What to Give Up for Lent? Smoking? Cursing? How About Plastic?
- 6 years ago
What to Give Up for Lent? Smoking? Cursing? How About Plastic?
Ruth Knight said that I think it might well be a first for us, to have an entire Lent program on an environmental issue,
but it is very much an integral part of what the church is about,
Along with some of the easier-to-follow suggestions, like buying clothes made of natural fibers or taking reusable bags to the grocery store, are others
that might require more effort, like finding dental floss that does not come in a plastic box, or using "a bamboo toothbrush or a toothbrush with recyclable heads." "Yeah, some of them are more difficult than others," Ms. Knight said.
"It’s definitely not a commandment to do all of them, it’s encouragement to do as much as you can." A large part of
the world’s plastic waste — estimates range from 5 million to 13 million tons per year — ends up in the oceans.
Last month, a ban on plastic microbeads in cosmetic products took effect in Britain,
and Prime Minister Theresa May’s government committed Britain to a 25-year environmental plan that includes eliminating most plastic waste.
The Church of England has created a calendar for a plastics-free Lent, each day bearing either
an environmentally-themed Bible verse or a suggestion on how to avoid buying plastics.
Specifically, the church wants people to avoid the plastic consumer products and packaging
that have become a major environmental problem, polluting oceans and rivers, fouling beaches, killing wildlife and clogging landfills.
Ruth Knight said that I think it might well be a first for us, to have an entire Lent program on an environmental issue,
but it is very much an integral part of what the church is about,
Along with some of the easier-to-follow suggestions, like buying clothes made of natural fibers or taking reusable bags to the grocery store, are others
that might require more effort, like finding dental floss that does not come in a plastic box, or using "a bamboo toothbrush or a toothbrush with recyclable heads." "Yeah, some of them are more difficult than others," Ms. Knight said.
"It’s definitely not a commandment to do all of them, it’s encouragement to do as much as you can." A large part of
the world’s plastic waste — estimates range from 5 million to 13 million tons per year — ends up in the oceans.
Last month, a ban on plastic microbeads in cosmetic products took effect in Britain,
and Prime Minister Theresa May’s government committed Britain to a 25-year environmental plan that includes eliminating most plastic waste.
The Church of England has created a calendar for a plastics-free Lent, each day bearing either
an environmentally-themed Bible verse or a suggestion on how to avoid buying plastics.
Specifically, the church wants people to avoid the plastic consumer products and packaging
that have become a major environmental problem, polluting oceans and rivers, fouling beaches, killing wildlife and clogging landfills.