Sustainability

I'll admit, I'm not the most eco-friendly person you'll ever meet. I do what I can when I can. I honestly make an effort to reduce, reuse, and recycle. I carry my lunch and groceries in canvas bags way more often than not. I make an effort to buy local when I can. And I try to pay attention to my utility & fuel consumption, but I'm not willing to compromise comfort too much. Over the past several years I have developed a strong aversion to wastefulness. This is evident especially when friends ask why I don't pursue certain career options that seem like a good fit for me and my response includes how wasteful that particular industry can be.

I am blessed that most of my friends "get it" when I give those answers. And I have friends who do a much better job of encouraging and supporting sustainability than I do. Such is the case with my friend, Zoli. Zoli and his wife, Sjen, are very dear friends. Sjen is actually one of my very closest friends and I thank God for her regularly. So when I say they truly walk their talk when it comes to sustainability, I have first hand knowledge of this. So when you visit the website, Green of a Kind, that Zoli launched not too long ago, you can know he has not only done his research- he practices what he preaches. Here's a link to his website:

http://greenofakind.com/

And I can't neglect to mention my friends, Wendy & Dave in New Jersey. They started their own non-profit organization in their community called Sustainable West Milford. I can also vouch for their practices. When I stayed with them about a year ago we ate veggies grown in their community garden and all waste was collected for the compost pile, etc.

What motivates me personally to do my share is that taking care of our planet honors God. It matters to God what we do with His creation. And to practice the reduce, reuse, recycle lifestyle sometimes encourages my own creativity. Instead of throwing something away, I find myself considering if there is any way I can re-purpose that item. Can I create something artistic with it? Or can I use it for another practical purpose instead of purchasing more stuff to serve that purpose? To me, practicing sustainability exercises God's truth and grace. The truth is that if we don't start paying more attention to being eco-friendly our environment WILL (and does) suffer. And God's grace blesses us with creative minds to think of new ways to be green.