Bee flower
Pollinators such as bees are crucial to sustaining plant life on Earth, but their populations are threatened by pesticides and habitat loss. Planting pollinator-friendly vegetation will help support fragile insect populations.
Pollinators, including bees, wasps, butterflies, are crucial for growing more than one-third of the food we eat. They feed us—we need to feed them! Pesticide use and loss of year-round food sources are causes for the declining pollinator population. Plant flowers, trees, shrubs, perennials, vines, and herbs with the goal of feeding all year long those who feed us. Choose native plants when possible, especially.
Go outside! Your own experience—and research—show that spending time in nature is healing. Look closely at seedlings sprouting, blossoms opening, and the renewal of green. Share your delight with family, especially children, and friends. Vow to do all you can to heal the earth, as well.
UM Creation ident
Safer-at-home practices have reduced global emissions by 25%, resulting in much cleaner air and waterways clearing appreciably. As restrictions are lifted, find ways to continue driving less so the planet isn’t subjected to a rebound effect of increased emissions.
The Word of God leads us, and we can lead by our words. With the guidance of Scripture and our United Methodist Tradition, including our Social Principles, we can speak up for creation justice in our circles of influence (family, friends, congregation, work, school) and even outside our comfort zones. The Holy Spirit gives us the words we need. People listen to those they trust.
Yes, your choices to steer clear of single-use plastics matter! Keep up the good work. But your impact will be even greater when you urge your members of Congress (find them at congress.gov) to support the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2021. Laws are essential to change the systems that harm Earth and God’s creatures, including marine life. Raise your voice!
Are you surrounded by outdated technology items? Don’t send them to a landfill! You can recycle CDs, DVDs, video and audio tapes, hard drives, zip and floppy discs, pagers, digital cameras, slides, Super 8s, 35 mm film, mice, modems, headphones, and such through GreenDisk’s Technotrash Pack-IT Service. Their pricing works for individuals (about $15) and for businesses ($60 and up). Check out greendisk.com.
Would you want a landfill close to your home? What! And put up with the smell, the toxic greenhouse gases, the trucks rolling by, the stigma? No way! you say. No one wants that! Fraught with environmental problems, landfills are also a justice issue. Repeatedly, the sites are located near people in poverty and people of color, despite their protests. It’s time to stop that practice. Do everything you can to avoid filling God’s earth with trash and speak up against the injustice some of God’s people get stuck with.
Switch to online subscriptions for newspapers and magazines. Even though these could be Reused (passed along to another reader) or Recycled, it’s better to move up the R-scale to Reduce. Save some trees and possibly also cut down on single-use plastic wrappings.
Add new wallpaper to your computer. Plaster one or more photos of God’s creation where you will be reminded of the grand diversity, beauty, and fragility of plants, animals, landscapes, and bodies of water. As you begin your computer tasks, say a brief prayer of thanksgiving and resolve. Use your own photos or find free ones at pexels.com or unsplash.com.
Plastic shower curtains quickly become grimy and moldy. The answer—toss and buy a new plastic one—they’re cheap? Not so! They have a high cost to your health and give off toxic chemicals as you shower. They then leak toxins in landfills—a high cost to the environment. Switch to an eco-friendly cotton, linen, hemp, or bamboo shower curtain and occasionally toss it in the laundry occasionally. Better for you and for Earth.