Years ago, in the Neolithic, the appearance of agriculture and its extension throughout the world revolutionized history and the human way of life. That was a long time ago, but now it seems that the cultivation of the land for food production is experiencing a new resurgence. In conversations, in the media, at home, and even in fictional narrative.
Proof of this is the influx of new, critically acclaimed books and films that explore the Spanish countryside and its limits with the city. The Last Alcarràs, the film that represented Spain at the Oscars this year and that tells the story of a family that has been cultivating a large area of ??peach trees in a small town in Catalonia for several generations. The film highlights the humanist vision of the land, agriculture and traditions. The media also do so by giving visibility to the rural environment, which currently represents 84% ??of the national territory (according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food), and their life stories with headlines such as “Families that leave everything for move to nature.” And neoruralism, that phenomenon that is attracting the population from cities to rural areas again, is on the rise.
The influence of the rural also reaches those who stay in the cities, who incorporate the ancestral tradition of agriculture into their homes through the so-called urban gardens. Marta Rosique, an environmentalist who proclaims herself a fan of the planet, knows a little about that. Co-author of the book Mini Huertos and promoter of the project Plant your life in green from which she brings sustainability – in the form of tomatoes – to every corner of the city, Marta is an educational person who both teaches us to grow our own food and how to make compost at home. “Having an urban garden gives you access to local and organic food, it reconnects you in a certain way with our agricultural past, which is something that we urbanites have totally lost, valuing more the effort and dedication of farmers.” That’s what it’s about, reconnecting with the earth and its ability to provide food even if we live in large or small cities.
All human beings have a neurobiological connection with nature that provides us with physical and mental well-being, even though we live surrounded by technology, streaming, immediacy and take away. “While we take care of it, planting and pruning, it helps us combat stress and anxiety, which are very typical evils of our time,” says Rosique with the serenity of someone who has become something like a spiritual guide to plants. She talks about urban gardens and sustainability, two areas that, although they seem to be intrinsically linked, this is not always the case. “If we are not careful, it can be a hobby that is anything but sustainable. If we don’t stop buying plants because they all die, we are creating a bad impact. You have to find out how that plant lives in its natural habitat. “That will help us imitate that care,” advises the expert. Therefore, an urban garden, yes, but not in any way. The key is in moderation. “You don’t need to buy too many things. There are many everyday objects that can be used as a flower pot,” she explains as an example.
Marta has sustainability in her DNA and has made her passion her purpose and work, encouraging – from the city – more neighbors and communities to dedicate a place in their house to have an urban garden. To let nature conquer its space again. It is not a whim, but a source of benefits that requires a lot of pedagogy. The urban garden should not be a fad, but rather a path that connects people with the planet, in capital letters, breaking unsustainable dynamics that had long needed to be questioned.
Having a garden is within everyone’s reach, but it does not depend so much on who, but on how. Because there are requirements or issues that must be thought about in advance before launching into our garden. Specifically, as Marta Rosique points out, three: “First you have to value the space, since not all crops require it. “Spinach, of which you can grow 15 plants in one square meter, is not the same as zucchini, of which a single plant occupies the same space.” On the other hand, the season, because each crop has its own, and finally the light that each one needs. “With these three pillars, we can start,” Rosique says.
It is easy and, precisely for this reason, it can be a good way to encourage that, in each house, any neighbor can return a small part to that ‘whole’ supplier who is none other than the planet. Something that appeals to individuals but also to companies, large and small. Everyone has the duty to return to nature a part of what it gives. The energy company Naturgy understands that the fight against climate change must be linked to initiatives aligned with the prevention, reduction and compensation of impacts to advance the commitment to no net loss of biodiversity and enhancement of the value of natural environments. In this sense, in 2022 alone, the company developed 345 biodiversity projects, 20% voluntary, as well as environmental restoration actions on 50 hectares, of which more than 30% correspond to protected spaces, habitats or species. Among these projects is, for example, taking advantage of its renewable facilities and electrical networks to reduce the impact of its activity on the environment and contribute to the reintroduction of endangered birds.
Meanwhile, Marta tries to focus on what she can do and what is within her reach. “I try to make my actions and behaviors take sustainability into account,” she says. A piece of advice that she most likely shares with other eco gurus (because, although she doesn’t say it, since her project Poses in Green, she is one too) to whom she would open wide the doors of the house. her. The Canadian journalist, writer and activist Naomi Klein, the philosopher, physicist and writer Vandana Shiva and the environmentalologist Andreu Escrivà (author of And Now What Do I Do) would be the first. It is no coincidence that, in her house, in addition to a colorful and fruitful garden, there is only one more sustainability rule: that everyone who enters is willing to talk and debate, because climate change is well worth doing so. She, meanwhile, gives us her particular motto: “You don’t have to do everything, but it is important that you start.”
From the Naturgy Foundation and on the occasion of its 30th anniversary, the creation of the Naturgy Foundation Forest was completed. A space with more than 7,000 types of native species in an area of ??the Community of Madrid with an area of ??seven hectares that was affected by a forest fire in 2019.
With a development and maintenance period of fifty years, this project results in the absorption of 2,220 tons of CO2 to offset the carbon footprint of both Naturgy and its clients.
The company not only compensates for its direct impact on the environment, but also for its communication actions. He has been doing it since 2022 through his project
