We are showered every day with the gifts of the Earth, gifts we have neither earned nor paid for: air to breathe, nurturing rain, black soil, berries and honeybees, the tree that became this page, a bag of rice and the exuberance of a field of goldenrod and asters at full bloom.... . Though the Earth provides us with all that we need, we have created a consumption-driven economy that asks, “What more can we take from the Earth?" and almost never, “What does the Earth ask of us in return?”
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We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.
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After reflecting on Kimmerer’s and Leopold’s thoughts about our relationship to the land, what do you see as your role in returning the Earth’s gifts?
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