Greening Putting Away
Photo by Jill Wellington (Pexels.com)
“God so loved the world…” Most often Christians hear John 3:16 in relationship to personal salvation. But look again at what God loves enough to send God's own Son—the world! All of creation, not just humans. If God so loved the world, then we need to also. Choose at least one aspect of creation and love it through your action and advocacy.
Recycle your Christmas cards. Plain paper Christmas cards can go straight into the paper recycling bin, no questions asked. But shiny cards, ones printed on photo paper, and ones with metallic embossing or glitter are no-no’s. However, look closely—even they may have a half that is free of the contaminants. Cut apart and safely recycle the good side. Before you dispose of the cards, take an extra minute to reread them and give thanks for your friends.
Reuse shiny Christmas bows and ribbons. They do not recycle because they are a composite of plastic and paper and a no-no in the recycling bin. Ribbons are notorious for snagging recycling machinery. So, reuse. Make a game of tossing the bows into a large paper bag to save for another season. When the bow or ribbon is truly dead, you’ll need to trash it.
Creation Justice ident
Those shipping boxes easily recycle because cardboard is clean and easy to reprocess. Every ton of it that's reclaimed saves 17 trees. Simply break the boxes down flat so that they don’t take up so much room in the recycling trucks that they require extra trips, use up more energy, and eat up the good you hoped for by recycling in the first place.
Dispose of your tree carefully. Replanted is best. Composted or chipped for trail footing in parks is good. Find out the possibilities in your area. Commercial companies or local government may offer this service. Do not burn a tree. That releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Reuse and reuse a plastic tree and then find someone else who will enjoy it. Check with local charities, shelters, and churches. Do your best to keep it out of a landfill.
Volunteer for your community’s treecycling program, which transforms cast-off Christmas trees into mulch for parks, playgrounds, trails, and other public spaces. Offer help to your neighbors for getting their tree to the program rather than the dump.
Have a conversation—not a confrontation—with your teen about any gifted money. Invite them to think about investing in their future and Creation’s. Help them explore possibilities related to their interests or concerns, such as organizations that care for wildlife, replant trees, support ocean clean up, or address justice issues. Perhaps it’s time to set up an environmentally focused stock portfolio. Ultimately, remember the money was a gift to them—not you. Your gift is to be a thinking partner.
As you put away your new clothes, scrutinize your closets and drawers for clothing you can donate. Put those to work for someone else. Clear away the excess and discover the joy of simplicity.
Engage your children in passing along gently-used toys they have outgrown. Talk with them about the fun they had and now they can help other children have a good time too. Make the task an after-Christmas tradition to encourage the children to care for their toys and for other children.
With your children, collect their broken, worn out, or barely used crayons and ship them to Crazy Crayons, The National Crayon Recycling Program, to remold. They’ve already kept more than 120,000 pounds from landfills. Doing this task together, you can introduce your children to the concept of recycling and show them they too can do something to take care of God’s earth.