There does not need to be a conflict between the conservation, appreciation, and enjoyment of nature on the one hand and the ability to lead a comfortable, luxurious, entertaining lifestyle.  All that is needed is a new definition of what constitutes value, luxury, and comfort.  Nature is more luxurious than anything man made.  Being able to walk through Eagle Landing Park every day is opulent, comfortable, and exciting.  Today I enjoyed a nice storm.  I found a spot at the beach, under the big maple, without a puff of wind.  The trunk of the tree rocked back and forth with the high winds at the top, but a falling helicopter seed would have spiraled straight down, near the ground.  From my windless shelter, I looked out at whitecaps and seagulls playing on the wind.  They had to work hard at landing, as the wind kept trying to lift them.  Quite often on these windy days, I see someone on a sailboard skipping along from wave to wave.  He zips right out into the middle of the sound.  If he were to hit his head on the board in an accident, he would drown before help could arrive.  Maybe he is agile and fit and knows what he is doing, but it seems to me like he is risking his life for his enjoyment of nature.  The sailboarder and I have quite different ways of enjoying a storm, but both methods respect and preserve nature.  We both embrace the excitement of the storm, which is much better than any video game or movie. 

I have wealth in this public park.  Every day I see something new, even after decades of visiting this forest.  Other people consider wealth to be large houses, gold, numbers on a computer screen, and the ability to compel others to do work for you.  There is nothing intrinsically valuable about those perceived trappings of wealth.  In a society with different values, a large house could be seen as a liability.  Gold might be viewed as an environmental disaster.  Gold represents the destruction of entire ecosystems.  Hiring others to do your work is not nearly as satisfying as having people volunteer to help you.

Although I consider myself an environmentalist in many respects, there are those committed individuals that make me look like a lightweight, a pretender.  One man rides his bike everywhere, long distances, to get to meetings and entertainments and work.  A successful Hollywood actor has no possessions and lives in a very small, plain house.  I know people who have a vegan diet, and I agree it is better for the environment.  I have not succeeded in my many attempts to stick to a vegetarian diet, despite knowing that it's best for my body, my mind, and my environment.  Still, I do make choices to be as environmentally positive as I can, given my weaknesses.  I am trying not to buy any stuff I don't absolutely need.  My books, movies, and music are mostly digital, with no packaging and no storage requirements.  I try to drive less by combining trips.  But I am not doing without.  I am not sacrificing.  I have my digital books, my photography, and my forest to walk in, so I am rich. 

I imagine a future where Seattle is completely invisible.  It appears to be continuous forest from mountains to sea.  All the housing is underground, in buildings housing 30,000 people in spacious, clean, bright apartment homes.  Everyone has a great view.  Your bowling alley, movie theater, and grocery store are all contained inside your residence building.  No one owns a car, and the train takes you from your residence building to the underground office or factory or warehouse where you work.  For recreation, people hike in the endless wilderness, take pictures, make music, ride sailboards, and read books.  Why is tearing up the Earth on a dirt bike intrinsically better than gliding along the surface of the water on a sailboard, leaving no trace?  It is not.  It is the philosophy that wealth equals the destruction of the Earth that drives these value systems.  It is not based on reason.  If you want to collect, collect memories and photographs.  If you want possess land, become the steward of your local park.  If you want to bask in luxury, sit in the sun on a mountain top after hiking up there. 

When I ask people to treat our local park with respect and kindness, I am not asking them to give up luxury, comfort, convenience, and entertainment.  I am simply pointing out that their current definitions of those terms are not inevitable.  Nature is far more opulent, interesting, and comfortable than any mansion.