Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

Loving the Earth

Reverend Darcey Laine
October 24, 2004
Palo Alto, CA

 

Forgotten Language

Once I spoke the language of the flowers,
Once I understood each word the caterpillar said,
Once I smiled in secret at the gossip of the starlings,
And shared a conversation with the housefly in my bed.
Once I heard and answered all the questions of the crickets,
And joined the crying of each falling dying flake of snow,
Once I spoke the language of the flowers...
How did it go?
How did it go? ¹

-Shel Silverstein

Sometimes I remember just to sit in my small yard and watch how the flowers bloom and go to seed. I remember to watch the surprising quickness of the Wisteria, vines expanding the length of my deck in one season. I notice the trees competing for a small patch of sun. I notice that the tangled mass of vines (which I berate myself for not trimming) has become a happy habitat for new birds. When I remember. When I forget, days go by when I don't even step into my own garden. I forget the joy of sunlight broken by the shadows of tree leaves, of birds building their homes, of vines growing. Or perhaps I want to forget that this garden is a little beyond my knowledge of plants, and beyond the time I have to make it neat and orderly. Perhaps I want to forget how when I feel most deeply connected to the soil and trees I also feel a little sad.

It seems that the more I notice the earth, the more I love her. And the more I love the earth, the more I care what happens to her. And whether it is the sight of "Cherry Orchard Condos" replacing the last Cherry orchard on the peninsula, piles of our computer parts dumped in poor villages in China, or the images of the denuded hilltops of Haiti that have been on the news of late, I become aware that we have forgotten what it is to live in harmony with the earth, and we are hungry to live in harmony again.

In our own church, the natural world is so compelling, and our desire to be in right relationship so strong that a Green Sanctuary Task Force has been born. This is a group of our own folks who want to find ways for this congregation to work towards this harmony, and to help each of us as individuals to act where we have the power to act.

How shall we do this? Not in an ascetic way that makes us forget the joy of the earth, but in a way that is in keeping with what we love about the earth. McDonough and Braungart write in their essay collected in the new Beacon Press book Sustainable Planet, "Nature is nothing if not extravagant. Four billion years of natural design, forged in the cradle of evolution, has yielded such a profusion of forms we can barely grasp the vigor and diversity of life on earth. Responding to unique local conditions, ants have evolved into nearly ten thousand species, several hundred of which can found in the crown of a single Amazonian Tree... Birds, too seem to have a taste for the extravagant: who could say the wood duck's plumage is restrained?² Remember the achievements of life on this planet, the process by which beings grow and evolve with the changing eco-system, filling any niche where life can be sustained. Let us start from this assumption of abundance and creativity in confronting our concerns about the future of our biosphere.

The earth herself has been processing waste for as long as the earth has been. Each walnut shell, each squirrel who dies is slowly broken down to become the raw material of new life. The inherent intelligence of our living planet is a reason for hope, and a source of wisdom as we try to return to a more balanced way of living in our eco-system. I recently read a most exciting example of this: a program of the Ford Motor company (yes, the car company). After almost a century of traditional manufacturing processes, their Rouge River plant had become a "brownfield," the land and water severely polluted. Many companies have walked away from such a site, leaving the local inhabitants, human as well as the other animals and plants, to live alongside the toxic mess. But McDonough and Braungart report that in November 2000 construction began on a new assembly plant. "The 450,000 square foot 'living roof' will provide habitat for birds, insects, and microorganisms. In concert with a series of wetlands and swales, the roof will also control and filter storm water runoff. With these natural, built-in measures replacing the expensive technical controls called for by new regulations, Ford stands to save between $8 and $35 million on storm water remediation alone.³" Ford is entering into a symbiotic relationship with the eco-system it inhabits, creating a healthier habitat, while maintaining fiscal integrity.

This example shows not only the value of creativity, of working in consort with natural systems, but it also reminds us of the value of good science. These values are relevant in our own work here in this church. We have historically been a faith that demands rigorous use of reason and scientific method in our thinking about important issues. Let us be no less rigorous in thinking through our relationship to our biosphere.

For example, it might seem like a simple choice to use our reusable ceramic cups for coffee each Sunday instead of paper cups that must be thrown away, but then our thinking would be incomplete. What if we are in a drought year? Is the need for water preservation more urgent than reducing landfill? What is the impact of the chemicals we use to clean our cups? What if we used cups made of post-consumer recycled fibers? Is the answer still a simple one? Let's base our actions in the scientific method, not in our assumptions. Let us do our own thinking and analysis, to build the good scholarship and synthesizing that could help this congregation and at the same time build the collective knowledge of all who work for greener communities. A recent survey says that half of our congregation works in science, engineering or technology. Another quarter are educators. Let our congregation of engineers, scientists and teachers be pioneers, processing research in a way that can guide other congregations toward their own "greening."

But we must not get stuck in our thinking, let us embody the change we want to see in the world. At a recent workshop, Starhawk told the story of her trip to the World Trade Organization protests in Mexico. She showed us power point presentations of the camp they set up on the land the government had allowed them for their protest. The camp was designed to collect rain water for drinking, and built with a grey-water system to purify the water they used to wash hands and dishes. The system was simple, made with everyday items accessible to most people, from the tarp designed to direct the rainwater, to the series of barrels which filtered the grey water into something quite clean. That real and useful system showed more about an alternative vision for the earth than any banners or signs the protesters held.

With our congregation of thinkers and engineers, could we model a different way of being on the earth we? Many in this congregation are seriously discussing adding solar panels to our buildings. This is wonderful. But I'd like to push us further, to using our own hands to design and build systems that would not only help us live in greater harmony, but would teach us something about how these systems work and help us be leaders and models to the rest of the community. I wonder if we could create, for example, a grey-water system for, our dishwasher. I imagine a series of barrels filled with porous rocks and plants along the outside of the kitchen wall for us all to observe as we drive in on a Sunday. "What's that" our visitors might say "Oh, that's our grey-water management system - let me show you how it works." We could respond proudly.

Next month when the children gather for our "cool deeds" Sunday, we will be building solar ovens because I want our children to understand alternative energy sources, and to believe that they can invent and create solutions to our world's problems. With our own hands and brains, and a used cardboard box, we can begin crafting a more balanced world. When we bring our canvas bags to the grocery store, we not only save the hundreds of plastic bags we receive each year, but also raise the consciousness of people in our community.

This brings me to my next point - that environmental action is tied to the local community. We know that plants and animals develop in a profoundly local way. Think of what Darwin found in the islands of the Galapagos. Think of what happens when a species of plant or animal is transported to a new location. The story goes that Spanish moss took over the south once introduced, that the species of snail mowing down my garden each night was imported from Europe (someone should check the science on that though, it may just be a legend). Our Blue and Green Sunday School classes are studying the earth centered traditions now, and one of the teachers called to ask which elements are associated with which direction. (Each of us had found them variously attributed.) I told her that many believe that the association with element and direction has to do with where you live. For us here on the California coast, water is associated with the West, and fire with the south. Our relationship to the earth is grounded in the dirt under our own feet, the air we breath, the water we drink, the tree that shelters us from the hot summer sun.

I was recently reminded that the Pacific Lumber Company (against whom Julia Butterfly Hill staged her protest by living for 2 years in an ancient redwood tree) was a sustainable logger until it was bought by a Texas company who had no stake in the area, and preferred clear-cutting to provide quicker returns. It runs counter to the expanding trend of globalization, but often the best solutions for a local eco-system or economy are particular to the locality. In another essay in the Sustainable Planet collection, Local food activist Mark Ritchie reminds us how food that is locally grown can be fresher, tastier and cheaper than food grown half a continent away. When we support local agriculture, we eat seasonally, when food is at its prime for taste and nutrition. When we eat locally, more of the money stays with the farmer by eliminating the middle man, we invest in our own community. When we eat locally we reduce the use of fossil fuels to transport food from around the country or around the world.⁴ By buying locally, we know what environmental and labor standards and legislation apply, and can use our local political processes to ensure justice in the system. Next time you are shopping at your local farmer's market or being part of a Community Supported Agriculture "box" program, remember that this is political action. But more, let the acorn squash remind you that fall is here, that the same cold and rain that you are noticing, has touched the vegetables you bring home for dinner.

The next important value is sustainability, the ultimate ecological goal. As long as we use paper, companies like Weyerhaeuser will be motivated to log forests around the world. But we can ask them to log in a way that forests remain forests, and that the species of plants and animals who inhabit them will not be wiped out in one generation to support our habit. At the same time we can use less paper, recycle the paper we use, and purchase paper and paper products made from the paper we recycle. We CAN find ways to meet our human needs in that are more sympathetic to our eco-system. DesignTex has created an upholstery fabric that can safely biodegrade, "A gorgeous, affordable fabric that will one day be mulch for the local garden club," and a manufacturing process that filters the water coming out of the factory.⁵ McDonough and Braungart give us hope that just as the leaves that fall from the tree in my yard are composted and returned to nourish the soil that feeds the tree, "Synthetic materials, chemicals, metals, and durable goods are part of the technical metabolism; they can be designed to circulate within closed-loop cycles, in effect, providing 'food' for the technosphere."⁶

In the rush of the technological revolution, most computers have been designed to be disposable. When we talk about "recycling" computers, we are actually talking about removing some copper and other components, and disposing of the rest in landfills of mostly 3^rd world countries. How could we change the design paradigm so that components could be upgraded and reused? Major carpet companies like Interface, are creating carpet designed for reclamation. They lease the carpet instead of selling it, with the expectation that customers could return the raw material to the company to be made into new cloth. This is a real example of creating a closed loop in the technological world, as in the biosphere.

The best part of the environmental movement is that we all are already a part of it. Every time we start a car or buy a tomato or a t-shirt, we make choices which contribute to the future of our earth. While environmental lobbying and political action continues to need the attention of those who are at the table in Sacramento or Washington DC, this kind of activism is accessible to all of us as part the daily-ness of our lives. I know from my own experience that it is easy to become overwhelmed thinking about the gas I use to drive to work each day, the chemicals I use to wash my clothes, the plastic toys I buy for my son that are wrapped in almost as much material as the toy itself uses. The only way I can keep overwhelm at bay, is to remember that change happens slowly, and my part is to do the things I can do, a little at a time.

The key to this work is sustainability- creating long term change. Think in terms of evolving our habits through consistent intention: individual habits, the habits of our communities, the habits of our companies. For example, our church is working to change to recycled paper, but this requires research, it requires education of those involved, and it requires a commitment to change our habits. Take one small habit, something in your life that feels out of harmony with the earth. What steps could you take as you live your daily life to make a change that grows in impact over all the years you live your healthy habits? A paper recycling bin at your workstation could be part of a change that influences your whole department. A composter in your back yard helps your children and family learn about the slow vital process of turning waste into nutrients. When you renovate your home, or work on a product design for your employer, allow your love for the earth to show in the choices you make.

Finally I want to posit that earth justice does not need to compete with the other calls for justice you feel in your own life. The health of the planet functions on a slow time clock. It often seems like we must choose between stopping a war, which is urgent and important, or our work for marriage equity, which has pending legislation and lawsuits that will be resolved long before the wounds in the earth could be healed, long before the slow sicknesses of the earth will impact our daily lives in a definitive way. But one has only to think of the naked hills of Haiti, or our national hunger for oil to realize that economic and political actions impact the earth, and the sickness of the earth has an economic impact on the people who depend on her to live. This movement is interwoven inextricably with the rights of people around the world to work in a safe environment, and to make a living wage. While you are making sure the guy you want gets into the whitehouse, remember to ask whether the fliers you distribute are printed on unbleached recycled paper, and whether the inks biodegrade.

Since we were little children we heard the phrase "mother nature." In Greek Mythology Gaia is the goddess of earth, and in contemporary scientific language, Gaia is sometimes the name for our precious biosphere, that gives life to us all. When I remember the marigolds in my backyard, the falling leaves, the pouring rain, I also remember we can never be truly separate from our earth so I try to care for her as I care for my own body. Let us work to restore harmony between our busy human enterprises, and the slow geologic time of stones, of giant sequoias, of species evolving over millennia. Remember the values our mother teaches us: abundance, sustainability, the gifts of our unique locality, and building the reality we want to see. Remember to stand on this land, to watch the vines grow, and creation unfolding. Listen for the rhythm of hummingbirds and mountains, that the changing rhythms of humanity may find that same beet. Remember to love the earth your mother, and to live that love each day.

Footnotes:
1. Shel Silverstein "Forgotten Language" from Where the Sidewalk Ends New York: Harper and Row, 1974. p. 149.
2.William McDonough and Michael Braungart "The Extravagant Gesture: Nature, Design, and the transformation of Human Industry" in Sustainable Planet: Solutions for the Twenty-first Century Juliet Schor ed. Boston: Beacon Press, 2002.
3. Ibid p. 24
4. Mark Ritchie "Be a Local Hero: Strengthening Our communities, Health, and Envirnment by Eating Local" p. 93
5. McDonough and Braungart, p. 20
6. McDonough and Braungart, p. 17

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