{"id":1020,"date":"2019-12-17T16:48:53","date_gmt":"2019-12-17T16:48:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/druidry.org\/\/?page_id=1020"},"modified":"2024-04-18T13:17:40","modified_gmt":"2024-04-18T12:17:40","slug":"the-campaign-for-ecological-responsibility","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/druidry.org\/get-involved\/the-campaign-for-ecological-responsibility","title":{"rendered":"The Campaign For Ecological Responsibility"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The Campaign for Ecological Responsibility and Druid Spirituality isn\u2019t just about improving your own life: it\u2019s about making a difference to the world too, it\u2019s about becoming environmentally responsible.<\/p>

Imagine how the world would be, if each of us, individually, was ecologically responsible \u2013 if each of us made sure we didn\u2019t pollute the rivers with the detergents we used, didn\u2019t cause trees to be cut down for toilet tissue or damage the air we breathe by using so much petrol.<\/p>

It would be a very different world from the one we see around us today, in which our environment is subjected to continual degradation because of our individual and collective reluctance to take responsibility.<\/p>

But it\u2019s hard for us to take responsibility when the problems seem so massive. We tend to feel that it is governments and industry that must make the changes: we feel like tiny insignificant parts of the whole. But we know that changes in consciousness in small numbers of people can affect the consciousness of whole groups, and our Campaign is focussed on changing awareness and consciousness.<\/p>

More and more people are realising that they can affect industry and governments by making choices about what they purchase, and by uniting with others who feel the same way. The most graphic example of this is the way that consumers and pressure groups in the UK and Europe have succeeded in dramatically limiting the introduction of genetically modified foods. This proves that we as consumers do have power, and that we should wield it consciously, and with a sense of responsibility which says: \u201cI am determined to do as little damage to the environment as possible.\u201d<\/p>

Having decided to take responsibility, the next step is to find out how best we can do this in tangible, practical ways. Since the Campaign was launched in February 1988 there has been an explosion of interest in ecological responsibility.<\/p>

Here are some links with lots of good ideas on how you can make a difference. After these there are details of books that provide detailed information on changes we can make to our way of living:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Ways to reduce your environmental impact<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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1. Try eliminating or reducing meat consumption: the most wasteful and polluting way of producing food.<\/p>

2. Don\u2019t waste energy: turn the heating down; insulate; wear more clothes<\/p>

3. Drive as little as necessary: cycle where possible or walk<\/p>

4.\u00a0<\/a>Refuse excessive packaging: or return it to the shops<\/p>

5. Recycle what you can: plastics, metal, glass, paper<\/a><\/p>

6. Compost organic waste: build a compost heap or get a bin<\/a><\/p>

7.\u00a0Reduce consumption: do you really need that much STUFF?<\/p>

8. Don\u2019t fly: holiday at home [try camping, it\u2019s great fun and planet friendly]<\/p>

9. Install energy efficient lightbulbs<\/p>

10. Plant trees: in your garden or anywhere else you can find<\/p>

11. Join an environmental, wildlife or conservation group and get active<\/a><\/p>

12. Use less water: bath with a friend; don\u2019t flush after peeing; don\u2019t clean teeth with tap running<\/p>

13. Install solar panels or a wind generator<\/p>

14. Complain when you see wasteful behaviour: whether corporate or private
15. Write to your MP about bad government policies: like airport expansion and road building<\/a><\/p>

16. See if your town will join the Transition Towns movement<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Recommended Books<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Consumer\u2019s Guide to Effective Environmental Choices: Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists<\/em>
by Michael Brower, Three Rivers Press
The Green Home Handbook<\/em>\u00a0Published by Friends of the Earth
The Green Office Action Plan<\/em>\u00a0Published by Friends of the Earth
Take the Heat off the Planet! How You Can Really Help Stop Climate Change<\/em>\u00a0Friends of the Earth
Don\u2019t Throw it All Away!<\/em>\u00a0Friends of the Earth
Use Less Stuff: Environmental Solutions for Who We Really Are<\/em>
by Robert M. Lilienfeld, William L. Rathje<\/p>

A permanent exhibition of green living in the UK well worth visiting is at\u00a0The Centre for Alternative Technology<\/em><\/a>\u00a0in Machynlleth, Powys Wales SY20 9AZ Tel. 0654 2400. It shows all types of alternative technology in action \u2013 including wind and solar driven systems, organic gardening, and new types of housing- all with a bookstore, health food restaurant and adventure playground. They also organise residential courses.<\/p>

If you haven\u2019t already done so, put this aspect of Druid spirituality into practice now by becoming environmentally responsible as an individual: recycle as much as you can (glass, cans, newspapers, and sometimes plastics, can all easily be recycled at local recycling centres in car-parks, council tips, etc. Some areas arrange weekly collections from your house.) And see if you can switch household cleaning and paper products to more environmentally friendly ones.<\/p>

If you want to get actively involved in environmental work, join a local conservation group. It\u2019s a great way to make friends too. In the UK contact BTCV (British Trust For Conservation Volunteers) 36 St Mary\u2019s Street, Wallingford, Oxon, OX10 0EU Phone 01491 8397 656 email\u00a0info@btcv.org.uk<\/a><\/p>

Recycling and buying environmentally-friendly products is a start, but only a start. We need to protect our environment by consuming less and driving less. Our society is based upon massive over-consumption, and it is this over-consumption that is driving the \u2018machinery\u2019 that is ravaging the earth. By focussing our lives on opening ourselves to the power and beauty of Nature and Spirit, rather than on consuming more products, we not only reduce some of the damage being done to the earth, but we also free up enormous amounts of time, energy and money.<\/p>

Consuming less sounds straightforward, but it requires a radical shift in awareness. Have a look at the following books:\u00a0The Joy of Not Working<\/em>\u00a0by Ernie J. Zelinski,\u00a0Un-Jobbing<\/em>\u00a0by Michael Fogler,\u00a0How to Live Green, Cheap & Happy<\/em>\u00a0by Randi Hacker,\u00a0Simplify Your Life with Kids<\/em>\u00a0by Elaine St. James.<\/p>

Shifting our awareness away from trying to make ourselves happy by consuming, to becoming contented and at peace with ourselves and the world, without having to \u2018get\u2019 anything, lies at the foundation of the practical application of Druid philosophy in the world today.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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A bit of history about the Campaign - behind the scenes at OBOD<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Having launched the Campaign in February 1988, we began gathering information about environmentally-friendly products. We discovered that there were hundreds of them: over-priced and often difficult to locate. We started a project to initiate the development of shops that would sell these goods, and which would spread across the country as health food stores did years before. We researched the products, and in conjunction with a director of Greenpeace and a colleague from the European Business School, produced a 34 page report which was circulated to all the major financial institutions, selected corporations and key figures in the business world. We held a number of meetings with such figures, including one in Amsterdam with the director of Holland\u2019s largest supermarket chain and with the Bodyshop. We also spoke with publishers and exhibition organisers about projects to promote the idea of ecological responsibility.<\/p>

We didn\u2019t achieve our original objective \u2013 which was the setting up of a chain of shops that would actively help people become ecologically responsible. But what has occurred since that time is far more important. The concept of individual ecological responsibility has become more and more current, and as environmental degradation intensifies, both the consumer and the retailer are becoming aware of their responsibility.<\/p>

The Order\u2019s\u00a0Campaign for Individual Ecological Responsibility<\/em>\u00a0focuses at the level of consciousness change, from which flow practical applications. The Campaign aims to change the idea that we are powerless, and to encourage the taking of individual responsibility. Once we act with personal responsibility, we can turn to the world of industry and commerce, and work to promote the idea of\u00a0Corporate Ecological Responsibility<\/em>, and to governments and nations to promote the idea of\u00a0Global Ecological Responsibility<\/em>.<\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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\n\t\t\tSpiral triskelion (formed from mathematical Archimedean spirals), occasionally used as a Christian Trinitarian symbol<\/title><\/path><\/svg>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Videos<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In the videos below you can learn about the campaign to eradicate Ecocide (lower right video), Transition Towns (top right), the\u00a0Be the Change<\/em>\u00a0project (lower left), the Life Cairn (lower centre), hear activist Julia Butterfly Hill talking about reducing our impact (top left), and listen to Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America, John Michael Greer (top centre), talking about our move into a post-industrial age. John Michael\u2019s blog\u00a0The Archdruid Report: Druid perspectives on nature, culture, and the future of industrial society<\/em><\/a> offers regular and highly informed debate about environmental issues. His books on this subject are highly recommended:\u00a0The Ecotechnic Future: Envisioning a Post-Peak World<\/em><\/a>, and\u00a0The Wealth of Nature: Economics as if Survival Mattered<\/em><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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