Our Response

The Stewardship of Creation: Christian Implications In Light of Earth's Ecological Crisis!

Today we asked, How can we, as Christians, be more faithful to God in our response to environmental problems? Class participants commented:

- recycle (some townships now recycle more items, including cardboard). “My husband recycles everything in the house. Except his wife.” One participant said, “Where are we going to put all this stuff if we don’t recycle?!” Someone else replied, “It’s in my closet.”

- use energy-efficient light bulbs. Issue - new bulbs are dangerous if they break, exposing mercury. Someone added that manufacturers have recently improved the new energy-efficient light bulbs.

- Eliminate/reduce use of paper towels.

- Reduce use of plastic grocery bags.

- Make good choices in house construction. Example: use bamboo flooring.

- Vote appropriately for candidates who consider environmental issues.

- Don’t feel you need to keep up with the Joneses. “Pecuniary emulation” is a great part of the problem.

- Make it convenient to recycle and to care for the environment.

- Realize that the issues are complex. Pittsburgh’s air pollution problem was solved by sending those dirty industries overseas to Eastern Europe and other places. We also reduced our employment here, and many Western PA towns have suffered economically. The answer is not easy.

- Change takes a cooperative a global effort.

- the Marcellus Shale issue is a dilemma.

- Encourage the government to subsidize new, greener technology. (see “Vote appropriately”)