Apr 13, 2009

Habitat for one and all...


Spring is bursting out all over. Our area is green and fertile - green with new grass and buds swelling on the trees. At the moment water is abundant and the earth is juicy with potential. This is not always the case (see our post "Water, water everywhere" ) A home full of abundance for human and animal and plant life alike.
I sometimes wonder if those urban dwellers who rarely get to see a mountain, forest, or other wide open and wild expanse, realize this is the source of what makes life possible on Earth.

There is a great learning song for kids by Bill Oliver:
Habitat, Habitat, Have to Have a Habitat
You have to have a Habitat to carry on!

Hear it online.
The ocean is a habitat, a very special habitat
It's where the deepest water's at
It's where the biggest mammal's at
It's where our future food is at
It keeps the atmosphere intact
The ocean is a habitat we depend on!

It is a wonderful ditty to help remind us that this fine planet is a home shared by a large community of creatures, all intertwined. And with Earth Day coming up, a good reminder that our actions all effect the quality of the Earth/Home we share.

While we ponder how to solve the big crises of war and poverty and economics, we cannot afford to let the bigger issue of habitat destruction become collateral damage, a side effect as it were, of our way of life. It is not only the obvious issues like clear cutting and oil spills and CO2 emissions. It is not just changing to energy efficient appliances and not littering. It is tied to every aspect of everything we do. If we poison our home it will make it impossible for us to live. Seems obvious, but it is insidious. The way of life of the human race has changed to where many of the material things we strive for ultimately work against our long term future. Maybe not so long term, anymore.

But there is a growing consciousness of this. There have always been people who recognized that all "progress" wasn't necessarily positive and that understanding has grown. Coupled with tight economic times it is becoming more common to consume more wisely and less excessively. To make choices that are maybe inevitable but also very beneficial.

The river is a habitat, a very special habitat
It's where the freshest water's at
For people, fish, and muskrat
But when people dump their trash
Rivers take the biggest rap
The river is a habitat we depend on!


If each of us makes a commitment to keep their tiny portion of the planet healthy, to keep our room clean, so to speak, it can only make a difference. I have always believed that no action is too small as each bit adds to the whole and helps create the momentum that is so crucial to making change.

People are different than foxes and rabbits
Affect the whole world with their bad habits
Better to love it while we still have it
Or rat ta-tat-tat, our habitat's gone!


Humans are the ones with the power to make a difference. The best way to display our power is to make life on Earth a sustainable proposition. We can do it. We can't afford not to!

One way we can work toward this goal is to use products that are biodegradable. Merriam-Webster defines this thus:
bio·de·grad·able adjective
: capable of being broken down especially into innocuous products by the action of living things (as microorganisms)


Cotton shopping bags are biodegradable, plastic ones... not so much. The soaps and detergents that go down your drain need to be biodegradable - not to leave their byproducts in soil, rivers and the sea forever.
Find our biodegradable soaps and products on our website.

1 comment:

Dottie said...

This article notes that many are still not aware of the problem:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_18849.cfm

It is SO important. It is so easy to think things will always be the same and the Earth will always nourish us, no matter what. But people once thought there was no end to many resources that have dwindled or dried up. Nature "appears" endless. Appearances can fool you. Sigh.