On further meditation I realized that this is our duty and a privilege and that caring for Mother Bhumi (earth) is not limited to ‘my’ back yard or around the temple. She is being poisoned by chemicals, filled with toxic waste and rubbish and her forests are being exploited for material gain. The so called great nations are burying or dropping at sea nuclear waste, and like a cancer, this will eventually destroy the environment that we are so dependent on.

I believe the reason gardening, planting trees, or cleaning the environment gives so much pleasure and peace, is because our planet is struggling and any little thing each of us can do brings some relief to this great personality that gives us shelter.

I have noticed that just a little care and love when planting, weeding and feeding brings such amazing results, even to quite a barren place.

So when we walk down our street or around the temple, let us not forget the load we take off Mother Bhumi when we do our small part to maintain her health by picking up rubbish, recycling and using bio-degradable products.

Srila Prabhupada said:

Unnecessarily cutting trees without consideration is another example of human debauchery. The paper industry cuts many hundreds and thousands of trees for its mills, and with the paper so much rubbish literature is published for the whimsical satisfaction of human society. Unfortunately, although these industrialists are now happy in this life by dint of their industrial development, they do not know that they will incur the responsibility for killing these living entities who are in the form of trees.

C.C.ADI 9.46