Supposing you have discovered such a place, what will you find yourself doing? Eating, drinking, setting up camp, collecting firewood, clearing a space for your tent? What will you be feeling -peaceful, lonely, frightened, bored, anxious, contented, regretful, determined, a little crazy? What will you hear? Nature does not shout, she whispers. She cares not that you hear little, and can’t identify most of it anyway. She is not bothered that you can’t see too well at night, your sense of smell is impaired, your hide is vulnerable and has no fur, you get too hot and freeze easily and can’t stay afloat for long. She has thorns, bristles, teeth, storms and terrifying things that go rrrowr in the night.
If you have travelled far to get to the wilderness, you will be concerned about getting back. What if you get lost? How long will it take to get back? Do you have sufficient supplies? How will you survive?  Does the subtle magic that might unfold, the mystery that could serendipitously reveal itself shyly, delicately to your consciousness, compensate for the very real and all too predictable discomforts and possible dangers that lurk at every turn? There are few who have ventured beyond the circumscribed boundaries of both their physical world and their intellect, who have perceived the spaces between things, who have explored that which lies between waking and sleeping. Some have gained knowledge, but few have the wisdom to use it well. Those intrepid travellers of worlds within and without might have caught just a glimpse of what lies beyond, but would be hard presssed to talk about it within the narrow confines of acceptable social behaviour or expression unless they wish to be cast to the outer fringes of society. If you fall within the vast majority of humankind who have no desire to be uncomfortable, endangered, ridiculed or deemed insane, you will follow the circumscribed dictates of the world we have made: a world which has been affected and infected to the furthest reaches and infinite spaces of its very molecular structure by the meddling of none other than ourselves.
The invention of machines moulded the world as we know it today. We are at the much touted last cosmic nanosecond in the vast reaches of creative endeavour that miraculously manifested all that is over millions of aeons, yet for some strange, paradoxical, inconceivable reason we are being allowed to destroy it.
Yet reason itself is a human notion. The seeking for justification of it all is in our minds alone - as is time, money, possessions, property, comfort, companionship and all the other notions that are simply ideas. Yet the implementation of these abstract concepts has resulted in the all too real destruction of a myriad innocent forms of life other than our own. We will pay the price, but we’ll take the innocents with us.
It falls on a few voices in the world today to use human institutions and methods to reach others, to say what needs to be said, and ironically to find the money to do so. As for Greenprint, it is one thing to publish a magazine that highlights the chaos and destruction that we are wreaking on our planet. It is a more formidable challenge to produce a journal that is visually beguiling but that also addresses the very real and urgent problems of our times in an intelligent, constructive manner, without pandering to corporate greenwash. I walk a fine line here. Greenprint is nothing without ethics, despite the seductive beauty and quality of its production. I received many letters applauding my endeavours, and one that accused me of taking money from the very industries that cause the most pollution on earth. The Polluter Pays Principle in action. Ideally Greenprint Trust should generate contributions so that I would not have to be an eco-Robin Hood.
Hopefully the power and constructive brilliance of some of the ideas and philosophies communicated here encourage and publicise social and ecological responsibility well enough for the trend to become the aspiration of the many and an inspiration to us all.
Arlene Cameron - Editor, Publisher
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