Practical Actions

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Who hasn’t stopped to admire the majestic flight of a hawk or eagle? Or woke up in the morning to a bright sky overhead and the sound of birds chirping and felt refreshed and renewed? Or heard the joyous (or annoying, depending on one’s viewpoint) sound of a woodpecker pecking? Or stopped to watch the…

Although in the Pacific Northwest we appear to be blessed with an abundance of water, water remains a valuable and potentially scarce resource. In fact, in the twenty-first century, our region has witnessed an unprecedented level of drought as well as some protracted periods of drought. Currently, 86.7% of the Pacific Northwest is experiencing a…

Like many of the Patristic Fathers, St. Gregory of Nyssa believed that we can come to a knowledge of God simply by observing the world around us. He singled out bees as one of his examples: as social insects, each bee works for the common good of the colony; and each colony builds a hive…

While it is true that our common home is dying, and that we are approaching a crisis point at which it may no longer be able sustain life, it is also true that you don’t have to be an environmental superhero. Change must begin somewhere, and each small step can have an enormous impact in…

Although dishwashing tends to be somewhat less impactful on the environment than doing laundry, there are nevertheless steps that we can take to ensure that our dishes do not become clean at the expense of the environment: Run the dishwasher with full loads only. This saves water, minimizes the use of detergent, and reduces electrical…