Sustainability Archives - Alexandra Roach

Sometimes, I wonder if anyone else ponders as much about life as I do. I don’t think I used to, but even during my earlier years, I always wondered if there was more. More than getting up, eating, going to work, being social (or not), eating again, and going to sleep. Why are we on this planet? And why is our planet Earth placed where it is in our Solar System – just at the right spot for us?

My oldest daughter wants to become an astronaut. She is fascinated with the Universe, although, I suppose, for other reasons that I am. She wants to know if there is other life out there; if there are planets or asteroids habitable for us humans, or how science in space can advance us here on Earth. For me, the questions are different. Why is it, that our Earth is placed perfectly within the “Goldilocks-zone” – not too close to and not too far away from the sun? Why is it that only Earth (as far as we know) has a perfect atmosphere to protect all life on Earth from harmful rays from outer space? Why does only Earth supply us with H2O, in all three of its states present at all time? Who or what made Earth so perfect for us? And most of all, what do we do to keep it that way?

As I am writing these words, I am sitting at a beach in Key Biscayne, Florida, where our family gathered for some Holiday fun together. I watch the cruise ship head out of sea from Miami Beach harbor, I watch wake-boarders turning their sails to the wind to catch it for the right speed to enjoy the fun. People are splashing in the waves, jogging along the beach, or just relaxing in the sun. We – people – take pleasure in the Earth’s elements, the wind, the warmth of the sun, the refreshing water, the air we breathe and that keeps us alive. And, we are used to the luxury of unlimited supply, at least here in the West, where it seems that the Earth’s abundance provides plenty without ever seizing.

I am reminded of Shel Silverstein’s story of “The Giving Tree.” In this beloved children’s book, a tree loves a little boy so much that she simply wants to give and provide the boy with all that she has to offer. First, the boy gathers all her leaves to make a crown, he also climbed her trunk and swung from her branches. “The boy loved the tree very much. And the tree was happy.” As time went by, the boy grew up and wanted things that the tree could not give – money. However, the tree provided her apples, which the boy sold at the market where he received money in exchange. Later, the boy cut off the tree’s branches to build a house, he cut the tree trunk to make a boat. Well, in the end, the tree gave everything she had and was left to be a stump, which then still provides a restful place for the boy (now an old man) to sit down and relax, which made the tree happy one last time.

Do you ever wonder if the plentiful resources of the Earth will ever vanish? Will we be left with stumps and nothing else? Will there be a point in our future where climate change is not being discussed anymore because its effects are so predominant that not even power-hungry politicians can deny its reality anymore?

I love people and I love our Earth – that is why I am an advocate for creating awareness through education and collaboration. It does not matter if we are Caucasian, African or Native American, Asian, or of any other racial heritage. We are all human. We are all people who need to work together to keep our planet Earth the way it is – a perfect place for us, our children and future generations to live on.

My daughter and I often talk about how life would be on the ISS (the International Space Station). We believe, and had this confirmed by real astronauts who we heard speak, that when you see our planet from outer space something inside of you changes. You are struck by its beauty while out there in the unhospitable environment, looking at our “blue planet,” only to wonder why not all people on Earth unite and work together, just as nations do on the ISS. Maybe these answers will be found in space as well – or maybe we can learn to apply our humanly cleverness and finally figure out what nature and the Universe has instilled in all living matter – connections to other living matter.

View this article on Energime University.

Dear friends of Holistic-Ways,

When I was looking for an opening quote for today’s newsletter, I came across so many, which seemed to speak directly from the bottom of my heart that I decided to share more than just one. Here we go:

“It shouldn’t be the consumer’s responsibility to figure out what’s cruel and what’s kind, what’s environmentally destructive and what’s sustainable. Cruel and destructive food products should be illegal. We don’t need the option of buying children’s toys made with lead paint, or aerosols with chlorofluorocarbons, or medicines with unlabeled side effects. And we don’t need the option of buying factory-farmed animals.”

― Jonathan Safran Foer, Eating Animals

“We are such spendthrifts with our lives, the trick of living is to slip on and off the planet with the least fuss you can muster. I’m not running for sainthood. I just happen to think that in life we need to be a little like the farmer, who puts back into the soil what he takes out.”

― Paul Newman

“To reverse the effects of civilization would destroy the dreams of a lot of people. There’s no way around it. We can talk all we want about sustainability, but there’s a sense in which it doesn’t matter that these people’s dreams are based on, embedded in, intertwined with, and formed by an inherently destructive economic and social system. Their dreams are still their dreams. What right do I — or does anyone else — have to destroy them. At the same time, what right do they have to destroy the world?”

― Derrick Jensen, Endgame, Vol. 1: The Problem of Civilization

A few months ago, I was invited to sit on a panel at the University of Alaska Anchorage to speak about the importance of Local Food. Although I am not a farmer and just moved to Alaska half a year ago, I was hopefully able to draw the connection between sustainable, local farming practices and our personal health.

I feel blessed that I met a wonderful, inspiring group of panelists, as well as several courageous students of UAA who attempt a change on campus; they want a garden and better food in their cafeteria. Sitting there, listening to all the speakers, it became once again clear to me that a change needs to happen. And although “it shouldn’t be the consumer’s responsibility” (as mentioned in Foer’s quote above) it will be on each of us to reach that break-through.

I tell my children that it must be their generation who achieves this change; and so I told the students. Unfortunately, out of more than 10,000 students at UAA, we had four listening to our panel of five. However, those ladies were full of inspiring ideas and equipped with a valiant streak of wholeheartedness, which leaves no questions that this group will grow. Therefore, I believe they will carry out their dreams and ambitions, just like a handful of students in Fairbanks did before them. They were successful; and now the kids on campus are eating food grown at the University.

We all feel little at times. When I look at this immense Universe and all the billions of people on our planet Earth I truly am just a tiny speck. However, it is you and I who can make a difference if we intent to. It is you and I who talk to our neighbors, friends, and family. And it is you and I who will create the ripple effect if we choose to do so.

For now, I would like to thank the four spirited students who have chosen their battle. If you guys need anything, I will give my best to support you in any way possible!

As for all other readers of this newsletter: Have you chosen your battle?

Maybe this write-up makes you think… it surely did the trick for me (once again). And so I try to talk to my neighbors, friends, family, and YOU to see what that tiny speck in the Universe can do to encourage people to live a more sustainable, healthy and happy life on our planet Earth – and how to keep it this beautiful for our children, grand-children and their children down the road.

Many blessings,

~ Alexandra

https://holistic-ways.com/144/

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