Betty Jahshan
Biology Senior Seminar
November 25,1996
"Oh, what a catastrophe, what a maiming of love when it was made personal,
merely personal feeling. This is what is the matter with us: we are bleeding
at the roots because we are cut off from the earth and sun and stars. Love
has become a grinning mockery because, poor blossom, we plucked it from
its stem on the Tree of Life and expected it to keep on blooming in our
civilized vase on the table." - D.H. Lawrence
Beyond any doubt, studies now confirm that due to the stress that is flowing
out of our disconnected "bleeding roots", complex personal, environmental
and social problems are created. As humans we have been inclined to look
outside of ourselves -- at the polluted lakes and brown clouds that floats
over our cities -- and regard those impacts as the problem. Wann in his
book Bil-Logic explains that we only recently have shifted our attention
to see the environmental crisis in a more holistic way: "Pollution
is a collection of symptoms of poor products and processes that do not fit
natural systems" (Bio-Logic 1). Studies have shown that "Americans
spend less than one day per lifetime in tune with nature" (Reconnecting
17). We are born and raised indoors, artificially secluded from the natural
world. The indoors then discipline our thoughts and feelings. "Our
separation from the pulse of snow, wind, rain, temperature, clouds and sunlight
robs us of their life values" (How 17). We form our habits from our
contact with our indoor surroundings, such as the school, house, or even
the office, not from wonders that nature offers. Research at the University
of Global Education in Washington shows that new methods and materials that
aid in connecting with nature rebind our natural roots with the earth and
reduce our personal, social, and environmental problems.
The problems or obstacles that stand in the way of our journey to reconnect
with nature need to be identified. The fundamental problem, as David Wann
writes in his book "Bio-Logic," is that our brains-- and technologies--
are still evolving. Although we are part of nature, humans have decided
to go their own way, separated from the realities learned in Biology. Recently
both the physics and chemistry industry formed an alliance and over-looked
the still-evolving field of biology. The result of the coalition was runaway
chemicals, disappearing species, and an afflicted
Human population. It is discouraging to see the violence and the hatred
that is growing in the industrial society. The destruction of the forests,
wildlife, and oceans, results in using the remains of the land for a variety
of ends that are not at all related to the spirit of those places. The spirit
of Nature that one grows around. Our lives, along with the lives of the
global community, are at risk. We are wounding the earth and in return we
are suffering with it. Some examples of the distruction that humans are
causing the earth and themselves are; hunting and killing endangered species,
development of nuclear weapons and thus nuclear waste, increase of the risk
of cancer due to industrial chemicals in the environment, and least but
not last the Ozone depletion problem. These are only few examples from an
endless list.
People might think that this means we have to live like primitives. On the
contrary, we do not need to live like the stone age people but instead we
should adopt new ways to co-create with nature and uphold responsible relationships.
Our technologies are direct extensions of our bodies. "They're not
alive, but like birds' feathers, we need them if we expect to fly as a species.
Overly heavy technologies, however, never really get off the ground. And
they make a feathery mess out of things in the attempt" (Bio-logic
5). Wann believes that the "new knowledge about biology will help us
design our technologies and our lives in a more integrated and satisfying
way" (Bio-logic 9). The truth is that the environmental problems are
going to keep on intensifying until our souls are able to go home to nature.
There is also a major problem in the different way in which humanity and
nature communicates. In his book Reconnecting with Nature Cohen explains
that to be part of any system, one must be in communication with that system.
We are given the natural capacity to communicate with words. We interact
through the spoken and written language. Earth is a global ecosystem that
we are part of. The earth is illiterate but it still communicates with us
in supportive ways that we learn to ignore or take for granted. The earth
conveys information through tension-relaxation feelings such as hunger,
thirst, and even breathing. To explain this tension-relaxation phenomenon,
Cohen takes the example of breathing. When one stops breathing purposely,
the feeling of disconnectedness builds up a tension within, a "cry
calls from part of me being deprived of another part of me." He explains
that the "Earth-inherited survival feelings" demand that one breath
again. "The air, part of the body and soul of Mother Earth, embraces
my life." (How 109). The release of tension is then established producing
a wonderful feeling. That wonderful feeling in itself, explains Cohen, unites
nature with the individual.
How could our knowledge in biology be used to stop some of the injustice
that is being done to nature? Wann first suggests by incorporating our environmental
knowledge into the things we design and use, a better balance will be established.
He explains that we have the basic knowledge of how chemicals move through
our living bodies to the outside ecosystem. We know that interdependence,
flexibility, and diversity are all qualities that are important for a healthy
environment. We also study the connection between living things and non-living
things that are surrounding us, such as the ozone layer and the weather
cycles. This important information should not be overlooked. The challenge
is then to try and fit our designs and products into creation.
In our knowledge of biology we also realize the constraints that exist such
as gravity, friction, thermodynamics, microbiological capabilities, genetic
information, and life span. These are the natural laws. Technology expert
Tom Bender writes, "Within natural law is total freedom because it
defines the realities through which we must move." (Bio-logic 16).
The last century or so was a detour that allowed humans to hold off good
design in favor of "quick hit consumption." For the last half
of this century "health effects, lack of space for waste disposal,
resource shortages, and deterioration of the ecosystem" (Bio-logic
20) have pushed the congress into hammering together regulations that try
in vain to contain pollution within the boundaries of economics and politics.
People need to learn that life is a "loops-and-cycles" arrangement.
"Our preoccupation with 'forward' reinforces a mind-set in which resources
continually go out but never come back." (Bio-Logic 45).
The book 50 simple things your business can do to save the earth has very
useful ideas on what the average person could do to help the environment.
One of the suggestions is using your own mug at work. In that way one does
not have to use plastic coffee cups that contain polystyrene which never
decomposes no matter where you dump the cups. One other problem that could
be solved by the average person is that Americans make nearly make "400
billion photocopies a year- about 750,000 copies every minute of every day"
(50 simple 16). One could reduce that amount by trying to copy on both sides
of paper if necessary, and use recycle copying paper that is available all
over the stores. American businesses have to pay up to 4 billion dollars
worth of electricity every year due to inefficient use of office machines.
A simple thing to do is to switch off machinery that is not being used.
Simple daily things like that could contribute significantly to the conservation
of resources.
Conserving water is another major problem. The South Florida Water Administration
"predicts that at least 80 percent of US businesses will be forced
to ration water during the 1990s" (50 simple 102). Responsible use
of water while cleaning or gardening could be very helpful. While gardening,
water during the cooler parts of the day - before 10 a.m. and after 5 p.m.
to minimize evaporation. In cleaning, one does not need to let the water
run the whole time. Places like garages and sidewalks don't need to be cleaned
with water. Using a broom might work just as well.
Along with all these "practical" suggestions, we also have to
let the earth speak. We need to listen to and observe our surroundings even
better than we do, and learn the natural rules. Project NatureConnect, with
the help of Michael J. Cohen, has designed some activities to help people
see the secrets of nature. The Secrets-of -Nature Trail and Game has proven
to be very successful in learning to build and teach healthy personal, social,
and environmental relationships. This activity reminds every individual
that the unspoiled nature and the clean fresh air that we inhale is a gift
to us from nature. "As we exhale earth breathes us" (Project Nature
connect). What a beautiful description! To put this into more technical
words, we breathe carbon dioxide and water vapor into the air, and these
are the food and water for the plant world. Our breath help sustains all
other forms of life. It is our gift to nature.
Air is the gift of life. Our breathing is a spiritual relationship with
the planet. In earlier times "the word for air was psyche, which means
spirit and mind" (How 113). Respiration or breathing originally meant
"re-spiriting." By inspiration we bring the spirit in and during
expiration the spirit leaves. Cohen explains that our sensory desire to
breathe is a requirement to reconnect with nature. The natural world is
a non-verbal group. In nature the urge to breathe has no name, for nature
neither understands nor utilizes words. To me as a woman, life is a cycle
and this relationship of human to nature and nature within itself is a sacred
cycle. The warmth of the sun is needed by the earth, and we need both the
earth and the sun. As a Palestinian the earth means existence to my people
and me. My people are attached to the land. They know its importance for
survival and healthier living.
Polls have shown that there has been a rapid increase in public concern
about environmental issues. Similar surveys revealed an increase from seventeen
to fifty-three percent in the number of respondents who "rated `reducing
pollution of air and water' as one of the three problems that they would
like the government to pay more attention to" (Taking xiii). Two hundred
new national and regional associations for environmental concerns were established.
The historical roots of the current interest in environmental issues in
the United states are in the conservation movement of the late nineteenth
and early twentieth centuries. Recognition of the need for conservation
and regulation came only as a result of seeing the "destruction wrought
by uncontrolled industrial exploitation of natural resources in the post-Civil
war period" (Taking xii). In addition to producing large devastated
areas, Clear-cutting forests resulted in many other catastrophes. The branches
and bark of trees have caused a lot of major fires in the Midwest. The villages
were thus leveled and a lot of people were killed due to it. Floods were
one of the consequences as well The Sierra Club and the Audubon Society,
the two oldest environmental organizations, are still active today. Around
the turn of the century these two organizations helped organize public rallies
to stop exploitation of resources. "Mining, grazing, and lumbering
were controlled by such landmark legislation as the Forest Reserve Act of
1891 and the Forest Management Act of 1897" (Taking xii). Schools of
forestry were established at several of the `land grant colleges' to help
in the management of forest resources.
The present environmental movement on the other hand, had an explosive beginning.
Theodore Goldfarb mention Silent Spring, a book published in 1962
by Rachel Carson, describing it as a book that "ignited the imaginations
of nature lovers" about the dangers of pesticides. The atmospheric
testing of nuclear weapons caused widespread public concern about the effects
of nuclear radiation. City people began to make the connection between traffic
and the smoky air. A lot of people responded to the book by demanding and
increased environmental control over all forms of pollution.
In conclusion, nature is an important part of who we are, and how our
future is going to be. If individuals keep moving away from nature for the
sake of civilization, there is going to be little harmony. Stress is going
to increase in our lives. Which is going to effect all dimensions of relationships
we have with nature and with each other. Our relationship with nature and
with each other effect the way we view the world. I feel the need for people
to increase their knowledge about earth and nature. As a future teacher
I would encourage that the methods and materials to reconnecting with nature
are introduced in the school system at a young age. I challenge every individual
to explore the different ways that they could reconnect with nature and
save the earth.
Bibliography
1. Cohen, Michael J. How Nature Works: Regenerating Kinship with Planet
Earth. Stillpoint Publishing, 1988.
2. Cohen, Michael J. Reconnecting with Nature: The restoration of the missing
link in Western thinking. Nature ProjectConnect, 1995
3. Goldfarb, Theodore D. Taking sides, Clashing views on Controversial Environmental
Issues. The Dushkin publishing Group, Inc. 1991.
4. Wann, David. Bio-Logic: Designing with Nature to Protect the Environment.
Johnson Printing company, 1994.
5. Andrews, Valerie. A Passion for This Earth: Exploring a New Partnership
of Man, Woman and nature. Harper San Francisco, 1990.
6. Project Nature connect (1996). The secrets- of -nature Trail and game.
Available at http://www.pacificrim.net/~nature/trail1.html. [september 1996].