Ecosouthwest.com: About our Eco Philosophy ...

	About our Eco Philosophy ...

Being part of the environmental solution is taking an active part in helping to solve the problems the environment continually must face. Please help to do that by helping maintain the environment in whatever proactive way you can. A vibrant, healthy environment also reflects the attitude of the people who must care about the planet that sustains all of us.

Gandhi once said, "If you can't help the creatures of the world, please try not to hurt them." We, the staff of Ecosouthwest.com, feel this way also, where the same sentiment holds true for both people and the environment. We are all important players on the stage of life. After all, we are the stewards of this planetary host that functions like some kind of a collective organism that is as alive and conscious as we are. Everything in its nexus counts and there is a purpose in all things from the smallest to the largest. Yet there is a need today to change the course of the world's aggressive attitude toward down sizing and diminishing the role the environment plays in the overall picture. While enjoying the fruits and merits of materialization in a gadget oriented commerce, there is something that no money can buy nor can anything be greater than what is natural and here before us at any given moment.

Life, and the life process, is therefore as much spiritual as anything else. Some would say it's more celestial than anything else. The area of concern we are talking about directs itself toward the vanishing open spaces, which means not only a vanishing wilderness, but also a serious culling of the rank and file of all creatures, great and small. Therefore we must look to a wiser spirit and kinder heart for counsel. Otherwise, those inalienable rights that many of us count on today may not be in place for those who are still waiting in the wings of time.

Everyone has a vital role to play in the planet's continued well being. Through the means of a higher consciousness we must see to the wellness of the environment that we all depend on for our survival. In this light, Ecosouthwest.com's eco awareness and philosophy looks upon this dynamic host planet as both a source and resource for our survival. We also sanction the potential of humanity to act as her wise stewards. We feel this is the only way to ensure those future generations a better place for our having been here before them by our caring enough to protect a healthy ecology and the environment that sustains all of us. Because the environment and its state of ecology is what we mainly focus on when conducting our tours, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, more important to defend than the environment, for all of us depend on it as we do oxygen to breathe. What really matters in the long run if there is an unhealthy environment that cannot sustain a decent quality of life for all those that depend on its soundness? Here in the Southwest, especially, where we conduct most of our tours the open spaces are diminishing with the augmenting appetites for land development as well as myriad industries moving in and replacing the pristine wilderness, all of which continues to steal the open spaces and tax the wildlife that vitally depends on it. But when is enough ever enough when faced with such heavy land use without a more enlightened course and policy to steer by and toward?

Edward Abbey, who wrote so much on the outdoors, especially the Southwest he revered, once said of the wilderness, "The word itself is music. . . . We scarcely know what we mean by the term, though the sound of it draws all whose nerves and emotions have not yet been irreparably stunned, deadened, numbered by the caterwauling of commerce, the sweating scramble for profit and domination." Consider, also, the still very much topical words of Chief Seattle who stood up for the vanishing frontier he witnessed over a hundred years ago. This eloquent leader spoke about what it means to see the wild, free creatures in nature, such as the eagle, the wolf, the bear, and so on. In so many words he then remarked when these great creatures are removed from the picture a part of the human spirit is also missing something vitally important.

Which brings us to the role each person plays on the stage of life. In the world there are TAKERS and there are LEAVERS. This distinction of words was coined by Daniel Quinn in his epic work, ISHMAEL. The terminology aptly fits humankind's role in the matrix of the life process. You can find out a lot about its meaning and intent when you read his insightful and thought provoking work. Also on this theme are Edward Abbey's DESERT SOLITAIRE, Henry David Thoreau's, WALDEN, and Aldo Leopold's, THE SAND COUNTRY and you have a plethora of wealth on the subject.

We guarantee the list of equally insightful books is sure to follow once you get started on this path. These engaging tomes are popular common denominators that highlight the urgency of standing up for the environment and guarding its future with our lives; for in a way, that is exactly what is necessary in order to sustain the world we live on. While it is true that there are more "takers" than "leavers" in the world, it is never too late to turn a lemon into a glass of lemonade. The world can always use a helping hand, especially in this day and age when the real battleground we are all drawn to in one way or the other is defending the last of the open spaces. Yet here is another major concern all of us need to be aware of: we are simply loving our public parks, monuments, and open spaces to death. The impact is accelerating as people find they have more time and money on their hands. We feel those good folks at LEAVE NO TRACE have an important message to share with all of us, because the need for an outdoor ethic through awareness is crucial if we are to sustain the natural places without diminishing these features and the wildlife that lives there. Such an ethic also includes respect for the native people and the archeological sites found on their lands.

At Ecosouthwest.com, we feel our approach to environmental and educational touring is a popular ideal worth supporting and we want to leave our guests with an enriching and memorable experience, not just sightseeing. Because our guides are highly qualified and experiential educators, historians, and field naturalists working in a variety of specialties, we can meet the commitment to help strike a better balance between the human demands we place upon the environment and the general long-term wellness of the planet.

It is through such an awareness that we all manifest a clearer vision of our personal destiny and help to create an environmentally stable future for all elements of the planet, be it rock, plant, mineral, or all creatures who makeup the matrix of life. Most importantly, we feel there is a vital need for all of us to be part of a greater journey that makes this venerable vision a common reality and practical understanding as well as something special and binding that we can all support. Ultimately, each of us is what we think and do, and anyone can make a difference through heightened planetary consciousness.

To quote Chief Seattle once again, he said, "This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself."

To quote another favorite maxim we also like to pass along, it is from an 11th century Japanese: Esho funi. It means, "Oneness of Life and the Environment."

Please, help us protect the open spaces, especially here in the Southwest, including the wildlife that depends on it. We can, and will, make a difference, because we know the alternative to a lost or seriously disturbed environment will only come back to haunt us.

Our eco philosophy in a phrase: "In The World AND Responsible For It!"

(ECOSOUTHWEST.COM staff)