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re- a prefix, occurring originally in loanwords from Latin, used with the meaning “again” or “again and again” to indicate repetition, or with the meaning “back” or “backward” to indicate withdrawal or backward motion.
By Nadine Canter Barnicle The words reimagine, recreate, regenerate, reciprocate, respect have been coming up a lot for me. This prefix, re-, carries a lot of power, intention, and direction. I think it is particularly important in front of the word imagine. Yuval Noah Harari in his book Sapiens emphasizes the power of the human imagination. He writes about the Homo Sapiens emergence and how we humans imagined today’s world into being. And he means how we imagined everything, from the keyboard I type on to the roads we travel, to the cars we drive in – and, as we all read this issue of Spring Under the Sun - how we create waste and what we do with it. Harari believes we humans can re-imagine our way to a perennial world. I believe we can as well. Since reading his book, Harari has inspired me to re-imagine just about everything in my world. How I greet the day; how I process information and connections; how, when, and what I eat; how I listen and how I respond. That last one was inspired by a family friend who passed away recently at 89 with a terminal illness. At her funeral someone shared some of her lasts notes on her “to do” list – she had written - listen longer before responding. If she could reimagine how she listened and responded to her world knowing she had days left, why can’t we envision a world where we aren’t polluting and destroying when we still have life and hope? Can we reimagine how we consume? What we consume? What it means to live in a zero waste world? As humans we are conditioned to not see our power. We are born into lives with expectations and supposed to’s. And, yet we really do have power, we have voices we are trained not to use. We have choices. We can start small like my friend at 89 with just awareness and intentions. We are the only species that has the choice not to self-annihilate. William McDonough and Michael Braungart write in their follow up book to the seminal Cradle to Cradle: "What about the information you accrue over life that can be converted into solutions? What about contacts you make that can be converted into action? What about the wisdom you gain that can be converted into pleasure? Or friends into a web of community? Humans can begin celebrating our own growth, our own emission over our lifetimes, to engage in a fruitful way with the rest of the natural world… You cannot downcycle life. Life upcycles. It is valuable at every step. The insect is not lowly compared to the human. It’s just all part of the web of life. So there is no such thing as a waste. No human who’s a waste. No tree that’s a waste…Upcycling eliminates the concept of waste." The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability - Designing for Abundance McDonough and Braungart know this is not easy. But, they believe we can design our way to zero waste. Re-imagine. Re-design. They state: “The goal of upcycle is a delightfully diverse, safe, healthy, and just world with clean air, water, soil, and power – economically, equitably, ecologically, and elegantly enjoyed.” I can’t think of more inspiring words as we celebrate Earth Day and join together cooperatively, leading with love to reimagine. I highly recommend putting both of these books mentioned on your reading list! Boardmember Nadine Canter Barnicle is a visiting scholar and community-engagement specialist for the New Perennials Project at Middlebury College. |
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