Image via
http://blog.sfgate.com/sfmoms/2009/02/02/where-can-kids-get-their-hands-dirty/
Today
is Earth Day and instead of my annual screed against plastic, that
all pervasive material that does not biodegrade but only breaks down
into smaller and smaller pieces causing birds and fish to starve to
death, creates islands of trash in the oceans, fills our landfills to
the point where our trash has to be shipped out elsewhere, and
leaches toxic chemicals into the food and drink stored in them; we're
gonna get dirty.
But first...
But first...
We already recycle everything...plastics # 1 – 5 and 7, paper and cardboard,
aluminum and tin and steel and glass. We compost our kitchen waste.
We take our own shopping bags to the store. We buy products in glass
containers preferably. We wash out and reuse ziplock bags. We don't
buy products that are over packaged and the two of us still end up
with a large size grocery store plastic bag of trash about every four
or five days and most of it is plastic or is coated with plastic.
OK.
I had to get a little one in there.
This year I'm thinking more about the earth and our connection to it and how,
as we separate ourselves from it more and more, we suffer physical
and emotional ailments. I've thought for a while now that the human
race is going insane from this modern life and our immune systems are
suffering. Surrounded by concrete and buildings and artificial
lighting, we spend our days and nights in artificially conditioned
air, rarely coming into contact with the natural world.
Oh, the cities
have parks and green spaces and the occasional tree studded along the
sidewalks but mostly we only see them as we zip by in our cars, our
lives too rushed to take the time to stand amongst the beauty of
nature, barefoot, in actual physical contact with the planet, to
breath in the scent of growing things.
We seem to have
forgotten that we are not separate from nature, that we evolved out
in the natural world and that our health and well being is still
dependent on continued contact with the earth.
We prevent our
children from playing outside out of fear of injury or lack of time
to supervise them, we discourage them from getting dirty. We tamper
with our food spraying it with poisons or genetically modifying it or
adding chemicals and colors that were never meant to be ingested. We
sterilize our environments with anti-bacterial cleaners. We eschew
any kind of physical labor or exertion preferring a machine to do the
work. We pump pollutants in the the very air we breath and the water
that is essential for life.
The result is
that although we have conquered certain diseases like small pox and
polio, we have seen cancer, asthma, allergies, autism, diabetes,
obesity, and depression, among others, skyrocket. Our immune systems
are compromised. We are living longer but are we living healthier
when we have to take a handful of pharmaceuticals everyday to
maintain the balance of life?
Finally, studies
are being done to show how dependent we are on the natural world for
our health and well being, something that I have known instinctively,
something that we should all know instinctively.
In the last
several years I have read articles about studies supporting the
importance of contact with the earth. Most basically is our immune
system. We need to be exposed to bacteria and dirt to be healthy.
It is how our immune system builds up it's defenses to disease and
illness, how it learns to ignore germs and pollens.
The lungs of
toddlers who don't go outside to run and play and instead are kept
quietly indoors do not develop fully and are much more likely to
develop asthma. Children who don't go outside to run and play and
get dirty have weakened immune systems and tend to get sick from
every bug they meet. Girls especially are at risk of this because
while our society expects boys to go and rough and tumble in the
dirt, we expect little girls to be clean, quiet, and lady-like.
Another recent
study has shown how important dirt is to our emotional health as
well. There is a bacteria in the soil that helps produce serotonin
in our brains. Working in the soil, getting dirty, gives us a
natural high. We feel better about the quality of our lives and are
happier. Working in the soil has always been my favorite part of
gardening and now I know why. But even a simple romp in the park
will help you with the beneficial effects of dirt.
Most important
is how we have adulterated our food supply. It wasn't enough to turn
our food into a chemical soup, now we are genetically modifying it to
disastrous results. Study after study is linking GMO foods to
infertility, immune system disfunction, accelerated aging among other
things. Europe has started banning GMOs but unfortunately the US is
still being bought by the GMO big business.
So go outside
today. Embrace your Mother, literally. Get dirty and start a
garden. Boost your immune system, eat real food, be happy and
healthy.
Remember...refuse,
reuse, recycle.
links to
previous earth day posts and anti-plastic rants:
links
to articles referred to above:
