Embracing the Good News for Planet Earth: Environmentally Friendly Christmas

“The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family

all wrapped up in each other.”

Christmas greetings from afar!  I hope you all are having a wonderful fall time and that the transition into winter isn’t too harsh.  For this month we decided to give you all a brief list of ways to make your Christmas more “green” both in helping save this wonderful earth we call home, as well as perhaps saving you some ‘‘green” in your pocket book.

I challenge you to just adopt one new environmentally friendly practice this holiday season.  Gift the earth for all it has provided you!

v  Natural decorations and scents: instead of spending money on candles and sprays to make your house smell like Christmas, try using natural decoration and scents … use pine cones, simmer oranges on the stove, or bake…cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves signal Christmas for many of us.

v  Reusable and not disposable: at your holiday party break out the dishes and cloth napkins, or ask people to bring their own. Think about how many plastic cups you use at all your holiday parties! 

v  Holiday cards: Redesign cards to make new cards, gift tags, glue onto plain gift bags, and more!

v  Wrapping paper:  instead of buying expensive wrapping paper use newspapers (the Sunday comics pages are great), junk mail, magazines, reusable shopping bags, or even old fabric (outgrown clothes) to wrap presents.  Children love getting creative. Challenge them to see who can be the most creative - break out the paint and markers!

v  Gifts: Make a list and check it twice, combine shopping trips or combine purchases online, re-gift (don’t we all have a pile of things we don’t EVER use!).  Gifts don’t have to be store bought - some of the most meaningful gifts are homemade or handcrafted.  Visit local vintage or thrift stores, consider alternative gifts like those mentioned in the November OCN article.

v  Trees: consider buying a real tree that you can plant outside when the holidays are over, recycle your live tree by donating it to the Department of Conservation (free curbside pickup), or if you buy an artificial tree or lights, make sure they are Energy Star Certified.

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.

~Native American Proverb

I hope this may help inspire you to make one change as this Christmas season approaches. And, I hope to see many of you around Christmas, as I will be back for a couple of weeks!  Kaitlyn

Embracing the Good News for Planet Earth: November

“Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”

Most of us have heard this famous proverb.  For those committed to finding pathways that promote more just economic systems that are sustainable, its simple wisdom is easily recognizable.  It speaks to the idea of alleviating poverty by facilitating self-sufficiency.

Supporting Fair Trade practices throughout the world is an excellent way to accomplish just that; alleviate poverty by facilitating self-sufficiency.  It truly is a “hand up, not a hand out.”  Not to be confused with “free trade,” fair trade is a system of economic exchange that allows people living in poverty, primarily in the developing world, to receive a living wage for their labor, and to build strong, thriving businesses that alleviate distress in their local communities.  What’s more, the standards they set often promote safe, healthy working conditions, protect the environment through ecologically sound methods, enable transparency, and empower communities in ways that can permanently break the cycle of generational poverty.  Fairly Traded goods typically reach our markets through ethical companies that exist almost entirely for the purpose of promoting and encouraging these practices.  Often these companies make an initial investment in factories and farms that provide safe working environments, and then ship their produce and finished goods to be sold in the developed world at a fair price comparable to those manufactured domestically.  The profits they receive are then reinvested into the communities that produced them so that workers are ethically compensated, and business owners are adequately supported.  These communities are subsequently transformed by the labor of those who worked to make a better way of life for themselves.  “Learning to fish,” in other words, they feed themselves for a lifetime.

I share this with you because, as you know, Olivet has supported Fair Trade practices for many years in various forms.  I have, likewise, made Fair Trade a major focal point of my own ministry over the past decade.  On Sunday, November 20^th, OCC’s Outreach Committee will again sponsor our annual Fair Trade Fair in an effort to not only give our faith community the opportunity to shop ethically and compassionately this Christmas season, but to also educate us still further about the important benefits of buying Fair Trade items.  As the holidays approach, I encourage you to consider reserving a portion of your Christmas spending for purchasing Fairly Traded goods.  You will have the opportunity to do so, not only at Olivet, but throughout our community and on-line.  With a little intentionality, you can turn your holiday cash into a just way of life for many living in poverty throughout the world.  You can shop ethically and compassionately in ways that give people hope.  My prayer is that we all find such ways to make the Christmas season a time when our hopeful expectations for a better, more loving world become tangible realities.  After all, that’s what Christmas is really all about.    

Blessings of Peace,

wes     

Alternative Holiday Gifts

“This certifies you to 1 story read aloud (your choice)”

“This certifies you to 1 hour of indoor play (your choice)”

“This certifies you to 1 general clean-up of room”

I recently came across a little booklet of ‘gift certificates’ handmade by my daughter when she was very young.  They were stapled between two pieces of red construction paper – the cover read “Merry Christmas LAURA!” 

Together we enjoyed using those certificates and she learned at an early age that gifts aren’t limited to ‘stuff’ – gifts of time, skills and service are very important too.

As you begin to make plans to honor family and friends during the seasons of Thanksgiving and Christmas, consider a variety of alternative gifts:

Gifts of time, skills or service …

Time … make special time for a relative or friend…have lunch together, visit a park, museum, art gallery, go to a concert or sports event, work on a project together

Skills … gift of lessons – art, cooking, music, needlework, woodworking, sports or camping program fees

Service … work on a community project with friends; help someone with yard work or household projects

Make donations in honor of friends & family to organizations which are meaningful to them.

Heifer International and Church World Service offer online gift catalogs which provide good ways to involve children in gift giving.  As part of your Christmas gift to grandchildren or other little ones, allow them a certain amount of funds and let them choose which animals of other tools to provide for a family in need.

Heifer Project International … www.heifer.org

“Heifer Sampler”…. Flock of chicks, $20; Gift of honeybees, $30, Trio of rabbits, $60

Church World Service Best Gift Catalog …. www.cwsbestgift.org

“CWS Sampler” … Blanket, $10; Seeds & Tools, $25; 1 meter of a Shallow Borehole Well, $30

Fair Trade items – shop the Fair Trade Bazaar that will be sponsored by our Outreach committee on Sunday, November 20 with gift items from Community United Methodist Church’s Fair Trade store: jewelry, scarves, ornaments & other seasonal decorations, coffee, chocolate & more.

 

Handcrafted gifts – jams, jellies, pickles, relishes, baked goods, needlecraft items, wood crafted items, art work, pottery and more…whether handcrafted by you or another artisan

Enjoy giving alternative gifts for any occasion.

…Sustainable Living Steering Committee