Giving New Meaning to Green

Towards the green world for all in which we all long to live in and play our part.

Welcome to the preface of An Earthen Ethic Medium Series! The Earth has greened the planet — why can’t we? In the next dozen installments we’ll dive deep into a new ethical theory of green.

MORE AND MORE WE ARE BECOMING AWARE of the severity of the ecological crises looming on our horizon. As our collective awareness grows, more and more we long to do something. Alarmed and well meaning, many of us seek to ‘help the planet’, to live ‘sustainably’ or to ‘protect nature’…

Learning from the Earth

The Inspiring Example of the Master of Green

SO IT HAS BEEN that over the last two billion years, the Earth transformed the once harsh, barren and grey surface of the planet into the stable and thriving biosphere that is our common home today. From both a planetary and even galactic view, it is an epic story. …

Towards Cycles that Spiral

Observe the way the Earth tends its processes towards spiraling cycles that ever enrich.

By examining the latest Earth Science and theoretical physics insights through the lens of ancient indigenous wisdom, we lay out a new theory of Green. Photo of Cordillera rice terraces by Gladys Maximo. (Note: this is a fully revamped re-post of the the first Earthen ethic.)

THE RUGGED GREEN MOUNTAINS OF THE NORTHERN PHILIPPINES have been the home of the Igorot people for untold centuries. Known for their fierce forest protection and their abundant harvests, the Igorots not only honor the cycles of life around them — they steadily enrich them. Each season, with the arrival…

Towards Awareness

A Final Ethic to Guide Keen Green Enterprises

Observe how the Earth has tended its cycles towards an ever greater awareness of interconnection — Earthen Ethic №6

This is the tenth installment of the Earthen Ethic series laying out the framework for a new ecological ethics based on the Earth’s example. This week we go deep into the sixth and final principle — of awareness raising.

BENEATH THE MOSSY FLOOR of North American temperate forests, there lies a hidden network exchanging the needs, nutrients and character of trees. Observing the lush verdant splendor above, it is easy…

The Ethic of Biodiversity

Observe how the Earth has supported life and its diversification. — Earthen Ethic №5

This is the ninth installment of the Earthen Ethic series that is laying out the framework for a new ecological ethics based on the Earth’s example. This week we go deep into the fifth principle — of diversification.

IN 1998, PALEONTOLOGIST Joseph Sepkoski completed a comprehensive database of marine life over the last 541 million years. The database compiled over 30,000 fossil genera, representing the finds and categorization of millions of species. By recording each genus’s appearance and disappearance in the fossil timeline, he was able to chart…

Towards Subtraction

Transcending Net-Zero to Net-Green

Observe the way the Earth subtracts more of its carbon into cycling and sequestration than it adds back to the biosphere. — Earthen ethic №4

*This is the ninth essay in the Earthen Ethic series. Here we take a look at the fourth principle of ecological contribution. Art* by Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel, German artist and philosopher who coined the term ‘ecology’ — Kunstformen der Natur (1904)

58 MILLION YEARS AGO the Earth entered the Carboniferous period with an atmosphere full of CO2. At the outset of the age, plants had just evolved leaves and stalks. 50 million years later, not only did vast leafy forests cover the planet, the Earth’s atmospheric carbon had been reduced 10 fold.

Early in the period, plants had just figured out how to make lingin cells; the sturdy cellulose required to build bark and trunks. Meanwhile, fungi…

The Oyster’s Example

Towards Sequestration in the Principled Pursuit of Green.

Observe the way the Earth has subtracted, concentrated and secured its active elements for the long-term. -Earthen Principle №3

*This is the eighth post in the Earthen Ethic series. Here we take a look at the third principle of ecological contribution: Towards Storage.* Image from *Kunstformen der Natur* (1904), by Ernst Heinrich Philipp August Haeckel, German artist and philosopher who coined the term ‘ecology’.

UNLIKE A CAR, A ROCKET LAUNCH OR AN EBOOK, the Crassostrea gigas Oyster removes, concentrates and stores carbon out of its environment. In so doing, it not only provides it’s own…

Towards Biosphere Benefit

Transitioning from for-Profit to for-Earth enterprise

Observe how ecological surpluses are distributed upwards from organism to ecosystem, ecosystem to biome, biome to biosphere. -Earthen Principle №2

*This is the seventh post in the Earthen Ethic series. Here we take a look at the second principle of Green: Indefinite Cycling. ‘Eagle and Salmon No2 — by James Madam, Wet’suwet’en artist.*

In the land of the Wetʼsuwetʼen people in Northwestern Canada, the Pacific Salmon’s cycle of abundance is revered. In a lifespan of seven years, these remarkable fish start their lives in small forest creeks. When they are ready, they set out on a thousand kilometer journey to the ocean. On the way, a tiny fry transforms into a magnificent fish that can thrive in the vast waters of the Pacific.

SEVEN YEARS LATER, the Salmon retrace their route, navigating ocean, river, and stream to return to very creek where their lives began. Along the way, a host of creatures benefit…