Image description: A block print style circular illustration depicting the outline of several forest tree trunks and bare branches stretching upwards. This image is to illustrate the concept of Earth Care.
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Here's what you need to know.
⏰ Life began around 4.5 billion years ago with early humans arriving approx 2 million years ago (we were quite late to the party)!
🌍 Land covers around 29% of Earth’s surface, 71% is covered by our oceans.
🌳 It is estimated that less than 23% of Earth’s land remains ‘wild’, with the remaining 77% dramatically altered by human activity. Humans have converted approximately 50% of Earth’s habitable land for agricultural expansion.
🌽 Industrial farming and other land-use has eroded soil, destroyed habitats, and drastically reduced biodiversity to critical levels. We are severely compromising our planet’s ability to repair itself.
🌿 We have all the tools and knowledge we need to support life and create abundance, but we have lost our way.
👂 We can learn from Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) held by many Indigenous communities who have an unbroken lineage of understanding and land stewardship, passed down through generations.
✊ It is time to be bold, to make change! This comes in many forms, from getting involved in politics, education and activism to embedding value-adding practices into our daily lives.
🧠 Ultimately, it begins with us building our own conscious awareness to understand our place in the world, how interconnected we all are, and what our unique contributions can be.
🗣 Let’s ask ourselves ‘how can we develop through life as a force for good?’ Let’s use our creativity and innovation to design for life.
Are you ready for your challenge?
This week we have an active challenge set by Lush’s very own James Atherton, who invites you to find an area of land, no matter how small, that you can become a self-appointed steward of.
James shares one idea for bringing life to bare areas of land in the form of seed ball making! To do this, you'll need some compost (home made, or organic, peat-free), clay, and local seeds.
There are also many other ways you could help regenerate degraded areas. For example, maybe you have a small paved outdoor space or external window sills in your home or workplace that could be ideal for offering pollinator friendly flowers? Could you create a Guerilla Garden? You could even explore the possibility of taking over a local allotment or joining a community gardening project in your area? If there aren’t any such groups near you, could you even start one?
In some cases it is even possible to take over small patches of disused council land - but be sure to check the legalities with your local council. For an example of a citizen-led rewilding project on disused council land, check out these images of Poole’s Secret Garden.
Dive deeper.
🎥 Want to keep learning about our planet and how we can take action to prevent the worst climate crises outcomes? Join an up-coming Lush training session on Carbon & Climate Change! You can find all future session information on the Lush Learning Hub.
📜 How much do you know about the area that you live in? Want to put your knowledge to the test? Take this Bioregional Quiz.
🧠The Ecosystem Restoration Playbook is a fantastic resource to help you take action to restore our home.
🙌 Join a course by the Permaculture Association to deepen your learning. Check out their course listings here.
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