Having spent time in a foster home, the only living thing that actually gave me hope was nature. I sat outside for hours on end in a forest near my (now former) home listening to the trees, I felt the wind gust on my cheeks, and I heard the birds whistle the sweetest most invigorating song to my quavering ears. Back then, I didn’t understand why this was so peaceful. Of course it sounds nice and the scenery was calming, but I didn’t understand the feeling in my heart that made me have a deep adoration for nature. Now I understand why. Nature is the altar of life. We give them our offerings and they give us our strength and spirit. The gradual destruction of our altar may not bring calamity now, but in the long run our ecosystem will not be the same as it was generations ago.
According to the Global Forest Resources Assessment around 4 to 6 billion trees are cut down each year. 25 billion pounds of plastic is thrown away (in the U.S.) each year and only 25% of the plastic manufactured here is recycled. Animals lose their homes by humans building off of their land. We build roads, homes, canals and even nuclear power plants and other unnecessary architectures that don’t necessarily improve our individual lives.

Deforestation is the ultimate factor in our global problem. It’s fierce, it attacks our earth like a silent yet swift cougar and without any insight it may be too late. The Eco Preservation Society is an organization that strives to aid our forests back to health. They have many reforestation projects that have planted over 20,000 trees and ultimately saved over 100 rain forests. By the year 2020 they would have planted over 250 million acres of trees. Having volunteered (at one of their expeditions) I learned that it doesn't have to be earth day to make a difference in our society. Buying a seed from your local Wal-Mart isn't very expensive, and recycling your plastic is less expensive than throwing it away. Unplugging unused outlets and turning off unnecessary lights can save power usage and lower electricity bills as well.

Henry David Thoreau, would frown upon our deforestation issues. He’d be disappointed, everything that has taken place in the past 180 years would have had struck him in awe. He wouldn't have had believed how much of Mother Gaia we've destroyed. He’d then plant a seed, and encourage others to plant some as well. Encouraging others is what most people should be doing, rather than being apathetic about our environment.

Going at this rate in a few centuries our earth will be a wasteland. Not because of nuclear war or natural disasters but because our trees would have depleted. The earth is an altar of life, and if we give unwanted offerings to our altar it’ll feed us calamity and suffering. Recycling plastic, planting trees and unplugging unused outlets can help our environment back to good health for our current and future generations to come.




Works cited

"Replanting the rainforests." http://www.ecopreservationsociety.org/. N.p., 17 Apr 2009. Web. 4 Nov 2013. <http://www.ecopreservationsociety.org/site/index.php/reforestation/replant-the-rainforest>.

. Global Forest Resources Assessments . 2010, Main report. FAO, 2010. 378. Print. <http://www.fao.org/docrep/013/i1757e/i1757e.pdf>.