"Respect your elders," was a phrase I heard often growing up in my small Southern town. It was understood that those who had spent more years on God's great green earth had valuable information to pass along to younger generations. Even so, I didn't fully grasp the concept of Seventh Generation principles until dramatic news of climate crisis had bombarded my psyche for years. When we finally settled on our little plot of land after hubby's Navy retirement, I wanted to do things differently. I didn't want to grow my family's food with pesticides and tons of fertilizer. What's the point in copying the methods of the mass-produced veggies already in my grocery store? The Seventh Generation Principle is derived from indigenous cultures that valued the relationship of humans to the natural world. In short, it advocates making choices with thought for the effect on seven generations in the future. How will my action today help or harm my great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren? WHEW! That seems like a lot of "greats," but if each generation is roughly 20 years, that is only thinking 140 years into the future. It is estimated that it takes a plastic bottle 450 years to break down in a landfill. In the United States, the average plastic use per person is in excess of 200 pounds per year. Do the math for seven generations to understand why we are struggling with waste management. This is where using the wisdom of our elders becomes helpful. In just three generations, our population has lost skills that our grandparents considered vital for survival, like sewing, canning, and gardening. Those tasks have been deemed trivial and tedious, even unnecessary by my generation. Until COVID. Nothing like a pandemic to flip our values upside down! Suddenly there is no bread on the shelves, milk is in short supply, and there's NO TOILET PAPER. Ummmmm....this could be a problem, people! Honestly, we didn't see dramatic difference in our daily life because we grow our own food and raise our own chickens. The shock came when I tried to order seeds and they were sold out! Seriously? Everyone became a gardener overnight? (Mental note: SAVE SEEDS.) No bread? No problem...I know how to bake delicious bread. Wait. There's no yeast on the shelves. My elders would have been more prepared because the Great Depression taught them that everything could be used and used again many times over. They wouldn't have needed store bought yeast because they would have had a sourdough starter ready to use. Seeds were routinely saved from one harvest to the next, and always from the best plants to insure good genetics in those seeds. Sewing extended the life of clothing, then transformed the same into quilts once the shirt could no longer be mended for wearing. They used glass, pottery, wood, metal, all things that are durable and intended for repeated use. Single use was expensive and there was no such thing as recycling. Even their flour sacks were made of cotton in pretty prints that were transformed into dresses and aprons. Personally, I am soaking up all the knowledge I can from my dad, who is 83 at the time of this writing. He was born on a farm, and has always had a love for the natural world. He has been taking me through the woods and pointing out the plants with medicinal or practical value, even something called "bear grass" that they used to hang hogs after slaughter. I would have thought it was a weed that needed to be mowed, but he knew its worth. Google can tell us a lot, but the personal connection with a senior is enriching on so many levels. Who is your elder that holds valuable information? What small changes can you make to improve life for that Seventh Generation? Just think: one day you will be the one imparting the wisdom, so gather it while you can! - Tracy