March 9, 2025 - First Sunday of Lent: Fasting from Plastics

Lent is a season in our church to rethink our lives and choices, hoping to transform our spiritual lives with outward actions. Traditionally, three Lenten actions we adopt are prayer, almsgiving and fasting. Risen Savior’s Environmental Concerns Committee would like you to consider fasting this year, but instead of giving up chocolate or lattes, we’re encouraging you to begin FASTING FROM PLASTICS, especially those single-use items that are clogging our landfills and polluting our environment.  

Plastic–it’s everywhere! When we think of “Caring for Creation” we often forget about plastic pollution.  Plastics are made with fossil fuels and if they were a country, plastics would be the fifth largest source of greenhouse gas emissions. As a faith community, we have a moral obligation to take action to end plastic pollution.  

During Lent, the ECC will be providing you with ideas to limit your use of plastics, especially single-use plastics. Each week, we will provide some facts about plastic production and pollution and some practical ideas for how you can (1) reduce your use of plastic products and (2) work to promote legislation that will reduce the production of single-use plastics and regulate the chemical content and toxicity of plastics. We want to give you the facts, not just because we Care for Creation, we Care for YOU and all of God’s creatures.  

The first step along this journey is acknowledging the truth:  

• 33 billion pounds of plastic end up in our oceans each year. Experts say there is one lb. of plastic for every 3 lbs. of fish in the oceans.  
• Heavily polluting plastic production affects the health of communities surrounding production facilities. Often these are communities already struggling with poverty.  
• Plastic is massively contributing to global climate change to the tune of four times the emissions of the global aviation industry.  
• Plastics, which leach and shed from products, contain any of 16,000 different chemical additives. Some of these chemicals are toxic and pose threats to human health. We are absorbing plastics through our skin and ingesting them.  
• Microplastics and nanoplastics are so small that they are in the air we breathe, the water we drink (including bottled water) and the food we eat. They are everywhere on Earth including inside the human body. Scientists have detected plastic particles in lungs, intestines, blood, muscles and placentas.    
• Half of all plastics manufactured today are single-use items and packaging that will be thrown away after only a few minutes or hours of use. Plastics recycling has been an abysmal failure. Only about 9% of plastics are recycled.  

What you can do: 

• Stop buying and using single-use plastic water bottles. Recent reports on water quality in the U.S concluded that the majority of our water supply is reliable, high quality, and cheaper than bottled water. Get a reusable water bottle and fill it from your household tap.  
• Refuse plastic straws at restaurants and drive-throughs. Plastic straws cannot be recycled and can take 200 years to disintegrate.  
• As the snow melts, pick up plastic and other pollution in your neighborhood. Recycle what you can. 
• Pay attention to legislation and policies that focus on the reduction of plastics at the source, that is, laws that extend manufacturer responsibility related to reducing single-use plastics and to the chemical content and toxicity of plastic.  
• Research what else you can do at https://www.beyondplastics.org/learn 

March 16, 2025 - Second Sunday of Lent: Fasting from Microplastics

Our Environmental Concerns Committee continues to invite us to consider our use of plastics and possible fasting during the Lenten season.

This week we consider our use of microplastics. Microplastics are tiny fragments and threads of plastic, typically 5mm or smaller, that have been found in almost every corner of the globe, even Antarctica. They are in our soil, water and food and in our bodies. Consider:

• 35% of microplastics come from synthetic textiles.
• 80% of all microplastics come from textiles, tires, and city dust.

What can you do to Care for Creation as one of God's creatures and reduce your  consumption of microplastics?

• Try not to buy synthetic clothing aka fast fashion, these are a major source of microplastics.
• Avoid personal care products that contain microbeads, typically listed as copolymers, as fish often mistake these for food in our water systems.
• Buy a fine mesh bag to trap the fibers from your synthetic clothing in the washing  machine.

Source: The Climate Action Handbook

March 23, 2025 - Third Sunday of Lent: Black Plastics

To continue with the Risen Savior’s Environmental Concerns Committee (ECC) Lenten theme, Fasting from Plastics, this week our topic is black plastic. Why are black plastics so problematic? 

• Plastic from discarded electronics such as old computers, phones, TVs, monitors, and appliances is melted down and combined with other plastics to make new products. Plastic from electronics can contain unregulated toxic chemicals such as phthalates, flame retardants, and heavy metals such as cadmium, lead, nickel, chromium, and mercury. This plastic is then used to make children’s toys, black plastic forks, coffee stirrers, food containers, spatulas, slotted spoons, or hot cup lids. While there are government safety regulations to limit the amount of chemicals in electronics, there are no such regulations for recycled black plastic used to make these items. A 2018 University of Plymouth study found toxic chemicals present at up to 30 times the levels considered safe in a stunning 40% of black plastic toys, thermoses, cocktail stirrers and utensils tested! 
• These same chemicals can also leach into food and cause serious reproductive and developmental problems, poisoning the brain and kidneys, disrupting thyroid function, and causing long-term neurological damage. Yikes! 
• Black plastics are not recyclable due to their color. Recycling facilities cannot “see” black, making it difficult to separate it from other plastics. 
• Black plastic often ends up in our landfills, incinerators, oceans, or rivers after just one use.  

So, what can we do? With our goal of Caring for Creation, consider these suggestions to safeguard your health and the health of your family and the environment.  

• Get rid of any black plastic cooking utensils in your kitchen. Switch to wood or stainless steel. 
• Avoid microwaving food in any plastic, but especially black plastic. 
• If you bring home take-out food in a black plastic container, switch it to glass, ceramic or metal storage containers when you get home.  
• Bring your own container for leftovers from a restaurant to avoid using plastic. 
• Bring your own metal or bamboo cutlery and straw so you’ll never have to take a plastic fork, spoon, knife, stirrer, or straw again. 
• Avoid single-use hot cups, especially ones with black plastic lids. Bring your own metal or ceramic mug instead. 
• As you see black plastic being used in your community, share this knowledge and ask the organizations to switch to BPI certified compostable silverware and containers (e.g., your employer’s cafeteria, restaurants, schools, church committees, etc.). 
• Research what else you can do at https://www.beyondplastics.org/learn 

March 30, 2025 - Fourth Sunday of Lent: Styrofoam

All plastic lasts forever, you can never get rid of it. Styrofoam is a plastic (polystyrene) and contains toxic chemicals which have been linked to cancer, vision and hearing loss, poor memory and concentration, and an impaired nervous system. When used in food packaging, chemicals can leach out into food especially if the food/beverage is hot, acidic or high in fat. Bits of polystyrene can persist in the environment for centuries.

When Styrofoam is thrown into landfills, styrene leaches out contaminating the ground and ground water. Do you value your home environment? Would you consider burying Styrofoam or other plastic waste in your yard? Is out of sight, out of mind acceptable to you? Landfills are the big backyards of our planet. Millions upon millions of tons of waste, including Styrofoam, are simply buried every week.

You can help Care for Creation by following these suggestions:

• Make the change in your home by avoiding Styrofoam and other single-use plastic.
• Request that your church puts an end to the use of Styrofoam and single-use plastic.
• If your favorite restaurant uses Styrofoam for beverages or take-home boxes, request that they look into recyclable or compostable serving ware. Styrofoam can be easily replaced and has been for decades. McDonalds gave up its Styrofoam packaging in 1990.
• As of June, 2024, eleven states and over 250 cities and counties in the United States have banned or placed restrictions on polystyrene foam. Yours can, too! Contact your legislators.

It is up to everyone to make a change and to demand change from manufacturers and those businesses that sell Styrofoam and other single-use plastics.

April 6, 2025 - Fifth Sunday of Lent: Plastics & Food Safety

The Environmental Concerns Committee reminds you once again to “fast from plastics” as part of Caring for Creation. Small changes in habits can make a big difference in the health of the environment and your own health. Our focus this week is on plastics and food safety.

Nearly everything you buy at the grocery store is sealed in some type of plastic packaging. Plastic is made of chemicals and fossil fuels. Plastic is stable but not inert, which means that when plastic is used to package food, chemicals contained in the plastic may leach into what we eat, especially dairy products. Think about your last grocery run. How many types of plastic packaging were in your cart? Some common foods wrapped in plastic are cheese, fresh meat, and processed cold cuts, seafood, fresh produce, bread, frozen foods, and many others. Some cheese slices are individually wrapped in plastic which have a high surface-to-volume ratio, are consumed in large quantities by children, and are likely to have an especially high incidence of chemical leaching.

What are the alternatives?

• If you need to buy pre-sliced cheese, consider switching from plastic-wrapped individual slices of cheese to cheese that’s sliced at your deli and wrapped in paper. Many brands also sell packages of sliced cheese with a square of paper between each slice.
• Look for foods that are packaged in paper or paperboard instead of plastic.
• Pay attention to the codes (numbers 1-7) on the bottom of plastic containers. Plastics like HDPE (2), LDPE (4), and PP (5) are generally considered safer for food storage. Avoid products made from polystyrene (PS #6), as they are not recommended for food storage.
• Don't heat food in plastics in the microwave, especially those not labeled as microwave-safe, as heat can accelerate chemical leaching.
• Fatty or acidic foods can more readily absorb chemicals from plastic, so consider using glass or stainless steel containers for these types of foods.
• Only freeze food in plastic containers designed for the freezer, and avoid using single-use containers (like old cottage cheese tubs) for freezer storage.

April 13, 2025 - Palm Sunday: Single-use Plastic Bags

This week’s column focuses on Single-Use Plastic Bags. As Pope Francis points out in
his Encyclical, Laudato Si’: On Care for our Common Home, The earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she ‘groans in travail’ (Rom 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air, and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.

Plastic bags are ‘burdening and laying waste’ to our precious planet Earth. The world uses approximately 5 trillion plastic bags annually, which translates to over 160,000 bags used every second. They do not break down in the environment. Instead, they end up as microplastics and nano plastics that pollute our environment. These microplastics are ending up in our “very bodies” which are “made up of her elements, we breathe her air, and we receive life and refreshment from her waters.”

This spring, you see plastic bags snagged in trees and spread along our roads and highways. They are in our parks and neighborhoods. They end up in lakes, rivers, and the ocean. Only a small percentage of plastic waste, including bags, is recycled, with a large portion ending up in landfills or as litter, polluting our planet. This “maltreatment” of our Common Home is unacceptable.

Plastic is made of fossil fuels. The manufacture of 14 plastic bags requires the same amount of fossil carbon to fuel a passenger car for one mile. [BeyondPlastics.org]. Fossil fuels are a major source of climate change. Our atmosphere is “groaning in travail.”

With a little bit of effort, you can significantly reduce plastic pollution and help protect our environment for future generations. Start today:

• Bring your used plastic bags to a grocery store, or a big box discount store to be recycled. NEVER put plastic bags in your recycle cart. They get caught in the gears and conveyer belts of the recycling facility, forcing expensive shutdowns and danger to employees who have to remove them.
• Bring your own reusable bags for shopping.
• Buy produce in bulk. Use reusable mesh bags or old plastic bags for produce instead of the single-use bags provided in the store.
• Repurpose plastic bags as trash liners or pet waste bags.
• Refuse a bag for easy-to-carry purchases.
• Support legislation to ban plastic bags.

Easter is on April 20, 2025! Check out this little video on how you can cut the use of plastics in preparation for Easter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsTPNi4ua_Y