This weeks motivation comes from the Brazilian church, Coqueiral Baptist church who adapted their church to become a zero waste church. This movement is led by Josias Vieira. What motivation do you get from this video?
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When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God” Leviticus 19:9-10 The Bible has the principle of gleaning- which is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers fields. It became legally enforced as an entitlement for the poor in some Christian kingdoms Modern day “dumpster diving” is a similar idea – where those who are on the margins need to be able to make a living. Around the world informal groups of people called ‘waste pickers’ go through our waste and ‘glean’ a living Millions of people worldwide make a living collecting, sorting, recycling, and selling materials that someone else has thrown away. In some countries, waste pickers provide the only form of solid waste collection, providing widespread public benefits and achieving high recycling rates. Waste pickers contribute to local economies, to public health and safety, and to environmental sustainability. While recognition for their contributions is growing in some places, they often face low social status, deplorable living and working conditions, and get little support from local governments. So how can we help? Firstly waste pickers need to have dignity. So it is important that you rinse your recyclables and do not mix food waste with recyclable goods (would you like to earn your living working with plastic bottles covered in maggots?) Treat them with respect when you meet them in the street and find out their names. Secondly they need to be safe: Also if there are any broken pieces of glass, make sure they are wrapped safely so they don’t cut their hands. If you have left over food that is still edible, make sure that it is separated – some people hang it on their gate in a bag to keep it separated Thirdly: stand up for their rights – you may find that in your community (or neighbourhood whatsapp group) derogatory things are said about waste pickers – you be the one to stand up for them and for their rights to gleaning
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“Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.” Luke 12:15 What does the “Circular economy” mean?A good definition is this:It is based on three principles, driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerate nature. is a resilient system that is good for business, people, and the environment. (Ellen Macarthur Foundation) In our current economy, we take materials from the Earth, make products from them, and eventually throw them away as waste – the process is linear. In a circular economy, by contrast, we stop waste being produced in the first place. Here is quite a helpful video explaining what the circular economy means: https://youtu.be/NBEvJwTxs4w Eliminate waste and pollution For many products on the market, there is no onward path after they are used. Take a crisp packet, for example. These multi-material flexible plastic packages cannot be reused, recycled or composted, so end up as waste. For products like these, waste is built in. They are designed to be disposable. Although it sometimes seems like waste is inevitable in certain situations, waste is actually the result of design choices. There is no waste in nature, it is a concept we have introduced. From tiny, short-lived products, like crisp packets, all the way up to seemingly permanent structures like buildings and roads, the economy is filled with things that have been designed without asking: What happens to this at the end of its life? By shifting our mindset, we can treat waste as a design flaw. In a circular economy, a specification for any design is that the materials re-enter the economy at the end of their use. By doing this, we take the linear take-make-waste system and make it circular. Many products could be circulated by being maintained, shared, reused, repaired, refurbished, remanufactured, and, as a last resort, recycled. Food and other biological materials that are safe to return to nature can regenerate the land, fuelling the production of new food and materials. With a focus on design, we can eliminate the concept of waste. Circulate products at their highest value There are a number of ways products and materials can be kept in circulation and it is helpful to think about two fundamental cycles – the technical cycle and the biological cycle. In the technical cycle, products are reused, repaired, remanufactured, and recycled- for example a battery. In the biological cycle, biodegradable materials are returned to the earth through processes like composting – for example a banana skin. By moving from a take-make-waste linear economy to a circular economy, we support natural processes and leave more room for nature to thrive. From extraction to regeneration By shifting our economy from linear to circular, we shift the focus from extraction to regeneration. Instead of continuously degrading nature, we can employ farming practises that allow nature to rebuild soils and increase biodiversity, and return biological materials to the earth. If we move to a regenerative model, we begin to emulate natural systems. There is no waste in nature. When a leaf falls from a tree it feeds the forest. For billions of years, natural systems have regenerated themselves. Waste is a human invention. https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-economy-introduction/overview
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children Matthew 7:11 Snacks for school are a challenge, life is very busy and we are looking for something to pop in that lunch box. School snacks are often highly processed and with lots of thin plastic that is unlikely to be get recycled even if we put it in the recycling bin! Think – crisp/chips in plastic wrappers, juices in cartons with plastic straw, wrapped in plastic Firstly get your kids involved, help them to understand why you are trying to reduce plastic and make it a fun challenge for them! What can we do ? Piece of fruit that can be peeled or eaten with the skin on – think banana, apple, pear , tangerine Veggies in strips like cucumber or carrot sticks, Cheese cubes. Buy little metal bottles and put the fruit juice or water with cucumber or lemon in it in the bottle. Wrap your sandwich in waxed paper or in a cloth napkin in the lunchbox. Buy in bulk things like nuts or dried fruit and put into smaller re-usable containers Get the kids involved in baking snacks like crunchies or making popcorn instead of a packet of crisps. Get granny involved in helping bake lunchtime snacks! Start small! Have a plastic free day once a week – make it a fun challenge and then build up . Speak to the teacher, challenge your class to have a plastic free snack day and they can share their home baking with each other
Yet they are foam on the surface of the water; Job 24:18 Around the world, countries are passing bans on Styrofoam (expanded polystyrene) the latest being Nigeria’s capital Lagos. These countries show that it is not necessary to put our food in this product The Mothers’ Union in the Province of Southern Africa passed a resolution to stop using Styrofoam at their events. Why did they do this? Styrofoam is one of the most used packaging methods in the food industry. It is convenient, cheap, and provides excellent conditions for storage of food and beverages. Styrofoam is a disposable product made of polystyrene, which is a petroleum-based plastic. Styrofoam has more harmful effects as compared to its convenience. There is a need to inform people about the environmental and health impacts to poses on people and the planet. The harms are mainly from the plastic Styrofoam is made from. Environmental Impacts Polystyrene is non-biodegradable. A Styrofoam cup can take as long as 500 years to decompose completely. Recycling Styrofoam is very expensive, it is usually disposed of, taking up a lot of space in landfills, even more than paper, and may eventually re-enter the environment when landfills are breached. Styrofoam is harmful for the environment because it is made with petroleum, a non-renewable resource which contributes to air pollution and climate change. When not disposed in a proper manner, Styrofoam can contribute to flooding by clogging drains. When Styrofoam enters our waterways, it can be ingested by aquatic animals, thus harming or killing them. Health Impacts Polystyrene, the main material in Styrofoam, contains the substances Styrene and Benzene, which are both considered carcinogens (cancer causing) and neurotoxins that are extremely hazardous to human health. Hot foods or liquids, alcohols, oils and acidic foods start a partial breakdown of Styrofoam, causing some toxins to be released into our foods, which, when eaten, are absorbed into our bloodstream. The good news is that more and more countries are banning the use of Styrofoam and other products are entering the market. Have a look at this encouraging list – see if your country is on it and if not push for a ban – or implementation of the ban!https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-out_of_polystyrene_foam https://www.news24.com/fin24/climate_future/news/nigerias-polluted-economic-hub-lagos-bans-styrofoam-plastics-20240122
Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world. Archbishop Tutu One of the key things we can do is to aim to leave the world a better place than we found it. This means to have an awareness of litter. So when you go on an outing, or take a walk to the shop, or go for a jog, have a bag with you and aim to pick up a few pieces. There are lots of catchy ideas that can help to make it fun and you can get the kids also involved The Pick up 5! We have five fingers so everytime you are on the way home, pick up five pieces of litter and put a photo on social media. What about dirty hands? Well you can use the bag turned inside out to pick up the litter The Five Rs! The Diocese of Harare in Zimbabwe had a saying of 5 Rs – refuse, reduce, reuse recycle and rejoice! They encouraged parisioners to take a bag to work or school every Friday and fill it up on the way home Plogging! Plogging comes from the Swedish word ‘Plogga” Stockholm Sweden became the first city to host an organized “Plogga” in 2016. This event combined a jog, jogga in Swedish, with picking up litter, plocka up. Plogga is an association and popular movement where the activity itself is about picking up rubbish while jogging. It is also just as easy to walk, skateboard, cycle, swim or other. Plogging is a change of attitude and ploggers are proud garbage collectors who do something for our environment and health before it is too late. Since then, over 3 million people have participated in organized or solo ploggas. Every day, approximately 20,000 people plog in over 100 countries. https://www.plogging.org/ lets do good and feel good!
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