Friday, December 13 2019; Christmas Dilemma

CHRISTMAS DILEMMA 

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters. (Psalm 24:1-2 NIV)

For me, Christmas is the celebration of the greatest gift of all, the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is God who comes down to forgive us of our sins and to bring us salvation. To celebrate this greatest gift of all, we give gifts to each other. We wrap them up and put them under the Christmas tree. However, the wrapping paper for Christmas gifts is fast becoming an environmental problem. This is what the Canadian Press reported in December 2017:

Canadians will send 100,000 elephants worth of wrapping paper to the dump this year and Christmas presents are a big culprit.
Zero Waste Canada, a Vancouver-based advocacy group, estimates each Canadian tosses about 50 kilograms of garbage over the holidays, 25 per cent more than the rest of the year, thanks to the purchase of 3,000 tonnes of foil, 2.6 billion Christmas cards and six millions rolls of tape.
Altogether, 540,000 tonnes of wrapping paper and gift bags are thrown out each year.
Gift bags, tape and ribbon can’t be recycled. Some cities, like Toronto, will recycle plain paper gift wrap but anything with glitter or velvet or foil on it has to be plucked out…
Robert Orpin, director of solid waste management services for Toronto, said they notice an uptick in curbside waste this time of year but handle it without extra trucks or staff.
Like most cities, Toronto tries to educate people on what can and can’t be recycled but the recycling plants still have to include sorting systems where decrepit glittery wrapping paper can be separated from its more environmentally-friendly pure paper cousin.
“We have a contamination challenge here,” said Orpin…

Where do we put the garbage that cannot be recycled? This is the question that plagues us. We are running out of landfills to dump our garbage. It costs money to treat  landfills so as to make them friendly to the environment and harness energy from them.

We also know that as we burn garbage (especially plastics), we increase pollution in the air. Recently we read about the air pollution in Delhi, India. One of the most important reasons for concern over the growing air pollution in India is its effects on the health of individuals. Exposure to polluted air for long durations of time can lead to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, lung cancer and heart attacks. 

As we celebrate Christmas, we need to be aware of how some of our habits can be harmful to the well-being of our planet. At Christmas time, we celebrate how the Creator God becomes a human being to forgive us of our sins and to bring us salvation. We also need to remember that the earth and everything in it belongs to this Creator God. 

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters. (Psalm 24:1-2 NIV)

Therefore, as stewards (managers) of this created planet that God has loaned to us, we need to think of ways to look after it. I have done some research on how we can practise a greener Christmas. Here are some suggestions:

SUGGESTIONS FOR A GREENER CHRISTMAS

• Buy less
• Buy smart: think green: connect with nature
• Lower the impact of holiday lighting
• Make homemade cards
• Find alternatives to wrapping paper
• Reuse and recycle

Pastor Pye