Creation care and Earth Day
I’ve been on a journey in my thinking about the environment. Of course it’s all green all the time in the media right now. Yesterday I saw a Toys R Us ad touting green toys made of wood; who knew that when I was a kid playing with blocks I was helping the environment! Hopefully we are not clear cutting forests to create green toys for our kids.
It started with watching An Inconvenient Truth and really ramped up when I read Matthew Sleeth’s excellent book, Serve God, Save the Planet. I heard him speak on the Mars Hill podcast; he really address the theological underpinnings of why we should care about God’s creation, as well as giving practical tips on how to make a difference. In fact, take a look at his 50 ways to get started.
Here are some changes we are making:
- I replaced a number of our highly used bulbs with CFLs; all future burnouts get a CFL.
- I put our media components (TV, DVD player, receiver) on a wall switch that we turn off to avoid any phantom power draw.
- Our computers go to sleep after a period of non use.
- I’m trying to train the kids to shut off lights when they leave the room.
- We plan our meals once a week to avoid multiple trips to the grocery store.
- We have an organic garden, which the kids love. I’m hoping to create and use a compost pile this year as well.
- I’m trying organic lawn care for the first time, so I put corn gluten meal on the grass instead of normal fertilizer.
- I enjoy my locally roasted fair trade coffee from beans grown in a sustainable way where workers are paid a fair wage.
- We try to spend more time outdoors.
Tomorrow I get to volunteer with the Perkiomen Watershed Conservancy to help cleanup the Perkiomen Creek. My company is sponsoring a volunteer day where you can choose a charity to work with for a few hours. I’m looking forward to doing something to take care of God’s world on Earth Day.
What has God been teaching you about the environment? Please share in the comments.
I, too, heard Matt Sleeth’s Mars Hill podcast and was amazed at how much he does to protect the environment as well as challenged to up our family’s efforts. Both my husband and I come from a long line of gardeners, composters, and recyclers. But what caught my attention the most is how much you could do with very little extra effort. For example, just by driving the speed limit your miles per gallon increase dramatically. And, by sorting your trash between garden waste, paper to recycle at church, glass/plastic recyclables, etc., you can really reduce the amount that goes to the dump. And the age-old ‘turning off the water while brushing your teeth’ still holds true. Bottom line, there are many things we can do within our normal routines that will make a big difference.
I admit to struggling with the media hype, however. The new lightbulbs you mentioned, Bill, come with the following warning; “Broken CFL bulbs release mercury vapors which are harmful to human and ecological health. The EPA has a page dedicated to clean-up of broken CFL Bulbs.[3] Although mercury in these bulbs is a health hazard[3], special handling upon breakage is currently not printed on the packaging of household CFL bulbs in many countries. It is important to note that the amount of mercury released by one bulb can exceed U.S. federal guidelines for chronic exposure.” So, be careful — especially since you have kids.
Hi, my name is Dustin and I work with a Christian environmental organization called Christians in Conservation: A Rocha USA. I saw your post about the book “Serve God, Save the Planet”, and I thought that you might like to know that our organization sponsors its author, Dr. Matthew Sleeth, as a “creation care evangelist.” We would love for you to check us out at our website, en.arocha.org/usa. You might also be interested in the website for Dr. Sleeth’s book, http://www.servegodsavetheplanet.org.