Consider the following Native American Wisdom:

"Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing and humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people.

Teach your children what we have taught our children, that the Earth is our mother. The rivers are our brothers, they quench our thirst and feed our children. The air is precious to the red man, for all things share the same breath--the beast, the tree, the man, they all share the same breath. And what is man without the beast? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit. This we know. The Earth does not belong to man; man belongs to the Earth. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does also to himself. All things are connected like the blood, which unites one family. All things are connected."

-Sealth (Chief Seattle)