“…so when can we expect the beautiful “green revolution”? When will the people wake up? And stop saying it is a question of finance, because that’s false, it’s just a question of organisation. Sure, it’s not going to be perfect right away, but honestly, it would be more effective than complaining, bitching and blaming others…”
words written in French by Julie Descamps, unofficially translated by Natacha Neveu for The Sorting House.
In such an overstimulated society, we often search for constant distraction. Spending our time and energy on the consumption of things that are ultimately destroying us, and our home.
We have lost the simple pleasure of feeling the wind in our hair and the sun on our skin. We are ignorant to the wonders that exist underwater, deaf to the birds fussing in the branches and blind to the beauty nature offers us every day for free.
Take some time to be with yourself in nature, no distractions.
“…fear not the unknown, for today was the future only a moment ago.”
Eighteen thousand discoveries of new aquatic species in one year!
According to the GoodPlanet Foundation,
“In 2011 we discovered almost 18,000 new species across the world: sharks, turtles, multicoloured sea slugs”
Check out @theeyeofthediver for some amazing macro shots of incredible sea slugs and other sea life in the Mediterranean.
We must do everything we can to protect this life, discovered or not, and our oceans from further pollution. We can create less waste, eat less *intensively produced* meat and meat substitutes, stop eating fish that hasn’t been caught by our own efforts, buy everything locally, find a passion for upcycling and second-life-ing, and educate ourselves on why the oceans and all their mysteries are important to our lives. We will only thrive, evolve further and discover deeper truths about our origins in doing so.
For without this underwater life we would have no air to breathe, no temperature regulation, no healthy seafood to eat, no greenery and no overground life. The ocean holds the key to so many of our questions and problems.
The ocean is our lifeblood. We must keep it clean, biodiverse, thriving and healthy if we are to continue humanity in comfort. Strive to reconnect with that which makes our lives possible, evolve consciousness to see beauty instead of fear, indifference or annoyance and judgement.
We are nature, to do anything other than protect it would be to deny and destroy our true selves.
A good balloon is a balloon that doesn’t exist. Manufacturers are yet to develop a balloon that doesn’t wreak havoc when it is disposed of or lost accidentally.
Even the new “biodegradable” ones are dangerous, they do NOT decompose naturally, and they DO go on to pollute our environment, drinking water and food for years.
Call me crazy, but I’m not sure that the few moments of perceived enjoyment a piece of plastic with old gas in it can bring, is worth the lifetimes of consequences on our future.
Enough is enough, it needs to stop. Even if we ended production, selling and buying balloons today, we would still have the results of decades of balloons and their purposeful and accidental releases in our environment. An immediate stop in production will allow us to eradicate what is still in nature, so that it may establish the necessary balance once again, and nature (that humans are dependant on) can continue to thrive.
You might be thinking there’s no harm done for one little party, you love nature and are respectful, you always throw your rubbish away properly, and would never release balloons accidentally or on purpose. Yet it is already well documented how our governments and local authorities are mismanaging our waste.
We must therefore avoid creating more waste in the first place. It’s the only way to really make a personal difference. If you don’t buy it, they won’t keep making so much of it. At least not in the same way. Change is possible only if we demand it. We create change, not the other way around. It’s us the leaders, and we have the buying power to shape this commercial world. The ball is in our court.
So take responsibility for the place you occupy in the world, and be proud of what you leave behind. Decorations for parties don’t have to be “boring” without balloons. Love is not a disposable piece of plastic. The internet is an amazing resource, hello Pinterest, use it for low-waste party ideas!
Search #ZEROWASTE alternatives, get your family, kids and friends involved, recycle old decorations, upcycle old household items, get unified and get creative!
The only limitation you have is your own imagination. 🙃
“There is an incredibly high social pressure within our collective conscience (to have certified qualifications, own an apartment, get a car, married by 30, make babies, buy a house, make a decent salary…).
We are made to believe that this is the best life. It’s an ideology, that of money. We talk constantly about the economy. However, in my opinion, what we call “economy” is legal predation. To make money, we destroy life.
Whether it is the whales, elephants or forests, it is all pseudo-economy. Humans are the only species playing a false note in the symphony of nature. Once we have squandered everything, polluted everything, degraded everything, we will realise that money cannot be eaten.
Certain people say that our overconsumption is due to the laws of survival of the fittest, the rules of the jungle. Yet if I was an animal, I’d be pretty pissed off at being compared to humans, as every other species functions in harmony with the rest.
A lion doesn’t stockpile antelope to sell to his mates. The lion takes just what he needs and doesn’t trouble nature’s symphony. Mankind accumulates, wastes, and is even taught that’s where happiness resides.”
* The story about this picture can be found at the end of the post.
The first time I donned a wetsuit in my life was in Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It was the morning of my first ever diving lesson to become a certified SSI Open Water Diver. I’d never tried scuba diving before and it had been years since I’d even snorkelled. Obviously, I was pretty apprehensive prior to jumping feet first to get licensed in the big blue at 20 metres depth (65 ft -ish).
Sure I was scared, but that wasn’t going to stop me. Amazed by the energy of the sea after growing up on the coast, I’ve always felt the call to go deeper. We may have once emerged from the primordial waters of our planet but the world that exists just under the surface has become completely unnatural for humans. Exploring this vast watery universe in some way with scuba diving had been something that intrigued me since a young age, so why would I stand in my own way?
Trees are actually linked to each other via an underground ‘web’ connection. A connection that is facilitated by their root systems and bacteria that lives within the ground, creating the original ‘worldwide web’ in natural symbiosis.
This connection allows both trees and fungi to benefit, assuring the right balance of nutrients for them to both thrive but also providing them with the ability to communicate, exchange and protect each other across great distances.
We obviously know the basics about why trees are important to our lives, they provide an atmosphere we can breathe and thrive in. We use them for heat, energy and to write on, but there is actually so much more to know about how impressive they are. Especially when grouped into communities free of human intervention, like forests.
According to dominant scientific theories, all of life on this planet originates from the oceans. The official history of aquatic evolution is so much richer than that which has developed on solid ground.
That head start of billions of years in the evolutionary process means that almost every single branch of the tree of life is represented. Some branches even exist exclusively underwater.
With so much of the planet covered in water, it isn’t surprising that scientists make new discoveries every day. At times in shapes, types and forms we couldn’t even fathom existing on our planet.
We know the surface of the moon better than we do the ocean floor.
Spending more time discovering our planet’s oceans is essential if we are to understand anything. After all, the majority of the air we breathe and the climate we live in is regulated in large parts by the ocean. Finding an appreciation for something so vital to our lives is important, for our own wellbeing, but also for that of the planet.
