“Shmita consciousness” on Biosphere Earth
Hello, Friends. Here is BioIntegrity’s March email: More profound thoughts for your consideration.
Biosphere, first.
Nothing is more important than the human life-support system. I want to quickly share a synopsis of “the Biospheric Climate Solution” plus some highlights from a recent conversation I got to host on ancient guidances for how to live, together, on Earth.
The Biospheric Climate Solution
The “biospheric” climate solution is: restoring Nature’s global integrity after an era of mass Nature destruction through the advancement of globally-strategic ecosystem protection, regrowth, reconnection, rewilding, and integration.
It’s restoring global wilderness integrity.
It depends on high-biodiversity ecosystems.
It depends on advancement in these emerging economic areas (among others):
- Stewardship economics
“Conservation 3.0” — Empowerment of Indigenous leadership and land rights, Protection of forever ecosystems, public education on biospheric integrity. - Regenerative economics
“Agriculture and everything after” — the transformation of today’s extractive and destructive industries into industries that grow more life than they take. - Circular economics
Conversion of all biological wastes and manufactured materials into resources for ecosystem protection and biospheric optimization; this includes the materials in clean tech. - Biospheric innovation
Technologies that reverse destruction of the biosphere; everything from simple techniques to satellite monitoring to stimulating moisture recycling to advanced probes to mine landfills for circular manufacturing resources, to AI that can find and remove microplastics and toxic materials from the environment, to chemistry that can convert old manufactured wastes into new resources, and so on. Tech’s primary role should be to protect and secure Biosphere Earth’s integrity, in perpetuity.
The “biospheric” climate solution is based on maximizing the benefits of 4 ecological realities heavily vegetated, land-ecosystems provide: local to global self-cooling, self-irrigation, weather managment, and carbon absorption. These realities scale according to sunlight, hydration, nutrition, temperature, weather, and climate conditions. Land ecosystems with long, moist, warm seasons grow the most and beneficially impact the climate the most. Forests are by far the most powerful resource, but all vegetative resources provide these utilities at varying scales. The more mature, the better.
Here are 4 synopses (click links for science & citations):
Learn more.
So, that’s the biosphere.
And, what is “Shmita” consciousness?
Last week BioIntegrity got to produce a roundtable conversation with nine of the most prominent voices in Jewish environmental life. It turns out caring for the Earth is in the Bible. What I learned is that “Shmita” calls for living in balance with Earth’s other life and each other.
- The Shmita verses: Exodus 23: 10–11, Leviticus 25:2–7, Leviticus 25:20–22, and Deuteronomy 15:1–3
Ecology & Economy
BioIntegrity is not a religious organization, but we absolutely want to collaborate with the many good-hearted people living according to various Faith and spiritual practice tenets, seeking to contribute to the greater good. We are one great community.
In this moment, when Putin’s deadly and destructive horrors remind us Life is fragile and Humanity must advance into a new era of living in balance with each other and our life-support system, we need conceptual models for what “living in balance” means. Shmita offers one ecologically-realistic template and reminds us we DO know how to do this.
Shmita Live
We assembled an extraordinary panel for the roundtable. It includes one of the first female rabbis in North America, Rabbi Nina Beth Cardin, as well as farmers, educators, and activists. The conversation is kaledeiscopic. Rabbi Fred Scherlinder Dobb, describes Shmita consciousness as being rooted in the best of Jewish values:
- Anavah: Humility
- Chesed: Loving Kindness
- Kavod: Honor
So, what can we learn here?
If you’re remotely curious about these overlooked Biblical commandments check out the podcast, co-hosted by National Wildlife Federation and others, produced for AllCreation.
And, how can You make a difference…
Affordably?
- Donate to BioIntegrity. Support our work. We’re taking on the world.
- Help Protect Tropical Forests. Our partner Rainforest Trust is raising funds to protect our closest genetic relative, the Bonobo, in its most endangered habitat: The Congo. These forests also happen to be some of the most cooling, irrigating, carbon dense, and carbon-absorbing on Earth. You will not find a more fiscally effective biospheric climate solution than supporting this project at just $7.20 an acre with donation match. Learn more here. Make a donation here.
- Help our friend Harrison. This young man emails us nearly everyday from Kenya, asking for support of his permaculture project — in a time of historic drought. A few dollars donated here will go a long way. We featured him in last week’s email, more info there. Harrison Aron and his partner Nicholas need your help to protect their community farm. Make a donation.
- Check out this documentary. Breaking Boundaries is a Netflix movie featuring the world’s most prominent global ecologist (in lush scenery around the planet) on how to avoid biodiversity and biospheric collapse this decade. Learn about how to transform the economy in keeping with Biosphere Earth’s “planetary boundaries”. 1 hour.
- Check out these books. Web of Meaning, exploring how we’ve defined reality outside of biospheric reality. Breaking Boundaries, defining primary reality and best next steps on Biosphere Earth. This is what the doco above is based on. Custer Died for Your Sins, a breakthrough history on the Native American land steals. There, There, a breakthrough novel on modern, Native American life. The Overstory, Pulitzer-prize winning novel on emotional/spiritual connections to trees. Bewilderment, award winning novel about an astrobiologist and his son reckoning with Biosphere Earth’s ultimate primacy in our lives. The Writer’s Journey, the “how to” for screenwriters, reveals much about our cultural / psychological relationship with masculinity, drama and heroism. Braiding Sweetgrass, the best book on Earth for rekindling your sense of relationship with, and reverence for, other life.
Thanks for reading.
Contact me with questions.
