the 5 treasures
Five elements of the natural world are essential to our well-being. As dear as life itself, they are worth celebrating and safeguarding. Learn how COREworks projects protect and promote these eco-treasures right where we live.
Treasure 1
Clean air
A fresh breath of air--that’s what we all want, whether human, millipede, or something in between. Thanks to the US Clean Air Act of 1972, American skies are clearer today than the recent past. We can literally see and enjoy the difference. Other threats, though, are more difficult to see. The most urgent challenge: reducing unhealthy levels of carbon dioxide in our atmosphere.
Treasure 2
Healthy Water
The same amount of water has sustained this planet for millions of years. What keeps this resource fit for use? Thanks to the marvels of the water cycle, the skies perpetually return freshwater to us. Water falls to the Earth clean, but it can easily become polluted as it travels across land. US laws limit direct inputs, but plenty of contaminants still wash into streams after storms. This indirect pollution threatens creatures large and small, near and far.
Treasure 3
Living soil
We’re alive because we’ve got dirt — and not just any dirt: we’ve got fertile soil. Soil makes bountiful living possible, whether around the table, in the fields, or out in the wild yonder. Soil covers our planet like a gift wrap, but soil itself is the gift — a surprisingly fragile one. It takes hundreds of years for natural systems to create an inch of topsoil, but just one gullywasher to send it all downstream. Today, we’re losing life-giving soil faster than it regenerates.
Treasure 4
Vibrant communities
In a planet of treasures, the web of life is a mega-treasure. It’s how all the living and non-living parts of a river or forest or backyard come together so you can have your milkweed, and your monarch too. The greater and more diverse the resources — food, shelter, water — the greater the vibrancy to which we all belong. The converse, however, is also true: threats to biodiversity ultimately affect our well-being too.
Treasure 5
earth stewards
Knowing our place in the whole is a uniquely human gift — and a calling. Today there’s great need for more of us to align our living with this wisdom. Earth Stewards possess ecological self-awareness. We see and feel and know that our actions impact the whole. Since an action anywhere impacts life everywhere, we can jumpstart cycles of good right where we are. That’s what earth wisdom brings us: connection, clarity of choice, and change.