Earth Pledge poster – white background

Description

Written by Brittany Wood Nickerson
Illustrated by Chelsea Granger

The earth is our home. The word earth describes an elemental substance, but it is also the word we use to describe both an entity, our planet, and an ecosystem, a community of which we are all part. Our Earth Pledge is a recognition of the earth as a living organism and our complex and important place in that cycle. It is an invitation to step back and see ourselves as members of something larger—the earth we call home is not just a place or a substance but an intricate system, the very cycle of life itself that we receive from and give back to.

Pledging to the earth centers us in this ecosystemic thinking and the perspective that affects both us and the whole. Living each day with this in our heart and navigating the world from this perspective, we live differently, we prioritize differently, we choose differently, and we feel differently.

 

Earth Pledge Author’s Note and Creative Intent

In our home, our allegiance to the earth is present in every aspect of our daily life—from the number of times we flush the toilet; to the ways we receive and give care to ourselves, each other, and our community; to where we source our food; to the offerings we leave the nonhuman world; and the ways we share. That reciprocity is inherent, named and unnamed.

I started exploring the idea of pledging to the earth when my children started school and learned the American Pledge of Allegiance. There are many occasions when visual, verbal, and ritual reminders that affirm our values help us navigate the world, and I wanted my children to have a reminder of these values and perspectives with them in their daily lives. The Earth Pledge is the last thing we see when we leave our house in the morning and the first thing we see when we get home. It grounds us in our meaning-making systems and our shared family values, and it helps us carry and act on those values in the world, which offers comfort, guidance, and reassurance.

It is the law in most US states that public schools recite the Pledge of Allegiance every day, though students can choose to participate or not. This requirement has left many Americans across generations believing the Pledge of Allegiance to be nothing but a mindless, robotic recitation that holds little to no meaning for them. Yet the first time I pledged to the earth, I cried, precisely because it wasn’t meaningless.

I experienced it as a verbalization of the values I hold most dear and strive each day to live out. I was overwhelmed by the liberation and hope I felt in making a declaration that reflected what I know and feel is right and good and true. Embodying the Earth Pledge is a path to liberation for all beings—it reminds us of our place as citizens of a global society, interconnected and interdependent, and as members of our more-than-human ecosystem that defies national borders and artificial divisions.

Brittany Wood Nickerson
Bear River Watershed
2026

 

*10% of the profits from sales of this poster are donated to No Loose Braids. Thank you for your partnership supporting our local indigenous communities.*

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13 x 19 inch poster.
Note: 13 x 19 is a standard frame size.

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