The Little Prince has been taking care of his planet since 1942
 |
There are many ways to read and understand The Little Prince (one might concentrate, for example, on its autobiographical elements). But now that sustainable development is an issue firmly on the agenda, the Little Prince has a message for us when he speaks of taking care of his planet: « It is a question of discipline, » said the little prince to me later on. « When you have finished your toilet in the morning, it is time to attend to the planet’s toilet with great care. One must pull out the baobabs very regularly as soon as they can be distinguished from the rosebushes they resemble so closely when they are very young. It is very tedious work but also very easy.« |
| Let’s all try and bear this passage in mind, and why not think of baobabs nowadays as our waste to be sorted, our appliances in standby mode to be switched off. If we don’t pay attention, our habitat, our environment, will be over-run by tiny baobab shoots that later on will spread out of control and cause damage to our planet. |  |
|
When the Little Prince takes care of his rose, he is not simply giving in to her whims. She is unique in the world, therefore precious and therefore indispensable. Our plants and our trees are indispensable to our ecosystem (trees absorb CO2) and to future generations.
The time the Little Prince spent on his rose is the time we should now spend on our environment. To find out about what you can do to attend to our planet’s « toilet », visit the Cool Planet 2009 website. |