eGreen Scripture: God is Green

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Genesis 1:26-27

Environmental stewardship is an approach to the earth and its resources that attends both to the demands of human freedom and flourishing and to the Biblical call for human beings to exercise caring 'dominion' over creation. We are all called to do this from the beginning.

eGreen Tips: Got Cats?

Do you know our typical cat litter contains carcinogens? One discovery that I have had is eco-friendly kitty litter (we switched to World's Best Cat Litter), I have to say it is far better then the clay, not just from an environmental stand point but it clumps, smells, covers ammonia odor better. Read more on negative effects our cat's litter can have.

Mom, Where is the soft toilet paper?

One of those moments I love as a mother, when your child just makes you laugh. My first grocery trip with green methods in mind I decided to switch to an eco-friendly toilet paper. We were down to our last roll of the typical soft toilet paper, so it was perfect timing. My daughter's bathroom contained the last roll. The day came that she used my bathroom and used the new toilet paper. She comes out says to me, " Mom, what happened to the soft toilet paper?" ... I said, "We switched to a toilet paper that is more earth friendly" she says,"But why?" ... I responded,"They help save trees, don't you care about trees?" ... she looked up at me," But mom, the soft one feels better on my bottom! Can you buy the soft stuff again?"

Well, she didn't win, but what I did do is explain to her more about why that toilet paper was a more environmental friendly choice, so she is now pro the sacrifice. This is something I find amazing with my child, if you educate her on something versus just telling her that is just the way it is she becomes positive about the change. One thing I pray to accomplish with this blog, educating will assist change.

Next time you go to the store consider this when you buy your paper products:

• According to Greenpeace’s recent release of its first Recycled Tissue and Toilet Paper Guide, “Americans could save more than 400,000 trees if each family bought a roll of recycled toilet paper—just once.”

I will be honest with you, my daughter is right the soft kind does feel better, but is a softer tissue worth destroying our trees? As my daughter says now "Trees give us oxygen why would we want to kill them?" We have to keep in mind that these products we use and throw out immediately. Try a switch one day!

What to look for in green toilet paper:

• Chlorine free.
• Made from 80-100% recycled content.
• No added dyes or fragrances.
• Safe for low-flow toilets.

eGreen Tips: Food Storage

Food storage containers are a great way to save using plastic bags. I purchased a box of even the smaller ones so my child's lunch can be more eco-friendly. I purchased these awesome Rubbermaid ones that my daughter can close easily; the top is a black rubber.

Green Plus?

Through the changes I have been going through the last couple months to be more green (future posts I will get in more detail). There are so many benefits that have shown themselves so unexpectedly:

+ leading a more Godly life
+ more quality time with my family
+ healthier eating
+ weight loss
+ more physical endurance and stamina
+ saving money

Those are the most obvious ones, all things I think most people strive to achieve; I know I do. I have to admit I was very surprised how quickly those benefits became apparent. The main focus I have had from the beginning was finding way to use less and reuse more. Through this focus it was so much easier to figure out what changes were the most obvious. Then my eyes were opened, I was shocked at my dependency on conveniences, didn't expect that to be on my list of vices. *laughs*

When you map out the conveniences to how it can affect the earth, our family, and our neighbors you see clearly the damage it is doing. It is amazing how all of those conveniences we buy, take for granted and further seek out cause so much of the environmental issues we have. When you start eliminating them you realize that is such a huge chunk of what is destroying our earth, dividing our families, ultimately making us walk further away from what God wants for us, and walking away from Him. Are the conveniences worth it?

eGreen Tips: Is your TV Sleeping?

If you fall asleep with the TV on be sure to set the sleep timer on your TV and cable box to conserve energy.

My first green steps ...

Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ – Matthew 22:37-39

One night in February, I began my journey to take better care of God’s creation and to love my neighbor further than ever before. God called me to a life of being green. a practice that is associated more with the New Age movement, but since my heart and spirit has been called to a environmental stewardship I have to wonder why more Christians don’t feel called to live green. But once God calls upon you it is amazing how clear it all becomes; that doesn’t mean it is easy. Think about it this way, lets say you are house sitting a friend’s home, would you start trashing their home making it not only an unsanitary, unhealthy environment not only for you, but for your friend, their family and their pets? Why do we do that to God’s world and family? If we don’t want to think in that big of a picture, why do we choose to do that to our own family? Through prayer I felt God wants me to share my passion with others through ministry, so here I am blogging this path God has led me on. Maybe you can try some of the steps with me, if you do please share your experiences. *joy*

Aside from living green, caring for God’s creation demands the action of loving your neighbor. Any action we take in being more green has an amazing ripple effect because the damage we are doing to God’s creation through our actions can also be mended through even the simplest of changes. Those changes, in turn, are enhancing the health and well being of our neighbors, all of God’s children in present and future. For example, if 7% of American grocery shoppers switched from plastic bags to an eco friendly grocery bag for a year, we would avoid utilizing the following resources:

• 11 barrels of oil
• 800 million pounds of plastic bag removed from production

Several surprising statistics regarding plastic bags:

* According to the EPA, over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year.
* Americans alone discarded more than 3.3 million tons of low- and high-density polyethylene bags, sacks, and wraps in 2000 (EPA).
* The U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually.
* Four out of every five bags handed out at grocery stores in the USA are plastic.

This is one change I made right from the beginning and a very easy one. I will admit I had my collection of those 99 cent bags from the store, they seemed convenient, won’t rip, carry more in one, but I think like many people do, I would buy them and forget to ever take them back with me to the store *laughs*. So I now store some in my car and I plan ahead on shopping trips so I will have them available when I need them. If a circumstance comes up that I don’t have one, I request those wonderful paper bags (luckily our local grocery has the one with the handles) and I make sure I save them for reuse which I will share in a later entry. There was one time I stopped at Kohl’s for a few things and was left holding no bag and that huge plastic Kohl’s bag was staring me in the face, so with quick thinking and common sense I refused the bag and decided I could handle carrying my items. *laughs* Unfortunately, I was only thinking in terms of grocery shopping, but that circumstance woke me up to other shopping excursions that I needed to better plan for. Obviously, there is lists of simple changes we can all make to show our Lord that we are caring for His world and loving his children.

Questions for you: What has your experience been with eco friendly shopping bags? Is this a change you could easily make? If not, what do you see as your road blocks?

Thank you for your interest in my path. God bless … :)