Compiled by Julie Boyd
The earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man did not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. Chief Seattle
A frog does not drink up the pond in which he lives (Indian proverb)
Native American Principles for Living
Treat the Earth and all that dwell thereon with respect, Remain close to the Great Spirit, Show great respect for your fellow beings, Work together for the benefit of all mankind, Give assistance and kindness whenever needed, Do what you know is right,
Look after the well-being of mind and body, Dedicate a share of your efforts to the greater good, Be truthful and honest at all times, Take full responsibility for your actions.
We need to look at earth as a tiny garden in space
We live in delicious uncertainty
All of life is a dance of conversation and commitment
The strength of relationship lies in mutual vulnerability
There is one thing stronger than all the armies in the world, and that is an idea whose time has come. Victor Hugo
We are basing learning on defect not effect
Cooperation is the most common affiliation in natural systems Bob Samples
The question is being asked: We need to all help create a better world. If not you then who? If not now then when? Tracey Chapman
Generous people are intentional in living out what they know is true: the interdependent web of life is created and sustained by intimate operations of generosity. Noone has existence except by the mercy of a generous universe. I cannot live without the sun, the air, or the leafy trees, or without the generation of human beings who came before. To be is to be given and to give. To give is to be part of the ongoing creation of life. Dr Rebecca Parker.
'Connect people to their passion. Some people love trees, some love mountains and some love children. Whatever you love... think of that and begin to work to ensure its healthy future. Buckminster Fuller
In science and in faith a new holism is in trying to understand the human person
We human beings are related in a web of life to 10 million other living species
Looking at the earth from afar you realise that it is too small for conflict and jus big enough for cooperation Yuri Gagurin(1st human in space)
Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts... There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter. Rachel Carson
If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder, (he) needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with (him) the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in. Rachel Carson
We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see the land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect... That land is a community is the basic concept of ecology, but that the land is to be loved and respected is an extension of ethics. Aldo Leopold
If we can revise our attitude to the land under our feet If we can accept a role of steward and depart from the role of conqueror If we can accept the view that man and nature are inseparable parts of the unified whole ‌ then Tasmania will be a shining beacon in a dull, uniform and largely artificial world Olegas Truchanas 1971
Let there be no mistake about it: if the general public accepts the pretext of "civilisation" in all good faith, there are some for whom it amounts to no more than mere economic hypocrisy, a cloak for their designs of conquest and economic civilisation; but what strange times indeed, when so many men allow themselves to be persuaded that they are making a people happy by reducing them to subjection, by robbing them of what is most precious in their eyes, namely their own civilization, by compelling them to adopt customs and institutions which were intended for another race, and by coercing them into assuming the most
distasteful occupations in order that they my perforce come to acquire things for which they have not the slightest use! That however is the position today: the modern West cannot tolerate the idea that men should prefer to work less and be content to live on little; as quantity alone counts, and as everything that eludes the grasp of the senses is held moreover to be non-existent, it is taken for granted that anyone not producing material things must be an "idler". Rene Guenon The Crisis of Modern World, Luzac
Our main purpose in life is to dialogue with the self-empowering qualities of principal ideas which were instilled in us and in the physical beauty of the earth. Joseph Rael
If we can name, or identify our world, we know better how to fit in harmony with it. Joseph Rael
Ground Rules for Staying Balanced
Show Up, and be present Pay Attention to that which has heart and meaning for you Tell the Truth, without blame or judgment Let go; be open to outcome, but not attached to a certain outcome.
Native Wisdom:
1. All of Nature is inherently holy 2. Deep sense of reverence for Nature 2. Spirit is dispersed throughout cosmos--not in one Supreme Being 4. Humans have enormous responsibility for sustaining harmonious relations within the natural world 5. Maintaining balance and health of natural world is a spiritual duty individuals must perform daily
6. Need for reciprocity---expressing gratitude and making sacrifices routinely to the natural world in return for its benefits 7. Honour Nature routinely 8. View wisdom and environment ethics in the very structure and organization of the natural world 9. View Universe as dynamic interplay of elusive and ever-changing natural forces (not static physical objects) 10. Sees natural world as alive and animated by single, unifying force
11. Views time as circular 12. Knows that Nature will always possess mysteries 13. Views human thought, feelings and communication as intertwined with events and processes in the Universe 14. Emphasize celebration of and participation in orderly designs of Nature 15. Most esteemed people are those who have reconciled inner and outer knowledge
16. Sense empathy and kinship with other forms of life 17. View the proper human relationship with Nature as a continuous dialogue.
THE TWELVE SACRED LAWS
from Shamanic Experience by Kenneth Meadows
Law 1: Everything is an inseparable part of the Whole Law 2: The universe is the sacred expression of the Will and Mind of the Source and has been created with Love and ensouled with Life Law 3: Everything is characterized energy and is inter-changeable to anything else. So mind/matter/spirit are but different levels of the same energy
Law 4: All energy in motion follows the Law of Harmonics: it will achieve maximum efficiency with minimum effort, and returns ultimately to its source Law 5: All things in the universe have life, but they experience it in different ways. Nothing is truly 'dead' because there is no such thing as nomotion. Law 6: Everything is made up of the same primary elements and receives the same energies, but individual 'beings' organize themselves differently for they each seek to express an idea in the mind of the Great Spirit in a special way.
Everything thus evolves within the law of its own being Law 7: Everything evolves by continually seeking harmony and balance with everything else Law 8: The only constant is the universe is change Law 9: Everything is completely and intimately linked to everything else, and all are subject to the sacred laws Law 10: Everything is born of woman. Everything comes into existence through the feminine principle
Law 11: Nothing must be done to harm the children, for eternal life is through the children Law 12: Circular motion is the law of everything. Lineation is an illusion. Absolute beginnings and endings do not exist because there are no true beginnings
*Honor four directions--Male, Future (Youth), Female and Past (Traditions) when making decisions
The means are the ends in the making. Gandhi
An environmentalist lives in a world of wounds. Aldo Leopold
There is really no alternative to the patient and persistent dialogue with fellow Earth travellers. None of us gets to ecotopia alone. We all go or no one goes. That's the law. Lorraine Anderson
Interconnectedness and inherent values..."a thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise." Aldo Leopold
Paradox: We live in a postmodern world, where almost everything is possible and almost nothing is certain. Vaclav Havel, former President of Czech Republic
Individual cultures, increasingly lumped together by contemporary civilization, are realizing with new urgency their own inner autonomy and the inner differences of others. The abyss between rational and the spiritual, the external and the internal, the objective and the subjective, the technical and the moral, the universal and the unique, constantly grows deeper.
How do we ensure the survival of a civilization that is global and at the same time clearly multicultural? ... the central political task of this century, then, is the creation of a new model of coexistence among the various cultures, peoples, races, and religious spheres within a single interconnected civilization. To do this must see a common set of values and principles... leading this is new science...
1. Anthropic Cosmological Principle:
"we are mysteriously connected to the entire universe, we are mirrored in it, just as the entire evolution of the universe is mirrored in us"...science itself is now on the border between science and myth, between formula and story. 2. Gaia Hypothesis:
"the dense network of mutual interaction between the organic and inorganic portions of the earth's surface form a single system, a kind of meta-organism, a living planet-Earth/Gaia; we are all parts of a greater whole; our destiny is
not dependent merely on what we do for ourselves, but also on what we do for Gaia as a whole. If we endanger her, she will dispense with us in the interests of a higher value-life itself" We may reiterate a thousand times that the basis of the new world order must be universal respect for human rights, but it will mean nothing as long as this imperative does not derive from the respect of the miracle of being, the miracle of the universe, the miracle of Nature, the miracle of our own existence.
It logically follows that, in today's multicultural world, the truly reliable path to coexistence, to peaceful coexistence and creative cooperation, must start from what is the root of all cultures and what lies infinitely deeper in human hearts and minds than political opinions, convictions--it must be rooted in self-transcendence: -Transcendence as a hand reached out to those close to us, to foreigners, to the human community, to all living creatures, to nature, to the universe. -Transcendence as a deeply and joyously experienced need to be in harmony even with what we ourselves
are not, what we do not understand, what seems distant from us in time and space, but with which we are nevertheless mysteriously linked because, together with us, all this constitutes a single world. -Transcendence as the only real alternative to extinction. It is the belief of our people that all elements of the Natural World were created for the benefit of all living things Segwalise, Iroquois
"Ecology teaches us that humankind is not the centre of life on the planet. Ecology has taught us that the whole earth is part of our "body' and that we must learn to respect it as we respect ourselves. As we feel for ourselves, we must feel for all forms of life--the whales, the seals, the forest, the seas. The tremendous beauty of ecological thought is that it shows us a pathway back to an understanding and an appreciation of life itself--an understanding and appreciation that is imperative to that very way of life. Greenpeace
Wilderness holds the answers to questions we have not yet learned how to ask. Nancy Newhall
In the diminutive rhythms of a fern frond, the annual pulse beat of the flame tree flowering in its blood-red glory, in the cycles within cycles of water and air on their journeys without beginning or end, in the well-ordered food chains and the percission of days and seasons, there is a harmony in which the only discord is man. Tony Groom
Never a day passes but that I do myself the honour to commune with some of nature's varied forms. George Washington Carver
Everything in wild nature fits into us, as if truly part and parent of us. The sun shines not on us, but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us, thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fibre and cell of the substance of our bodies, making them glide and sing. John Muir
The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationship, their oneness, with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the centre of the universe dwells the great spirit and that this centre is really everywhere, it is within each of us. Black Bear of the Sioux
Sowing the seed, my hand is one with the earth. Wanting the seed to grow, my mind is one with the light. Hoeing the crop, my hands are one with the rains. Having cared for the plants, my mind is one with the air. Hungry and trusting, my mind is one with the Earth. Eating the fruit, my body is one with the Earth. Wendell Berry
Nature has set no terms to the perfection of human faculties; the perfectability of man is truly indefinite; the progress of this perfectibility from now onwards independent of any power that might wish to halt it, has no other limits than the duration of the globe upon which nature has cast us. This progress will undoubtably vary in speed, but it will never be reversed.
A living organism's tendency towards self-maintenance while remaining interdependent with its environment is called holonomy. Holonomy is, as well, a dynamic resource for systemic renewal and the development of organizational and individual competencies.
One way we blind ourselves to the riches of the SW is by imposing a single vision upon the land. It is an arrogance to presume that one way of looking at this area is better than another. Whatever personal vision we have of the area, we ought to be humble about it. Perhaps we ought recognise that all visions have their limitations and tell us more about the world in which they were made than they do about the places they seek to describe from the convict administrator's vision of the environment as an evil goaler to the Greenie's vision of the SW as the opposite of their lives in the suburbs. It is for you to decide how you will relate to this land, and the one you
come from, in the future. You may ruin it, respect it, or simply revel in its unfolding mysteries. At the end of the day, it is not a story about nature versus man as a story about people. It is whether we can learn from the past to ensure that we, and all the different species that make up this earth, have a future. Strahan Visitor Centre Wall
If we can revise our attitudes to the land under our feet; If we can accept a role of steward and depart from the role of conqueror, If we can accept that view that man and nature are inseparable part of the unified whole, Then Tasmania can be a shining beacon in a dull, uniform and largely artificial world. Olegas Truchanas, 1975
There's just the trees and rocks and ground With maybe a creek bubbling down The grass and flowers, the sky and clouds And sometimes the spirits in darkish shrouds. A sacred place of all our ways Of all our spirits at this one place. Yet over there, not far from here, And even further in this sphere, Are other sites our spirits dwell For all time our people's will. But those who are not of our kind Who drain our knowledge with white minds And take it all and give back nought Yet call themselves the expert taught Are thieves who take a heritage, ours,
And twist it so we lose our powers. So onward comes the desecration Ruining the churches of our nation. For to the whites they are a resource With no spiritual sacred source. But to us they're trees, rocks and ground. With maybe a creek bubbling down The grass and the flowers, the sky and the clouds, And sometimes the spirits in darkish shrouds. Jim Everett
There is no improvement on the Hopi way as an ethic of life; it cannot be improved upon. Take care of Mother Earth and it will take care of you and your brother; take what you need, but not more than what you need; share what you have. Give thanks to the spiritual source of the Universe. The first day or so we all pointed to our countries. The third and fourth days, we were pointing to our continents. By the fifth day, we were aware of only one earth. Sultan Bin Salmon al-Saud in The Home Plane
NATURE:
When stuck, stop! Harvest as time to stop, reap benefits of endeavor; celebrate! Pause in your growth; rest and simply plant new seeds; counsel with ourselves. As I watch my own little boy picking up leaves/carrying and perusing a gumnut or gently rolling a seedpod in his fingers for long periods of time, I begin to understand that for him this world is full of wonder and enchantment. He has respect for what he holds in his hand. It is he who will give back some of this enchantment if we can nurture his curiosity and care in his early years. Pauline Butler — Parent
To act, we must first understand the issues, learn what effect our daily lives have on the environment, then find ways to lessen the impact. Metzger and Whittaker, 1991
If you were able to minimise your plastic container purchases by simple steps such as buying cooking oils, mineral water and soft drinks in recyclable glass bottles and butter and cheese wrapped in greaseproof paper from a local delicatessen you could probably cut your household's nonrecyclable, non-biodegradable waste output by more than half. Gell and Beeby, 1989
Ask yourself if an electrical appliance is absolutely necessary. A reduction in electricity consumption means a reduction in fossil fuel burning which is one of the main contributors to the Greenhouse Effect. Gell and Beeby, 1989
What we need to do is have a shift in the way we live which sees, first and foremost, that in order for us to have a long horizon of survival we must do everything we can to preserve the air, water and soil. That is the capital, if we want to use an economic term on which all life depends‌ We are eating our capital up. We should revert to a state where we live only on the interest and we should be trying to build up the capital. If you put that as you major priority, you cannot do business the same way after that, you have to go through a fundamental shift in the way we live. Dr David Suzuki
‌even if only a small proportion of the five million homes in Australia had gardens planted with a mixture of native trees, flowers and bushes to provide natural food sources for our native wildlife, an enormous amount of semi-natural bushland habitat would be created. Gell and Beeby, 1989
The loss of trees not only has a detrimental effect on native birds, insects, mammals and reptiles but also lowers farm efficiency‌the benefits of encouraging native wildlife back to the farm by a program of tree planting goes beyond simple environmental altruism. Gell and Beeby, 1989
It takes 17 trees to make one tonne of paper, depending on what newspapers you read you could be using up to one tree every 10 or 12 weeks‌week, after week, after week‌ Lamb, 1990
You can do something to bring this back from disaster, and it would be very sad if we just washed our hands and said, 'That's a desert and that's the end of it'. Dr David Attenborough
Poverty is the major cause of environmental problems. It is therefore futile to deal with environmental problems without a broader perspective that encompasses the factors underlying world poverty and international equality. (G.H. Brundtland, World Commission on Environment and Development)
Agriculture is a process for capturing sunlight and carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to make food‌ we've pumped vast amounts of oil into our agriculture. We've used oil to make fertiliser. We've use oil to power our tractors. We've used oil to transport produce over vast areas. So agriculture as we practise it has effectively become a way of turning oil into food. This is not a sustainable practice. In the long run we have to find much more sustainable ways of producing food if we are to have an environment which continues stably into the future. Professor Jim Falk, University of Wollongong
‌unless far-reaching social and economic reforms are put in place and individual attitudes changed, environmental awareness may become just another passing fad. Gell and Beeby, 1989
Don't underestimate your power. Don't say, "What can I really accomplish? I'm just one person. I can't change the world alone", because you can if fact. Elkington and Hailes, 1989
And for those who still shudder at the Earth's problems, feel helpless and worse, useless - here is a little philosophy to help ward off the chaos. If it doesn't matter, and you live as if it does, it won't matter. But if it does matter, and you live assuming it doesn't, then it does matter, greatly. This much is self-evident: the future is in our hands. The purpose of our lives is what we make it. Bob Brown MLA, Tasmania
How can you save the world if you can't keep your kitchen. Zen saying
There are two levels on which one can operate: one's own personal level in which in your personal habits you are not wasteful and care for the environment, and, fundamentally the very big questions which can be tackled by governments internationally. In those areas where democracy works, the population tells the government: 'We need to know what your plans are about conservation', and governments now, all around the world, are actually having to acknowledge that. In that there is some hope. Dr David Attenborough
In many respects change is really an abstraction; it takes on personal meaning only when we can link it to specific examples that have some relevance. By definition, change is any significant alteration in the status quo that affects an individual or organization. Perhaps the most grave mistake‌is to view change as a single event. To the contrary, change takes time and effort to enact. Change should really be thought of as evolutionary. Bloom et al, 1991
Establishing a collaborative work environment involves structuring specific workplace conditions that support co-operative relationships. The process is achieved by developing goal consensus and supporting opportunities for shared decisionmaking. These elements enable teachers to reduce resistance and see the change process as their own. Bloom et al, 1991
‌[the] message is simple and positive; we can all do something about protecting our environment and we can start by changing our lifestyles. By becoming more environmentally responsible at home [and at work] you will be taking that important first step in trying to achieve a better and more ecologically sustainable future for ourselves and our children. Phillip Toyne, Director, Australian Conservation Foundation: Special Introduction to The Green Cleaner by Barbara Lord, 1989
According to the Victorian Environment Protection authority, government offices in Victoria alone use 1500 tonnes of photocopy paper, 3 million manila folders, 56 million sheets of computer paper and 15 million envelopes annually. Lord, 1990
Today's ecoeconomists are suggesting that we look at the entire life cycle of a product before determining whether it is, in fact, a worthwhile choice. [For example] A paper cup is made from a tree - possibly a severalhundred-year-old tree. A fossil fuel is burned to manufacture and package this bleached paper cup, which is then glued with vinyl acetate and colored with a cadium ink. More fossil fuels are burned to deliver this cup to market. You drive your car to the market to purchase the cup. You use it once, then dispose of it. It enters a landfill or is burned. Waste all the
way around, and all so that you could have the "convenience" of disposing of a paper cup. Metzger and Whittaker, 1991
Improved efficiency of energy use is the immediate key to reducing global CO2 emissions. Heating, cooling and lighting of buildings produces 17% of current worldwide carbon emissions and new buildings today often use 75 per cent less energy than their earlier counterparts. The replacement of 75 watt incandescent light bulbs with longer-lasting fluorescent strip lights
prevents the burning of 180 kilograms of carbon over their lifetime. (Elkington and Hailes, 1989, p. 32)
Planting a garden is beneficial to both you and the environment. Trees are not the only forms of vegetation that absorb carbon dioxide. Your garden, whether it consists of vegetables, shrubs, or flowers, will do the same. In addition, organically grown vegetables require no chemicals and no energy-consuming transportation to reach a market. But by far the best reason for growing you own organic produce is the wonderfully fresh flavours these fruits and vegetables possess. They taste the way fruit and vegetables were meant to taste. Metzger and Whittaker, 1991
An integrated approach to environmental education begins with policy development and extends to cover all aspects of the operation of an early childhood centre from adults modelling environmentally responsible attitudes to the type of cleaning agents used. Elliott, 1992
The cocktail of chemicals in the average home affects all of us to some degree - it is not a matter of who is sensitive but how sensitive each person is to these chemicals. Samways, 1991
Children are active people, continually seeking to learn more about their world and how to function within it. This process involves curiosity, trust, and a desire to learn. Much of the current research in early childhood education suggests that children's basic attitudes toward life, their approach to new experiences, adn their feelings about themselves and others are established in the first few years of life. It is safe to assume that their attitudes toward the environment are forming then as well. What better gift can we as parents and teachers give this precarious earth than a generation of children who have
learned to know and love the natural world? Many of us admire a brilliant sunset, a breathtaking mountain vista, or a lovely array of spring flowers, and that is important. But it is even more important, in our opinion, to have people who, in addition to seeing the beauty, can value and care for all aspects of the environment. The world needs people who may not necessarily love snakes, but who appreciate the role they play in the environment. It needs people who understand the need for worms, dead trees, and marshes. Rockwell et al, 1986
A playground should be like a small scale replica of the world, with as many as possible of the sensory experiences to be found in the world included in it. Experiences for every sense are needed, for instance: rough and smooth object to look at and feel; light and heavy things to pick up; water and wet materials as well as dry things; cool materials and materials warmed by the sun; soft and hard surfaces; things that make sounds, (running water); or that can be struck, plucked, plinked, etc; smells of all varieties, (flowers, bark, mud); shiny, bright objects and dull, dark ones; things both huge and tiny, high and low places to look at and from; materials of every type, natural,
synthetic, thin, thick, and so on. The list is inexhaustible, and the larger the number of items that are included, the richer and more varied the environment for the child. Dattner, 1969
Children need to have an opportunity to directly experience various elements of their natural environment. Looking after animals, growing plants in various condition, experimenting with water and air, collecting rocks and exploring various soils will help children understand what natural environment consists of and how its elements influence each other. They will also help to develop children's positive attitude towards appreciation for the natural environment. Targowska, 1991
Children's development and learning does not only happen when they are indoors. Rather, it happens as children are actively involved in developmentally appropriate experiences which not only interest them, but which also provide them with the stimulation and challenge they need. Sebastian-Nickell and Milne
The protection of the environment and the development of a sustainable society are crucial to the continuation of human life on Earth. Early childhood centres have a role to play to ensure that our children inherit a habitable planet and are equipped to contribute to the maintenance of it. Elliott and Emmett, 1991
If you take a child-centred approach to play, as we do here, then play material for young children needs to be flexible so that children can use it in a variety of ways and will be challenged to do so. Sebastian-Nickell and Milne, 1992
Today's age of the throw-away disposable product has provided a valuable resource for those with imagination and a creative urge. In essence, someone's junk can be someone else's inspiration. Graham, 1984, jacket cover)
Regardless of time and place, human beings cherish a common desire for happiness and a wish to avert suffering. From the very core of our being we yearn for contentment. In my own limited experience, the source of all happiness is love and compassion, a sense of kindness and warmheartedness toward others. Our world is rich in traditions possessing methods for developing these qualities. Lately, people seeking such methods have turned to communities that, living in harmony with nature, retain a strong commitment to cultivating the inner environment. The Tibetans and the Navajo Indians of North America are such people. Peter Gold describes and compares many aspects of Navajo and Tibetan
practice, highlighting the humanitarian principles on which they are based. The similarity of ideas, symbols, and practices between two cultures geographically so far apart is very interesting. But what I feel this comparison most importantly reflects is the fundamental goodness of the human heart. The Dalai Lama
Ask any Tibetan or traditional Navajo about one's place in the scheme of things, and the answer will inevitably be that we must act, speak, and think respectfully and reasonably toward others....When one lives with Tibetans and Navajo Indians for extended periods, one notices these positive qualities very clearly in them. The personalities of both exude reasonability and measured and thoughtful consideration toward others. True understanding of one's connection with the scheme of things inevitably yields such qualities. Navajo chanter: We call upon these directional powers for protection: Bear, Lightening, Snake and Big Wind.’
Tibetan Lama: “In our protection ceremony we call upon the protectors of the four directions as well.” Navajo chanter: ‘Maybe we should ‘team up’. I respect the same things he respects.” Excerpt from a meeting in Santa Fe, New Mexico, September
The Anglo way of life is that of an industrialized society. It is very, very competitive.‌ A white man easily becomes lost and lacks his identity in his computerized society. In the Navajo way of life, it is peaceful, independent and truly a democratic society. — Navajo elder
What it comes down to is simply this: if what the Buddhists, the Shoshone, the Hopi, the Christians are suggesting is true, then all of industrial/technological civilization is really on the wrong track, because its drive and energy are purely mechanical and self-serving—real values are within nature, family, mind, and into liberation. Implicit are the possibilities of a way of living and being which is dialectically harmonious and complexly simple, because that's The Way. — Gary Snyder
The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion. It should transcend a personal god and avoid dogma and theology. It should be based on a religious sense arising from the experience of all things natural and spiritual as a meaningful unity. — Albert Einstein