Rachel Mash

Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right. Psalm 106:3 Today’s challenge it to sign a petition to add your voice and make a difference! Here is a petition from Tearfund a Christian Charity https://www.tearfund.org/forms/rubbish-campaign-petition The world demands an ambitious plastic treaty Here are a lot of petitions which are targeting businesses or stores look for one relevant to you https://www.change.org/t/plastic-pollution-en-us As we mentioned yesterday a very important thing  you can do is to write to your national negotiator on the Plastic Treaty https://www.unep.org/inc-plastic-pollution/national-focal-points

Speak up for those who have no voice, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. Proverbs 31:8-9 NIV Two years ago, in March 2022  the gavel came down on a historic resolution at the  fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi to end plastic pollution and forge an international legally binding agreement by 2024. Heads of State , ministers of Environment and other representatives from 193 member states agreed on this landmark agreement.  Plastic production has risen exponentially in the last decades and now amounts to some 400 million tons per year– a figure set to double by 2040. This landmark agreement agreed to address the full lifecycle of plastic from source to sea. A cap would be placed on new plastic production, certain toxic and hard to recycle items would be banned,  single use plastics drastically reduced and waste management and recycling improved considerably . Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), said the agreement is the most important international multilateral environmental deal since the Paris climate accord. Since that event, a process was set up called the INC (Intergovernmental  Negotiating Committee)  to work out the details of that treaty . On the  23-29 of April 2024, governments will come together in Ottowa in Canada for the fourth round of negotiations for a global treaty to end plastic pollution. This treaty is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a global solution to this worsening global crisis. Unless governments agree on an ambitious and fair treaty with legally binding global rules, plastic pollution is likely to triple by 2040, accumulating in our food and water and exacerbating the risk of flooding. To solve this crisis, all countries must adopt a treaty that will ban avoidable high risk plastic items – those that cause the most harm or are most prone to leaking into the environment. The problem is – the fossil fuel companies are panicking. Projected sales of oil are dropping as the world transitions to electric vehicles and they see plastic as a life line. They are in fact projecting an increase in sales of oil to manufacture plastic – and are building new petrochemical plants especially in the USA We all need to do what we can to influence our countries negotiators at the INC . The role of faith communities is key here as the plastic polluters are saying things like “vulnerable communities need plastic products because the eco-friendly ones are too expensive”  “the problem is waste management not plastic production” We need to bring stories of the impact of plastic on our most vulnerable communities – health impacts of dumping, flooding from the drains being blocked, air pollution from burning of plastics – and let our negotiators know. Here is the list of your national negotiators – write to them!! Before it is too late https://www.unep.org/inc-plastic-pollution/national-focal-points

Train up a child in the way they should go: And when they are  old, they will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 It is important to teach our children about the importance of sharing, and not hoarding of their toys and items. These are important principles that they will grow up with. They quickly grow out of certain toys and games, and another child’s toys are exciting! So how can you organise a toy swop? This could be for your Sunday School or between a group of parent friends. How to organise a toy swop A toy swap can be a small informal gathering, a huge community event, or anywhere in between. Decide what scale you have the time and inclination to organize. Find other swappers Ask other parents with children of similar ages if they’re interested in participating. Decide if you want to keep the swap smaller with just a few friends or want to put on a bigger neighborhood or community-wide swap or church swap. Get kids on board Talk to your child about the swap and have him or her pick out which toys are ready to pass along. Once your child realizes he or she will be receiving a toy in trade, they will be more likely to participate. Set some ground rules Do toys have to have all their working parts, or can they be missing a piece or two? Completeness is more vital for some toys than others, but all toys should be in good enough condition that other kids will actually want them. Every toy should get a good cleaning before coming to the swap. Decide who can come Many parents report having the process work far better if the children do not participate at the actual swap. This saves the inevitable struggles over electronic music-playing gizmos that will quickly drive parents insane or last-minute changes of heart about that doll or block set. You can make it an enjoyable grown-up social event, and celebrate together having holiday shopping done early without any exhausting (and expensive) trips to the mall. Decide how value will be assigned Will each toy be considered of equal value, or will you credits (rand or dollar or just a number? A credit system might be fairer if you want to allow for toys ranging from very small (a simple doll) to very large (a scooter or big building set), but it also adds to the complexity of the process. If your swap is smaller, you could also work out fair trades on the spot, exchanging a collection of smaller items for one larger ones. For big swaps, credits are probably the way to go. Have a couple volunteers distribute tickets representing the amount swappers have to “buy” other toys. Display the gear Set everything out so people can see it easily. You could try grouping similar items together to make the “shopping” process easier Let the trading begin You can draw numbers and take turns, or everyone can look and choose at their leisure.. Each participant should have a bag or box to put their “new” items into. Donate the rest Take  any leftover toys from your toy swap to a thrift shop or charity of your choice. Swaps can work for lots more than toys. Once you’ve got an enthusiastic base of swappers, you could organize swaps for clothing, kitchen gear, or sports equipment. Use your imagination and help trim your family’s ecological footprint for all sorts of items you used to buy new. From https://learn.eartheasy.com/articles/how-to-host-a-toy-swap/

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Today’s challenge is to commit to recycling both at home and at work. 1. Be the change you want to see! Many of us have had a bad experience with recycling leaving us to think that recycling is hard, a mission or time consuming. If in place of one rubbish bin you have two, all it boils down to is shifting your focus to awareness and tossing that coke can in this bin over that. 2. Keep ’em separated Find a spot in your kitchen for one large bin. It can even be where your old ‘all in one’ bin used to stand. We suggest making this your primary mixed recycling bin. Most recycling services separate the glass, cans, plastic and paper on site so collecting them integrated in one bag is often A-okay. If  you plan on taking it down to a depot near you, you’ll find people working there willing to help you sort it. If you have the space, by all means create a dedicated crate for glass, a bin for paper, one for cans and one for plastics. They’ll take longer to fill up though before you can dispose of them, which is why many opt for the all in one option. That being said, it’s a great way to teach your kids about recycling Now all you need is a plastic shopping bag for your meat scraps and non recyclable materials like cling wrap (which if you’re conscientious about it, you can keep to a minimum when you buy veggies). 3. Rinse it Think of the folks who take on the job of sorting all the recycling. A can of tuna becomes rather unpleasant after a long hot journey in the sun. Give it a quick rinse when you’re done with it and no food scraps are left to stink up your kitchen either. Same goes for the polystyrene that housed your rib-eye steak and that yoghurt container. 4. Composting! Your compostable food scraps should make their way into a container with a tightly sealed lid. You’re paying for the whole fruit or vegetable, so you may as well make all of it work for you. Churning the kitchen scraps back into your garden not only provides great nutrients for your plants but also saves space in landfills. And if you’re thinking that the banana skin will decompose in the landfill, remember that it probably ends up in plastic with the rest of your rubbish. . In your garden however it makes for some great plant love. From Yuppiechef:  https://www.yuppiechef.com/spatula/how-to-recycle-at-home-in-5-easy-steps/#:~:text=Keep%20’em%20separated,bag%20is%20often%20A%2Dokay.