A recent study found that Americans spend less than one hour a week outside and asserts that this is leading to all kinds of ailments, including the reemergence of rickets, increased levels of stress, obesity, fatigue, and even ADHD.
This Earth Day, award-winning author and environmental advocate Catriona MacGregor has issued a challenge to humans all over the world to make a concerted effort to revive our lost connection with nature.
According to MacGregor, it is vital that we understand not only how important our role is in nature’s sphere, but also how crucial nature’s role is in our lives.
MacGregor’s book, “Partnering with Nature” provies examples of the way that using biomimicry to copy designs from nature can lead us to the sustainable technologies that we so desperately need. For example, the Port of Portland has just installed a living water cleaning system that copies how wetlands purify water through the use of sunlight, bacteria, and green plants.
MacGregor highly recommends working with trees as a way to heal ourselves and the atmosphere. A group called Archangel Ancient Tree Archive is doing just that, Their mission: Clone the world’s most ecologically valuable tree species and plant millions of copies of trees. The trees will store carbon while creating healthful oxygen, preserve ecosystem diversity.
Although you might not be able to participate in major projects like those mentioned above, MacGregor reminds us that just having direct experiences in nature is critical to the health of humankind in general.
“We miss the subtle changes in the wind, the calls of birds, the smell of the fragrant Earth beneath our feet, the wonder of seeing the brilliant stars in the night sky,” MacGregor says. “We spend more time indoors or commuting, leaving little time for deep inner journeys or quiet walks in the woods.”
Want to accept the challenge to reconnect with Nature this Earth Month and rejuevenate our planet in the process?
Three Things You Can Do Now
Image Credit: Flickr - Fabian Bromann
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