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Celebrating and Caring for the Earth
In 1969, a Democratic Senator from Wisconsin had a novel idea that would change the world. In response to the Santa Barbara oil spill, Gaylord Nelson proposed a holiday for the environment. Environmental concerns existed at the street level in that time, but they had never formally made it to Washington. If the grassroots energy surrounding these issues could be harnessed, Senator Nelson believed they might get a hearing. On April 22, 1970, 20 million Americans celebrated Earth Day for the first time. Read more...
How Ethical Is Your Food?
In an episode of the comedy Portlandia, a man and woman grill their server about the chicken they intend to order. She tells them the chicken (whose name is Colin) was raised locally, fed a diet of "sheep's milk, soy and hazelnuts" and he roamed free on four acres of land (though she can't speak to whether Colin "palled around" with his chicken buddies). The server then hands over the chicken's "papers"—a form complete with his information and an attached photo. Read more...
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Adapting to Change
As an experiment, mention climate change in your church and see what happens. Even in churches that are beginning to embrace environmental stewardship, it remains a controversial issue. Read more...
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Living a Green Revolution
Tolstoy famously declared, "Everybody wants to change the world, but no one thinks of changing himself." Any call to transformation must first begin with ourselves. Integrity counts. If we want to be listened to, we first need to practice what we preach; if we advocate taking care of the environment, we had better make sure our lives match up. Read more...
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Caring for God’s Creatures—Great and Small
Before God made Eve, He brought Adam the animals. Read more...
Protesting Pipeline Dreams
On a quiet Monday morning in August, monks and ministers gathered under tall trees outside of the White House and began organizing their plan for the day: They would walk in two lines to the mansion's gates, sit down and wait for arrest. While this objective may seem a strange task for a minister, it was no ordinary workday. This was the day faith-based organizations joined environmental groups in mass protests over a proposed oil pipeline. Read more...
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Green Revolution
Having witnessed the damaging effects of drought, deforestation, pollution and urbanization while growing up in Singapore and Malaysia, environmental activist Ben Lowe is on more than a personal mission to save the world. Through the Renewal Project and his book, Green Revolution, Lowe is inspiring and equipping the rest of us to join him. Read more...
Opportunity in the Rubble
It is almost impossible to overstate the impact of the earthquake in Haiti. Estimates of the death toll stand at 230,000 people. Port-au-Prince and many of the outlying communities are still heaps of rubble, with most of the population living outdoors. Read more...
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