Earth Charter

1) Respect and Care for the Community of Life

Principle 1 of the earth charter says, “Recognize that all beings are interdependent and every form of life has value regardless of its worth to human beings.” This quote relates to my service learning experience. In our class discussion we emphasized the importance of every form of life. Every form of life plays a role in its own ecosystem. If one form of life is taken out of the ecosystem then all of the other forms of life will suffer. If another foreign form of life joins an ecosystem then it will take over and be cancer to other forms of life.   

http://eschooltoday.com/ecosystems/what-is-an-ecosystem.html

2) Ecological Integrity

Principle 2 of the earth charter says, “Manage the extraction and use of non-renewable resources such as minerals and fossil fuels in ways that minimize depletion and cause no serious environmental damage.” This quote also relates back to a class discussion that we had about having a sense of place. Professor Thomas explained that her sense of place was take away from her when they started fracking where she used to play in the outdoors as a kid. This seemed important to me because not only is it bad for the environment but it also takes away someone’s sense of place.

http://nofrackingmexico.org/que-es-el-fracking/

3) Social and Economic Justice

Principle 3 of the earth charter says, “Empower every human being with the education and resources to secure a sustainable livelihood, and provide social security and safety nets for those who are unable to support themselves.” This quote struck me because I learned how to secure a sustainable livelihood because of my service learning experience at the food forest. The people that ran the food forest were very knowledgeable and encouraged everyone who attended to start growing their own food and explained many of the steps necessary in or to do this effectively. Permaculture is the easiest way to have a sustainable food source and can allow a family to support themselves.

http://abundancefoundation.org/diy-2012/permaculture

4) Democracy, Non-Violence, and Peace 

Principle 4 of the earth charter says, “Protect wild animals from methods of hunting, trapping, and fishing that cause extreme, prolonged, or avoidable suffering.” On our field trip to Fort Myers beach, the lady explained to us that fisherman used to use gill nets to catch fish in large amounts. This was damaging the supply of fish and was killing many of them off. Eventually gill nets were banned and fisherman had to use other methods of catching fish.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gillnetting