The Common Dilemma...

Let me set up my predicament...

I'm a poor College Student, I don't have a lot of liquid capital... Riding home from school today on my bike the strap on my computer bag snapped. My computer (which I just bought) went crashing to the ground. Thankfully, though the strap was apparently pretty cheap on my bag, the bag was able to protect my computer pretty well. So now, I have no way of transporting my computer too and from school. The way I see it, I have 3 choices and I am going to ask for some feedback to help me decide what to do...

Choice 1.

Forget buying a bag, when you need to transport your computer, throw it in your backpack and don't worry about having a special case for your laptop. It is the most environmentally friendly choice because you are not buying a new bag, you are not shipping a new product to you. Everything works, except that you carry your computer around a lot, and if something happens to your backpack, there is no protective layer.

Choice 2.

Buy a cheap, but nice messenger bag that you have wanted to be able to sport for a while. The pieces of this bag probably are assembled in a shop where people are being paid below average wages so that the product can be sold at the cheapest possible price. Your morals scream no, but your pockets scream yes.

Choice 3.

Foot the bill, be true to your morals. Shop at the stores that you know endorse your passion for social and environmental justice, pay a little more, but know that your money is headed to a company that is taking care of more than just their best interests. It'll cost more, but what is money anyway?

I think a lot of people run into this... it is the classic shop at Wal Mart or your local grocer dilemma. You'll likely save 10-15% shopping at Wally-world as my grandfather affectionately calls it, but will you "save" in the long run, and what are you really saving with your dollars?

Just a thought,

Cheers,

Jon

There comes a point when you just get sick of it...

Yeah, no doubt, I was hoping the title would grab people's attention...

Sorry if you feel cheated after reading this post, but I was thinking today... just me, in my room, with some soft music on kind of thinking. I went to go take a couple of my finished pop cans over to put beneath the sink where me and my roomates put our cans. I returned bottles and cans about a week ago, and already the storage space was filled with cans. I realized, that even though those cans were bound for a recycling plant they still had to be melted at extremely hot temperatures to melt, and must be remolded into new cans at extremely hot temperatures...

I should just drink water. I have a Water Bottle. An aluminum one and a plastic one to be honest. I have one of the special Swiss water flasks because my dad gave it to me because he thought it was kinda weird, and who could blame him. But I'm absolutely sick of drinking pop for one thing because it is unhealthy, so says Elizabeth, and I really am ready to make a change. The 20 Faygo pops that I have left over in my house I hope to be able to give to guests of my appartment or roomates before the end of the semester. This one of my goals for this semester, and hopefully I can drink more Chai... It is more earthy anyway. 

Cheers,

Jon

My Thesis at Albion College

I got the opportunity to talk about my thesis with a small group of people the other day in preparation for my presentation next Thursday. It was interesting what kinds of conversations were spurred out of my idea that evangelicals, who are interested in environmental activism all of a sudden, are getting louder and louder. The conversation centered around this group that we are trying to start at Albion College called "Religious Study This!" Where the religious studies dept. at Albion hosts an evening discussion about some religiously relevant issue. This coming Thursday, I'm going to be presenting my thesis.

Anyway, in talking about my thesis, one student raised the point that it is arrogant for humans to assume that they have enough power to be able to alter the planet enough to cause global warming. After all, the planets temperature has only changed a degree or two in the last 150 years anyway, and it still seems to be within the median temperature of the last 10,000 years. It's been colder, but it has also been hotter he claimed.

Not really knowing enough about the geological and meteorological history, the point had to be conceded. But though Climate Change seems to be the buzz phrase of the decade, I don't feel like the evangelical agenda is limited to just this idea. Climate Change is part of a broader understanding of the relationship that man has with nature, and I want to make that clear in my thesis. The notion of stewardship must extend beyond just talking about climate change and reducing carbon emmissions. I think that God's expectation for Christians is that they would do their best to curb species extinction, do a better job of preserving wildlife in general, and make a concerted effort to sustain the worlds resources. The criticism was well lifted, and I'm afraid I have given only a superficial defense of my thesis, at a deeper level, the critisism again brings up the eschatology of the world. Why does it matter if humans are messing up the Earth if Jesus is coming anyway. Isn't it pretentious to assume that we can even mess up something that God created I heard him ask as a subtext to his line of questioning.

No, I don't think it is. While it is a mighty assumption to believe that humans could mess up the relationship that they have with creation, one need read no further then Genesis to find a story in the Bible where man messed up their relationship with creation through sin. Psalms echos the idea that it is human sinfulness that perpetuates the bad relationship that humans have with the Earth that God created.

So, I hope that I have answered the question at least a little bit. Yes, the church needs to expand it's defintion of stewardship, or at least make sure that they are taking part of conservation efforts as well as the effort to reduce Carbon Emissions, but I think that humans have a great ability to do harm, which sets up the opportunity for us to work to restore our relationship with creation.

Cheers!
Jon

Violence towards the Earth...

The other night I was reading through the first Chapter of Habakkuk. I had never known what the book was about, so I figured I would plant myself there and figure out just that. In the first chapter, I discovered something of particular interest to the issues on this blog. The first thing that I think is super intersting is in the second chapter of the book, it says that because of Man's violence towards the Earth, woe will come to man's cities. This is God's response to Habakkuk who is asking God's forgiveness for the sins of his peoples. This verse, along with several others from the chapter further drive home the point that God has a passion for His creation. His word tells us that in Habakkuk....

Cheers,

Jon

The Psalms...

A lot of treatment has been given to Genesis when it comes to environmental Christianity. People have no problem talking about stewardship, and dominion, but little is thought is given to how David talked about the environment. His treatment of the Earth in the Psalms and Proverbs articulates perfectly God's intention for us as human beings with regards to the environment. David talks about the environment punishing those who oppose God. Maybe that is the kind of circumstance that we find ourselves in. Because man's sinfulness often times makes the environment pay, perhaps God's check and balance system will be the environment paying us back. Maybe some of us should take a deeper look into the Psalms, because nearly 30 percent of the pastors who have become more environmentally conscientious in the last 10 years have decided to do so because somebody in their congregation pointed out scripture to them and they decided to get more interested in the topic. 

It might be worth it to give the Psalms some consideration, count the times that David writes about mountains, storms, rivers, animals and all else. Perhaps we will see God's heart for the Earth and all of creation...

God's blessing,

Jon

A student reflects...

As a student at Albion College, I had the privilege of attending a Michigan Student Sustainability meeting the other day. We broke up into groups and discussed 5 areas of strategic planning to become more sustainable as a College community. The 5 groups were, food, grounds, recycling, energy, and the other one that eludes me. I went to the recycling meeting... There we talked about new ideas to encourage recycling at Albion College, what could this look like? How can we encourage the College to recycle more?

Here's my idea...

At every garbage in residence halls, put a scale right next to the garbage, and have a log above the scale. Mind you, this project would have to be done completely upon the honors system but as people throw away their trash, curiosity will lead them to weigh how much trash they are throwing away. (Perhaps this will also help people pour out their McDonald's cups filled with leftover Dr. Pepper). Also encourage students to weight their recycling... Leave them with the challenge to reduce the amount of trash they accumulate throughout the course of the year. You can attach prizes to this as well, but my hunch is that weight is something empirical, and it is something that kinda tugs at your heart strings, especially if you were to inform students of how much total weight is leaving the dorms in a given month. Information is paramount, and perhaps by recycling more, we can save more...

Cheers!
Jon