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| Express your Personality & Enjoy Better Coffee all While Being Green! |
It is true that as Christians Eternal Values and Feeding the Poor are vitally important.
But it is not true that we bear no responsibility as Christians for the environment. And, it's definitely not true that "environmentalism" isn't a Christian "thing." Quite the contrary!
God gave humans the responsibility to care for the world He created!
Does anyone really think that when God gives a job he doesn't care if we do it well or poorly, to His Glory or destructively?
It seems that the Parable of the Talents would indicate that God DOES care about the quality of our work for Him.
Our Orthodox Patriarch is known as the "Green Patriarch" because of his care for the environment
Some time ago, our Parish Priest delivered a sermon on Christian responsibility for the environment. Among all the other points he made, there was a simple comment that stuck with me. It was something like this: "Every Sunday, at Coffee Hour, we use disposable coffee cups, and in the course of a year, we produce a huge amount of Styrofoam waste - for no reason. It should be a simple matter to use washable cups."
Of course, we have a large parish, and it really isn't such a simple matter to use washable cups for such a huge crowd. We'd have to buy a large number, build storage space for them, put them out, bus tables to collect them, and pay someone to wash them every week. Then, we'd be in the bad situation of creating more work to be done on the Lord's Day - which should be a day of rest. Which, I guess, is why we haven't gotten that done yet!
But, it occurred to me that it was an easy matter for me to take the personal responsibility to use a washable cup for my cup of coffee!
So, the next week, I tossed a coffee mug from home into my purse, and used it at coffee hour. When I was done, I put it back into my purse.I decided it was good to just keep a cup in my purse all the time!
And you know what I noticed? Coffee tastes a lot better when it comes from a real cup!
And, I can carry a cup that expresses my personality - if I want to : )
Do you know what else I discovered? It's really handy to have a cup in my purse! I've avoided buying many bottles of water that way, thereby saving money. When I go to a fast food place, I can - once again - avoid wasting a "courtesy cup." When I'm traveling, I can have a cup of water in the waiting area without having to buy one and without having to stand over a water fountain to drink. With a drink mix of my choice, I can even have something besides water to drink!
Over the course of a couple of years, this has not only avoided creating a mountain of landfill trash, but it has also saved a lot of money, and made my coffee a more pleasant experience.
Now, there are lots of things you can do to save the environment that are a big hassle - but this isn't one of them. It's so easy to keep a coffee cup in your purse : )
And, you don't have to go out and buy a cup that costs way more than it should because it says "Green" on the label. You can just use a mug you already have!
Of course, there have been a few recent articles saying how germ-laden real coffee cups are. Some of those have gone so far as to say we should throw them all away and use disposables. The conspiracy theorist in me can't help but wonder who financed THAT study! But, as this article so sensibly states - just bring your cup home and throw it in the dishwasher regularly.
The BBC did a great article on the huge amount of waste created by coffee cups every year, and the fact that they aren't really recyclable, despite their labeling.
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-36882799
Now, whichever political party you belong to, and whatever your position on controversial issues like pipelines, fracking, global warming or whatever - that's not the issue here. This is a simple matter. Just a matter of having a nice tasting cup of coffee in a cup that is more enjoyable to drink out of than paper or Styrofoam, anyway!
So, consider doing a tiny bit for the environment, and at the same time, improving your coffee drinking experience. It's a win-win! : )
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Nicely put! Stewardship is a term forgotten by many, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic change for your church to make! My church doesn't have a coffee hour, but if we did, I would definitely be encouraging a change like this.
ReplyDeleteIn general, we need to have more conversations (and action) in the church regarding stewardship of the environment.
Thanks so much for visiting! I love your blog! : )
DeleteGood points. I definitely think Christians should do their part to take care of the part of the earth they're planted in. I don't drink coffee, but I always have a reusable water cup with me. I really try not to buy a lot of water bottles. Such a waste and they water doesn't taste good, in my opinion. I'm thankful for disposable items, though. Definitely makes life convenient. :) Balance is key, right?! Thanks for linking up at Literacy Musing Mondays!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for hosting! Of course, disposables DO have their place : ) But, when we can, reusables are the best!
DeleteI just saw this. I agree completely! The article advocating disposable cups is unscientific--fecal bacteria does not cause runny noses, disposable cups aren't really recyclable, and the author admits that LAZY DISHWASHING is the real problem! I wash my office dishes with my bare hand rather than a sponge, and I rarely get sick.
ReplyDeleteMy church has had a large stock of reusable dishes since the 1940s. It used to be that the person who brought food for coffee hour was responsible for washing the cups (and plates, if used) that week; now, we have a dishwasher, and the sexton (caretaker/janitor) runs it. But our average Sunday attendance is only about 60 people.
For a large parish, the number of cups is larger, but there are more people to contribute to the effort. Would it really be so hard to get mugs and a dishwasher and shelving donated or purchased by a special campaign? You could arrange a weekly volunteer to load and unload the dishwasher (doodle.com is great for scheduling) and set up a system for distributing and collecting cups. But it is not so expensive to hire a person who works only on Sunday to make coffee, set up, wash dishes, and perhaps mop the parish hall while the dishwasher is running. Our sexton is a mentally disabled woman whose disability coverage allows her to do paid work only up to a limit, so this is perfect for her. She enjoys cleaning and sees it as her way of serving God and the community.
Another option is to campaign to get others to make the change you have, with the parish making announcements and hanging signs encouraging bringing your own cup. (The bacteria issue, by the way, is not so much of a problem when you are the only one using and handling your cup--it may be covered with bacteria, but they are the same bacteria that are in *your* body already!)
I have had occasional problems with people wanting to use disposable dishes even though we have real ones because "it's easier." I wrote this in response: https://articles.earthlingshandbook.org/2009/06/09/eternity-in-your-hand/