Today is Earth Day when the environmentally conscious amongst us pledge acts of conservation, by way of safe-guarding and appreciating our planet’s bounty.
every which way but loose
I am however torn between celebration and commiseration especially given the contradictory commitments of the UK’s shambolic environmental policies. Yes, we’ve signed up to all the questionable tick-box green solutions of winds farms, solar panels, new nuclear plants and low energy light bulbs alongside the go-ahead for a desecrating HS2 rail network, with plans afoot to permit the wholesale development of rural land.
Planning, populations and the picturesque
The new National Policy Planning Framework (NPPF) shortly to be rolled out in law, will effectively give planning applications a rubber stamping, with little recourse to refuse or protest against, whether it be supermarket, windfarm or housing estate. ‘Sustainable development’ is the trigger-word oxymoron bandied about as password to admit such undesirables as private developers and land bankers. And everything is justified on the basis of an ever- growing population with increasing demands for goods and services. Surelyt here has to be a better way than opening road and rail ways through the woods and eco-towning overflow populations in rural spaces.
“Rapid and widespread changes in the world’s human population, coupled with unprecendented levels of consumption, present profound challenges to human health and wellbeing, and to the natural environment” The Royal Society (2012)
the unkindest cut of all
Still I shall put aside further polemic for now and in the following images celebrate this small and beautiful piece of the world before the UK becomes less united and more urban kingdom.
These Surrey scenes (click to enlarge) are from a recent 7 mile sojourn in and around the North Down woodlands and dales, with quotes from a favourite and eminently noteworthy book for Earth Day: The Wind in the Willows.
“Well, very long ago, on the spot where the Wild Wood waves now, before ever it had planted itself and grown up to what it now is, there was a city – a city of people, you know…They were a powerful people, and rich, and great builders. They built to last, for they thought their city would last for ever.”
“But what has become of them all?” asked the Mole.
“Who can tell?” said the Badger. “People come – they stay for a while, they flourish, they build – and they go. It is their way. But we remain. There were badgers here, I’ve been told, long before that same city ever came to be. And now there are badgers here again. We are an enduring lot, and we may move out for a time, but we wait, and are patient, and back we come. And so it will ever be.”
It seemed a place where heroes could fitly feast after victory, where weary harvesters could line up in scores along the table and keep their Harvest Home with mirth and song, or where two or three friends of simple tastes could sit about as they pleased and eat and smoke and talk in comfort and contentment.”
When tired at last, he sat on the bank, while the river still chattered on to him, a babbling procession of the best stories in the world, sent from the heart of the earth to be told at last to the insatiable sea.
“First, we feel it stirring within us, a sweet unrest; then back come the recollections one by one, like homing pigeons. They flutter through our dreams at night, they fly with us in our wheelings and circlings by day. We hunger to inquire of each other, to compare notes and assure ourselves that it was all really true, as one by one the scents and sounds and names of long-forgotten places come gradually back and beckon to us.”
Spring was moving in the air above and in the earth below and around him, penetrating even his dark and lowly little house with its spirit of divine discontent and longing.
“And beyond the Wild Wood again?’ he asked. ‘Where it’s all blue and dim and one sees what may be hills or perhaps they mayn’t and something like the smoke of towns or is it only cloud drift.’
‘Beyond the Wild Wood comes the Wild World,’ said the Rat. ‘And that’s something that doesn’t matter either to you or me.” .
~~0~~
On this day, I could hug a tree, make a compost heap, ride a bike and save brown paper but instead I’m off to swap a plant at a French honey product outlet in Central London, in order to raise money for beehive keepers in Peru. What else should we do on Earth Day but join the dots and realise our planetary partnerships.
Other Environmental Earth Friendly posts:
Link up with the Sage Butterfly’s: Earth Day Readings and Giveaway
Donna at Garden’s Eye View reviews the appropriate ‘Climate Conscious Gardener’
And for a fascinating conservation project, follow Diana on the Cape Leopard Trust
It’s daft, isn’t it? You hear the words ‘sustainable development’ nod your head and think ‘Yes, that’s right.’. Then you begin to suspect it’s a euphemism for ‘anything goes’ and the atmosphere changes.
Lucy Corrander read my post..IVY AND ELDER – MID APRIL
Yes we nod our heads then break our hearts with the true meaning
I am torn by some of these same actions that are being taken in the US as well. Although I like the idea of using natural resources, I am not sure I agree with large wind turbines shattering the beauty of the landscape. It is such a difficult issue. I love the views of long natural pathways and rolling hills left in their natural state for nature to continue on as it always has. I hope we can find ways to balance it all. Thank you for mentioning The Earth Day Reading Project. Happy Earth Day!
The Sage Butterfly read my post..Happy Earth Day!
pleasure to link with this marvellous book
Laura – I was wondering what you would post for earth day, remembering your post last year. Thanks for taking us on this nostalgic trip.
I have to admit that I’m not the most environmentally aware person. My main contribution is through reduced consumption, I hardly go shopping, especially since I started gardening/blogging.
always preferred messing about like rat and mole to shopping anyway
But you have the right idea- the less we do, the more resources we leave untouched!
The Wind in the Willows, a favorite book of mine. Sustainable development, a principle I learned in college, but found how little it is actually used in practice. The word has been bantered about so freely that the ideas have been become diluted. Historically, the idea of sustainable communities got a foothold in the UK early in its existence. Too bad many of the communities did not get built to specs.
Donna read my post..Inspire for Earth Day – What’s Your Place on Planet Earth?
maybe because communities are a thing of the past too Donna.
Thank you for remembering our leopards! The next post is unfolding in a corner of my mind.
Will you be Joining the Dots on the 5th of May for Climate Change? I appreciate you telling us about green issues in England. A personal insight, not just the bland or sensational News.
Elephant’s Eye read my post..Always the bridesmaid, never the bride
without a head count in the equation, could be a dot too far for me Diana – as they say, a leopard never changes its spots!
Great post and what a great way to spend Earth Day…perfect!
thanks for stopping by and enjoying this piece of Earth day
Hi, I really enjoyed your post. I really liked your Earth Day pledge. Hope the swap went well.
Tim read my post..The Lyrids – or my first meteor shower
thanks Tim – see the earth moved in spectacle for you last night
A very thought-provoking post, Laura. It is, indeed, a mixed bag. I spent the afternoon listening to ecology folk songs from my childhood and realized how far we’ve come and yet how much we’ve slipped at the same time.
PlantPostings read my post..A greeting for this special day
“All music is folk music, I ain’t never heard no horse sing a song” (Louis Armstrong). Am trying to raise a smile here as I know that the politics of Earth day can look grim
It’s hard not to be frustrated by the continuing lack of interest in how our resources are taken for granted and exploited. I try to keep my focus on the some little and some significant changes we can personally make in our little piece of the world. If everyone takes baby steps, they equal big change, right? I’m hopeful.
Cat read my post..Hurtling by at Sixty Minutes An Hour…
action is always better than words Cat no matter how futile it appears.
Sustainable development IS possible, I believe, but what seems to always be left out is that it is only possible when we remember to consider where and how much we build.
Flâneur Gardener read my post..Back from Paris
and not on an unequl 3-legged stool of people, planet, profit
I don’t have my glasses on and read ‘private developers’ as ‘pirate developers’ how truth sometimes comes throught he fuzz…
The Sproutling read my post..Plant of the Month – April 2012
the eyes have it!
I’ve been jumping up and down and yelling about our profligate use of resources and degredation of our planet for our 40 years and I’m totally frustrated about our inability to change anything. I’m still shouting and lobbying – so make everyday an Earth Day
Croft Gardener read my post..Earth Day – late celebrations
it’s like teaching grandmothers how to suck eggs sometimes! Spot on slogan
That is from ‘Wind in the Willows’? I need to go back and reread it. I remember some of the characters, and that I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much as Alice or Pooh, which I read at the same age. That it was an ecological comment I suppose more-or-less passed us all by at the time! All quite appropriate, as I am just getting into Adam Nicholson’s “Sissinghurst – an unfinished history” and I’ve read Prince Charles on mid-century agriculture…
Jack Holloway read my post..A SUNDAY AFTERNOON IN AUTUMN
Grahame’s descriptions are sheer poetry especially as seen through the eyes of ratty and mole whereas Toad is the force of modernity with his cars and machines. Worth a re-read
So much of what is said about being environmentally friendly are just words used by governments to pretend and confuse. My mother was an example of how to be kind to this earth long before it was fashionable. I’m ashamed to say now that we found her frugal ways all a bit embarrassing as teenagers…..
Janet at Planticru Notes read my post..Flitting….
and now you realise your mother was a trendsetter
Hi Laura,
So agree re the ‘political paragraph’….but I am not going to comment any more than that, as it will put me in a bad mood for the rest of the evening
Love the wind in the willow extract….an all time favourite of mine.
For earth day I extended the woodland area and planted native wildflowers. It may be a small gesture but if everyone who had a garden added something to benefit wildlife, wouldn’t it be wonderful??
superb idea and look forward to seeing your wildflowers
I enjoyed your post very much! Your Surrey photos, coupled with the excerpt from the ‘Wind in the Willows’ touched my heart. So much truth there…
the quotes went so well with this most inspiring walk
While I was recuperating this Earth Day I found myself very sad that we continue to not see the forest for the trees…we refuse to see the bigger picture and focus on small details that actually may not be the way to go…but we hope with each little thing we do it has to help….I sure do hope it does…our leaders though continue to put blinders on and they cannot see much but politics…
Donna@Gardens Eye View read my post..I’ve Been Missing You
also blinded to the problem of populations on planet earth. Good to see you back in blogoland