The Green Mantle Philosophy

Green Mantle as an organisation supports the interests and evolving ideas behind what is termed The Deep Ecological Movement.

What is an ‘Ecosophy’?

It was the Norwegian mountaineer and philosopher, Arne Naess, who first distinguished between the Shallow and the Deep Ecological Movements in 1973.

The Shallow Ecological Movement suggests that we need our chief objective to be the fight against pollution and resource depletion, for the sake of the health and affluence of people in the developed countries.

Deep Ecology challenges the assumption that the changes necessary to achieve these objectives are realisable from within this framework. We need far more profound alterations to the way in which we conduct our everyday patterns of behaviour. Deep Ecology is about recapturing the meaning in life, irrespective of the possible meanings of life.

It recognises that humans are possibly the first organisms, in the three-and-a-half billion years of life on Earth, to be able to contemplate the unfolding of the cosmos and to possess a unique comprehension of the diversity of life.

However, with this understanding comes the responsibility of safeguarding this wonderful and bountiful collection in the face of accelerating environmental degradation.

There appears to be an exponential relationship between increase in scientific knowledge, one of the main driving forces behind political decision making of the industrialised nations, and the amount of questions that arise from this increase in knowledge.

Deep Ecology requires more emphasis to be placed on ‘the precautionary principle’ in developing patterns of wise use of technology. Essentially we are looking at putting people before profit in securing a sustainable future.

One meaning of the word philosophy is ‘one’s own personal code of values and a view of the world which guides one’s own decisions’. This becomes the development of an individual’s Ecosophy when applied to questions involving ourselves and nature.