How Do My Actions Impact the Planet?

How do we remember the generations not yet born? What gives us the right to imagine that our very actions and behavior are irrelevant and that we don’t impact on the world at large? The word "planet" encompasses the environment we find ourselves in - physical, social and spiritual.

I am old enough to have a perspective of several decades. I remember a movement in the late 1960’s and the 1970’s as a vision for the future. In some respects of the popular culture, we have lost that vision.

In many traditional native and indigenous societies, people remember the future generation. They ask, "How is this going to affect those yet to come?"

In Iroquoian Native American cultures they ask, "How is it going to impact the next seven generations?"

We will all be ancestors at some point. We can only hope and take action in ways that allows for those future generations to be safe, well, and healthy.

We have the whole debate around sustainability and how maintain our environment because we are going to leave it to generations in the future. I often hear people talking as if they are in the environment. They say, "We have to do something to the environment."

Of course I agree. We should reduce our carbon footprint and become more environmentally friendly about the chemicals we use in all aspects of our lives including farming methods, food and transportation. But the language I hear coming out of that refers to us as being separate from the environment.

The questio
I would encourage people to ask is, "To what extent can we move from being in the environment, to realizing we are the environment?"

We are not outside it looking in.

This view allows the individual to be more participatory instead of looking over their shoulder, wondering if they’re doing the politically correct thing. Actions like recycling often come with an edge of guilt to them. Instead, it is better to participate for the more wholesome engagement, knowing that every act counts beyond the individual species that’s saved, and beyond the individual bottle that is recycled.

This can be described as moving away from "doing" and into "being." It is easy to forget, but "doing" can often be entirely mental.

When we start with changing ourselves and begin leading by example, people will say, "I want more of that." Taking responsibility in this way helps us have a much more positive impact on the planet.