Chaplain's Chat

Season of Creation

Is it worth recycling anymore?

This question has been running through my mind as I have watched various news stories about recycling warehouses in capital cities burning or closing. As I have prepared for secondary school Chapels happening next week, I have found that the answer is ‘Yes!’. It is still worth recycling, because we can harness many of our resources locally. There are also bigger solutions coming to help with the current crisis nationally. But more importantly, we can do more than just reduce reuse recycle. We can refuse to buy the products that produce the waste. Our choices are part of the solution.

Our Chapel theme for next week is ‘love your place.’ Inspired by the church calendar’s Season of Creation that runs from Sept 1-Oct 4. This is a time to wonder, celebrate and take action for this world. It is about loving God’s world as much as he does and honouring God as creator. Christians know that we need to be reminded what we know over and over again because when we forget to say things we forget they are real.

I am not an expert on what is needed most to care for this world, how to live sustainably or the latest research on climate change. But I think we all know enough to know that our consumption lifestyles need some adjustment. Knowing however is not enough. We need to love our place. Change is a matter of the heart. God’s story in the Bible begins with him entrusting the world into our care. Christians are to love the world as God does. But we all live here, so if we are human, we should care about our planet. Why not start a conversation at home about something you can do to ‘love your place.’

What can we do?  Below are a few ideas, but churches are doing a lot in this space so feel free to talk with me if you want to know more.

• Join a campaign. Tear Australia have a great  Rubbish Campaign running right now.

• Learn about what could make the most  difference.

Tim Bowles

Chaplain