Officially gone off the deep end

Once a month at Poiema we do a potluck dinner after service. It's a great time to hang out with peeps and chat a little longer than usual while enjoying dinner. Last month, as I was helping to clean up, I smuggled someone's empty Coca-cola box to save it from the trash. The thought of that entire big, old 24-pack piece of grayboard going into a landfill made me feel sick inside. And although I thought I was sneaky about my rescue efforts, I got caught by a fellow Poiemian. Luckily, she already knows about my recycling habits, so she didn't give me a hard time.

There is just something about large groups like churches or businesses not recycling that drives me mad. I left church that night feeling a little defeated. The amount of waste we threw in the trash in just one evening was more than I can recycle in a month! Why do we bother individually if big groups can single-handedly destroy our hope with no effort? But, this also means that big groups can recycle so much more without much effort, either.

So, this month's dinner is rolling around on Sunday and I've prepared a plan! I'm bringing bins for recycling and made a sign with the "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute" slogan, included a factoid about recycling & a bit about stewardship for God's creation. Maybe even a little clip art. It's hot off the presses and just now as I was admiring my work I realized, I've seriously lost it.

Think Green®

Waste Management, I'm calling you out! You're "Think Green.® Think Waste Management." slogan is a fraud. I'm going to highlight just one reason this is true: billing.

I work for a company that uses your trash and portable toilet services at multiple job site locations. When you send us a statement of services each month you manage to space out about three lines of information onto two 8.5"x11" pieces of paper. Then you neatly package those papers together with a return envelope and at least one flyer about how environmentally responsible you are. For every single solitary service at every single job site.

Suggestion: Combine.

You could fit all of our services for all of our job sites on one piece of paper in one envelope (or better yet, email it!). And actually doing so would make me believe you care about the environment instead of telling me you are every month when I have to throw your excessive mail in the recycle.

Stuff

I think you should watch this. I know everyone won't agree, and if you would like to prove it wrong, be my guest. But actually watch it. Think about it. Research it. I think the thing that bugs me the most about people who "disagree" with environmentalism is that they don't really believe it's a bunch of phewey, they just don't want to think about it or have to change their actions, so it's just easier to deny that it matters. This kind of mentality, whether it's about social justice, the environment, politics, religion, etc. just drives me crazy! You have a brain and a conscience. Use it.

P.S. This reminded me of a bumper sticker I saw yesterday. "Support America, Buy a Congressman" LOL!

Jesus, The Environment, Social Justice

These are my interests. And really, they are one interest because each one has everything to do with the other. I'm not wacky about recycling and ending poverty because I want the Earth to be clean and for everyone to all hold hands together and sing, but because the very things that are necessary to make less impact on the planet and care for one another are exactly what Jesus meant for us to be doing all along. We are the ones that got derailed.

I love, love, love what onePlace put on their building:

Park(ing) Day

This is so rad! Of course, nothing like this going on in Phoenix...