Climate heroes middle grade
If I Could Talk to The Earth
24/12/25 11:48 Filed in: Environmental Education
Photo by Claire Datnow
If I could talk to the Earth in this season of joy, what would
I say?
I would whisper this hoping but not expecting an answer:
To the animals:
I see you.
Not as resources, or entertainment—
but as sharing this planet with your unique lives, obstacles,
intelligence, and pleasures.
I’m sorry that we humans are continuing to destroy your habitat.
I promise to try to protect the special places you need to survive,
You don’t need to be useful to us to have the right to exist.
To the plants:
Thank you for weaving an intricate ecological network
For the clean air we need to breathe when we are polluting it.
For teaching us how to observe, understand, and adapt.
I’m sorry we treated you as a commodity to exploit
instead of something to treasure and learn from.
To the wild itself:
We ignored we are a part of nature,
We measured success by plundering, not caring for you.
If there’s time—
teach us how to connect with you again.
How to live with intention, and tread lightly,
and cherish your beauty instead of scarring the land.
And then I would keep talking to you.
Because the most important part is
To listen, to let you be our mentor and our guide
Claire Datnow
Photo by Boris Datnow