“Are you invested in the survival of the human species?”
This question came from someone in my city public works department who I often communicate with on important matters regarding daily living environment and ecosystems in my neighborhood. He has a huge heart along with his detailed expertise in his field, and in areas outside of his field as well. He always takes time to answer my questions and listen to my concerns, and I value his opinions and questions immensely.
The implication behind that question “Are you invested in the survival of the human race?” was that maybe I / we shouldn’t get so worked up about environmental issues (such as what I call “intrusive and violent” landscape maintenance norms). After all, we’ve had multiple extinctions over the past several gazillion years.
I had been percolating his question and attempting to formulate my answer, when fortuitously from my Facebook feed, came a beautiful on-ramp! (See, social media is not all bad! Sometimes it gives us a little boost!)
A person on Facebook named Nigel Jones (good page; instant follow!) made reference to trying to avert the sixth extinction.
To which I responded:
— Regarding the OP’s comment about averting the sixth mass extinction, I don’t know if that’s possible anymore at this point, but I’m certainly going to keep trying and never give up! That aside, regardless of whether the extinction is inevitable, I am here to ease the suffering and increase the joy and comfort of my fellow humans and other fellow creatures here and now, while we are on the planet.
And to make an analogy between collective survival and my individual lifespan — yes I know I’m not going to get out of this world alive, but that doesn’t mean I’m out here trying to do things to hasten my own suffering and death either!
More thoughts:
• We human beings do not have any more right to be here than any other species. If, through our own foolishness and lack of care, we end up taking out ourselves and a bunch of other species with us, we will have no one but ourselves to blame. In that sense I am not invested in our survival. We might survive if we turn around our various harmful norms and practices – but maybe not even then. It’s a shame though, because it’s disproportionately we humans in the rich industrialized nations that are causing the damage. So many innocent people have died and will die from our greed and lack of willingness to change.
• We have a huge amount of data at our disposal. But still nobody really knows for sure when and what the tipping point will be for the human race’s extinction … or possible turnaround for survival. Although nobody knows for sure, I’m a strong believer in the precautionary principle. It’s one of those principles where you just can’t really go wrong. It’s no great sacrifice to not mow grass in a space we are not using; or not spray poison on other species’ food and habitat. It’s no sacrifice to leave the fallen leaves under the trees instead of scraping and blowing them away and replacing them with dyed mulch. It’s no sacrifice to let shrubs and trees emerge instead of constantly keeping empty lots in a state of arrested growth. The only sacrifice it might entail for some is being willing to reexamine our aesthetic norms.
• Speaking of aesthetics, there are more and more beautiful examples of high-level professional work that includes tall prairie grasses, soft-edged shrubs, native vegetation, asymmetrical geometry, and chemical-free maintenance. We as ecologically minded activists can help by sharing these appealing visual images widely on every channel available to us. Including constructive emails and public comments to our local governments.
• There is absolutely a moral dimension to all of this, beyond simply trying to ease human suffering. If someone had plenty of food to eat, and a place to live, but they still insisted on breaking into your house and taking over your house, and taking your food and then not even eating the food but leaving it to spoil, would that not be morally wrong and would you not be outraged? Of course! And yet, this is exactly what we do to all other species. We destroy their food supply and their habitat, even when we’re not even using it. (Empty lots can be put to great use even if someone’s not ready to build on one. We can be letting them get regrown so they pull their freight in terms of heat mitigation and stormwater absorption, and biodiversity. And then we can simply clear a lot once someone’s actually ready to build on it.)
• People who care about other species are viewed in this society as being sappy, sentimental, unrealistic, so-called hippies and treehuggers. But the fact is that we depend on other species. We all depend on each other. It’s a huge web of life. So we’re not just being gooey-eyed weirdos when we try to protect other species. We have a self-interest in their survival.
Disastrous floods are happening in more and more places. One day recently I was shocked to look at my list of cities on my weather app, and see severe flood or storm advisories in about 10 different places widely scattered all over the country. Including of course central Texas, where I lived for 15 years before moving to Florida and where I still have deep ties. This is not abstract for me; I have lost track of the number of people I know who have lost their homes, cars, precious family memorabilia, and many other possessions in floods. In Texas, in North Carolina, here in Florida, and all over the place. A growing body of evidence is pointing to soil depletion and tree removal / de-vegetation as a major contributing factor to flooding — both indirectly via extreme heat, and directly via runoff from bare slopes. To me it’s so very preventable. Not that there will never be floods; just that so many of them need never have happened.
(By the way, if you keep repeating and quoting facts, and sharing visuals (temperature-gun data, pretty water-cycle animation etc.), and people don’t seem to be listening, it doesn’t mean give up; but it might mean take a break and/or share stories instead of facts. Definitely please don’t give up on giving input to your local government bodies. I know it’s easy to get cynical, but we have to keep sharing our thoughts and experiences with our elected officials and staff. Make it fun — recruit friends & neighbors to go with you, and then go for a meal or drink afterwards. We do that!)
• I said “no great sacrifice” above, but the fact is that the mow-and-blow industry is something like a $3 billion industry, or it might even be trillion with a T. So some people might reasonably feel threatened by loss of livelihood. But that’s still no excuse, as there is and will always be plenty of landscaping work to be done. Reforestation, stormwater-sponge earthworks, pond design, native and edible landscaping. Nobody need ever lack employment in the landscaping field even if we drastically reduce the area of tightly mowed turfgrass. Also, ride-on mowers and edgers aren’t going away completely, though they might not be needed as often or in as widespread a way. (Elsewhere I have set forth descriptions of how a permaculture design practitioner or ecological landscaper can form a mutually beneficial relationship with a mowing company.)
I use a lot of examples from landscaping simply because that’s one of my professions, and also because it’s a huge leverage point for ecosystem health, temperature moderation, and human health. But of course there are many other leverage points for voluntarily reducing unnecessary consumption as well. (Of course, one person’s unnecessary is another person’s necessary. There is a wide menu of things to choose from.)
Other big leverage points include leisure travel; and the war industry. (Speaking of travel, if our own streetscapes here at home were more soothing and walkable, with plenty of little parks and trails, shaded sidewalks, and fountains and linear pools for swimming and wading, and a drastically reduced level of unnecessary noise from mechanized equipment, maybe we wouldn’t be so obsessed with constantly hopping on planes and cruise ships and treating other countries like our own personal VRBO theme-parks. “They have such cute buildings and cozy little roads “over there”!” /s When you get home, why not try advocating for similar beauty and charm in your own place. Get inspired by things you have loved, and be an advocate for them in the place where you live.)
Regarding curbing our incessant war habit, I strongly suggest joining Veterans for Peace. They have an excellent website (including extensive archives) and email newsletter with various tips about how to “wage peace.” https://www.veteransforpeace.org
Am I invested in the survival of the human race? Not inordinately. Especially in the case of rich industrialized humans, our track record and resistance to leaving our comfort zone may not merit our survival.
But then again, I sure don’t want to be the one to withhold an action or dismiss an idea that might make a difference in the ability of our species to enjoy this sweet beautiful planetary home for at least a little while longer! I don’t have any kids of my own, but other people’s kids matter to me. I’ve had a beautiful life and I would like others to have that chance too.
Further Exploration:
• “Maybe we’ll succeed in surviving, and maybe we won’t. But at the very least we can rescue ourselves from spending one more day on this amazing blue world trying to live by the rules of lunatics.” — Don’t Take Instruction On How To Live Your Life From A Stark Raving Mad Society. Caitlin Johnstone; July 13, 2025. https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/dont-take-instruction-on-how-to-live
• Sources of images and verbiage to support a softer and more naturalistic approach to landscaping. Search any of the following terms: Homegrown National Park – Doug Tallamy; Rewilding movement; native plant society + your city or area (almost every region has at least one chapter of native plant society nowadays), food forest, edible landscaping, stormwater sponge, rain garden.
• Essential reading (or re-reading): “Hieroglyphic Stairway” by Drew Dellinger. https://hellopoetry.com/poem/1336778/hieroglyphic-stairway-by-drew-dellinger/ It’s a heartbreaking yet motivating poem. Especially essential reading if you have kids! Or anyone in the younger generations who you care about. It starts out: “it’s 3:23 in the morning
and I’m awake
because my great great grandchildren
won’t let me sleep
my great great grandchildren
ask me in dreams
what did you do while the planet was plundered? …”
