Sustainability or Regeneration?

The word Sustainable is used often within the environmental movement—and outside of it— profusely. Sustainability is perhaps the THE keyword most tossed around relating to anything and everything that has to do with the environment.

But what does this word really mean? To sustain something means to maintain or to support something; to keep things as they are. And with industrial agriculture having become the soil-depleting enterprise that it has—among many other massive systems that continue to contribute to the pollution and decay of Earth’s ecosystems—there’s hardly anything left to sustain! Let’s be real, we are WAY passed the time of sustaining our environment. Back in the 70’s when the first signs of Global Warming where made public (only to be swept under the rug to avoid dealing with the inconvenient truth they brought upon humanity) Sustainability was still very much in order. But, alas, that time has passed and we are now facing a new paradigm which, no matter how much we turn the other way, its inescapable reality can be felt in the air we breathe, literally. 

The good news is there is an even better approach: REGENERATION. As it turns out, it is much more natural for us to be regenerative than sustainable. Our very own bodies enter the process of regeneration every single night; our organs and cells renewing themselves so we can wake up the next morning and go live out our purposeful lives. I can attest to this personally, thanks to a recent dermatological procedure I went through, where I had to have a stubborn mole removed (for the third time because it kept growing back!) and they had to cut quite deep in order to get all of those suspicious cells out so it wouldn’t keep regrowing, and just one week later, my skin cells have regenerated beautifully, filling in the whole with brand new, healthy skin (I’m not showing the “before” photo as to not gross-out all those blood averse people out there, FYI). 

As it turns out, Regenerative cycles are the norm in the natural world and—newsflash: we ARE natural organisms! And we dwell within a living and breathing organism that is our planet Earth.

Healthy, living soils are key to reverse climate change and happily, this is easily achievable through gardening! The added value is the cheer joy of watching things grow, and the pleasure of witnessing the beautiful colors, patterns, textures, tastes and all the LIFE that a garden exudes. The natural world is infinitely sensual. 

Some people are intimidated about getting their hands dirty, perhaps because in the ultra polished, sterile, shiny, ultra digital, high-tech world we have co-created, everything is controlled, there is no room for imperfections, and the natural world embraces variety. In fact, the more diverse and varied an ecosystem is, the more resilient and thriving. That’s why industrial agriculture is so dependent on pesticides and synthetic fertilizes, because monoculture are actually very nutrient poor! I am inspired by people like @ronfinleyhq, the Gangter Garden, and a fellow urban gardener, who defy the socially accepted lawn aesthetic in place for a wild, fruitful piece of soil that is not only beautiful, but regenerative in all its glory. I see a lot of “challenges” on social media—I don’t understand half of them but, I want to promote this challenge that Ron instigates: let’s plant some shit!