3 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day
Happy Earth Day!
As we round the corner into Holy Week, the timing of this year’s Earth Day grants us the opportunity to apply the spirit of gentleness and gratitude we have been cultivating during Lent towards our Earth.
We are called to be good stewards of the Earth, to care for it and love it in reverence to its Creator. In the first chapters of Genesis, we read how God gave newly created humanity, man He created in His image and likeness, dominion over all the earth (Genesis 1:28), and tasks man with cultivating and guarding the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:15).
Creation is good and creation is sacred. Here are a few ideas — with a focus on food — that may help us recognize this truth more fully today.
Visit a local farmers market. According to the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture, food typically travels 1,500 miles from farm to plate. By eating local, we not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the distance the food has to travel, but we are also able to connect with our community farmers, giving our gratitude for our food a more tangible target -- our brothers and sisters in Christ who grew the food.
Check your fridge for items about to go bad, and save the food! Between 30 and 40% of the US food supply is wasted...that’s a lot of land, water, and energy to produce food that is never consumed. Check out https://savethefood.com/ for tips on how to plan, store, and reuse food to help avoid wasting God’s gifts.
Follow the fast of the Church today (and throughout the year). More and more, research is showing a link between our diet choices and environmental impact. In summary, the fewer animal products we consume, the smaller our environmental footprint. Increasing the plant foods in our diet aligns with health recommendations for both our bodies and our planet. One structured way to reduce the amount of animal products we consume is to follow all the fasts of the Church, which prescribe more or less a plant-based diet for about half of the days of the year (see “What is Fasting?” to read more about the fasts of the Church).
Bonus Tip: Spend some time outside today. Find some green (or some white if it’s snowing where you are like it is where I am). Breathe in the reality that God is everywhere, filling all things, and breathe out gratitude for such beauty. Read Psalm 104 which describes the glory of God’s creation. God is good!
How will you recognize and celebrate God’s creation today?
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