The term "Sustainability" is in the forefront a lot these days. According to the American Collegiate Dictionary, Sustainability means: To keep in existence; to maintain; to supply the necessities and nourishment; to support from below/keep from falling; to endure or withstand; sustenance: the supporting of life and health.

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I have a four year old grandson, and I find myself pondering the condition the earth; our beloved planet, will be in when he has lived well into adulthood. Will there be clean water for him to drink, or clean air to breathe or food to eat. Will the majesty and supreme beauty that I have always had the privilege to enjoy, still be accessible, or exist at all? 

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The population has inflated disproportionately and the masses go on consuming our sacred natural resources as if there is an endless supply, often damaging the Earth's healthy surface in the process.

 

Presently; I assess my own contribution to this process. I have recycled for decades, but in truth am not sure; at this point, where these products actually go, or if they actually are recycled; with the exception of Styrofoam and cardboard which are done here locally. I believe that reducing is far more crucial and consider each purchase with scrutiny. Do I actually need this? What is it made of? Where was it made? 

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I wear only used clothing, and I believe there are enough clothes already made in the world today to clothe humankind for decades. I do buy new underwear (not including socks, which are bought second hand). I mend my clothes and socks and keep them as long as possible. 

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I don't buy single use bottles, or aluminum cans. I try to keep commercially produced canned goods to a minimum. I also shop from local farmers at the Farmer's Market.

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Yet; what am I really doing? I grow fruit which; for a few years now, is available to me year round. So, if I were to be without other food, I still would have sustenance of that kind. I have several fruit trees, berry bushes and strawberries. I dry, freeze and can these, as well as juicing. I also grow my "Water and Dirt" (TM) garden only using compost and manure that is my own or found locally. 

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My house is heated with wood, and there is a creek of fresh water that meanders down the property line of my land; this acre and a half of fertile land, which was purchased with these as stipulations. The house faces to the south, allowing the sun to help heat passively all winter. 

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I make and distribute up-cycled groceries bags from old shirts and second hand cloth. I am now selling glass straws as well and will soon have reusable bags for vegetables available. 

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My waste comes out to about 1/2 of a truck load to the dump per year. I am trying to get that to decrease even further this year. ​I have read of a woman in New York City who claims to have zero waste. ​I have read of a woman in New York City who claims to have zero waste.

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As was mentioned in the opening statement, there is something new I can do each day to better honor and reduce my footprint on this planet, and try to be a participant in the greater good. We must all do what we can!

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(I have spoken myself in this post, but more will come about the intentions and actions being taken by others)

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Our Sacred Water

 

When I bought the little piece of land I am now happy to steward, one of a few primary stipulations for what I was seeking was clean surface water. So, I have lived 30 years, and raised my children on a creek that runs year round and brings the trust that this vein of our Earth’s life force is always flowing.

 

Water is the foundation, and the makeup of our lives. The human body is 60% water, our amazing planet is 71% water and the air that we breathe contains water vapor, which can be as high as 4%. We only survive in this environment because of water. We must drink water for our bodies subsist, and thrive. It takes water to grow the fruit and vegetables we eat, and to sustain life in the animals that meat eaters consume; live game or domestic. The fish that are depended on, live in the water ways, lakes and seas.

 

So, it is to water that we turn to live. Our Earth provides this sacred elixir as one of its endless gifts to our species and to All My Relations. (Native American expression meaning: we are all related) Often I ponder the enormity of the gifts that we receive from our planet, and am awed and honored that I am able to receive this revered gift I so cherish. Here; where we live, the water we use in the house comes from a well. It comes out of the ground cold, and clear and tastes sweet. This water satisfies my thirst like no other.

 

Not only do we drink and cook with this water, we use it to clean, in the septic system to dissolve, and as a conduit, and we use it, and count on it to water the trees and plants that bless our world, both inside and out.

 

On a world scale humankind has been counting on our waterways; without hesitation, for centuries, depending on them for transportation, and recreation; as well as for nourishment. Our oceans and seas; as well, have been accordant to human use throughout our time here. It has been assumed that these great and small bodies of water will always be there and amicable to human use.

 

It is with this in mind that I contemplate the many ways people have less than revered, less than cherished, but rather taken for granted our life source, our world’s H2O (the water molecule contains 2 atoms of Hydrogen and 1 atom of Oxygen). Can we as a force, as all of humankind, reverse the damage that has been done to this revered and essential sustenance, and begin to see all the fundamental endowments pouring forth from our earth’s magnanimous abundance.

                                               

A person said to me recently, that in our little corner of the world, it is really not necessary to conserve, as we have plenty of clean water. I believe that preserving, and conserving begins with each of us, in every location, at every moment, and in all possible ways. We can be part of the solution or part of the problem. It is a choice we must ALL make.

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