Do you know what your ecological footprint is? I think it is the most essential question we should ask ourselves as individuals, as families, groups and as society.
Why? Because everyone should realize that we cannot continue to fail to live within the earth's limits, consuming more and creating more waste than the earth can handle.
While the ice caps are melting and the oceans and seas are warming and being robbed, polluted and poisoned, also on land the humans leave a trace of destruction. Or perhaps better to say, that's where the misery begins. Because that's where humans have settled and do most of their 'ingenuity'.
The Western world should really be called the 'world of never enough'.
A weekend read...
In my System Change post, I explained man's impact on earth and raised a number of questions. The most important: Do you know what your ecological footprint is?
No one answered that question. No, I'm not disappointed, because I actually didn't expect it either. And the question was also not asked very directly and not very prominently in the beginning of the (long) post.
Still, ....
Symbiosis
Drowned forests
Nurturing seaweed
Symbiosis
Commissioned by a poet for the cover of her new book of poetry, I created two new versions of the work Symbiosis. Herewith the second: a shoal of fish swims through a kelp forest.
In addition, I added an insightful quote from Charles Darwin and a link to an article on kelp farming.
Symbiosis
Drowned forests
Nurturing seaweed
Symbiosis
Commissioned by a poet for the cover of her new book of poetry, I created two new versions of the work Symbiosis. Herewith the first...
In addition, I added an interesting development on kelp farming.
Travelers
Dark sounds fill the void
A strong back breaks the waves
Travelers of the deep
But do humans never succeed in saving a species from extinction?
Of course they do, and the humpback whale is a good example.
Blooming Forest
Bright sunlight dances
Coral reefs breathe new colors
Old forests in bloom
Would coral reefs stand a chance in the future, protected by drowned temperate rain forests in warmed waters in now too cold areas?
Their condition has never been worse…
The Other World
You ask me why I live
alone in the mangrove forest,
at the edge of the infinite sea.
I smile, I am silent
until even my soul grows quiet:
it lives in the other world,
one that no one owns.
The trees bloom.
The waves keep coming.
Mangroves, just as seagrass beds and coral reefs, keep coastal zones healthy. Mangroves provide essential habitat for thousands of species. They also stabilize shorelines, preventing erosion and protecting the land — and the people who live there — from waves and storms.
Symbiosis
Drowned forests
Nurturing seaweed
Symbiosis
Kelp forests are dense areas of kelp growth that occur near coastal waters. Kelps are ‘primary producers’ that modify the environment to create suitable habitat for a great diversity of species. Therefore they are known as foundational species.
Bloom
Pulsating blue
float gently between the trees
forest in bloom
I show you how I see the earth from, let's say, a few centuries from now. An amalgamation of the forests and the oceans. With hopefully in the distant future a rich ecosystem that has managed to adapt to the new conditions.
Refuge
Sea turtles
finding refuge
among old-growth
In the new collection Drowned Earth I show you how I see the earth of, say, a few centuries from now in this collection of new artworks.
Swimming In Tears
While trees cry
fish shed their tears
in endless waves
When I imagine what the earth will look like in 100 years, the image that comes to mind most emphatically is one of an earth with sharply rising sea levels.
To buy new or used can be a dilemma. We stopped buying new stuff. Well, almost. Some things are not or hardly available second hand, or are second hand so much less sustainable (in terms of environmental impact in production or in use) that you don't want them in your home.
Did you know that there is almost no product in your possession that incorporates the true costs?
Our food supply is the largest contributor of greenhouse gases in percentage terms of all sectors. Industrial farming ruins the soil and poisons water and air. And a shocking 30% of what is produced, is wasted...
Our food supply is the largest contributor of greenhouse gases in percentage terms of all sectors. Moreover, the industrial approach to producing our food exhausts the soil. To compensate that, huge amounts of fertilizers are added. In turn, this causes destruction of eco systems and poisons land and water. Same for the herbicides and pesticides...
Our food supply is the largest contributor of greenhouse gases in percentage terms of all sectors. Moreover, the industrial approach to producing our food depletes the soil. And that is compensated by using huge amounts of fertilizers. In turn, this...
Suppose an oak tree longs to become a birch. Then that is possible only if a single, individual oak cell is able and willing to become a birch cell. Then, after that change is accepted and then copied by the surrounding cells, eventually the whole tree will change. That's what I call organic change.
Suppose a government of a country....
Regeneration ?
Sustainable, Green Growth, Circular economy, Degrowth, System Change ... And now the latest: Regeneration.
Are these just buzzwords, container terms...
In my System Change post, I explained man's impact on earth and raised a number of questions. The most important: Do you know what your ecological footprint is?
No one answered that question in a comment. No, I'm not disappointed, because I actually didn't expect it either. And the question was also not asked very directly and not very prominently in the beginning of the (long) post. Still, ....
December 27, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
Thick clouds of black
smoke darken the sun
Eyes tear,
trees cry
The sun colors the evening
in the hues of the flames that
eat tree after tree
How high may become
the price the future
will have to pay?
I feel it as my mission to make people aware of the beauty, power and simultaneously fragility of nature. Yet at the same time, this sometimes feels like hypocrisy because I am part of the society that is causing the destruction of the habitability of the earth. Even though I do my best to live simply and keep my carbon footprint considerably smaller than "the use" of 1 earth.
At times when I feel that, I also feel an urge to create a work with a poignant message....
Trees Cry (1) is a digital artwork, printed with high-quality ink on museum-quality cotton paper (Hahnemühle Photo Rag® 308gsm). The work comes in a limited edition of 10, signed and with a certificate of authenticity.
For these artworks, I start with one or more photographs made by myself. I edit it in multiple process runs and in several layers by color manipulation and adding and editing multiple digital photographic effects. I do that until a surrealistic atmosphere is created that touches me and tells the story I want to tell.
The photograph(s) I begin with has/have an impressionistic, surrealistic or abstract realist style, which is the basis for all my work.
Prints are available, ask for a quote or contact me through a message. Prints are also available in my Saatchi Art portfolio at the artwork page
ALL WE NEED IS LESS CONSUMING
Through my artworks I ask you to reflect for a moment on the nature around you, on the beautiful feeling that nature can evoke, on your actions to support the wellbeing of the earth and everything that lives on it, on what humanity loses when many of us continue on the destructive path of ever more greed and consuming, on how you can survive in this rapidly changing world…
Want to know your ecological footprint?
Visit this website: https://www.footprintcalculator.org/home/en
Want to reduce your ecological footprint?
Ask me, I will help you. For free. Or simply choose Your Footprint in the menu
Swimming In Tears II
While trees cry
fish shed their tears
in endless waves
In the project Drowned Earth I show you how I see the earth of a century from now. A fusion of the forests and the oceans, with hopefully in the distant future a rich ecosystem that has managed to adapt to the new circumstances.
July 11, 2022 — Comments are off for this post.
[scorched]
adjective
UK /skɔːtʃt/ US /skɔːrtʃt/
slightly burned, or damaged by fire or heat
While the ice caps are melting and the oceans and seas are warming and being robbed and poisoned, humans on land are not sitting still either. Or perhaps better to say, that's where the misery begins. Because that's where humans have settled and do most of their 'ingenuity'.
The Western world should really be called the 'land of never enough'.
There where consumption was invented, at the same time as growth for growth's sake and the 'creation of shareholder value'. In other words, profits that are never high enough.
Our addiction to money is so strong, that we are prepared to exhaust the earth for it, to destroy plants and animals and to make the world of the children and grandchildren of humanity dry, or flooded, and hot. In many places even unbearably hot.
Many people even think (still!) that the consequences of global warming will not be too bad. After all, we are smart, a technical solution will be found that will allow us to continue living the way we are used to...
...larger and larger parts of the earth are being scorched. Scorching by the ever-increasing temperatures. By spraying poison to make the yield of intensive agriculture as high as possible. And by the emission of poison into the air, land and water as a by-product of our endless consumption. Scorched by the fires that rage around the world day in and day out as a result of increasing drought. And by fires started by humans to turn even more nature into monoculture with endless fields of genetically engineered crops on exhausted, diseased soil.
You all know by now that a text like this accompanying a work of art is not quite my style. But sometimes you just have to go outside, look up at the sky and scream really loud...
A cry for climate action...
These artworks are digital transformations of a photograph. Printed on order with high-quality ink on museum-quality, acid-free cotton/rag paper (Hahnemühle Photo Rag® 308gsm). The work comes in a limited edition of 10, signed and with a certificate of authenticity. But of course, it is also available as Open Edition print, without signature and not numbered. Available in any size you desire !
Maximum size is 150Wx150H cm / 60Wx60H inches. The work can be printed in any size up to that maximum, so please let me know the size you would prefer.
I start with one or more photographs made by myself to create these artworks. Then I use digital painting, color adjusting and adding and transforming multiple artistic textures and effects. I do this until there is a surreal atmosphere that touches me and tells the story I want to tell you.
'Scorched Earth (1)' is an artwork in my collection 'Secret Places'.
Prints are available, ask for a quote or contact me through a message. Prints are also available in my Saatchi Art portfolio at the artwork page↗️.
Through my artworks I ask you to reflect for a moment on the nature around you, on the beautiful feeling that nature can evoke. Thus to think about your actions to support the wellbeing of the earth and everything that lives on it. And on what humanity loses when many of us continue on the destructive path of ever more greed and consuming. And please, reflect on how you can survive in this rapidly changing world…
So do you want to know your ecological footprint?
Then visit this website: https://www.footprintcalculator.org/home/en
And do you want to reduce your ecological footprint?
Then ask me, I will help you. For free. Or simply visit my website and choose in the menu for Your Footprint.
And if you appreciate my writings and art and want to support me, you can buy me a piece of fruit here: https://ko-fi.com/jacobberghoef, thank you 🍏 !
So are you interested in more? Then read what I wrote about System Change, Man's impact on the earth, Organic Change, Regenerative Agriculture, Regeneration
Want to inquire about an art piece?
All content © 2014-2025 Jacob Berghoef (Jaap Berghoef)