Many years ago when our children were in primary school, one of the music teachers had written a song called, “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Recover” – the 4 r’s. Now 35 years later, the seriousness of that little ditty has come to the forefront in our global warming crisis.
Melksham Town is promoting priority in abandoning single plastic drink bottles, and replacing plastic straws with the old-fashioned paper ones. Does anyone remember these? For ten years, I have tried to reduce plastic, reuse paper, recycle clothes, and recover anything that it is possible to do so. As Christians, we believe that we are stewards of God’s good creation. Whether one believes in a Creator or not, most human beings agree that looking after our planet is a positive thing to do.
A representative from Eco Church recently spoke at a church meeting in Bradford on Avon. She said that churches could make small but effective eco changes in their building, on their land, and in their ethos. Even a Sunday worship event can focus on God’s good creation and honourable ways in which to look after the earth’s valuable resources.
The ecochurch.arocha. org.uk encourage churches to work together in the community to help look after green spaces, twinning of churches and toilets (see website), connecting with local schools in environmental issues, keeping an eye on waste, and watching energy consumption.
Melksham Family of Churches encourages all of these and many more ways in which we can work together to make our world greener and ecologically friendlier. You might recall the story about the boy on the beach who met an old man. The old man saw the little boy throw a starfish into the ocean. The old man said, “But there must be tens of thousands of starfish on this beach. I’m afraid you won’t really be able to make much of a difference.” The little boy bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it as far as he could into the ocean. He turned, smiled, and said, “It made a difference to that one!”
Make up your mind that you will reduce plastic where you can. Change your bulbs for energy efficient bulbs. Don’t leave the tap running while you brush your teeth. If possible, try not to buy items wrapped in mounds of plastic. Walk or cycle wherever you can, use public transport, or share driving. I can’t help thinking that the best way to start is to just START! It will be one-step toward changing our world.
Heather Wilson
