UMCJM June
Summer is a great time to “party hearty.” That original phrase has morphed into “party hardy.” No need to give up the bold, good times implied by “hardy,” but come back to the essence of being heart-centered when planning the next big event. Choose ways to have a heart for the earth.
Notice that “heart” and “earth” share the same letters.
Something to think about—and act upon!
Creation Justice ident
Weddings, graduation celebrations, holidays, get togethers—all are important, and all can produce lots of waste. The average American wedding typically dumps 400–600 pounds of trash into landfills. Choose alternatives to trashing: Collect and compost food scraps and compostable plates and utensils. Avoid paper and plastic, substituting glass or ceramic dishes, serving platters, and silverware, which can be washed and reused.
A marriage is supposed to be sustainable, so start with a sustainable wedding dress. Shop for vintage, second hand, and rental gowns here and at Goodwill or another local thrift shop, which may also have a wedding dress sale event. When the big day is over, be sure to donate your gown to make a special day for someone else.
Go local and seasonal with the flowers. Home or locally grown seasonal bouquets mean fewer transport emissions and less likelihood of poor treatment of the farm workers—a justice issue. Once the event is over, deliver the flowers to a hospital, nursing home, or to some people you love or who need a lift. Compost any flowers that have withered.
Make a statement with party favors that give back. Look for something plantable, like herbs, succulents, seed packets. Or display a sign that you’ve made a donation in your guests’ honor, such as planting trees or saving a favorite endangered wildlife creature, perhaps one that fits the theme of the day. Invite additional contributions and send an electronic notice with the amount raised and a thank you for caring for God’s creation.
Nix the balloons. They are not biodegradable, and they consequently harm birds and marine life. Also, helium is a nonrenewable gas needed in welding, rocket propulsion, and even scuba diving. Wasting helium in the momentary fun of balloons jeopardizes the other uses. Instead, add sparkle and fun to the event with tissue-paper pom poms, garlands from upcycled materials from home, fabric bunting, streamers made from recycled paper, or bubbles.
Turn out the lights for the sake of fireflies. Fireflies flash to attract mates. However, with so much artificial light at night, they can’t see each other. If they can’t mate, they can’t make more fireflies. Let God’s “nightlights” shine.
Conserve water (save the planet too). Time watering for early morning or later evening to avoid quick evaporation. Use a broom rather than a hose to clean up outside. Wash the car from a bucket, not from a running hose. Reuse rainwater and household gray water for outdoor plants. Set up a rainbarrel.
Enjoy the great outdoors this summer—see and hear God at work! Look up to the sky. Is it blue? Full of clouds? Birds flying? What do you hear? Look out at eye-level. Perhaps you see flowers, colors, a bunny. Look closely at the ground. Be patient. Life is teeming there. Lift your eyes again to the sky. Pray your praise and gratitude for God’s gifts of ecosystems, habitats, and beauty.
Stop throwing away trees at every meal. Instead use cloth napkins and simply throw them in the wash with another load. Patterned napkins will hide stains and lengthen the usable life of the napkins. Find some distinctive napkin rings to mark each person’s and reuse the napkins a day or two before washing. If you visit garage sales, you can likely rescue napkins and rings from being trashed.
Use one space only between sentences. Back in the day, the rule was two spaces. But those extra spaces are really trees lost. With an average of more than 5,000 extra spaces per book, a years’ worth of publications adds up to more than a quarter of a billion extra pages (and 26,000 trees!) Trees are life for the planet. Type for their lives.
This article may be reproduced elsewhere with credit to United Methodist Creation Justice Movement.