This ethic was written to share with my Environmental Ethics class at Eastern Nazarene College. It is a first draft, and needs to be revised, but I thought I would share it with you too.
My personal environmental ethic begins with a belief that the earth belongs to God and that he placed us here as caretakers of this planet. I believe that God created us to have healthy relationships with him, with each other, and with the rest of creation. I believe that we were created to be part of nature and not set apart from it. I also believe our actions can result in the degradation and destruction of creation, but I also believe that one day creation will be restored.
I am primarily ecocentric in my worldview. While I do believe in the inherent value of every living thing, and I believe that any instrumental use of that being must be out of necessity, I believe even more strongly that it is the ecosystem, the collection of species and their interactions with each other and their physical environment, that must ultimately be maintained for the survival of all life on Earth. I also believe that it is the right of every human being and other creatures to live in a clean and healthy environment.
As a result of this worldview, I am working towards this set of principles to govern my daily life:
- I will seek to glorify God by the way I treat his creation
- I will learn to appreciate the beauty and worth of every living creature, even when their actions might cause harm to another
- I will spend time in nature and enjoy its benefits, finding rest for my soul
- I will try to preserve life as much as I can, recognizing that some life must be taken in order to ensure my own survival
- I will, as Aldo Leopold said, endeavor to preserve the integrity of the biotic community and ecosystem processes that support life on this planet
- I will consider the environmental implications of my actions and try to minimize my impact on my neighbors – both human and non-human
- I will seek to change structures and systems that cause some people to be put at more risk of environmental hazards because of the color of their skin or their socioeconomic status
- I will minimize my future impact on the planet by committing to having no more than two children
Tending To the Garden 
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