Green Living is More Than Recycling

Tonight I'm reading an article related to my work with Eden Reforestation Projects titled "The lowdown on topsoil: It's disappearing" with the subheading, "Disappearing dirt rivals global warming as an environmental threat." Much of the content in the article relates to the loss of topsoil in Seattle area, which makes sense since the article appeared last year in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper.But this quote really caught my attention:

The United Nations has warned of worldwide soil degradation -- especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where soil loss has contributed to the rapidly increasing number of malnourished people.

I am reminded once again that creation care (AKA environmental stewardship) is So. Much. Bigger than saving, preserving and restoring the environment. Being green is first and foremost about reducing poverty and suffering. As Matthew Sleeth says in Serve God, Save the Planet, "the poor are the least able to escape the ravages of a climate gone ill." The lives of the poor are so incredibly fragile, and as their environment degrades, the effects have a profoundly damaging, domino effect on their lives. They lose shelter, clean water, livelihood and basic safety as soil is washed away, droughts persist, animals disappear, and food cannot be grown or found.

Give up a cup of coffee at Starbucks this week and plant 35 trees. Stay home and skip the latest summer flick and plant 85 trees. Get 10 friends to do the same and plant hundreds!

OK, I'll stop. But just for now. Get me off your back and go to www.edenprojects.org. Nighty night....