Stewards of the Earth?

[Aelfgar]

Basically the modern culture I live in now is unsustainable, and it would be difficult to enact the changes needed for homeostasis. I hope for it though. I don't know if I'd consider myself to be a steward. I think there's a lot more I could do to live more "green", but due to impracticality and lack of funds, I simply don't. I guess I'm green in moderation.

We do what we can. It's not easy being "green" in this society being it's based on disposable things. And when you try to buck the system, be prepared to encounter resistance. I learned that when my parents ran a recycling center back in the early 90's, all the ones that have landfills are trying to bring you down.

These days, anyone who cares about the environment I consider a steward, just saying.

[Bathilde]

These days, anyone who cares about the environment I consider a steward, just saying.

Trufax

[gestalt100]

Yeah I actually disagree with you Bathilde, I feel the Earth is sacred, there are sacred places: land untouched by humans and burial grounds of any race or culture. If you find the your homeland beautiful (as I do, I love where I live), you will respect it. This respect could grow to such a degree that you consider the Earth, the cradle of human life, to be sacred.

Remember that Earth (Jörð) is a is a female jötunn (or goddess, since she is coupled with Odin), Thor's mother and the personification of the Earth. So, Odin created the Earth with his brothers and Odin created Thor with himself and the Earth. Midgard is a very importance part of Heathenism, without a doubt. So Bathilde, there is a spirit of the Earth, a goddess, that is the Earth, and she is both a goddess and Midgard. It's a small and overlooked part of Norse cosmology.

As for environmentalism, I recycle and plant trees on my already well forested land. We also compost waste food and grow a small half acre garden. I cannot really cut back on emissions from my vehicle except by walking and bicycling, which is really hard in a rural area. I'd like to be as green as possible. Imagine a 'green' off the grid Hof! All it would need is a phone line! A well, and some solar panels would be all you would need the only reason we don't have impressive extravagant Hof is because of the fact that we're spread too thin. You could build it not totally underground, but have the walls turfed in, like the structures at L'Anse Meadows. Dream big!!!

P.S. (There could be a Heathen 'colony' in Walhalla, SC)

[Bathilde]

So, you think Ymir's body is a goddess/giant named Jörð? How does that work?


I agree certain places can be considered sacred, but I disagree that the entire planet is sacred. For one, if everything on earth is sacred, that makes "sacred" less meaningful. I think one can revere the earth and it's ecosystems without necessarily having everything be sacred. And considering you contribute to polluting the earth, how do you reconcile that with your sacred view? I wouldn't think one would pollute that which he considers sacred.

Perhaps we're using the word "sacred" differently?

[gestalt100]

The name Jörð means Earth in a direct translation from Old Norse to English. I am aware of Ymir, but Ymir's body provided the structure for more than just the Earth I thought. If Ymir's that, then what is Jörð? Ymir is basically a structure. Not the Earth. Jörð is probably the main goddess of the Earth, and probably not the Earth itself. I mean, Jörð must have some significance right?
I'm meaning sacred as the way it is to be treated, and of course I suppose I could not pollute entirely, but that's pretty darn hard in this country, I'm sure you can agree.

[Bathilde]

I took it to mean Ymir's body represents the actual physical earth, whilst Jörð would have earth as her domain and wouldn't literally be the earth.

I agree it's difficult to live in this society, be productive and not pollute. I would say the earth is to be treated with respect and "sacredness" reserved for places that are extra special.

[Lupegoulash]

For me, I see our faith tied to the earth more so than other religions, simply my view, but I recycle, plant trees, teach my kids to respect nature, not litter, use only what you need, etc... So, I do think we are stewards of the earth. Actually, most of the environmentally-minded people I have met were either pagan or heathen, or decidedly not christian. No judgments about anyone's faith or views, but just my observation.

[Bathilde]

Well, about pagans being the most environmentally minded...In my experience they also tend to be the most gullible as far as environmentalism. While good intentioned, their lack of research into things makes some of what they do to be pointless and wasteful, and costly(not just finance-wise). For example, there's this prevalent notion that GMO foods are evil and we should only have organic. While there is some problem with certain GMOs, and certain farming methods are unsustainable(such as single crops sucking nutrients out of the ground), there really isn't anything wrong with most GMO crops. In fact, it's due to GMO crops that allows millions of people to not starve to death. Two words for you: Norman Borlaug.

Another thing, you mentioned you recycle. Unfortunately recycling is only a sustainable solution in very confined circumstances. In most circumstances(due to the infrastructure not being set up properly) recycling causes pollution, costs money, and doesn't actually help much. It does, however, give some businesses an excuse to charge more for their product because a percentage of it is made from recyclable materials. Practically speaking, metal is the most viable material for recycling, since there's really no need to "clean" the material before smelting, there's no loss in quality during each recycle, and it's cheaper than mining the ore. Compare this to paper recycling, which requires chemical cleansing to remove impurities(ink and whatnot), you have to include virgin pulp since the quality degrades during recycling, and it costs more to recycle than to use regular methods, which is why recycled paper tends to cost more than regular paper. Plastic is even worse because you involve the use of petrochemicals.