NEW YORK (UMNS) — United Methodists are "going green" at levels far beyond recycling church bulletins and eliminating Styrofoam cups at coffee hour. Throughout the country, congregations and communities are setting new standards of stewardship, said Tyler Edgar, assistant director of climate change and energy for the Eco-Justice Program of the National Council of Churches. "Churches are supporting huge local gardens that donate the produce to low-income families, erecting wind turbines reminiscent of the three crosses and engaging in local energy and sustainability initiatives that have the potential to define their communities in the coming years." Read full story»
In various places all over this country, people are waking up to the problem of plastics bags—namely that they are ubiquitous, end up in trees and water ways, and just about never break down. News of taxes or bans on plastic bags is spreading, and some people, who are trying to be more earth friendly or who want to prepare for the inevitable in their communities, are attempting to go plastic bag-less. That means you have to remember to bring your own reusable bags to the grocery store and actually use them.
Why are plastic bags so bad? Four to five trillion plastic bags are manufactured each year. Americans use over 380 billion polyethylene bags per year. Americans throw away approximately 100 billion polyethylene bags per year. Of those 100 trillion plastic bags, 1% is recycled. It takes 1000 years for polyethylene bags to break down.
So what can you do?
Consider carrying your own reusable shopping bags. Just in time for the holidays, Target will give customers a 5 cent discount for every reusable bag they use to pack their purchases.
If you do take home plastic bags from the store, be sure to recycle it! Every major grocery store has a bin up front for you to drop off your plastic bags, no matter where you received them.
Please remember, “All creation is the Lord’s, and we are responsible for the ways in which we use and abuse it.” - Excerpted from the current UMC Social Principle, “The Natural World.”
