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December 2023 A Rationale for Sprucing
December 2023 A Rationale for Sprucing
Dec 12, 2023
As the holiday season approaches we examine the reasons why we spruce. If you wish to cook a healthy dinner you first need to clean the pot from last night’s meal. If you wish to spruce up the environment you first need to clean the environment up.
Nothing spoils the beauty of any environment so much as a pile of rubbish. There is a reason why witches are depicted riding a broomstick. They know the first thing to do is to clean up.
When we commit to picking up one piece of rubbish a day when we are out on our daily walk we are committing to do something for the good of our community. We become citizens of a wider world. We prepare our community for the activities that take place there.
Whether you walk in the city or the country if you are prepared to pick up a piece of rubbish a day you are committed to making a positive change to that environment and hence to the planet.
In our tradition we decorate a spruce tree on Christmas Eve and celebrate the holidays for twelve days. When we plant a tree for International Spruce Day we take things a step further. For twelve days we celebrate the holidays and then on the eve of the twelfth day we take down the holiday decorations and clean house in preparation for the year ahead. On this day in our new tradition instead of throwing away our Christmas tree we celebrate giving back to Nature with the planting of a tree.
Planting a tree is a way of celebrating Nature and also of giving back to the environment. The old year has passed and we celebrate the New Year with a gift of life. When we celebrate Nature we remember our roots. In this way we both beautify our environment and make it more liveable.
Whatever your personal tradition why not celebrate International Spruce Day on January 5 th each year and reflect on the Solstice, the end of one cycle and the beginning of the next? Planting a tree, whether it is in the city or the country, in town or in the wilderness, spruces up the environment. In the city it provides much needed shade and adornment. In the country it provides beauty and wildlife habitat.
Why not grow a seedling for the holidays and plant it in the new year? Personally I give funds to an organisation which restores wildlife habitat in celebration of International Spruce Day. Maybe your gift of a tree is to a poorer nation to restore rainforest or to provide fruit or nut trees for food. Maybe you plant a tree in your own garden or in a city park or street. Wherever you choose to plant a tree you are making our planet, the Earth a more beautiful and habitable place.
Some organisations will plant a tree for as little as $1. One year I had so few funds I could only afford to plant one tree but I did so in honour of International Spruce Day. Just think if we were all prepared to plant a single tree a year we would have enough trees to keep our air clean in no time. Planting trees makes for a sustainable way of life.
Do join us this holiday season by reflecting on our environment. Give the gifts of beauty and fresh air and fight global warming by celebrating International Spruce Day with us this year and every year.
Clean and green is our motto. Remember one piece a day sends the rubbish away. Don’t just clean: let’s Spruce!
Cheers,
Felicity
Clean and green is our motto. Remember: one piece a day sends the rubbish away! Don’t just clean let’s Spruce.
www.thespruceinitiative.info
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