Connect with nature
A personal change of global consequences
🏷️ Categories: Botany, Personal stories, Geography, Life lessons
It was just another Saturday, one of those I take advantage of to visit my other home, nature.
My partner and I went, for a change, to a place in the forest from which I knew there were beautiful views and little traffic. It would be our refuge for today. It was summer, the heat was stifling and the first to welcome us were a group of cicadas that sang incessantly.
We stopped the van in the shade of a pine forest, in a clearing in the middle of the forest with privileged views of a reservoir that gave us a fresh breeze.
Having that panoramic view from the van made us feel lucky.
The next ones to welcome us were not more animals, but the trash.
The trash that, in a remote place of unparalleled beauty, had been left by the people who had been here before. Plastics, cans and even broken glass. With the risk that this entails.
—The usual, my partner told me.
—Well yes…, I answered sighing.
We opened the van and began to prepare the campsite, later we decided to sit on a tree trunk in the shade to eat a little and observe the beautiful scene of the reservoir. Listening to the whistling of the breeze from the reservoir swirling in the leaves calmed my mind. Everything seemed idyllic, but we had mixed feelings.
The forest was giving us a place too beautiful not to pay for it.
We decided to pay for it.
We finished eating and both decided to clean up all the trash we saw around us from those who had been before.
It was a beautiful day, we arrived in the morning and left with the sunset.
As we drove down the mountain in the van, down the path and with the sunset on the horizon, I felt a sense of satisfaction that was hard to explain. I was happy for the beautiful day I had spent with my partner in the forest, but I was even happier knowing that our actions had contributed, in some way, to healing the damage that others had done to our home, nature.
The forest was generous and gave us a beautiful day, but we had to pay it back.
The growing disconnection with nature
We live in an age of disconnection from nature.
In ancient times, when most of us lived in the countryside, respecting nature was a necessity. Every action, from cutting down trees to cultivating the land, was closely linked to the way of life. It was understood that cutting down trees without replanting and polluting the soil meant destroying your own future.
On the other hand, today's urban life has separated us from our origin.
It hurts me when I see people wasting water, food, energy or polluting without any remorse. Sadly, not everyone feels that their actions are harming them, everyone and future generations.
Knowledge does not change behavior
Look at this, the personal change I want to highlight is the adoption of an active awareness about the impact our actions have on nature.
There is a phrase I never forget: “knowledge does not change behavior.”
What can I tell you that you don’t already know? Everyone has heard about recycling, about making responsible use of resources, about consumerism…
But how many people do it?
I often see people throwing garbage in any way and without separating waste. When I go to buy a t-shirt I see people leaving the store with more clothes in their bag than I have in my entire wardrobe.
Everyone knows what they should do, but no one does it; they prefer to look the other way.
Take action. It is useless to know something if you don’t do it.
3 individual reasons to take care of nature
Psychological benefits: Being in nature has been shown to improve mood, reduce anxiety and stress, and foster creativity (Barton & Pretty, 2010). Nature, in addition to allowing me to exercise and have memorable experiences, contributes to my emotional well-being.
Generating wealth: My region attracts thousands of tourists every year due to the unique combination of beautiful beaches and mountains. If both visitors and locals took care of these spaces, we would contribute to their sustainability, ensuring that they can continue to be enjoyed year after year and we would maintain the resource on which the local economy depends.
Saving money: You already know all this about reducing, reusing, and recycling, but how much do you apply it? I will tell you the simplest and most striking case: I live in a very dry area, the reservoir you saw in the photos is getting emptier every year and it is the only source of water we have. There have already been several years of very serious supply restrictions and if the situation does not improve, we are going to run out of water for the population and our crops. For some time now, we have been reusing all the water we can at home. We reuse so much that we have reduced consumption by 35%, which means we pay 35% less on our water bills.
Even if it is just for the sake of money, if we all saved 35% of water, my region could stop being increasingly close to being a barren wasteland.
5 facts and 5 actions:
Food: 35% of food produced in the US is wasted (USDA, 2019): It doesn't matter your country, just think about whether you intentionally buy what you need or waste food.
Waste: A plastic bag pollutes 149 times more than a cloth one (Bishinella et al., 2018) and a plastic bottle takes 450 years to decompose (US National Park Service): Use cloth bags and instead of buying small plastic bottles, buy large jugs of water and refill your glass or metal bottle from there, which lasts forever.
Air: 60% of the world's air pollution comes from vehicles (UN): Opt for public transport, carpool and use the bicycle as much as you can. I go to work every day by bicycle, which is triple beneficial: I don't pollute, I save money and I do my favorite sport.
Water: In Spain, 133 liters per person are consumed daily (INE, 2022). Like me, you can save up to 35% effortlessly if you care about reusing.
Energy: One hectare of solar panels reduces 550 times the CO₂ emissions per year than one hectare of forest (Columbia Climate School, 2022). If you want to pollute less, start with the roof of your house.
I don't want to overwhelm you with more data, I just want you to reflect on all the changes you could make in your daily life.
There are many changes you can make, and when you benefit, we all benefit.
The most rewarding thing about Saturday in the forest was not being there, but leaving, because when I left I knew that the place was better than when I arrived.
✍️ It's your turn: Do you put into practice what you already know? What steps do you take to reduce your impact on nature?
💭 Quote of the day: “We can challenge human laws, but not natural laws.” Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Jules Verne.
📚 Book of the day: The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature, David George Haskell. (One of my favorite books, check it out).
Thank you for joining me in one more letter 🙏.
References 📚
Barton, J., & Pretty, J. (2010). What is the Best Dose of Nature and Green Exercise for Improving Mental Health? A Multi-Study Analysis. Environmental Science & Technology, 44(10), 3947-3955. https://doi.org/10.1021/es903183r
Bisinella, V., Albizzati, P. F., Astrup, T. F., & Damgaard, A. (2018). Life Cycle Assessment of grocery carrier bags. https://www2.mst.dk/Udgiv/publications/2018/02/978-87-93614-73-4.pdf
Columbia Climate School. (2022, 26 octubre). Solar Panels Reduce CO2 Emissions More Per Acre Than Trees — and Much More Than Corn Ethanol. State Of The Planet. https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2022/10/26/solar-panels-reduce-co2-emissions-more-per-acre-than-trees-and-much-more-than-corn-ethanol/
INE - Instituto Nacional de Estadística. (2022). Estadística sobre el suministro y saneamiento del agua. https://ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/es/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736176834&menu=ultiDatos&idp=1254735976602
USDA. (2019). Food Waste FAQs. United States Department of Agriculture.
U.S. National Park Service; Mote Marine Lab, Sarasota, FL; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program. https://www.des.nh.gov/organization/divisions/water/wmb/coastal/trash/documents/marine_debris.pdf
Bravo, Alvaro! We should all leave places better than when we arrived. And sometimes, it's just a matter of picking up a few bits of trash. I've done the same and amazed at what's left, especially if there are enough receptacles to collect the trash. Our resort areas here, Lake Tahoe for example, has had to bring in law enforcement to make sure people don't pollute the beaches during the Fourth of July weekend. One year, volunteers collected 8000 pounds of trash, including clothing, camp furniture and tents, as well as cans, bottles, and paper. With intensified enforcement, they only collected about 2000 pounds. But isn't it sad that people need cops to make sure people clean up after themselves?
Oh, and I'm glad you mentioned rooftop solar panels. In the western US, people think it's perfectly okay to have vast solar arrays in the desert or other wild spaces instead of rooftop. They fail to understand that solar panels are only about 25% efficient and a lot of the energy is lost in long-distance transmission over power lines. And sometimes, birds fly into those lines and are maimed or killed outright. (I used to work in an wildlife rescue and have seen this.) Wind turbines kill millions of birds every year. So rooftop energy production at the market place (homes/business) is a much more efficient and safe way to go and save natural spaces and animals in the bargain.
Great post thank you. We rely solely on rain water for household use, gardens and animals (5 sheep, 3 steers, 7 chickens, 1 duck).
A bit of dust and organic matter also collects from the roof so we filter and treat with UV.
Others in our community use the public supply with its cost and added chemicals and sometimes are restricted use. They also have to deal with storm water off their roof. Crazy.