Ecological Reciprocity Part 2
Ecological reciprocity is the simple concept of doing good things to the ecological systems that sustain life as it is at the moment on planet earth, so that those systems continue to sustain us. It is based on the notion that the systems which make up the whole ecology of planet earth that support all life, including humans, will only continue to do so if we reciprocate and do all that we can to support them in turn.
Because, and do not be in any doubt about this, the whole greenwash mindset of “buy this” or “do this” to “Save the Planet!” is completely misplaced.
“The planet” will be fine regardless of anything humans do or don’t do. The planet has survived much worse than we are currently throwing at it, and the end result has always been the same – that is, a dominant species, adapted to the conditions that radically change, is knocked off its perch at the top of the food chain, and over time, another species (which may not even have evolved yet) moves in to fill the void. Nature hates a vacuum, you see.
So, being reciprocal to the systems that are currently favouring life as we know it, that allow humans to survive and thrive and multiply beyond all belief in the last couple of thousand years makes perfect sense. If we don’t, there will be what is called ‘system collapse’ and the conditions that we like so much today will change, and they may or may not favour our potentially short lived species into the future.
To quote Lord Northbourne:
The planet hits back slowly, but she hits back hard.
Of course, any notion of time is a human one that we have made up, and in that context the planet hitting back slowly is our idea, not times.
So although we might believe that any backlash for our current shameful attitude to the ecological systems that keep us alive will take time, in terms of the planet itself, we can be dealt with in a very short time indeed.
In the layers of history of planet earth, we humans could well be a geological footnote, a thin line of anthropocene in billions of years of history - a geological blip, as it were.
As far as “the planet” is concerned, our self indulgent sense of self-importance isn’t really important at all. A self aware species of mammal with a huge dose of hubris, that is too arrogant to think that we could ever be taken down a peg or two by a planet that has been evolving and dealing with species that get out of control like we are for a very long time indeed.
So, ask yourself, if we humans were to mostly disappear in the next couple of hundred years due to a collapse in the systems that are keeping us alive (a collapse that we could be ultimately responsible for), what would the planet look like then? Perhaps uninhabitable in large parts as far as we are concerned, but not for all species currently on this rock.
And then think about what it might look like in 1,000 years, then 10,000, a million! Do you honestly think that humans will totally destroy all the life and life support systems on a planet where life has survived mass extinctions, massive swings in temperatures, asteroids, acid oceans? “Life will find a way” as they say.
So, if it is the fate of “the planet” that is keeping you up at night, relax.
The planet has millions, if not billions, of years to fix any mess that might wipe us, or most of us, of its face. Some would argue that that is not such a bad idea.
But, if it is the fate of the systems that create the conditions on the planet that allow us to live and thrive that is worrying you – and it should – then you better start playing nice.
Reduce, reuse and recycle. Compost, consume less and consume wisely….and in everything you do, understand that it all adds up, and that if you want the planet to play nice with us, then play nice with the planet, and reciprocate. That's not too much to ask is it? What do you think?
