Jan 24 Paper or Plastic?

Since I believe that spirituality and life are intertwined and therefore our spiritual beliefs must influence our everyday choices, you will sometimes, okay often, see things on this blog that seem to have little to do with religion. That's by design. Too often our "religion" is what we "believe" but how we live is not consistent with our beliefs.

Most Christians would say that they absolutely believe that we are part of a large creation and designed to live in harmony with the rest of creation. But how much do we really do to care for creation? Often, very little. Many people feel there is little an individual can do to affect our environment. I wonder if that's even the point? Maybe what we should be asking is what choices can I make, as an individual, that show love and respect for all of God's creation? We are a collective consciousness, and collectively we can and do have tremendous influence on policy and implementation for environmental issues. The individual choices we make do matter, because we can either contribute to the collective good or participate in the ongoing destruction of creation.

One example is a trip to the grocery store. There are conflicting camps on the issue of paper versus plastic bags and which are best for the environment. In reality, both have serious problems that I won't go into here, but there is a lot of info out there if you're interested. For me, there seems a better option - reusable bags. Several months ago we invested in several sturdy, reusable bags, and we try to use them every time we shop. We've found that the coated square-bottomed bags with handles are our favorites and carry a large amount of groceries. We got ours at Trader Joe's but use them at all the major chains. We also have a few of the canvas bags, but they don't hold as much or feel as stable.

It was in the news recently that Whole Foods will no longer be offering plastic bags. This is a bold move and I applaud their leadership in this area. Once this idea hits the "tipping point" and grows in mainstream use, it will make a significant difference in the health of creation.

I encourage you to invest in some good reusable grocery bags and keep them in your car so you remember to use them. This small step will make a real contribution to the health of God's creation.

Whole Foods will also credit you $.05 for each plastic bag you bring in. If you take in 20 bags of any kind, that will pay for 1 reusable bag! So gather up your disposable plastic bags and go to Whole Foods and trade them in for a reusable bag made from recycled plastic bottles. It's a win-win!

Here is a link to the story about Whole Foods for those of you who wish to learn more:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/23/business/23bags.html?_r=2&ex=1358830800&en=7061ed61dd36b6bf&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&ore&oref=slogin