Amanda DeSalme, Berry: marriage of humans and nature

From Wendell Berry's The Unsettling of America:

"Neither nature nor people alone can produce human sustenance, but only the two together, culturally wedded" (Berry, 9).

It is interesting to think of nature as a spouse, or as some being we have a relationship with. The way we take and take from nature makes me wonder what nature is getting out of the relationship. If I think about it, the things I enjoy most about nature benefit me. I take its sunrays, I take its water, I take its vegetables... I even pluck unsuspecting innocent little flowers, ending their lives forever just so I can carry it and treasure its beauty for a day. Nature does so much for us, and what do we do for it? Thinking back on Cat's post about how our bodies are put in coffins and are not decomposed back into the earth made me realize how we have ultimately cut ourselves off from nature in this final act of making sure our own bodies are preserved. I would like to think that my decomposed body may grow into a lovely cherry tree, or something wonderful that benefits other beings. In my curiosity I googled "biodegradable coffins" and there seem to be plenty of coffins that will allow nature to take its course with our remains, but the thought of a biodegradable coffin being put in a cemetery still seems melancholy. I suppose it is nice for humans to be able to "visit" the resting place of loved ones, but I would much prefer to visit my loved one, the sycamore, my loved one, the forsithia bush.... than a stone engraved with a name and date of birth and death. Why do we feel such a need to document every single aspect of our lives? We even need a certificate to prove we were born! Does this seem ridiculous to anyone else? Obviously, if I am standing here before you and talking to you, I was born at some point in time. We as humans tend to do lots of frivolous things that make it easier to "keep track" of everyone else. But does it really benefit us in the long run? Trees are cut down to make all of that paper that makes our birth certificates and other precious forms. Trees are the lungs of the earth. Without trees, we would die. The human race needs to remember that we have a relationship to keep up here with nature, we can't just take and take from our spouse. We have to give back. If we forget about nature, we will ultimately kill her and ourselves.