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Daniel Blackman, USA “Food waste undermines food security. In America, for example, we waste an unimaginable amount of food. 40 percent of all produce in the United States is thrown away while around the world 805 million people go to bed hungry each night I’ve set myself the goal of buying only the food I need and making sure I consume it all. It feels good to know I’m doing the right thing.” Reduce food waste. Buy only the food you need. Eat or give away all the food you buy. BLOG Approximately one-third of the food produced for human consumption gets lost or wasted every year, according to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization. Although this loss happens everywhere, it is not evenly distributed. Consumers in wealthy countries waste as much food as the entire net production of sub-Saharan Africa. The reasons for food waste differ by region. In developing countries, most waste occurs before the food reaches the consumer, and is a result of structural challenges like poor refrigeration, unreliable roads, and lack of coordination between producers. In more developed countries, most waste occurs at retail outlets, where a flawless appearance is highly valued, and in the homes of consumers, where much of the purchased food is thrown away. If food waste occurs in your household, consider the following ways to alleviate it. Reduce the amount of food you buy. Do not buy new food until all of the food you have is eaten. Use all parts of the food you buy. Compost any food that you are unable to use. Speak with local retailers about possible ways to reduce waste.

Tess Corkish, Australia “Australia is a country where we have an incredibly high quality of life, so we are so protected from the worst impacts of climate change. We are much more likely to be responsible for climate change than to feel its effects. This is incredibly unjust. We will grow in spirit when we take responsibility for the environmental problems we cause.” Take responsibility. Make a list of the items you throw away today. Identify wasteful items you can eliminate from your daily habits BLOG Studies have shown that making a written plan for changes you want to make increases the likelihood of achieving them. Apply this principle to reduce the amount of waste you generate. Start by keeping a written diary of items you throw away. Identify wasteful items that you habitually use and would like to eliminate. Write a plan for how you’ll change your wasteful habits. Check in with your plan after a week or two to evaluate your progress. As a heading for your log, write this statement to inspire and guide you: “Make a serious commitment to respect and protect creation, to be attentive to every person, to counter the culture of waste.”

Jocina Manuel, Angola “Plastic litter is invading the sea. We see it floating. It is difficult to understand how the sea life survives in this. Even the children suffer from the pollution in our sea and on the land.” Use your own water bottle. Plastic water bottles and other disposable dishware will not decompose for thousands of years. Commit to using your own dishware outside the home. The facts on water bottles are tragic. Around the world, people buy a total of 1 million plastic bottles per minute. 91% of them are not recycled. The average plastic bottle takes 400 years to decompose. Refraining from buying bottled water and taking a reusable bottle with you are good ways to eliminate some of this waste. Taking a reusable water bottle with you is also a daily witness to the practice of stewardship, a discipline that grounds you in our faith. Pray while filling your bottle: Creator God, thank you for the blessing of water. Help me to steward it well and to practice care for your creation in all I do today. Amen.

And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and its good things. But when you came in, you defiled my land and made my inheritance an abomination. (Jeremiah 2:7)

Jacynthia Murphy, New Zealand “There is a saying in my Māori culture that goes, ‘Ko te wai te ora ngā mea katoa,’ meaning ‘water is the life giver of all things.’ Climate change threatens to alter all that because it affects the natural patterns of our oceans and the sea life within it. As a seafaring people, we have relied on these natural resources to sustain our families for generations. The book of Genesis tells us that we are the responsible guardians of all living things. Let us not disappoint our Creator God.” Commit During Lent, we commit to living more righteously. Pray with people around the world: Creator, give me strength to live in harmony with your creation. BLOG We commit ourselves to living simply and in harmony with creation. In his letter Laudato Si’, which was addressed not just to the Catholic Church but to “all people of good will,” Pope Francis wrote that “Nature cannot be regarded as something separate from ourselves or as a mere setting in which we live. We are part of nature, included in it and thus in constant interaction with it.” (62, 139). Each of us is intertwined with the whole of creation, and each of us depends on it. From farmers to office professionals, the goods of creation make everything we do possible. The food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe: all are part of God’s great work, as are we ourselves. Recognizing that we are merely one thread in God’s fabric of creation, we dedicate ourselves to living rightfully. We invite you to commit. Over the next 40 days, we will suggest actions to fast from harming our common home. Find a journal or another way of recording these lifestyle commitments. At the end of Lent, look back at the changes you have made and share them with friends and family. “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” (Matt. 3:8)