The environment is your mother: Stop taking her for granted

Summary

There are parallels between the invisible labour of mothers and the often-overlooked value of nature. Both are foundational yet chronically undervalued. We have a collective habit of taking the essential for granted. It’s time we challenge this “nature-negative” mindset and turn it into a nature-positive mindset. Natural capital thinking could be the key.

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5 min read

Author: Bonny Marsh

The ubiquity trap

Ever noticed the panic when there are no clean socks, or no milk in the fridge? These everyday roles, often carried by mothers, are invisible until they’re not done—then chaos follows.

There are parallels between the invisible labour of mothers and the often-overlooked value of nature. Both are foundational yet consistently undervalued.

“Our economy rests on rebuilding natural capital, not its plunder” as economist Ken Henry puts it.

Mothers are often ubiquitous—they do everything, everywhere, all at once…

Mother Earth is too.

Both give without asking.

Both sacrificing quietly.

Both keep working in the background, without the chance to rest and repair.

More than a metaphor: why nature deserves our deepest respect

We call her Mother Earth for a reason. She nurtures all of us: growing food, filtering our water, regulating our climate, and surrounding us with immense beauty. Her natural capital is awe inspiring.

And yet, like many mothers, her contribution is chronically undervalued. Society is very good at taking what is offered and not recognising the true cost. Henry calls this an “intergenerational tragedy”, a form of theft from our children, where we consume the benefits but leave them the bill.

The work is invisible. The damage can be too.

We don’t notice when the soil degrades, we don’t pay attention when ancient trees fall.

And we often don’t act until the fires come, the rivers dry, or the air becomes hard to breathe.

Just as mothers keep households running without demanding thanks, nature asks for nothing in return-but she deserves everything.

If we paid mothers for the work they do, it would cost millions.

If we paid for the natural capital we consume, the cost would be trillions.

We rarely account for the ‘invisible services.’ However, when these services become visible, we can see the value and we cannot unsee it. This is why creating a natural capital mindset can be powerful.

A pattern of taking for granted

As a society, we are conditioned to overlook that which is always there:

Mothers and carers, who carry families.
The environment, which makes everything else possible.

This contributes to a nature-negative mindset, when we use without replenishing, extract without reinvesting, benefiting without acknowledging. It is unsustainable and deeply out of step with the values many of us claim to hold.

The way forward is to collectively develop a natural capital mindset, where we recognise that forests, soils, rivers, and biodiversity are assets, not free resources. When we treat them as capital, we invest, repair, and reinvest. That shift is what Henry calls essential: moving markets to reward restoration, not destruction. A natural capital mindset is a nature-positive mindset.

When our mothers get tired of being taken for granted, they can tell us. Mother Earth is telling us too—loudly. The cracks are showing. Yet, we keep running the household while refusing to maintain the foundations.

Like a mother, the environment:

Won’t always tell you what she needs.
May keep giving until she breaks.

At Truii, our web-apps give the environment a voice. Sometimes clients don’t like what they hear, but they listen, and they make better, more informed decisions.

Imagine a world where both mums and Mother Earth are held in reverence. Where the unseen is seen:

The value of nurturing, feeding, cleaning, and caring.
The value of trees, rivers, soils, and rocks.

Where we facilitate connections that help us thrive and expand investment to protect and repair the natural capital that sustains us. Natural capital thinking gives us a tool to turn the invisible into the visible, shifting us from a culture of taking to one of investing.

Whether investing in mothers or Mother Earth, the principle is the same: when we nurture the nurturers, everyone thrives. A natural capital mindset reminds us that care is not a cost but the most powerful investment we can make for our households, our communities, and our planet.

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