WARNING: This is long rant. I don’t mean to offend anyone here; I just need to get this off my chest. (note: no one of this forum prompted me to write this. It is people around me on a daily bases.)
I grew up in nature and a have real passion and understanding for it. I love all plants and animals, and do my best to study them and be around them. It offends me when people who have much less understanding or appreciation for the nature cast judgment on me and the things I do.
It amazes me, and sickens me how far removed from nature most city people are. We are a part of nature, and a part of our environment. Like all other creatures, we play a vital roll in our ecosystem. It needs us as much as we need it. As humans we have managed to separate ourselves from the natural world, and it seems many of us have forgotten that we are just another species sharing this great planet. All creatures interact with the environment, including us. But because of our society’s structure, we do not interact on an individual level like most other creatures; we have industries doing it for us.
Like all creatures, we make use of natural resources to survive. Even “synthetics” are all created from natural materials. Nothing is 100% purely man-made. Your house, clothes and food all come from nature, and involve a certain environmental impact. But the same is true of virtually ever creature. Beavers cut down trees and build dams that destroy entire ecosystems. Bears pull down trees to get at nests in the branches. Caterpillars eat leaves, and often kill entire trees by eating all the leave on the given tree. That is nature, and the difference with humans is that we take it to an extreme because there are too many of us on this planet.
Nature controls itself, and this sort of “destruction” is mandatory to maintain balance in nature. Extreme are bad, but moderation is not just acceptable, it is important to maintain this balance. Clear cutting forests destroy habitat and entire ecosystems, and commonly cause extinctions. This is not good. Cutting down one tree in forest destroys nothing. The tree is not dead, it is just pruned, and no habitat has been destroyed. All the surrounding trees provide the same habitat so long as they are left there. Taking dead wood from the ground has impact. Dead wood actually provided more habitat than living trees. Moss, fungi, all kinds of insect, rodents etc, live in dead and down wood. Dead wood also provides nutrients to the ground. Living trees consume nutrients and too many living trees in the forest are not good. But nature controls that with fires, lightening, diseases, and of course all the creatures (eg. humans, beavers, bears…
that exploit them for shelter and food. I do not hear people complaining about other animals. The issue with humans and trees is clear cutting entire forests. Not taking down one or two trees in a huge forest.
I am sick to death of armchair environmentalists bitching about me cutting down 1 tree in the middle of a forest, or complaining about cutting branches off trees, or sticking knives in trees to take pictures. These people need to grow up, think about what they are saying, and take a serious look at their lifestyles.
Do you drink coffee? Rainforests are completely wiped out in order to grow coffee, not to mention the garbage and pollution involved in bringing it to you.
Do you drink alcohol? Look the amount of energy, garbage and waste that come out of making and transporting booze.
Do you buy bottled water, or soda etc.?
Do you keep you house cold to save energy and wear sweaters/hat indoors?
Do you pay extra close attention to your diet to make sure you only eat the absolute minimum requirements from each food group, to save plants and animals and energy?
Do you buy gear/clothes/other things that you don’t absolutely need for enjoyment?
I can go on for ever with these questions trying to make the point that virtually everything we do can be criticized, and that I can criticize you just as easily as you can criticize me. Before you cast judgment on others take at look at yourself and your lifestyle. You are a consumer. I am sick of people who consume much more than they produce yet rant and bitch about others. These people are not tree huggers or environmentalists. They are just wannabes.
A true minimum impact lifestyle would be living in the bush, off the grid and consume only what you can produce and hunt, thereby avoiding all the industry that brings you what you consume now.
I grew up in nature and a have real passion and understanding for it. I love all plants and animals, and do my best to study them and be around them. It offends me when people who have much less understanding or appreciation for the nature cast judgment on me and the things I do.
It amazes me, and sickens me how far removed from nature most city people are. We are a part of nature, and a part of our environment. Like all other creatures, we play a vital roll in our ecosystem. It needs us as much as we need it. As humans we have managed to separate ourselves from the natural world, and it seems many of us have forgotten that we are just another species sharing this great planet. All creatures interact with the environment, including us. But because of our society’s structure, we do not interact on an individual level like most other creatures; we have industries doing it for us.
Like all creatures, we make use of natural resources to survive. Even “synthetics” are all created from natural materials. Nothing is 100% purely man-made. Your house, clothes and food all come from nature, and involve a certain environmental impact. But the same is true of virtually ever creature. Beavers cut down trees and build dams that destroy entire ecosystems. Bears pull down trees to get at nests in the branches. Caterpillars eat leaves, and often kill entire trees by eating all the leave on the given tree. That is nature, and the difference with humans is that we take it to an extreme because there are too many of us on this planet.
Nature controls itself, and this sort of “destruction” is mandatory to maintain balance in nature. Extreme are bad, but moderation is not just acceptable, it is important to maintain this balance. Clear cutting forests destroy habitat and entire ecosystems, and commonly cause extinctions. This is not good. Cutting down one tree in forest destroys nothing. The tree is not dead, it is just pruned, and no habitat has been destroyed. All the surrounding trees provide the same habitat so long as they are left there. Taking dead wood from the ground has impact. Dead wood actually provided more habitat than living trees. Moss, fungi, all kinds of insect, rodents etc, live in dead and down wood. Dead wood also provides nutrients to the ground. Living trees consume nutrients and too many living trees in the forest are not good. But nature controls that with fires, lightening, diseases, and of course all the creatures (eg. humans, beavers, bears…
that exploit them for shelter and food. I do not hear people complaining about other animals. The issue with humans and trees is clear cutting entire forests. Not taking down one or two trees in a huge forest. I am sick to death of armchair environmentalists bitching about me cutting down 1 tree in the middle of a forest, or complaining about cutting branches off trees, or sticking knives in trees to take pictures. These people need to grow up, think about what they are saying, and take a serious look at their lifestyles.
Do you drink coffee? Rainforests are completely wiped out in order to grow coffee, not to mention the garbage and pollution involved in bringing it to you.
Do you drink alcohol? Look the amount of energy, garbage and waste that come out of making and transporting booze.
Do you buy bottled water, or soda etc.?
Do you keep you house cold to save energy and wear sweaters/hat indoors?
Do you pay extra close attention to your diet to make sure you only eat the absolute minimum requirements from each food group, to save plants and animals and energy?
Do you buy gear/clothes/other things that you don’t absolutely need for enjoyment?
I can go on for ever with these questions trying to make the point that virtually everything we do can be criticized, and that I can criticize you just as easily as you can criticize me. Before you cast judgment on others take at look at yourself and your lifestyle. You are a consumer. I am sick of people who consume much more than they produce yet rant and bitch about others. These people are not tree huggers or environmentalists. They are just wannabes.
A true minimum impact lifestyle would be living in the bush, off the grid and consume only what you can produce and hunt, thereby avoiding all the industry that brings you what you consume now.
