We shouldn’t let asphalt and brick continue to rule our lives, says Christine Galea from the Cana Movement.

I come from a generation that grew up listening to Cat Stevens, Bob Dylan, Carole King and Joni Mitchell. Their songs appertain to a genre of music called folk, which is a form of melody that is mellow and evocative. The lyrics to their ballads are simple, but meaningful, and they often speak of their own personal struggles in life and love.

Recently, in a moment of bohemian nostalgia, I found myself tapping into some old tapes – yes, my ancient cassette player still works – and I came across a Joni Mitchell classic, which is a call for action to prevent the damage which we are doing to the environment. Mitchell wrote Big Yellow Taxi on her first trip to Hawaii. When asked about the significance of its lyrics, she recounted how one morning, she opened the curtains of her hotel window to reveal some beautiful green mountains in the distance. As she glanced down, however, she saw before her a huge parking lot. This “blight on paradise” broke her heart because, at that moment, she realised just how much of our natural resources were being chewed up.

This happened in 1970, a time before the countryside around every city was gobbled up by asphalt and brick. Can you imagine what Mitchell would have to say today, half a century later.

I have no intention of harping on about the physical harm which our generation is causing to the environment, even though there is never enough that can be said about it. Neither is it my aim to lament the loss of natural habitats that are being replaced by sprawling suburbian developments which seem to have spiralled out of control.  But this powerful little song has prompted me to reflect upon some other ways in which our lack of respect for the environment is affecting us.

Can you imagine what Mitchell would have to say today, half a century later?

Pope Francis in his 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’ warns against an overall decline in human life and a breakdown of society, as a result of irresponsible development and subsequent environmental degradation. Although he addresses the environmental crisis directly, his scope is broader, in that he underlines the threats to human life as we know it, and makes reference to poverty, politics, social media and health.

This last point is pertinent in that evidence seems to suggest that environmental decline leads to health problems. I spoke to a doctor friend of mine and she confirmed there are a whole range of issues at play: the increased hours we spend travelling in our cars, the ongoing rise of sedentary office jobs, lack of access to healthy meals (including heavy consumption of genetically modified foods). She is sometimes consulted by patients who have a medical problem that is not necessarily caused by something in the body, but rather by something that is going wrong in their environment. Think of hazardous substances that are found in the air; soil and water which may originate from polluted sources; bland indoor work spaces, which affect our productivity and mental well-being.

It seems pretty obvious that unless efforts are made to care for the environment, our health may continue to suffer to a greater extent.

There is no need for one to be an avid tree-hugger, or professional activist to take action. We can all acknowledge the urgency of our environmental challenges and join together in embarking upon a new path. We shouldn’t let asphalt and brick continue to rule our lives, but simply dropping more green space into our inner cities is unlikely to solve the problem by itself. We need to grow in our appreciation of the fact that the environment around us shapes who we are and directly impacts our families and our communities. If we fail to ignore its quality and realise its true value, if we don’t fully appreciate that there is a mutual dependency between us, we may be too late. As Mitchell sings, “You don’t know what you got till it’s gone”.

This article was published in the June issue of Senior Times.