Flourishing Earth outline

Outline for Flourishing Earth.

1. Context
   • As we strive to build a World That Works, it’s critical to remember how much we depend on our planet and the other life it supports.
   • We exist because our Earth provided the conditions that we needed to thrive.
   • This pattern reminds us that we still need a healthy planet to survive.
2. Problem
   • We depend completely on Earth’s natural systems to maintain an environment in which we can survive, yet we’re still damaging it faster than it can heal itself, and we’re making it more and more fragile.
3. Discussion
   • Forces
     • Humans exist because Earth provided the conditions from which we could emerge. As we damage it, we’re damaging ourselves. As we pollute our air and water, we’re polluting ourselves. For our own health and survival, we need to restore the balance. We can flourish only if Earth is flourishing.
     • Yet, through the mechanisms of the human world, we have damaged our Earth by treating as though it were only ours, destroying life and habitat on a massive scale to gain resources, then dumping the waste of those processes back into the natural systems and expecting them to clean up our mess.
   • Not only do we need to stop damaging the planet, we need to do what we can to restore it to its original health.
   • Therefore:
4. Solution
   • Honor your dependence on Earth and help heal yourself by working to heal and restore a portion of Earth’s natural systems.
   • Such healing can take place at many different levels, from planting a butterfly garden to redesigning the way all our human systems work.
5. Posttext
   • Start small and look for ways you can participate in existing projects that are trying to restore life to the planet— [[ Global Restoration ]].