Liberating Ourselves from Plastic

In our previous posts, we’ve discussed the damage that plastics do to the environment, the adverse effect of plastics on human health, and the spiritual crisis engendered by a reliance on single-use plastics in particular. Since plastics are ubiquitous in our world and so show up in some surprising places (like our toothpaste), it is…

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The Spirituality of Plastic

In 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, St. Paul tells us that love is the greatest gift of all, an abiding gift. But what is love? Love is a recognition of the intrinsic dignity and value of another, a desire to sacrifice oneself for the wellbeing of another, a subordination of one’s own self-interest to the interest of…

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If We Are What We Eat, What Are We If We Eat Plastic?

Did you know that plastic is in everything and is impossible to avoid?  It’s even in the food we eat! How did it get there?  As we pointed out in Plastic and the Environment, the plastics that we use undergo a process of weathering; plastics degrade by breaking up into microparticles and microfibers. These plastic…

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What If Climate Change Is a Hoax?

We’ve all heard that climate change is a hoax. Or that the science is too new. Or that there is no scientific consensus about climate change. Or that while climate change is real, it is part of a natural pattern that is not caused by human activity. Or that the weather in a particular place…

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Plastic and the Environment

Plastics are everywhere. Durable objects are made of plastic, and plastic is used to package both perishable and durable objects. One can argue, in fact, that plastics are one of the defining creations of our economic system. Plastics are at the center of our culture of disposability: plastic items and plastic packaging are often intended…

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Can We Really Be Thankful to God When We Waste Food?

As Food, Garbage, and the Environment notes, about 103 million tons of food, or 40% of all food produced, was wasted in America. This level of waste reflects modern American culture. Our approach to the things around us is purely transactional: If we like them and see value in them, we retain them; if we…

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Demystifying the Recycling of Plastics

Plastics, the wonder (or curse) of our modern age, are typically derived from natural gas or petroleum.  They are resources that can mostly be recycled and not wasted into landfills. Unfortunately, in 2019, Waste Management reports that 122,205 tons of plastics were disposed of in landfills. That so much plastic goes into landfills rather than…

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What’s So Spiritual about Doing the Laundry?

Many of our articles have focused on seemingly non-religious and non-spiritual activities, such as doing the laundry, washing dishes, and reducing water usage. Are these really religious or spiritual topics? Just how do these mundane activities relate to our faith? In his meeting with the clergy of Bolzano-Bressanone in Northern Italy, Pope Emeritus Benedict addressed…

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Food, Garbage, and the Environment

The cheese is a bit moldy, so let’s throw it out. The yogurt is past its expiration date, so let’s toss it. The jar of olives is far too large and takes up far too much room in the refrigerator, so let’s get rid of that too. These cans of soup are expired, so they…

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Are We Connected Only to Ourselves?

In his encyclical Laudato Si, Pope Francis identifies a set of personality traits that have contributed to the crisis facing our common home and that prevent meaningful action in responding to it. These include a fanatical anthropocentrism, which views humankind as the “owner” of God’s creation to do with as we see fit; a focus…

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