Carbon Fast 2015

Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come Isaiah 55:1 Clouds, oceans, seas, rivers, lakes and waterfalls are your sacred gifts of life and beauty to us, O God; teach us how to use and preserve the waters of our planet. Creator God, hear us we pray, Give us your love for the whole of Creation. We truly live on a blue planet. The oceans cover 71% of the earth’s surface. Arthur C Clarke said “ how inappropriate to call this planet Earth, when it is quite clearly Ocean!” I love to walk along the shore  and listen to the power of the waves and I am reminded of Psalm 11 which says “Great are the works of the Lord, they are studied by all who delight in them” We need to study our impact on water, we are polluting it and wasting it. Water was given to us by God as a free gift but it has become a commercial product that is sold for profit.  In some parts water has become so polluted that what comes out of your tap is not safe. Some people have not enough water to drink and others are pouring water into swimming pools. We live in a water scarce country Water fact: One in eight people worldwide does not have access to clean drinking water. We all need to make small changes to make a difference. Each saving, when multiplied by a million people, can become huge. Here are a few suggestions: Shower Bucket. Instead of letting the water pour down the drain, stick a bucket under the tap while you wait for your shower water to heat up. You can use the water for flushing the toilet or watering your plants.  If it’s yellow, let it mellow. This tip might not be for everyone, but the toilet is one of the most water-intensive fixtures in the house. Do you need to flush every time?  Fix your leaks. Whether you go DIY or hire a plumber, fixing leaky faucets can mean big water savings. Re-use your pasta or veggie cooking liquid. Instead of dumping that water down the drain, try draining your pasta water into a large pot. Once it cools, you can use it to water your plants. Just make sure you wait, because if you dump that boiling water on your plants, you might harm them. Shrink your lawn. Even better: lose the lawn completely. Instead, opt for water wise ground cover, succulents, and other plants that thrive in drought conditions. Keep an eye on your bill to spot leaks. If your water bill spikes suddenly, there’s a good chance that a leak is the culprit. Call in a plumber to check your lines to save water and cash! Install a rain barrel. Rainwater harvestingis a great way to keep your plants hydrated without turning on the hose or sprinkler. Water in the early morning. You’ll need less water, since cooler morning temperatures mean losing less water to evaporation. It’s not a great idea to water in the evenings, since this can promote mold growth. Use less electricity. Power plants use thousands of gallons of water to cool. Do your part to conserve power, and you’re indirectly saving water, too! Re-use grey water.  you can do things like re-route the runoff from your clothes washer and use that water for things like flushing the toilet.

As Jesus came up out of the water, heaven opened, and the Spirit of God, like a dove, descended upon him. Witnesses to the baptism heard a voice from heaven saying, “This is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” Matt 3:16-17 The challenge today is for you to find out about which river the water came from that was used in your baptism, and take steps to protect it. Here is some information about the Jordan River where Jesus was baptised Spiritual significance of the Jordan River The tribes of Israel under Joshua crossed the river on dry ground to enter the Promised Land after years of wandering in the desert. John the Baptist baptised Jesus in the waters of the Jordan. The prophets Elijah and Elisha also crossed the river dry-shod; and the Syrian general Naaman was healed of leprosy after washing in the Jordan at Elisha’s direction. Flowing southward from its sources in the mountainous area where Israel, Syria and Lebanon meet, the Jordan River passes through the Sea of Galilee and ends in the Dead Sea. The river falls 950 metres from its source to the Dead Sea. For most of its course down the Jordan Rift Valley, it flows well below sea level. Its name means “Dan [one of its tributaries] flows down”. Though an old song says the River Jordan is “deep and wide”, the modern river is neither. In places it is more like a creek than a river — less than 10 metres across and 2 metres deep. From Jesus’ time until the mid 20th century, seasonal flooding in winter and spring expanded its width to 1.5km. Dams in Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel now preclude flooding. Current State of the Jordan river Because its waters are a vital resource for the dry lands of the region, the Jordan has been a source of contention among Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians. In modern times more than 90 per cent of its natural flow has been diverted for domestic and agricultural use. The lower Jordan is heavily polluted by sewage and industrial run-off. In 2007 the World Monuments Fund listed the lower Jordan in the top 100 most “endangered cultural heritage sites”. In support, a regional environmental organisation, Friends of the Earth Middle East, said: “The region’s current policies treat the river as a backyard dumping ground

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.” South Africa is losing 7 billion rands worth of water a year in leaks. This is more than a third of our entire water supply,  while many members of the community do not have access to clean water. Many households are losing 10% of their water but are not even aware of it here is a simple test you can do to see if you have leaks that you are not aware of Whole House Meter Check for Leaks Larger leaks or a combination of small leaks can often be detected by your water meter. Using your water meter you can perform a simple leak check with the following steps: Make sure all water is turned off inside and outside the home.  This test must be performed when no automatic water equipment is used, such as irrigation controllers, clothes washers, dishwashers, etc. Record the reading of the water meter, and wait 15 minutes. Be certain no one uses any water during this time. Record the reading of the meter again. If the meter has recorded water use during the test, it might be due to a leak. The meter test only verifies large leaks. Even when leaks are detected, this test does not indicate the location of the leaks. Further investigation is needed to detect and locate all significant leaks.

He makes springs pour water into the ravines; It flows between the mountains. They give water to all the beasts of the field; the wild donkeys quench their thirst. Psalm 104:10-11 Use a plugged in sink or bowl for your washing up – no running taps. Here are the 10 commandments for saving water! Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth – this can save 6 litres of water per minute. Place a filled two litre bottle in your toilet cistern to reduce the volume of water used in each flush.. Take a shorter shower. Shower can use anything between 6 and 45 litres per minute. Always use full loads in your washing machine– this cuts out unnecessary washes in between. Fix a dripping tap. A dripping tap can waste 15 litres of water a day, or 5,500 litres of water a year. Install a water butt to your drainpipe and use the water collected to water your plants, clean your car and wash your windows. Water your garden with a watering can rather than a hosepipe. A hosepipe uses 1,000 litres of water an hour. Mulching your plants (with bark chippings, heavy compost or straw) and watering in the early morning and late afternoon will reduce evaporation and also save water. Fill a jug with tap water and place this in your fridge. This will mean you do not have to leave the cold tap running for the water to run cold before you fill your glass. Invest in water-efficient goods when you need to replace household products. You can now buy water-efficient showerheads, taps, toilets, washing machines, and many other water-saving products.

“I will make rivers flow on barren heights, and springs within the valleys. I will turn the desert into pools of water, and the parched ground into springs”. Isaiah 41:18   WATER IN PLASTIC BOTTLES IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL PONZI SCHEME “…Bottled water is even more wasteful. In a world trying to stabilize climate, it is difficult to justify bottling water (often tap water to begin with), hauling it long distances, and then selling it for 1,000 times the price of water from the kitchen faucet. Although clever marketing has convinced many consumers that bottled water is safer and healthier than tap water, a detailed study by World Wildlife Fund found that in the U.S. and Europe there are more standards regulating the quality of tap water than there are for bottled water. In developing countries where water is unsafe, it is far cheaper to boil or filter water than to buy it in bottles. Manufacturing the nearly 28 billion (28,000,000,000) plastic bottles used each year to package water in the U.S. alone requires the equivalent of 17 million barrels of oil. This—combined with the energy used to refrigerate and haul the bottled water in trucks, sometimes over hundreds of miles—means the U.S. bottled water industry consumes roughly 50 million barrels of oil per year, equal to 13 percent of U.S. oil imports from Saudi Arabia. The production, processing and disposal of materials in our modern throwaway economy wastes not only materials but the energy embodied in the material as well. The throwaway economy that has evolved over the last half-century is an aberration that is now itself headed for the junk heap of history.” — (Earth Policy Institute)  

We use water in baptism and it is added to wine for the Eucharist. “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters”. Gen 1:2 Resource conservation is just one aspect of greening; when we approach it from a faith-based perspective, we consider our role as stewards of natural resources and the sacredness of these resources. Water is life; it is hydration, habitat, and health. Our faith traditions teach us to revere this resource, to give thanks when it is abundant and to cherish it when it is scarce Why do we use water in baptism? The symbolism of water signified the Holy Spirit’s action in Baptism, it becomes the sacramental sign of new birth. Just as our waters broke in our first physical birth, so the  water of Baptism  signifies that our birth into divine life is given to us in the Holy Spirit. As “by one Spirit we were all baptized,” so we are also “made to drink of one Spirit.” (1 Cor 12:13) Why is water added to the wine during Eucharist? Water in the wine represents the water that flowed from Jesus’ side on the cross with both blood and water.. much as the church itself was formed and flowed from Jesus’ action. The water also symbolizes our baptism.