A look back at an early environmentalist and his early theories for protecting our planet. These theories were the early seeds of sustainable living, and they're still practiced today.
Sustainable living, global warming, eco friendly, all natural organic and saving energy are all hot topics in the news and are becoming life trends in our society. Some of these life trends are not new, and in fact, these ideas were contemplated long ago. One of the earliest environmentalists was Henry David Thoreau. His greatest achievement was Walden, a book written while living at Walden Pond. Thoreau spent a great amount of time considering our impact on the world around us, what nature means to us, and questioned whether economies could survive without the destruction of nature in some way.
In Walden, Thoreau advises returning to a more primitive style of life; working for ourselves, growing and eating only what we need, and to not spend our lives working and collecting material possessions. He argued that man should have an aesthetic, more contemplative relation to nature.
Thoreau's opposition to an economic relation to nature is described when he writes...
"The fruits do not yield their true flavor to the purchaser of the item, nor to him who raises them for the market. There is but one way to obtain it, yet few take that way. If you would know the flavor of huckleberries, ask the cow-boy or the partridge. It is vulgar error to suppose that you have tasted huckleberries who never plucked them." Walden, pg. 245
Here, Thoreau writes that berries that are bought from the market do not taste as good as if one had picked them himself. If you are involved in the commerce of growing and buying the fruits, the flavor is not the same as if you had grown the berry.
Thoreau criticized his neighbors for working to gain material items. He believed that if one only concentrated on his labors, then there is no room for spiritual growth, self improvement, or the seeking of higher truths. He also felt that the economic structure contributed to the destruction of nature and the ignoring of the poor.
This opposition to the economic relation to nature was fueled by his religious and spiritual beliefs, which are founded in Transcendentalism. Transcendentalists believe that within the universe, there are two parts; the soul and nature. Nature includes everything that is not "us." Thoreau was also greatly influenced by Indian philosophy, and as such felt we are actually a part of this nature that is separate from us. He often anthropomorphized animals or nature to prove this point. Thoreau writes of the lake, giving it human characteristics.
"A lake is the landscape's most beautiful and expressive feature. It is the earth's eye; looking into the beholder measures the depth of its own nature. The fluviatile trees next the shore are the slender eyelashes which fringe it, and the wooded hills and cliffs around are its overhanging brows." Walden pg. 255
These beliefs had Thoreau defending the intrinsic value of nature. The earth, trees and ponds exist separately from their use for humans, giving them value. This value should be seen from a broad perspective, and not just what is immediate to us. It is here in these early beliefs that Thoreau formed his theories of self sufficiency and sustainable living. He could see the purpose in living with less, and saw the impact being made now that would affect the future survival of nature.
These early theories of Thoreau were the seeds, of what we call today, sustainable living. Use only what one needs, reuse if possible, find more than one function for an object, replace what has been taken, as well as living this way as frugally as possible, are the basis for today's sustainable living mantra. Thoreau's Walden can and is used by many as a field guide to facing global warming and preparing our world for the future.
