Environmental blog 1
Make-up Blog in response to: Leopold, Aldo A Sand County Almanac.
Leopold, like Mckibben, touches on the way we perceive the land and the environment.
He makes an accurate statement about how we view the land now, and how we should
view it. With our culture today we assume any land we may see is owned by someone,
no matter where in the world it may be. Even nature reserves and parks are owned and
operated by the government. We see it as any other piece of property we may own. The
land we see is an object, a tool, a way to make profit. We use, and abuse the land
because we treat it like a piece of furniture in our house that can simply be replaced if it
breaks. There is almost no thought into its well-being unless it affects them financially.
However, if we change the way we view the land, we can change the way in which it is
treated. “When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it
with love and respect. I believe what Leopold is saying is that we must view the land as
a living thing, and treat it accordingly. If we did this we would be must more sensitive to
its needs and the abuse of its resources. Land needs food (nutrients), clean air to breathe,
clean water to drink, and to heal wounds when injured. Additionally, if people begin to
view the land in this new light, there will be much more apparent ethical links to the land
and mankind. As it is at the present day, “there is no other way for land to survive the
impact of mechanized man... When I read this sentence it reminded of the film Go
Further because of the way they kept talking about the poor treatment of cows and how it
affects the milk they produce. In detail, the cows get chemicals in order to produce more
milk. The result, however, is an enlarged utter which causes “blood and puss to enter
the milk. I believe this relates to Leopold because cows are living things which being
treated as if they were machines, with no thought to their well-being. They are being
abused with no immediate consequences. I see the cow as the “land and the way in
which they are treated is from the “mechanized man. If we all thought as Leopold did,
we would live in a much better world. Not only for the land, but for life in general