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Tip: Your message to SUST-MAR must be html-free. So, BEFORE you hit SEND, please go to your "Format" pull-down menu and select "Plain text." Thanks! ____________________________________________________________________________ Hi All, thanks to Don Black for his piece, this was originally sent to the Halifax Herald last week as an opinion piece, of course it wasn't printed. I think the only way to beat spraying is a complete rejection of all industrial forestry in Nova Scotia. Please also remember Blueberry and Christmas Tree growers also use these sprays. Agriculture is another beast altogether. cheers Mark Brennan --------------------------------- Resource Related Woe’s Nova Scotian’s are up in arms lately about this years ‘spray programme’ by industrial foresters. Chemicals used to kill off so called competing vegetation are deemed harmful by many and quite benign by others. That is a debate that I will try to stay clear of for now. Our society’s voracious appetite for wood products has grown to unprecedented highs in recent years. prompting forestry corporations to use fast ‘effective’ ways of growing more trees. Some Blueberry and Christmas tree growers also use similar sprays to produce the same effects, right here in Nova Scotia. There is no doubt that Nova Scotian’s are concerned about the effects of these chemicals on ourselves, our kids and the environment. But if we are to contemplate change in the way we grow food or wood products then we must begin with ourselves. Ever since the groundbreaking book by Rachael Carson, Silent Spring, several decades ago, environmentalists have been fighting the good fight against polluters and users of harmful chemicals. If we are truly serious about ending the spraying of Nova Scotia’s forests then we need to put an end to our industrial, taken for granted, lifestyles and look for new ways to begin living on this planet we call home. Currently, everything on earth is seen as a commodity, a resource for human consumption, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a forest, ocean creature or an insect, if it can make money, humans will eventually cut it down, dig it up or fish it until near extinction. It has become ingrained in us to accept this thinking without the slightest thought for what may lie ‘down the road’ for humans and for all other life forms. Are we ready to begin to seriously question if an industrial society, garnished by growth and consumerism, is still actually acceptable in today’s problem filled world? Our relationship with nature has basically come to an end in favour of living an ’instant’ life where fulfilment seems to be going the way of the cod fish as we search for success, happiness and contentment. We and our children need to learn to respect and love the natural world and to understand that yes, we are also a big part of it. Many Nova Scotian’s have become increasingly environmentally aware in recent years as new issues spring up. New quarries, open pit mines, clear-cutting, over fishing, herbicide and pesticide use have all been seriously campaigned against by a broad spectrum of society. Most, of our concerns have however fallen on deaf ears in all levels of Government. Our back yards have become the confrontation grounds as big corporations push unwanted policies and projects down gaping Nova Scotian throats in the name of growth. Places where we and our ancestors have lived for generations are up for grabs to the highest bidder and many of us feel quite powerless to stop any of this from happening. To stop the spraying, the clear cutting, the mining, the polluting, we must begin to rekindle that deep ingrained relationship with nature. We need to bring nature into the classrooms of our children, let them study it, touch it, and be amazed by it. Only then will future Nova Scotian's begin to question resource related woe’s on a societal level and make effective change. The children of today will form the societies of the future, they will be the decision makers and leaders of tomorrow, we must give them the tools they need to make this real change, for the well being of the planet. We are laying the foundations for the coming generations right now. There is some hope, new philosophy’s like Deep Ecology are making slight progress in this direction. I often wonder what we would observe if we could see the future well being of the earth? Contained in the Deep Ecology platform it reads, “Humans have no right to reduce this (natural) richness and diversity except to satisfy vital needs. The ideological change is mainly that of appreciating life quality rather than adhering to an increasingly higher standard of living. There will be a profound awareness of the difference between big and great.” …… Think about it. ___________________________________________________________ALL-NEW Yahoo! Messenger - all new features - even more fun! http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com ____________________________________________________________________________ Did a friend forward this to you? Join sust-mar yourself! Just send 'subscribe sust-mar' to mailto:majordomo@chebucto.ca
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