without being seen as a nuisance but now mankind see nature as something that blocks our development to grow and become bigger. Why else would we have to destroy thousands and thousands of acres of trees and nature that have probably been sitting in those spots for hundreds or thousands of years. We need to find a way to keep the programmed nature part of the brain with have as kids as we grow into adults otherwise nature will only be destroyed by fear or for improvements of our way of life. We as the human species were born into nature. Nature was here before us and will continue to be here with us. We need to bring back old traditions on how we can coexist with nature now like our ancestors have been doing for the last several thousands of years.

becuo.com

“We relate to the environment around us in different ways, with differing intensity, and these bonds have different sources.” (Orr 193)

– This is a very accurate statement that Orr has made. Everyone in the world views nature and their bond with nature differently. With me, I view nature as a distraction from the everyday, same routine, busy body day. When I’m in nature I never see the same thing twice. I never have the same experience or bond as I did with the one before. There is always a new path waiting to be discovered every time I head out and explore through natural surprises nature has in store. I never walk through the same patch of grass or the same collection of trees. To me nature is like the waves of the ocean. Yea the waves may all look the same but you can never see the same wave twice. Nature is the same way, you will never see the leaves dance the same in the wind, you will never hear the same song being sung by all the birds high among the treetops, and you never see the same flow of water glide through the river’s path. To me, my bond from nature comes from its intensity on always being different. Showing you a new performance everyday for as long as time allows it to.