We all know and maybe even use some dirty words.Typically these expletives are used in reaction to pain or frustration, to emphasize a point. Then there is the crowd for which dirty words are such a natural part of the way they speak, they’re hardly aware the words have come out of their mouths. Odd as it may sound,t is this last sector that I want to talk about. That those dirty words have become so normalized that they scarcely have a meaning is akin to the way we, in affluent societies have normalized linear systems to the point that our creativity to think in any other way has been stifled, if not completely obliterated. In most situations we think very little about our waste, working against the living Earth system rather that symbiotically with it. So I want to introduce another dirty word to your illicit vocabulary, one which has already past before your eyes without your knowing. It actually isn’t a word. It is two. Are you ready? The words are – linear systems. If I’ve offended anyone, I apologize and offer something with which to clear that from your mind. I think you’ll agree that the opposite is much more pleasant – circular systems. These are the kind that have regenerated and supported life on Earth for at least a couple billions years. And Earth to Earth has apparently continued to work in spite of the fact that human kind has yet to fully understand it. The Earth that we don’t see, hidden beneath our feet, is an ecosystem that reuses waste in the process of regenerating life. Dirt, it turns out is a good four letter word. But, like the other extinctions inhumanely inflicted at the hands of humanity we are killing it too with development, factory farming, industrial over production, and over consumption. And yes, as a society, we like to throw things away. I think, that is to say that I hope you also agree that the time has come to give meaning to the words that come out of our mouths, to think beyond the confines of normalcy and to make the effort to eliminate the straight line reckoning of linear systems.