Earth Care: Gulf Coast Prayer and Action

July 2010

“All Creation is the Lord’s, and we are responsible for the ways in which we use and abuse it.”

United Methodist Church Social Principles ¶160 – The Natural World

The ongoing disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is a visible testament to our failure to serve as caretakers of God’s good creation. For many of us, the daily images of devastation to both the ecosystems and economies in the region leave us wondering what we can do.

We must reduce our use of the planet’s resources. Here are some simple facts:

• U.S. petroleum consumption: 19.5 million barrels/day (Source: Energy Information Administration (EIA))
• Annual consumption of bottled water in the U.S. requires the equivalent of between 32 and 54 million barrels of oil. (Source: Pacific Institute)
• 100 billion single-use bags — using 12 million barrels of oil — are used each year in the U.S (Source: Worldwatch Institute)

We all must consider ways to reduce our consumption. It could be driving less, eating less meat or eating more products grown or produced locally. It all will make a difference.

If you are on the web, check out “Looking in the mirror for fuel gluttony” from United Methodist News Service. Read more at www.umc-gbcs.org/gulfcoast

Earth Care: Prayers For the Gulf

The slow-motion tragedy of the gulf oil spill lays bare our collective failure as caretakers of God’s good creation. While unknown thousands of barrels of oil leak into the rich and diverse ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico, how are we as Christians called to respond? While it is easy to express anger and cast blame at the companies who owned, operated and profited from the deep sea exploration, we must also reflect on our own complicity through our endless demand for cheap oil.

So much remains unknown: How long will the oil flow into the gulf? How far will the oil slick spread? How damaging will the spill be to fragile wetlands and the flora and fauna in the region? How will the spreading oil slick jeopardize the future of thousands of watermen and those who depend on the Gulf for their livelihoods?

In the face of these uncertainties, we turn to the One who is certain – the One whose creative and recreating power is stronger than any of our human folly. May we heed the call of the Scriptures, humble ourselves and pray that God will forgive our sins and heal the land.

Please keep the Gulf of Mexico, the spill, the Gulf Coast, and all of God’s creation in your prayers as we deal with what some are calling the worst environmental disaster of our time.
Read more at www.umc-gbcs.org/gulfcoast

Earth Day 40 Years Later

With the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day behind us, here are a few quick tips to help you in the months ahead.

Give Up Plastic (and Paper) Bags - Cost: $1
Neither paper nor plastic is a good choice. Twelve million barrels of oil were used to make the 88.5 billion plastic bags consumed in the United States last year. And it takes four times more energy to make paper bags. The best choice is reusable shopping bags.

Give Up Hot Water (At Least in the Clothes Washer) - Cost: $0
Did you know that only 10% of the energy used by a typical washing machine powers the motor? About 90% of the energy is used to heat the water, and most clothes will come clean in cold water. So switch your washing machine's temperature setting. For heavily soiled clothing, change it from hot to warm, but otherwise try to wash and rinse most of your clothing in cold water.

Give Up Paper Towels - Cost: $7
No matter how you look at it, paper towels create waste. Try some reusable microfiber towels, which grip dirt and dust like a magnet, even when they get wet. When you are finished with them, wash and reuse them again and again. When you absolutely must have use disposable towels, look for recycled products. If every household in the US replaced just one roll of virgin fiber paper towels with 100 percent recycled ones, we could save 544,000 trees.

You don’t need to give it all up at once. Just reduce and make progress in the right direction.

How to treat our earth

Scripture gives insight - By Bishop Richard Wills Jr.

The first mandate given to humanity in Genesis after God created and pronounced creation good was for humans to take dominion over it and rule over it wisely. As stewards of God's creation, we must care for all the earth and place the value of creation over the temptations of power and greed.

Read more . . .

Optimize Computer Energy Settings and Save 50%

Think of All The Money You'll Save! Did you know that 90% of desktop computers are not optimized for energy efficiency?

It's simple to utilize the power management settings on your machine, and according to Intel, it can save you over 400-kilowatt hours annually. That's a savings of about $40 - $80 each year.

Within Windows head on down to the "start" menu, from there, you'll want to click on "settings" and then "control panel." It's now time to double click on "power management." Oh-la-la. Now, under where it says "power schemes," choose "always on" from the drop-down list. Below the "settings for always on power scheme" tab, look for two drop-down lists, labeled "turn off monitor" and "turn off hard disks," respectively. From each list select the amount of time you want your computer to wait before entering energy savings mode.

Here's another hot tip. Did you know that, in addition to looking groovy and taking up way less desk space, the new LCD monitors are good for about 100 KWH/year of electricity savings? OK, so that's not going to save the whales, but if you need a new monitor, it's a good excuse to upgrade.

Oh yeah: Some of you are on Macs. It's even easier (of course) to implement these settings. Just go to the Apple pull-down menu, select "system preferences" and then "energy saver." It's all in there. You're on a Mac; you can figure it out.

Read more at: www.thedailygreen.com

Earth Care – Save a Buck, Save the World

You don’t need to go broke to go green. In fact, you can help the planet and your budget at the same time.

Unplug - When you leave a microwave, a television or any other appliance with standby power plugged in, it's draining electricity. Combined those things can consume as much as 10% of the electricity in your home. Grouping things into a power strip by room so that when you go to bed or leave town, you can flip the strip off, cutting power completely.

Make the switch - Replacing standard light bulbs with those squiggly compact fluorescent ones will cut consumption by 75% and last up to 10 times longer. A six pack will save you $200 over their lifetime.

Get off the bottle – If you don't like the taste of tap water, or maybe you don't trust it, install a filter for your drinking water. Filters will cost you less than 20 cents for a gallon of water. You’ll save $1 a bottle or about $4 per case.

Making a few changes in the way you household runs is easy and can save you money. It can also help save our planet.

Read more at Money Magazine . . .

Tips for Green Holiday Giving

Is anything more wonderful than finding the perfect gift for someone, or receiving the present that’s just what you needed? How about gift-giving accompanied by the knowledge that your gift is also a gift for the planet? There’s more to green giving than just switching to the stuff with the “green” label. Here are some pointers for finding the right gifts that make everyone happy.

• Be sure your gift will get used. A gift that the receiver does not use is simply wasted.
• Give a consumable gift. The gift will not be left unused in the corner of their closet.
• Share a piece of yourself. Offer your services.
• Make a gift of any service. You will still reduce material consumption.
• Give a gift where it is needed on behalf of someone better off. Improve another family by the gift of a llama or a sheep on their behalf.
• Buy a local gift. A gift made or grown locally you have discovered right here.

Gifts are wonderful expressions of friendship. Just keep in mind the true meaning of Christmas, and that is so much more important than gift giving.

For more ideas>>