1. Eco-poetry & Ecological
Awareness
Raising ecological consciousness through eco-sensitive
poetry

2. What is Eco poetry?
Eco-poetry can inspire a broad awareness for our
environment by presenting different ecological
perspectives.
Eco-poetry is often marked by an appreciation for
nature as self-regulating cyclic systems, separate
from nature and environmental poetry.
Eco-poetry is clear and somewhat minimalist; rather
than experimenting with visual and textual design,
eco-poets dedicate their efforts to the aesthetic flow
of their work by creating a fluid message through
organized stanzas.

3. “Today we very much need sustainable poetry.”
--L.M. Scigaj

4. A Sustainable Message
sus·tain·able
adj sə-ˈstā-nə-bəl
Definition of SUSTAINABLE
1 : capable of being sustained
2 a : of, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or
using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or
permanently
damaged <sustainable techniques> <sustainable agric
ulture>b : of or relating to a lifestyle involving the use
of sustainable methods <sustainable society>
— sus·tain·abil·i·ty noun

5. • Ecological poetry promotes awareness of the
environment and the natural world, including its
current realistic state.
• Ecopoetry inspires awareness by presenting
ecological perspectives of sustainability.
• This poetry implies that the interests of humans
and nature should be balanced.

6. What makes poetry sustainable, and
how can it present a sustainable
message?
▫ This message becomes attainable when our
relationship to nature and our environment is
recognized ~> the option for sustainability can be
considered as a part of our daily lives.
• Ecopoetry is a possible medium to purvey this
message.

7. “The ethics behind sustainability are derived from
the same principle of bio-centric harmony. Simply
stated, sustainability means that humans can
harvest a sufficient amount of a natural resource
for consumption so long as we do not deplete the
resource base” (Scigaj 78).
Implying the need for bio-centric harmony is an
indicative attribute of eco-poetry.

8. Ecopoetry’s message
Through a creative medium, eco-poetry helps to
create recognition of our interdependency on the
biosphere.
Writers are able to compose and inspire
awareness with eco-poetry, not simply by the use
of hard science, but by understanding our
existence and how it correlates with nature, and
the environment.

9. Attributes of Ecopoetry
• Eco-poetry is clear and somewhat minimalist;
rather than experimenting with visual and
textual design, eco-poets dedicate their efforts to
the aesthetic flow of their work by creating a
fluid message through organized stanzas.
• Eco-poetry is often marked by an appreciation
for nature as self-regulating cyclic systems,
separate from nature and environmental poetry.

10. It helps us define our relationship to
nature:
▫ “A sustainable poem is the verbal record of the
precept, of the poet’s originary perception”
(Scigaj 80).
▫ “It is the verbal record of an interactive
encounter...between the human psyche and
nature, where nature retains its autonomy--
where nature is not dominated, reduced to
immanence, or reduced to a reliably benign
aesthetic backdrop for anthropocentric
concerns” (Scigaj 80).

11. Ecopoetry & Boundaries
Eco-poets actively assist nature in keeping a form of
separateness and autonomy, and also equality,
through awareness maintained by creating ecopoetry.
Ultimately, the language of expression and ecological
awareness is homologous to the way our ecosystems
function.
Language as a form of expression in eco-poetry stands
apart from other creative forms of writing.
It is a flexible tool that relates the experiences and
perceptions of the corporeal body.

12. Associated Texts
Abbs, Peter. Earth Songs: A Resurgence
Anthology of Contemporary Eco-Poetry. Green
Books UK, 2003.
Fesltiner, John. Can Poetry Save the Earth?: A
Field Guide to Nature Poems. Yale University
Press, 2009.
Scigaj, Leonard M. Sustainable Poetry: Four
American Ecopoets. Lexington: UP of Kentucky,
1999.