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Nature is always referred to as ‘Mother Nature’, a mother who is seen as the figure of generosity, selflessness and kindness. Then it gets me thinking of the so many things that we, as humans, draw from nature to make our lives easy, and yet so little we give back in terms of preserving the environment or nourishing nature.
Considering that in my home country there are many restrictions in terms of space availability, permissions and getting people to contribute, simple activities such as gardening are a rare and very personal concept. I always had the thought to do my bit towards preserving nature, but I never really found a way to do so for so long.
Impressed
Since my arrival in Wageningen, I have been nothing but impressed at the extent to which the concept of sustainability is emphasised upon. Even during my courses, I had to assess the sustainability of making a new product, during my internship I learn about the strategies undertaken to achieve sustainability, and now even student organisations focus so much on being sustainable.
In my home country, gardening is a rare and very personal concept.
Wageningen truly motivated me to finally act and do what I kept rehearsing in my head for so long. So last weekend, along with a few of my enthusiastic friends, I took part in a tree planting initiative organised by TEDxWageningen University. We cycled around and planted 13 fruit trees in multiple locations around Wageningen.
Pride
Initially, I was just super excited to be doing something I have never done before, but later my feeling about this totally evolved to something incredible. We went around on bikes to the houses of many Wageningen residents. At the end of the morning, my hands were soiled in mud and my face with pride.
The feeling of finally acting on your thoughts gave me this inner feeling of accomplishment, a kind of happiness which was unparalleled. It motivated to me to take up more activities towards making my life and community more sustainable. There are really small and simple ways in which we can actually contribute to nature’s wellness. All we need to do is look around and act on the motivation. In Wageningen, more than space and cooperation, the intention of contributing to the environment is what finally made me do it.