In Paul Connet’s book, Waste Management: As If the Future Mattered, he outlines the basic contents of an average pile of garbage.

Paper                                       41%

Yard/Garden Waste               18%

Metal                                       9%

Rubber, Leather, Other        8%

Food Waste                             8%

Glass                                       8%

Plastic                                     7%

Other                                       1%[1]

As Christian people, what is our response to how we exploit and use the earth and her resources? What does the average pile of garbage say about how we live and what we value? We might be surprised.

First, we are people who take far more than what we need. We live in extreme abundance and it at times created crushing debt or crippling over commitments. We consume far more than we produce and much of it ends up in the garbage heap. What would your life look like if you tried to live more simply and lived with fewer things? We don’t need to eat as much, or generate as much waste as we do. Too often we simply throw it away and buy something newer. Those pieces of trash may disappear from our sight, and thus our mind, but they spend the rest of their material life somewhere in a landfill. I think Jesus would want us to cut back on our consumption for our own good and our service to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Second, we play God when we fool around with the molecular or genetic make up of seeds and fruits. Our superficial beauty culture as influenced our selection of only perfectly shaped apples and potatoes. Companies have manufactured seeds with a patented genetic make up so corn, soybeans, or strawberries fulfill a desired expectation. Americans are so affluent we will pay top dollar for a piece of unblemished fruit. World hunger isn’t a production problem, it is a delivery and selection problem. We throw a lot away because it doesn’t look like what we expect—perfection.

Third, we prefer the manicured versions. We cut limbs and collect the leaves and grass clippings in order to keep our corner of the environment pristine, yet ship the garbage to another area. We deprive the land of mulch and organic matter and in turn spend our money on synthetic products to put into the soil the very minerals we bagged and shipped across town to the dump.

This month, could you consider what you are doing to your piece of creation? I hope that in this issue you will read the articles and consider the lilies of the field, and the sparrows of the sky. Would God be pleased with your level of consumption and the waste generated in the face of poverty, homelessness, and toxic wastes? How can you beautify your life by allowing the Creation to teach you how to worship?

[1] Paul Connet, Waste Management: As if the Future Mattered (St. Lawrence University, 1988), 3.