Plastic Free July Prayer
Dear God,
Our earth is precious and is in need of gentleness and kindness upon facing climate change.
We pray for the environment and all of creation, the sky, land, sea, and all living creatures.
May you protect all ecosystems and natural habitats, freeing them from harm and inhumane actions.
Protect the earth from plastic, land, and ocean pollution keeping the earth in your loving care, in our common home, communities and everywhere.
Help us to love, respect, and restore creation.
St Francis of Assisi, Pray for us.
Amen.
(Francesca, Year 11)
Through Iona Presentation College
Knowledge
I was working in the yard early this morning, cleaning up the neighbor’s driveway. Not because she can’t do it herself, but because the mess was needles from my tree. Technically, I didn’t have to clean it up, but the definition of good neighbor means taking care of the situation when our mess affects someone else. The other day I read a post on Facebook that said, “Get it together, Canada.” The smoke from the Canadian wildfires is affecting us even in southern Ohio. These meandering thoughts led me to think about how interconnected we are. The wildfires in Canada are not Canada’s fault, of course. As the temperature of our earth rises, weather events will only get more extreme. Smoke from fires will cross borders. Ocean rise will make islands disappear. Floods will cause crop loss. Climate migrants will be required to move. More communities of color will suffer from climate injustice. Access to potable water is in danger and is thought, by some, to be the next major cause of war.
We are interconnected, as are the issues that are causing climate change. As an example, plastic production is a huge user of fossil fuels. Production of plastic is the oil industry’s plan for replacing revenue lost due to green energy. This means when we eliminate plastic from our lives, we are also helping to reduce the demand, which in turn will reduce the production. It’s all connected.
July’s editions of YLBG will be focused on Plastic Free July. Our Plastics Taskforce has sent letters to many asking for your participation. I how you will join us by examining your plastic use and make a difference with your actions.
Action
Our PFJ options:
Personal:
Take the Plastic Free July Challenge and change at least some of your personal and household habits.
Professional:
How can you reduce or eliminate plastic where you work? Those coffee pods are a big issue!
In the World:
Our personal choices are important. But, large scale change will come when corporations and politicians are on board. Pick your favorite store or restaurant and write to their corporate offices asking for less plastic. Eliminating plastic bags is one easy thing we can do immediately. After that, straws, cutlery, and carryout containers are next
Our own Plastics Taskforce is working on actions and solutions. Email us at [email protected]