Creation Care
As St. Lukers, we believe that a relationship with God’s creation — and a ministry of caring for and healing the earth — is part of being a Christian. Our natural world is to be valued and conserved because God has called humanity to be its caretakers (Genesis 1:26–31). In our 24 & More Vision we voted to prioritise addressing the climate crisis.
Why a church cares about this
We believe that all of creation is God’s, and that we are responsible for how we use and abuse it. The Book of Discipline calls United Methodists to be caretakers of God’s creation: “All creation is the Lord’s, and we are responsible for the ways in which we use and abuse it. Water, air, soil, minerals, energy resources, plants, animal life, and space are to be valued and conserved because they are God’s creations and not solely because they are useful to human beings.” (¶ 160 Preamble)
To restore hope for our neighbours experiencing hunger, homelessness and poverty, we have to be actively involved in creation care. The most severe harms of climate change fall unfairly on the communities least able to prepare for them or recover from them. The climate crisis makes the refugee crisis, hunger, disease, poverty, biodiversity loss, deforestation and air pollution worse. Repairing the damage we have done is not a side issue; it is part of the same work.
Four ways to start
Celebrate Earth Day every day by appreciating and respecting the natural world. Here are four things anybody can begin on their own.
1. Use less single-use plastic
Did you know? Fewer than 30% of single-use plastic bottles sold in the U.S. are actually recycled.
One of the simplest changes is swapping a plastic bottle for a reusable one. Staying hydrated matters in the Florida heat, but it does not have to cost the environment: making a single one-litre plastic bottle takes at least six litres of water. Here are seventeen other zero-waste swaps.
2. Try composting
Did you know? A third of all food produced each year is wasted — roughly 1.3 billion tons. In landfill it breaks down into methane, a greenhouse gas more than twenty times as potent as carbon dioxide.
Composting is nature’s own recycling. Fruit and vegetable scraps and coffee grounds become fertiliser for plants and gardens instead of methane in a landfill. The EPA has a guide to composting at home.
3. Green your wardrobe
Did you know? The clothing Americans throw away each year has doubled in twenty years, from 7 to 14 million tons. The fashion industry is the second largest global polluter after oil.
Take part in clothing swaps, buy second-hand, shop at thrift stores. When you are ready to part with clothes, sell, swap or donate them — anything but landfill. The Blessed Treasures shop is a good place to take gently used items.
4. Eat more plants
Did you know? Going vegan for two-thirds of meals could cut food-related carbon emissions by 60%.
Almost half of habitable land is used for agriculture, three-quarters of that for livestock, meat and dairy — which together supply only 18% of calories and 37% of protein worldwide. It can be gradual: replace meat slowly with beans, lentils, tofu or tempeh, shop locally and seasonally, and watch portion sizes.
Tools worth bookmarking
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Can I recycle this?
What goes where in your Orange County Utilities bin.
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Practise sorting
A game for testing how good your recycling instincts are.
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Your carbon footprint
Work out what the way you live costs the planet.
