Read:
Month 1: Food – Guest Post & Link Up
Month 2: Clothes – Guest Post — Link Up
Month 3: Possessions – Guest Post — Link Up
Month 4: Media – Guest Post – Link Up
Jen gives us a much needed reminder this month that God calls us to care for the Earth that He created. Jen asks the hard question below– what would it take for you to become a godly consumer?
Can we unlearn our destructive habits and reimagine a way to live lighter on this earth? What if we changed our label from “consumers” to “stewards”? Would it change the way we shop? The way we think?
My luxuries come at the expense of some of God’s best handiwork: forests, petroleum, clean air, healthy ecosystems.
What does it mean to be a godly consumer? What if God’s creation is more than just a commodity? If we acknowledged the sacredness of creation, I suspect it would alter the way we treated it. ~ Page 136
Watch:
7 – Month 5: Waste, Bloom (in)courage Book Club from Bloom (in)courage on Vimeo.
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Discuss:
Did this chapter change the way you view the Earth that God created? Are you being responsible when it comes to using the resources that God provides for us? What practical (and maybe not so practical) changes can you make in your household to take better care of our environment?
Share:
Join us on Wednesday as Stephanie shares with us how this month on waste changed her life. And if you’ve also shared about this month’s topic on your blog, won’t you link up with us on Friday or share in the comments? We’d love to hear from you!
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It is funny to see these kinds of posts. Growing up on the farm we re-purposed, reused, and disposed of things in a way to keep our farm clean. We did not have recycle centers and we called this being frugal, wise with the resources we were given. This is nothing new; just some new names to an old concept. Even in the Old Testament God told the Israelites how to dispose of things when they wondered in the dessert. We recycled everything on the farm until its use was spent. Then and only then did we burn or burying anything.
The burning was controlled and we stood down wind from it to not inhale the smoke or fumes. We only burned organic things that were not fit for the garden. We did not have a lot of plastic like you all do today. Most of what we had were things that could be recycled, metal got melted and reshaped into other things. Paper was shredded and used in the garden; even bones were made into organic things used in the garden. So it is odd for me to realize when people have not grown up with such knowledge I guess it is something new.
This world is not the one I grew up in and guess sometimes I get a little taken back. God is good at bring this out, praise His name.
This chapter was sort of a reawakening of something that I want in my life. I struggle because while I am deemed the ‘hippie’ of our circle, my husband is about the polar opposite, so anything ‘green’ is a fight. He doesn’t want the inconvenience and says ‘it’s all going to burn up anyway’… but my heart longs for more and to care for God’s earth for our kids and theirs… we don’t know when it’s ‘going to burn up’! So I’m just looking to find a way to balance it all… and to be a good steward given my circumstances.
I can so relate! This sounds exactly like me and my husband and our circle. I don’t like being called a tree hugger, but I do care about the earth and being a good steward. I feel your pain!
I am “greenish”. This chapter made me want to go full force, be sold out to being green and waste free, (I tend to go at things feet first with all that I have, much to my husbands dismay). Not because it’s trendy, but because it’s all God’s. I go in and out of phases, where I do no convenience foods etc, and then life gets hectic and I slip up. I am going to print out Psalm 24:1-2 and post it above my trash can, so that when I am tempted to be lazy about the waste I create, it will remind me it’s God’s land, not mine, and I must care for it!
This chapter is hard. Because I tend to think the way you ladies described in the video, “Does it really matter if I recycle?”, “What difference does it make if I use ziploc bags?”, “Is it worth spending more money on gas just to get ethanol?”. All questions I’m struggling with. I do agree, it does make a difference in the big picture for our planet, the challenge for me is believing that it makes a difference TODAY. Doing the little things day after day because it DOES matter right now. There are a few things we do well like recycling, repurposing stuff and taking unwanted things to thrift stores instead of just throwing it away. I think the next step for me and my family is to consider using ethanol gas instead of unleaded. We have a vehicle that allows for it we just haven’t moved in that direction yet. We live in a town home so gardening and composting isn’t an option (unless I want my neighbors to sneak over in the middle of the night and end my life) but I know we can be better at buying more reusable products and cutting back on our waste in that way. Such encouraging and challenging stuff all at the same time. Thanks again for another great video ladies:)
Courtney, my husband and I also live in a townhouse but I’ve found a way to compost. We have a small concrete patio, about 12×12. I bought a 30 gallon Rubbermaid tote, drilled air holes in all sides about 4 inches from the bottom and use that for composting! It’s worked great and my potted tomatoes loved it this summer. To start your compost, and a layer of shredded newspaper(I just tear it vertically into long strips), then kitchen scraps (no meat/dairy), and top with another layer of newspaper.
Hope this helps!
Wow Brittany! That’s impressive! We don’t have a patio, but we do have a small balcony off of the second story that might serve the same purpose. Thanks for the tips!
So wow. This chapter, more than any other, knocked my socks off. This is the first time I really understood my need to take care of the earth. I’ve started recycling (and unfortunately, our town doesn’t make it easy) and I’m learning about gardening. Also planning to eat more fruits and veggies. We’re starting with one meal a day-snacks! Baby steps, people:)
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I have only recycled bottle waters and coke cans. I am so not green. But after reading this chapter, I started to look at everything I threw in the trash and realized that it could go in the recycling bin. My bin was so full, and my trash can was so empty. And I had no idea I was so ignorant on this issue.
I love what Jen said in the video, “when I recycle, I am worshiping God.” That’s a good thought every time I throw something out instead of walking the two extra feet to the recycling bin.
Nicole
I like to think I’m fairly green, but I know I could probably do more. Laziness sometimes gets in the way of making it *all* the way to the other end of the garage to pop a jar in a recycling bin. Shocking, I know.
We have a small black bag of rubbish each week, and that *usually* only contains animal mess. We recycle everything, from cardboard to plastic, we use sawdust cat litter which breaks down itself, and we have a separate food waste bin. Granted all I have to do is put it out on the driveway on rubbish day and this is sorted for me but things like large pieces of wood, old carpet etc gets driven to the local recycling centre, instead of the “dump”
I got so disgusted with the 30+ bags of easily recylable packing material at work that I organised a recycling plant to pick up our sacks weekly to be reused.
I’d love to one day have my own vegetable patch! One summer I grew strawberries. Best.Summer.EVER.