How to Build an Ecological Culture

Written by members of the Bioregional Congress of the Americas

Befriend a wren
Imagine how a river thinks
Listen to the music of the spheres
Dance in the muddy rain
Watch a tree drop its leaves,
and then bud out again
Ask at whose expense your comfort comes
Build soil
Grow turnips
Meet your neighbors
Teach a child how to hold a frog, or raise a butterfly, or make compost
Learn the boundary of your Bioregion
and then let it dissolve
Write a love poem to a mountain
or a pond
or a mushroom
Envision an economy that gives more than it takes
Cut your energy use in half
Then do it again
Plant a forest
Preserve a marsh
Know where your water comes from,
and how it goes
Strive to leave no waste
Thank someone who is standing up to the powerful
Look to your possessions for the seeds of destruction
Leave a piece of this world better than you found it
and envision the whole thing renewed.