Ecophilia
Erich Fromm, a psychologist, coined the term biophilia. He defined it as “the passionate love of life and of all that is alive (Fromm, 1973). E. O. Wilson, a biologist, expanded on the concept in his book Biophilia (1984)." I, and others (Hung, 2017), use the term ecophilia to include abiotic (nonliving) aspects of nature in our sphere of love. Ecophilia also involves a love of how ecosystems work! For example, how plants and animals provide for each other through the perfect symmetry of respiration and photosynthesis. Plants get their life breath (carbon dioxide) and minerals from animals like us. We get our life breath (oxygen) and nutrients like proteins, carbohydrates, and fats from them.
This simple loop illustrates several key ecosystem features. We are all caught in a web of mutuality. This web recycles everything (no recycling labels required) and exhibits excellent energy efficiency! There is no waste in ecosystems, zero, none, not a smidgen. All this is accomplished through relationships that tend to be mutually beneficial or minimize harm.
The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gives us another reason to be ecophilic: "It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated. We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied into a single garment of destiny." In other words, the Earth is our home. We only have one! I once overheard someone say, why should I love nature? It sure doesn’t love me. As they were suffering an unfortunate run-in with some poison ivy, I sympathized with them. I also found their statement to be utterly ridiculous!
It’s high time we remember that we live on a hunk of rock hurtling through space at over 60,000 miles per hour. If exposed to the conditions in space, we would not die instantly, just horribly. Earth, our home, not only protects us from the vacuum and UV radiation of space, but also provides us with the air we breathe, the food we eat, the water we drink, and the ground we walk on. Seems to me that Mother Earth does indeed love us! It's time we reciprocate that love!