The CBF Resource Center in Atlanta is going green. Recently, CBF employees implemented several practices to conserve energy, recycle and be good stewards of the earth’s resources. In addition to paper recycling containers at each work station, the employee break room now features bins for recycling aluminum, glass, cardboard and several forms of plastic.
More and more churches are making it a priority to reduce their impact on the environment, too. Please use this blog to share ideas you have for recycling, reducing and reusing with other Fellowship Baptists – all you need to leave a comment is an email address.
What are some actions your church is taking? Why are you passionate about environmentalism? Share your spiritual or theological reflection on the topic. What’s your favorite “green” product? What resources do you recommend to other Fellowship Baptists? Why should creation care be a priority for Christians? Share your thoughts on what the Bible says about environmentalism. How can we be advocates for change?
Glad to hear that the CBF offices are going green!! We have partnered with an organization called Georgia Interfaith Power and Light (www.gipl.org). Because of this partnership, we had an energy audit of our building. We are reviewing the report from the audit to find what ways we can be a more energy efficient building.
We would love to have folks join us for two conferences in March and April as we learn how to reduce our carbon footprint on the world. For more information, see our website.
We’re thankful for the good conversations that have started from our “Faith and Environment” focus last fall. Our hope is to indeed be good stewards of the earth that God has trusted us with.
Installed programmable thermostats . . . was green and we got green back from the utility companies (electric and gas). New compact florescent blulbs throughout the building too.
Personally, we gave packages of these bulbs as house warming gifts and also as Christmas gifts to some people who would not be likely to buy them (Senior adults on fixed income and the poor). FWIW.
It’s great that businesses are starting to look at saving energy and recycling. Both can be good economic decisions as well as ways to help conserve natural resources. Recycling is also an environmental justice issue, though. The U.S. population represents about 5% of the world’s total. At the same time, Americans consume more than 25% of world’s natural resources, produce about 25% of the world’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and generate around 25% of the world’s waste.
Many products, electronics in particular, rely on metals that have to be imported from developing countries. The available quantities and grades of many metallic ores mined in these areas have already declined dramatically. By the time developing countries have industries capable of making use of their own resources, many resources may be gone. This is simply not fair. Christians have an obligation to be good stewards of all of God’s resources, including those that come from abroad.
In addition to recycling, another good idea is to simply restrict our buying. Do we really need the newest car or electronic device when the one we have still works fine? Better yet, can we just do without? Overconsumption and materialism are still big issues, and we all need to be aware of how what we buy affects others.
Our church donates our used/expired Sunday School/Missions teaching and student materials to Edwin Hodges Ministries located in Decatur, AL. They in turn send these materials to countries and missionaries that do not have access to such literature. We also donate money to help defray the shipping costs.
On a personal note, I have used low impact/natural cleaning products like Seventh Generation for years because I have felt a strong call to be a good steward of the world in which I live. Using natural cleaning products such as baking soda and vinegar have helped to reduce the health risk of asthma and allergic reactions for my family and they are cheaper than name brand products. Essential oils can be used creatively for anti-bacterial applications which don’t have the down-side of killing good bacteria and the added bonus is they smell great unlike most over the counter cleaners.
I’m typically quiet about these issues because I feel it is a personal choice how we interpret being a good steward of God’s handiwork. Personally, it is a passion of mine to practice habits that will improve the world in which I live. I was recycling long before it became politically correct. I am frustrated that it has become a political issue. On the other hand I am relieved that the church has finally recognized it as more of an issue for Christians to seriously consider.
one of my favorite green products — chico bags. they are small (will fit in your purse or glove box), durable and just $5. i carry one or two everywhere and use them instead of getting yet another plastic bag from stores. hopefully, we can reduce the use of plastic bags completely — they are often petroleum based and dont biodegrade (instead, they break down into toxic particles).
freecycle.org helps keep many things out of the landfill, and then there is solar cooking. This would be great for churches to try. Also it would be great to give to the homeless or to people who come to food shelters. A kit can be as little as $25.00 to cook outside.
I removed my carpet and put a stain on the concrete, but the carpet went to people in rental homes. I plant seeds in water bottles that have the tops removed and a little drainage hole on the bottom. Planting trees is major as well.
I am available as a speaker about kudzu–which has been mentioned for ethanol, but is also a building potential for bale insulation.
Churches can get lots of resources from their local Interfaith Power & Light affiliate (if you don’t know if your state has one, you can check at http://www.interfaithpowerandlight.org). You can also do your own energy audit using a guide from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program (http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=congregations_guidebook.congregations_guidebook)
It’s important to think about all aspects of congregational life, including worship. We can “go green” in our prayers, too. The Psalms give lots of examples!
One more resource that can be helpful in thinking about all different aspects of church life is the Green Congregations program on the Web of Creation website (http://www.webofcreation.org/Manuals/index.htm). It talks about everything from facilities to education to worship.
In my upbringing, I was fortunate to have grandparents of the depression era that were not what I called “stingy” but what I would call “progressive.” You didn’t throw it away until you were certain that there was nothing that could be saved or re-used about it. Certainly part of it could be re-used, composted – what have you. I joke that I’m part Thoreauvian.
While some kids may have been ashamed of something like this, not I – I guess I was born with an independent streak a country mile wide. Or perhaps being blessed to be in high school during the 90’s gave me a freedom to be different. Either way, I took it all in stride.
It was simply part of who I was. Another part of who I was was always my faith, as my mother was a children’s minister from the time that I was five.
These two elements in my life didn’t really come together until a year ago when for my Intro to Theology class at Campbell University we were handed the list of theologians and given the task of picking one whom we would write a term paper about. Scanning that long list, there were maybe five female names and one of them happened to be Sallie McFague. Call it dumb luck, but I picked her and therefore read all of her works. Her first work, Metaphorical Theology, focuses on the function of metaphor and touches on ecology a tiny bit, but her later works talk about the glory in living simply and in the wasteful North American consumer-driven lifestyle. She is currently my favorite theologian: were I to ever meet Ms. McFague I truly believe I would react like a 12-year-old who had just spotted Hannah Montana.
If you ever get the chance to read either “Super, Natural Christians” or “Life Abundant” I suggest you do so.
She has written a few essays, mostly during her time spent while on faculty at Vanderbilt which are brief and hit the nail on the head. I only cite her here because for me she brought home the notion that my faith and my actions were absolutely intertwined and to think anything less was false.
She states, “…Hence, the neighborhood that we have been set down is one that we must learn to care for in all its diverse parts and needs. We must become “ecologically literate,” understanding its most basic law: that there is no way the whole can flourish unless all parts are cared for. This means distributive justice is the key to sustainability, or, to phrase it differently, our garden home, the body of God, will only be healthy for the long term if all parts of it are cared for appropriately. Before all else, the community, our planet, must survive (sustainability), which it can do only if all members have access to basic necessities (distributive justice). We need to learn “home economics,” the basic rules of how our garden home can prosper — and what will destroy it. Most simply, these house rules are: Take only your share, clean up after your share, and keep the house in good repair for others.
We must do so because, as the self-reflective parts of God’s body — the part that knows that we know — we have become partners with God in maintaining the health of creation.”
This essay in particular shook me into stepping up my game.
I don’t believe that you have to take any monumental steps to make an impact, or that the battle is lost should you stumble every now and then.
I’ve switched out my bulbs and invested in rechargeable batteries and canvas bags for my groceries. I keep Tupperware containers in my car so that if I am dining out I do not have to use styrofoam containers.
I make my own laundry detergent from very simple ingredients (only 5!) which is stored in a large glass jug. Not only is this far more cost-effective, but since I store it myself, that’s one less plastic container used every couple of months.
I make my own household cleaners with vinegar and/or baking soda and I use newspaper to clean my mirrors and windows. I do use store-bought dryer sheets when I must use a dryer (I use a drying rack whenever possible) but I reuse those dryer sheets to dust furniture and electronics – try this – you won’t need Pledge or any Pledge-like spray. They work especially well on ceiling fan blades.
Composting has been another fun undertaking I’m glad I’ve done.
More importantly, however, than all of these things combined, is simply to question the consumerist attitude that we’re all bombarded with every single day. Whenever I hear that inner voice telling me I *need* something, I call it into question. Very rarely do I truly *need* something.
My family has gotten into this anti-consumerist attitude with me. My mom and I are reading “The Hundred Dollar Holiday” and re-examining our attitudes about Christmas for this upcoming year.
“I gave up kilowatts for Lent,” a friend who teaches at a Catholic college told me. She was going back to campus to remove half of the flourescent tubes in the fixtures of her overly bright hallway. When one of the nuns who always complains about change confronts her, she is going to say, “I gave up kilowatts for Lent, and lo and behold, it has led to a little conversion in me.”
Giving up chocolate or some other luxury in our diet for Lent has the value of reminding us of the season and its meaning. But giving up some things that might lead to a conversion, a permanent change, brings growth in Christian discipleship and can touch the world for good.