Christian Ethics and Recycling & other Ecological Efforts

[steve-in-kville]

I am appalled of the amount of food waste that has to get "destroyed" per the state or FDA. I would love to set up a composting arrangement somehow, if I had the land to do it.

[Ken]

It wouldn't be that difficult at this point to avoid really using any plastic packaging at all, provided one is willing to... start living a rather simple lifestyle. And I'm not sure if that's not simply a quixotic quest, and in particular, I would fear for the level of social isolation that would bring between my family and literally everyone else, both my neighbours and my fellow brethren in church.

If it weren't for that, I would gladly embrace it and do it.

It would be a lot easier if I didn't have a wife and 3 daughters. But I find I'm not the dictator in home and while my family isn't particularly wasteful, they do not necessarily prioritize every aspect of consumer life the same way that I might. My wife shops more online than I do. But she is also very busy and saves on time and gas compared to going to the malls and big box stores in person with the car. So who knows how it all balances out. it is really hard to know. The local Amazon vans are now becoming electric and they probably result in a net reduction in local driving so who knows. But they are also changing the local consumer landscape.

[Soloist]

Covid really accelerated online shopping.

[Grace]

Detergents are mostly in plastic tubs now and you can't hardly find the old boxed detergents in square cardboard boxes.

Some powdered detergents are loaded with fillers that are not good for sewer systems.

I am liking these detergent squares.

https://www.earthbreeze.com/products/ea ... 4438479406

[RZehr]

I don’t recycle garbage such as plastic or glass. I’ll recycle things that I benefit from, such as collecting scrap metal to sell at the scrap yard, composting plant scraps sometimes in the garden, and saving some leftover lumber or building supplies to use elsewhere.
I guess I care more about waste, than recycling a handful of trash. I’d have zero qualms about burning small amounts of plastic for example, instead of sending it to a landfill, or some joke of a recycling program - a recycling program that uses all kinds of resources from labor, to fuel, to energy etc.

[Sliceitup]

I find that whenever I find workarounds to my poor executive functioning they often result in more trash. It’s frustrating.

[RZehr]

What?

[Josh]

Detergents are mostly in plastic tubs now and you can't hardly find the old boxed detergents in square cardboard boxes.

Some powdered detergents are loaded with fillers that are not good for sewer systems.

I am liking these detergent squares.

https://www.earthbreeze.com/products/ea ... 4438479406

Even better is no detergent at all; I use an Eco-Wash which saturates the water with ozone, which is what hospitals and hotels do. Works great… but sometimes my wife decides to use a little soap on cloth diapers!

[Sudsy]

We recycle and put our recycle materials into either the blue or red boxes provided. But, imo, some Christians have made it into a sacrament of the green religion. If only as much effort was put into things of eternal value. This world will some day pass away and there will be a new heaven and a new earth. I believe God wants our focus on things of eternal value and I admit I need more focus on those things.

[Neto]

Plastics - Our head pastor operates a business that produces that sort of plastic outdoor furniture. I cannot recall the numbers, but well more than half of the materials that go into that stuff is recycled plastic.

Water doesn't get "used up" in normal household use. It is naturally "recycled" just as it always has been.

I am not convinced of "global warming" or that manufacturing by humans is a major factor in changes in weather patterns or extreme weather events. In Brazil a much greater percentage of food stuffs come directly from open markets, so there was much less plastic waste. (The fabric stores wrapped their products in what appeared to be recycled paper. Likewise pots & pans. We also bought a lot of things in bulk, which also reduces the amount of packaging involved.) But I do believe that the Scripture teaches that we are to be responsible care-takers of the earth. That car you bought, perhaps even new? I have news for you, it's going to get rusty and wear out. But that doesn't mean that you don't take care of it. Yes, it appears that this world will be "burned up in a fervent heat", but as early as 8th grade I realized that no other form of "destruction" would purify the earth, as the flood did back in Noah's time. (These two events are compared in Scripture as though they are very similar, so my understanding is that it is a purification type of 'destruction", not total annihilation of all of the elements that make up the earth. Maybe it's in Scripture that way because God already knew that we would pollute the whole place with broken glass, plastics, and rusty steel.)

But one of my main beefs is with people throwing out stuff that is still functional, just "out of style". They could at least take it to a second-hand store - there are all over the place hire in Holmes County, and they raise a LOT of money for missions and other ministries.