Commit to Caring For Creation for Lent
In case anyone reading this post is still wondering what commitment to make for Lent, our Care for Creation team has some ideas! Now, when I was young, I thought Lent was mainly about giving up something I loved – chocolate, fighting with my sister, etc. In other words, it was a deprivation, more or less voluntarily taken to cleanse my soul, although I was never quite clear as to whether that had happened. And I don’t think I was ever able to honor my commitment for the forty required days.
As I got older, I recognized that a Lenten commitment could mean giving up something that you knew was a bad habit or taking something on for your own personal or spiritual development. If one gave up smoking for Lent, for example, and was successful for those forty days, chances were that you had, in fact, given it up for good. And eating less, exercising regularly, or doing daily devotions can become a good habit that may be easier to maintain with a forty-day initial commitment.
But as beneficial as these can be, they don’t often have an impact on the larger community or on our world. As a creation care team, we’d love for people to make a Lenten commitment to the earth and to the generations that will follow us. Here are some ideas:
Commit to a meatless day of the week - It takes approximately 1,700 gallons of water to produce a single pound of beef, but just 39 gallons of water to produce a pound of vegetables. If every family avoided eating meat one day per week, Americans could save an estimated 100 billion gallons of water each year.
If you already have a single meatless day, add another or commit to a vegetarian or vegan diet for the duration of Lent. You will learn a lot of new recipes, save money, improve your health, and perhaps gain a new perspective on the need for animal protein.
Commit to driving less. Plan to get errands done in a single trip, carpool more, take the bus, or just don’t go if it’s not necessary or something you don’t really want to do. We are all overcommitted, so you might find you enjoy the break.
For the duration of Lent, don’t let food go to waste. Buy only what you’ll need, reheat dinner’s leftovers for lunch the next day or investigate one of the websites that specializes in combining leftovers into new recipes, and don’t give in to impulse buys at the grocery store. Americans throw out about one-third of the food we buy. Thinking about the human and fossil fuel energy that goes into the food we buy can help in sticking to this commitment, during and hopefully even beyond Lent. The money saved will also be a nice benefit.
Find new ways to eliminate single use plastics. Commit to not buying bottled water, try laundry sheets instead of those big jugs of detergent that are mostly water, avoid buying vegetables that are shrink wrapped in plastic, and bring your own tote bags when you shop to avoid using plastic bags.
For storage, commit to reusing washable plastic containers or glass storage containers or to getting some reusable beeswax wrap, instead of using plastic sandwich bags and plastic wrap.
Use fewer unrecycled paper products - buy toilet tissue that is made from recycled materials, use cloth napkins instead of paper, set your printer to print on both sides, or you may have other ideas.
For forty days, commit to not buying anything you don’t really need (thanks to Angela!). This can be hard. Sales can be tempting and shopping is certainly one of our favorite national pastimes. Instead, try spending that time outdoors with family or friends in a park, on a walk, or over a home cooked meal – blessing those you love and knowing you are savoring and caring for creation!