Going Green …

There’s a lot of pressure to Be Green. Look after the Environment. Save the Planet. With lots of advice, scare mongering and guilt-inducing media hype. Eat less meat; reduce your use of fossil fuels; cut down on plastic. But I feel that this is the wrong approach and can lead to apathy – where to start? what advice do I listen to? it’s all so overwhelming! How can we be expected to care for something that we do not know or understand. You are more likely to want to protect something that you truly love. Maybe if we stopped for a while and spent some time outdoors, in nature, we may pick up on the rhythms of the seasons, the ebb and flow of the inhabitants, the minute workings of the planet. You don’t have to go far – no great expeditions to Africa or The Amazon. You don’t even have to go to the Millennium Green! Feed the birds outside your window, watch the bees on your flowers or sit on the bench by the church. Start small, learn the names of a couple of birds or flowers, and as you name them they become familiar, and in time old friends. Some may disappear in the winter and you’ll look forward to seeing them again in the spring. And as you become hooked you start to care, start to truly love your little patch and in time that love will grow and you will want to ensure that the joy continues for generations to come.