What does it really mean to “get back to nature?”

Image Collage by PeapodLife: BECAUSE YOU DON’T NEED TO MOVE TO YELLOWSTONE TO “GET BACK TO NATURE”

Credit: Morning in Yellowstone: sometimes you wake up in the middle of a bison herd. 

Source: Facebook – Yellowstone National Park

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach and not. When I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”

~ Henry David Thoreou.*

*Quote and Image from Walden.

Source: Literary Inklings – Remembering Henry David Thoreau and Snippets of Walden.

The above quote by Henry David Thorough notwithstanding, we have some pretty interesting ideas of what it means to “get back to nature.”

It seems a simple enough concept, especially to children, to whom getting out exploring the wilderness seems to come naturally (at least, it used to be, before the “i-Tech” generation).

Image Collage by PeapodLife: Back to Nature - Then v.s. Now. 

Sources: Kids in Nature: http://www.back2nature.ca/; 

iPod Back to Nature 

Credit: Insanitystudz 

Source: http://www.deviantart.com/morelikethis/414109501/customization?view_mode=2

Just where does this technological “i-age,” including the “selfie” take us? To innovations like the “Bird Photo Booth.” It’s cool, no question, but does it qualify as getting back to nature? Judge for yourself.

Video: GoPro: Bird Photo Booth bird feeder and birdcam for Bird photography like never before

Credit: Bryson Lovett

Source: YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA1TnYSAIo8

Don’t get us wrong, the GoPro is an amazing piece of technology which allows individuals to capture nature as never before…

Video: Beautiful Nature - Autumn - GoPro 3 

Credit: Christophe Gerard

Source: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRHOFfcRY-k

And, of course, GoPro offers the ultimate in “high-performance, high-definition selfie technology” to capture “grown-up kids having grown-up adventures” approach to getting back to nature:

Video: 4 Month GoPro Travel Adventure 

Credit: Henry Cramer

Source: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_zxVotvh8g

But there’s still good old fashioned intrepid exploration, discovering the hidden gems and secret mysteries of nature, like this subterranean haven:

Image: Underground Green Haven 

Source: The Cool Hunter – Getting back to Nature

What all these forms of so-called “getting back to nature” have in common is that they are illusory and/or temporary; in other words unsustainable. As exciting as a 4-month adventure holiday may be, 4 months is 4 months. It is a holiday; it is not sustainable.

“So we’ll capture it for posterity!” we think.

As cool as shooting and viewing high-speed, HD nature footage may be, it’s not the real thing. And unless you had your camera mounted on a helmet, no: you were not really there. The second we start worrying about “capturing the moment,” we’re taken out of the moment. Truly.

That’s part of the problem with the whole “i-Generation,” “selfie” and “be a hero” culture: we’re so focused on saving the experience for later—or sharing it with others—we deprive ourselves the pure, unadulterated experience itself. And, we falsely believe that others can experience what we experienced. Sadly, like us, they get a watered down, filtered version of it. Yeah, it’s pretty cool to watch, but it’s not the same.

What we’re really talking about, then, is getting back to nature more permanently…in a sustainable way. Living with nature.

And there are plenty of really dramatic ways of achieving this goal which, let’s face it are more or less beyond the reach of most of us…

Image Collage by PeapodLife: There’s a more attainable way to get nature back into your life

Sources: http://www.wallpaperhi.com/Nature/Forests/clouds_nature_forest_bridges_chairs_mansion_swimming_pools_spa_foliage_bali_3000x2000_wallpaper_42083,

http://favim.com/image/541632/, 

http://hqdesktop.net/nature-mansion-lakes-house-wallpaper-75949/

And then there are the old standby, log homes and cabins…

Image Collage by Peapodlife: Log Homes

Sources: http://www.theredheadriter.com/2011/09/house-research-low-impact-woodland-home/,

http://www.projectgridless.ca/2013/06/25-examples-of-off-grid-homes-green.html

…quaint, rustic and “natural” to be sure, but ultimately deadwood—lifeless.

And don’t even get us started with potted plants. POTTED PLANTS ARE NOT NATURE. When you separate soil from the earth, put it in a pot and bring it indoors, it immediately begins to putrefy (die, rot, decompose). And although the plant in the soil may appear to be doing well, overall it is polluting your indoor environment and reducing air quality.

At PeapodLife, we believe the BEST way to “get back to nature” in a SUSTAINABLE WAY, are high order indoor rainforest ecosystems.

• Home
• Office
• School
• Health Centre
• Retirement Community

And the reasons are simple: no other way of “getting back to nature” is truly sustainable, without abandoning civilization altogether. PeapodLife is all about ecosystems—mutual harmony and symbiosis—reconciling that which must live together sustainably. For humanity, that time is long overdue.

And what does getting back to nature living the PeapodLife look like?

Video: PeapodLife Living Wall EcoSystem Fitch Street

Source: YouTube - PeapodLife

Remember: videos are not the same as experiencing it first-hand.