Ethical Relationship to Land

It is easy to go through everyday life with only a half-remembered acknowledgement of the surrounding nature and the land on which we live. We grow comfortable confined within the walls of schools, stores, and homes and forget that there is still a planet turning beneath us. However, without a steady recognition of land, the existence of humans and the many comforts we seek could easily be lost. To me, an ethical relationship to land must stem from an appreciation of it.

To appreciate the Earth, I believe we must admit that we are products of it, and not the other way around (as our egocentric tendencies might suggest). Instead of consuming all that we can, a more practical outlook would be mutually beneficial to the land and us. When hunting, Native Americans used every part of the animal that they could so as to ensure as little waste as possible.  While having no waste is unrealistic, cutting back on the waste we each personally produce and refuting the luxury of extreme selectivity in our lifestyles would be a great step towards developing a healthier relationship with land. The past century has seen massive technological advances that have allowed the human race to expand on almost every front, and yet such expansion is utterly ridiculous and unnecessary. One hundred years ago, I might have told the people of the world to attempt to give back to the land as much as they take. Now in 2015 the balance is skewed enough that we must focus not on taking, but rather giving all that we can while utilizing clean and renewable energy and resources. A personal ethical relationship with land is vital to our continued existence and spiritual sanity. The Earth will end us long before we end it, and we must acknowledge where the power lies if we wish to remain a part of the land.