The small individual choices we each make every day are either part of the solution to climate change and environmental degradation, or part of the problem.  All the small things we do add up and really do make a difference.  What kind of difference do you want to create?

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• Sustainability focuses on meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs. The concept of sustainability is composed of three pillars: economic, environmental, and social—also known informally as profits, planet, and people.

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• Did you know that all the paper products we use for brunches at Amazing Grace (paper plates, cups, napkins, paper towels, and wooden coffee stirrers) are compostable?  Please dispose of these, as well as food waste, in the green compost bin.

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•  Switch from halogen and incandescent bulbs to LEDs, which use MUCH LESS energy.  They have come down in price and also now come in a "warmer" white color and can replace practically any style of  bulb.

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• Eat less meat and more plant foods.  If you eat meat, choose meat that is organically produced and  NOT factory farmed (which is less healthy to eat, is highly polluting to our water and our air, as well as being inhumane to the animals.) 

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•  Buy more organically grown food. Conventionally grown food using chemical fertilizers and pesticides/herbicides pollute our waterways in addition to being unhealthy for the farm workers and the consumers.  The most highly sprayed crops are strawberries, spinach, kale, nectarines, apples, grapes, peaches, cherries, pears, tomatoes, celery, and potatoes. aka: "the dirty dozen"

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• Don't let your car idle for longer than the time of a red light. If you stop to chat or use your phone, etc., turn the engine off.  You will save gas, save $ and avoid the extra greenhouse emissions produced by an idling engine.  Drive less by consolidating errands.

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• Instead of buying "stuff", consider giving gifts of donations to non-profit organizations that your recipient values.  

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• Buy Fair Trade chocolate (child labor and farmer poverty is endemic in the cocoa industry)

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• Waste less water, food, and "stuff.”  REFUSE,REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE and COMPOST: create less garbage (LANDFILL).   Buy fewer disposable products and single use items, especially plastic items.  When possible, consider buying used.  Bottled water creates a great deal of plastic waste, and is usually just someone else's tap water.   Get a reusable water bottle and  consider a water filter if you want purified water. We reuse or recycle Sunday programs and inserts - leave on the table by the door.

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• Participate in Economic activism:  Use your dollars to support businesses and industries that work for sustainability (renewable energy, fair trade, organic and regenerative agriculture, etc.)  "Break up"  with businesses/industries/investments/mega banks that produce or support use of fossil fuels, child labor, sweatshop labor, environmental degradation.

 

To learn more, GreenAmerica.org  is an excellent resource.  Their mission is to "harness economic power--the strength of consumers, investors, businesses, and the marketplace--to create a socially just and environmentally sustainable society." 

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For more information, write to: Pam Kepford