By Klara Ibarra

If your experience is that your food comes from the grocery store and your water comes from the tap, you'll defend to the death the system that brings those to you because your life depends on it. If, on the other hand, your food comes from a landbase and your water comes from a river, then you'll defend to the death that landbase and that river, because your life depends on them.

-Derrick Jensen, author and environmental activist

A large part of our mission here at Nelum Botanics is to inspire a wholesome relationship between people and Mother Earth. When we value all that earth has to offer, perhaps then we will do all it takes to protect her.

What we so often forget is that earth is the origin of everything we love and depend on. The myriad steps required to process a product not only diminish the intrinsic value of that product, but also distance us from its very source. We are left not knowing whom to thank.

A beautiful example of perfect interdependence between humans and earth are the Kogi, an indigenous people from Sierra Nevada, the heart of the Columbian highlands. They fled and sought refuge there during the Spanish Inquisition, building a hidden civilization on a mountain they called “the Heart of the World.” The Kogi civilization, which still exists to this day, is based on the simple premise that earth is a living being, and we humans are her children.

While “modern” humans might think of the Kogi as primitive, their spiritual relationship with earth and their advanced understanding of the earth’s systems have allowed them to thrive beautifully in abundant biodiversity for thousands of years. Sadly, it is our modern lifestyle of overuse and misuse of the earth’s resources that is threatening the Kogi, as it is threatening the natural things all around us.

For this reason, the Kogi came down from the mountains for the first time several years ago to deliver a message: we need to stop robbing the earth of its resources and learn how to live symbiotically. (The story of the Kogi and their message is the subject of a book and documentary, From the Heart of the World: The Elder Brothers’ Warning, by Alan Ereira.)

The solution is not to go back, because that is not possible. Instead, we can move forward by altering our relationship with nature. We can love her by cherishing all that she provides for us. And we can protect her from the threats that would kill her, knowing that when she is weakened, we are weakened, too.

Klara Ibarra is the owner and founder of Nelum Botanics. Her earth-friendly skin-care and other products are made consistent with her beliefs. Find them and more at NelumBotanics.com.