Lenten Carbon Fast

Day 42: What you can do today What if - in advance of Hurricane Sandy - the churches along the east coast of the United States had embraced their calling as harbingers of hope in a climate crisis world?  What if they had recognized the critical role they are called to play as promoters of resilience?  Once again, Peter Sawtell's reflection, which draws from The Atlantic Magazine, David Roberts from Grist and the World Bank offers guidance for the church:  http://www.eco-justice.org/E-121102.asp

Lenten Carbon Fast

Day 41: What you can do today Reflect on the fact that the richest 20% of the world's population consumes 80% of the world's resources, and those who contribute least to the causes suffer most from the effects of climate change.  Pray for people living in poverty and affected by climate change.  Visit Peter Sawtell's eco-justice ministry website and review his March 2013 newsletters on Worship http://www.eco-justice.org/E-list.asp.  Consider how your worship can incorporate some of these suggestions, and how you can tell your community what you're up to.

Lenten Carbon Fast

Day 40: What you can do today Take a shower instead of a bath, and try to limit your shower to less than 5 minutes.  If you already shower, consider taking a "shipboard shower" - turn the water on only to rinse.  Look into getting a more efficient shower with a "low-flow" showerhead.  An average bath uses 40-60 gallons of water; an average shower 17 gallons; a shipboard shower less than 5 gallons.

Lenten Carbon Fast

Day 39: What you can do today Celebrate Earth Hour TODAY with millions of people around the globe by turning off your lights for one hour, beginning at 8:30 pm.   For more information, seewww.earthhour.org/. Take it one step further by organizing or attending an Earth Hour event in your community through www.meetup.com/earth-hour-global.  For extra credit, get your city or town involved by joining the World Wildlife Fund's Earth Hour City Challenge.  Learn how at www.worldwildlife.org/focusearthhour.   More than 7,000 cities and towns in 152 countries and territories switched off their lights for Earth Hour 2012, sending a powerful message for action to save the planet. This year, more than 200,000 individuals accepting I Will If You Will challenges on YouTube to turn their symbolic action for the planet into an ongoing commitment to a sustainable future.

Lenten Carbon Fast

Day 38: What you can do today World Water Day is observed today.  Learn about the global scarcity of safe water and sanitation and the effects of climate change on water athttp://water.epa.gov/.  Learn, too, about the collective, hopeful efforts to find solutions that affect millions of vulnerable people.  For example, consider this program coordinated by  International Relief and Development (IRD).

Lenten Carbon Fast

Day 36: What you can do today Say no to bottled water and drink tap water.  Buy a refillable washable bottle to use instead.  More than 150 billion liters of bottled water are sold worldwideevery year. This contributes significantly to landfill and transport emissions.  To learn more about the environmental impact of bottled water, please seehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Se12y9hSOM0 andhttp://www.allaboutwater.org/environment.html.  To eliminate undesirable chemicals and additives in your drinking water, purchase a low cost filtering system.  Did you know that the Grand Canyon has banned disposable bottles in the park?

Lenten Carbon Fast

Day 35: What you can do today America's national parks, wilderness areas, wildlife refuges are a treasure.  But only 1/3 of public land is protected from commercial development.  Click here to read how drilling is now permitted on land the size of California and Florida combined!  And don't tell climate hero Tim DeChristopher that one person can't make a difference.  Watch trailer for film "Bidder 70" and ask what you can do for our children's future: http://www.bidder70film.com/#!trailer/cxbx.

Lenten Carbon Fast

Day 34: What you can do today Plant a tree.  One tree will absorb about a ton of carbon dioxide over the course of its lifetime.  Trees also provide shade that could reduce your air conditioning bill significantly.  The UCC's Mission 4/1 Earth effort includes planting 100,000 trees world-wide.  Find out how you and your congregation can participate: http://www.ucc.org/earth/purchase-and-plant-trees.html. MACUCC Green Congregations item (Level III, #13)

Lenten Carbon Fast

Day 33: What you can do today Don't eat any meat today, and see if you can cut down on the amount of meat you eat each week.  Meat production has a large carbon footprint, with 2.2 pounds of beef producing the equivalent amount of CO2 as an average European car driving 155 miles.  It takes 2,500 gallons of water and many pounds of grain to make one pound of beef for your table.  It's been estimated that if Americans were to reduce our meat consumption by 20%, it would be the equivalent of all Americans switching from a standard sedan to a Prius.  (See "ReThinking the Meat Guzzler," by Mark Bittman, New York Times, 1/27/08.)  For hundreds of free vegetarian recipes, visit http://www.bestveg.com/.  Also, see Anna Lappé's Diet for a Hot Planet: The Climate Crisis at the End of Your Fork and What You Can Do about It.

Lenten Carbon Fast

Day 32: What you can do today With 350 parts per million of carbon in the atmosphere recognized as the sustainable limit, what is the "vocation of the church" now that the world is at 396 parts per million and headed to 450pp or much more?  In the 1950's and 60's the vocation of the church was to advocate for civil rights.  The engagement of the church changed the laws of the land.  What is God calling the church to do, to be, to become, to claim, to proclaim now?

Lenten Carbon Fast

Day 31: What you can do today 100 years ago Nobel Prize winner Albert Schweitzer expanded the Golden Rule to include all living things.  Think of it as "Golden Rule 1.7."  Now, the fundamental ethical challenge for our generation is to recognize that future generations are no less our neighbors than those who live next door to us today.  Think of it as  Golden Rule 2.0.  If we treated future generations as our neighbors, it would be unthinkable for only six generations of humans to have burned over half the oil and gas reserves that nature took tens of millions of years to create.  How will your church live out Golden Rule 2.0?

Lenten Carbon Fast

Day 30: What you can do today Consider making creation care / earth stewardship / sustainability a focus for both adult education and Sunday School.  Earth Ministry  in Seattle has collected numerous helpful resources.  Consider using an environmental curriculum for Sunday School written by the environmental ministries team at the Congregational Church of Weston Massachusetts, UCC; or consider the Lenten Bible Study on Creation from the Anglican Communion.  Once again, the National Council of Churches of Christ has a terrific collection of resources that can be studied by your congregation.

Lenten Carbon Fast

Day 29: What you can do today  Host a party with friends and neighbors to watch and discuss one of these films: Carbon Nation: http://www.stonyfield.com/climate-change-movie-about-so-much-more  Journey of the Universe: http://www.journeyoftheuniverse.org/  Forks Over Knives:  available via Netflix - our dietary choices affect not only our own life but the environment as well.

Lenten Carbon Fast

Day 28: What you can do today Though it may be challenging to contemplate, think about greening your "final arrangements." Visit Greenamerica.org  or Greenburials.org for more information.

Lenten Carbon Fast

Day 27: What you can do today How will your congregation mark Earth Day on Sunday, April 21?  Consult these resources from the National Council of Churches:http://nccecojustice.org/earthday/PastEarthDayResources.php.  How frequently does your worship emphasize creation care and invite earth advocacy as a spiritual practice?

Lenten Carbon Fast

Day 26: What you can do today Find the lowest carbon impact method of getting to church today (walk, bike, take public transportation or carpool).   Learning to reduce the amount of miles we drive is one of the most effective ways to reduce our carbon footprint.  The average person makes 44 car trips a year which are under a mile.  Calculate your carbon emissions from driving.  Try to maximize efficiency by doing shopping on your way home from work or somewhere else you have to go. When possible, walk or share rides with friends.  When you need a car, consider a local ride-share service such as Goloco or use ZipCar.  Consider the advantages of walking: a four-mile round trip by foot keeps about 15 pounds of pollutants out of the air we breathe (WorldWatch Institute).

Lenten Carbon Fast

Day 24: What you can do today Take some time to read Yale Divinity School graduate Scott Claassen's blog about his 11,500 mile bike ride across the country - documenting, talking and praying about climate change: http://carbonsabbath.org/.

Lenten Carbon Fast

Day 23: What you can do today Learn about http://climatesummer.net/  and  http://rideforthefuture.org/.  If you're in New England, find a way to help.  If you're elsewhere, discover something similar in your area or consider initiating a similar program.

Lenten Carbon Fast

Day 22: What you can do today Learn about, use or start a local bicycle sharing program as has been done in Tulsa, Miami, Boston, Vancouver and other communities around the world.  To find out more, please visit: http://sandvault.com

Lenten Carbon Fast

Day 21: What you can do today The number of innovative ideas about transportation available at theSierra Club's transportation page is unlimited!  Apply what you learn to reduce your personal carbon footprint.