My introduction to Environmental Education came when I was in 6 th grade and read Rachel Carson’s book, Silent Spring. There was much in the book that I didn’t understand, but one thing came through crystal clearly: the birds were falling out of the sky dead because humans didn’t like bugs and were spraying this monstrously deadly poison all over the country. That was the start; then, I kept learning ~ about air pollution, water pollution, capitalism, the industrial revolution, the extinction of species, the loss of wetlands, and the role money played in all of that. Many years later, I found myself teaching others about our planet, about all we had done to her, and about all the possibilities for saving her. Today, despite all of the wonderful people who have dedicated their lives to saving the wolves, the dolphins, the oceans, the forests, I still find myself looking for the turning point, for that time when no one mass slaughters animals for profit; when no one uses the next most toxic spray on crops grown on land that destroyed entire ecosystems for one type of plant; when no one rips open a mountain top to pull black rock or black liquid out so that one company can prosper.

Environmental Education is a huge topic ~ multifaceted in areas of focus and complex in possibilities for action. No one can save the planet by themselves, but we can all keep learning and applying what we’ve learned. At Sundance Rescue and Recovery, we are working toward building and maintaining the strongest web of life that we’re able to. We want to use chickens to eat the parasites that infest the droppings of our sheep. We want to use some of the wool from our sheep in the garden to strengthen the water retention ability of our soil. We want to plant trees ~ lots of trees! ~ to provide a home and food for multiple species of caterpillars, which will feed the littlest of birds as they grow in the spring. And we want to grow our own food without chemicals to pollute the water that will support all life here.

We learn something new every day, and we’d love to know what you’re learning about! Please feel free to send us an e-mail with a link to something new, puzzling, or concerning that you’ve read. We’ll share articles and books that we’re reading in our Newsletter, which comes to your e-mail at the start of each season. Healing the damage that humans have done to the Earth is possible, but we each need the others support to make it happen.