Baby Steps (WFMW & a giveaway)
April 21, 2010Giveaway Update: The winner is LaVonne!
[UPDATE: Thank you to Amy for very gently, lovingly pointing out that I have communicated poorly - she didn't put it that way! - in my opening paragraph. Because I'm not sure how best to reword it at this point, I'm just going to add some clarification here. "The liberal set..." in the paragraph below is intended to refer to those liberals who also specifically fit the description that follows; it is not intended to describe or define liberals as individuals or as a group. If I have caused offense to any other readers, I sincerely apologize, and ask that you would have the grace to forgive the big old foot I have crammed into my mouth and see past that to the intent.]
With Earth Day coming up tomorrow, we are hearing a lot of emphasis on “going green.” Despite its apparent ownership by the liberal set who embrace “Mother Nature” as god and value animal life over human life, going green is a good thing! In the very beginning, God put Adam in the garden “to tend it and keep it.” Even after the Fall, Adam and Eve were told to “fill the earth and subdue it.” We’ve been given a stewardship. As faithful stewards, we should do what we can to make as little negative long-term impact as possible on this earth that has been entrusted to us.
For some of us, that seems a daunting task! Our modern lives produce so much trash, pollution, and chemical contamination (of our bodies, water supplies, and the ground itself) that we don’t even know where to start! What works for me is baby steps. Trying to change all of my cleaning supplies and personal care products over to healthier, more earthy-friendly versions is overwhelming. But searching for one healthier, safer substitute is doable. (Seventh Generation has some interesting statistics about how much pollution we would eliminate if every household replaced only a single bottle of something every year!) Recycling every potentially recyclable item is overwhelming. But getting in the habit of recycling cans is doable. Cutting out all of our household’s excess electrical usage is overwhelming. But buying one power strip to enable “vampire” plugs to be turned off is doable. (They make some that have two types of plugs, so that you can turn off only half the power strip. This is great if, for instance, you need your DVR to stay on, but would like to turn off the television.)
This year, why not celebrate Earth Day by choosing one baby step to take – either a lifestyle change (like using a different product or beginning to recycle), or a one-time change that will have an effect in the long-term (like installing a power strip that will allow you to turn off electronics when not in use, or a timer on something that is currently always on)? If you want to introduce a little bit of accountability, or just gain a bit of community in the process, consider taking one of Cascadian Farm’s pledges on Facebook. These pledges are simply eight different baby steps (you choose which one(s) to commit to) in the quest to become more “green.” For everyone who signs a pledge through May 31st, Cascadian Farms will donate $1 (up to $40,000) to the Organic Farming Research Foundation, which “fosters the improvement and widespread adoption of organic farming systems.” We all know that’s not only good for the earth, it’s good for us, too! So visit Cascadian Farm on Facebook and sign a pledge, and your baby step can actually be two baby steps – the one you commit to, and the extra $1 donated to the Organic Farming Research Foundation.
I pledged to check my fridge before grocery shopping, to plan to use what’s in it, rather than buying unnecessarily and wasting food – good for the earth and for my budget!
To Win:
For a chance to win a “Live Green” prize pack from Cascadian Farm, including a reusable grocery bag and Cascadian Farm cereals and snacks…
Required entry – leave a comment on this post telling us one baby step you’ve made. (If you’ve found a good “green” product that works, please tell us what it is!)
For extra entries (leave a separate comment for each additional entry, so I can be sure to count them appropriately) -
1. Make a pledge through Cascadian Farm’s Facebook page.
2. Become a fan of Cascadian Farm on Facebook.
3. Become a fan of Titus2Homemaker on Facebook.
4. Email a friend about this giveaway, blog about it, or share it through some other form of online social networking.
5. Subscribe to my feed.
US only, please. This giveaway will be closed to entries at midnight, EST, on April 30th.
Note: The information in this post, about Cascadian Farms, their pledges, and the Organic Farming Research Foundation, and the prize package, were provided by MyBlogSpark and Cascadian Farms.
[Comments (15)] [link] [TB]
(reading chronologically)
We are now buying organic produce and food and trying to buy local.
I am a fan of Cascadian Farms on FB.
I am now a fan of Titus 2 Homemaker on FB. Did they change how you become a fan though? In the usual fan tab it says “Like” with a thumbs up. I liked it of course.
I tweeted this giveaway: http://twitter.com/lavonnelong/status/12595658658
LaVonne, they apparently did. When I went to check it out, I saw this:
“Introducing the Like button
Starting today people will be able to connect with your Page by clicking “Like” rather than “Become a Fan.” We hope this action will feel much more lightweight, and that it will increase the number of connections made across the site.”
I already do a lot of green things like composting but lately I have been using reusable grocery bags more consistently. I also evaluate packaging and try to buy items that don’t have a lot.
Husband and I use a vinegar-water spray to clean nearly everything in the home. The only “cleaners” we buy are shower and toilet. Works for us!
I agree, we should be good stewards of the earth… while worshipping the Creator, not the created. Many of us are being frugal these days, and conserving our precious resources also contributes to a healthy “green” attitude.
Thanks for visiting today!
Blessings e-Mom @ Chrysalis
Thanks for spreading the word on Christian environmental stewardship! Jesus said the earth is God’s footstool; if people were dirtying and burning up my footstool, I know I wouldn’t feel too kindly toward them, so it makes sense that God wants us to treat his footstool with respect and use it properly.
This is a thoughtful and useful article. Good for you for seeing the good in the “green” movement.
I wonder, though, why it is necessary to vilify the so-called “liberal set” who according to you, “embrace ‘Mother Nature’ as god and value animal life over human life”?
I am a Christian, as you are, and my entire life is dedicated to following Christ. My political views tend to be on the “liberal” side, and I find much to criticize about Republican and Tea Party opinions. I could write a scathing caricature of the “conservative set” but I don’t think that’s loving.
As Christians, if we truly value human lives and souls, we must treat each other with genuine loving respect, regardless of political affiliation.
Amy, thank you for your comment, and for your gentle exhortation!
I’m sorry I did not communicate clearly. My intent in adding that description was to indicate that, in this context, I was using the term “liberal” specifically to refer to those who “embrace Mother Nature as god and value animal life over human life,” and NOT to the general group of people who may politically be liberal. (So I was intending it to read theliberalsetwhoembrace… and not the liberal set, comma, who embrace.) I am definitely uber-conservative, myself, but political liberalism was not what I had in mind when I used that term in this instance! I just couldn’t find a better one. I am so, so sorry for having caused offense by communicating that I was lumping you in with these others. (Can you suggest a better term?)
And – purely from curiosity, not because it has anything to do with the immediate discussion
– what do you dislike about the Tea Parties?
Thank you for the clarification. I appreciate the genuine kindness in your response.
To your question:
1) I recognize that the TEA party movement has attracted both Republicans and Democrats (and no doubt, Libertarians and independent voters). I don’t have an agenda to endorse one party or another.
2) I can only speak to what I have heard from media (both conservative and liberal) and friends (I live in a very conservative ranching and farming town). I have never been to a TEA Party event.
3) In what I have observed, especially coming directly from the conservative outlets themselves, is a message “against” others. It seems to be a movement of “no” “no” “no” and “us vs. them”. I hear anger and rage. I hear name-calling. I hear mean-spiritedness. For instance, there was recently a public call to abandon churches that use the language of social justice (my church defines that as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, tending to the sick, and visiting those in prison in the name of Jesus).
4) There seems to be little “meat” behind the rhetoric. For instance, I heard one woman say, “I don’t actually know what’s in the health care bill, but I’m against it.” It’s difficult for me to respect that opinion. Another one said, “I don’t need to know. So-and-so radio personality told me it was bad.” A few radio personalities are followed like gurus or political pastors. There is so much verbal violence being done on their programs. Not only is the tone sarcastic and angry, the message is typically full of logical fallacies, hearsay, and pure conjectures presented as fact, for the purpose of making audiences incensed.
5) Bad characteristics can be found among members of any group. I do not think that conservatives or liberals or Democrats or Republicans or TEA Partiers or Communists are better or worse than anyone else. We are all people, in the same boat, in need of salvation.
6) At the same time, I am disheartened when movements that appear to be based in anger and the villainization of others are so attractive to many Christians.
7) I recognize that my opinion is simply that, an opinion. I also recognize that the world is much more complicated than simply placing people into “camps”. I’m sure that the TEA Party movement is made up of decent human beings, and that some have solid reasons for their positions.
“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” (Romans 12.18, ESV).
By the way. Did I mention, Good Job on the stewardship of the earth focus? I really appreciated the article.
Wow. I’m so glad you shared that. I totally agree with all of that. I haven’t seen any of that out of the Tea Party movement, but, admittedly, I get a less-than-typical perspective. (My husband works for ParentalRights.org, which is a political organization, of sorts – ‘though it’s quite nonpartisan – and they have “connections” with a lot of Tea Party supporters. So my exposure is not the standard media exposure.) It is very helpful to see what others see!
Well, I guess I do believe that some of the anger is appropriate. We should be angry at injustice, and I believe that it was just anger that started the Tea Party movement, initially. But there is a difference between just anger that leads to fervent action, and anger that just leads to general nastiness.
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