To live means: to get nourished, to rest and to take care of our health and personal hygiene. These are the human bare necessities ! All the remaining activities (work, study, entertainment, etc.) come right after these basic needs were satisfied.
Personal hygiene is a very important issue in our lives. We know that if we don’t wash our hands before eating, we might get sick. If we don’t wash our body, we might get skin problems. If we don’t use deodorant, we risk smelling bad and bothering other people.
Another aspect of our personal hygiene are the clothes we wear. Dirty clothes may raise health problems, too. Then comes bed linen, followed by the room and house where we live. If they are not constantly cleaned, we risk getting sick. Example is the dust left on furniture, which can raise breathing problems.
When we get out of our home, our hygiene guidelines start to judge other places: public means of transportation, squares, streets and sidewalks. We could say “the bus was clean”, or “the square was dirty: empty packages were spread on the ground”. But, what about streets and sidewalks ? What make them dirty or clean ?
This is the point. Trees let leaves and branches, seeds and fruits fall on the ground. According to our hygiene habits applied at home, these items would be “filth” to be swept, put in bags and brought far away. If we keep thinking like this, it’s better not to have trees around. Hygiene is costly, why then have such additional work ?
Trees, however, have the right to exist and are necessary to our survival. Leaves on the ground are not filth. They are evidence that a tree generated oxygen for you to live. While gathering leaves, branches, seeds and fruits you will be valuing life itself. Don’t see it as an annoyance, but as a privilege given to good will and conscious people !
Natura Futura 