Environment
Tero Hakala / Shutterstock
“WHAT IS THIS—some kind of school project? You guys aren’t homeless, are you?” asked the clean-cut young policeman with well-gelled hair. His confusion was understandable. Actually, the first thing he said was, “You’re eating out of the garbage? That’s disgusting.”
Indeed, why would four middle-class guys be pawing through garbage bags looking for food? Officer Hair Gel vainly tried to fit us into a category that made sense to him. “Is this for some kind of frat thing?”
His squad car was soon joined by another, and then another. Soon five cruisers surrounded us, making blue and red disco effects on the strip mall alley walls. Must have been a slow night in Fairfax County. We suppressed giggles as we sat on the rear bumper of my station wagon and had our IDs checked.
We must’ve looked pretty shady prowling behind the bakery with our flashlights and bags of loot. But all we were looking for was the bounty of discarded bagels, breads, and pastries we’d come to expect there. We offered the officer a choice muffin. He declined with a smirk. “I can’t stop you from doing this, but a bunch of guys sneaking around behind these stores looks pretty suspicious. Next time you might get shot.”
Thanks for the advice, officer, but at these prices it’s worth the risk.
Dumpster diving has always been a respectable way for penniless students and group houses to acquire furniture and appliances. But why run the risk of harassment, embarrassment—and yes, illness—to scavenge food?
Reason number one—you get a lot of really, really good food really, really free. I often come away with a decent segment of the food pyramid: vegetables, meat, milk, eggs, and almost always lots of bread. And we’re not talking Wonder Bread—we’re talking sprouted wheat berry, pita, ciabatta, foccacia, and any number of Mediterranean-themed baked goods.
Though I’ll occasionally supplement my dumpster bounty with a trip to the natural foods co-op for some local produce or organic oats for homemade granola (bring on the stereotypes), I’ve come to rely mostly on society’s waste for my provision. As Jesus taught, “Do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’...Your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things” (Matthew 6:32). In this spirit, dumpstering’s spontaneity is both liberating and satisfying. Instead of the anxiety of bargain-hunting among the throngs at corporate übermarkets, I enjoy the surprises of late-night expeditions and never worry about finding enough to eat.
For more than a decade, a series of environmental initiatives have been coming from an unexpected source—a new generation of young evangelical activists. Mostly under the public radar screen, there were new and creative projects like the Evangelical Environmental Network and Creation Care magazine. In November 2002, one of these initiatives got some national attention—a campaign called “What Would Jesus Drive?” complete with fact sheets, church resources, and bumper stickers.
Recently, more-establishment evangelical groups, particularly the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), also began to speak up on the issue of “creation care.” Leading the way was NAE Vice President for Governmental Affairs Rich Cizik who, on issues including environmental concern and global poverty reduction, began to sound like a biblical prophet. Cizik and NAE President Ted Haggard, a mega-church pastor in Colorado Springs, were attending critical seminars on the environment, and climate change in particular, and describing their experiences of “epiphany” and “conversion” on the issue. In 2004, the NAE adopted a policy statement “For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility,” which included a principle titled “We labor to protect God’s creation.” In March 2005, Cizik told The New York Times, “I don’t think God is going to ask us how he created the earth, but he will ask us what we did with what he created.”
In February, 86 evangelical leaders declared climate change a Christian priority and lent their support to political initiatives to fight global warming, saying “The earth’s natural s
Covenants order our lives, our faith communities, and, in the best of times, our nations. The promises and agreements God makes to us, and that we make to one another, are sometimes made binding by oaths or rituals. Sometimes God simply sends someone down from the mountain with a covenant fully formed and sealed.
Having witnessed the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina, it may be hard to imagine anything comforting about a whirlwind. They remind us that we are small and fragile.
The quest to save the ivory-bill represents a desire with which many evangelical Christians may connect.
A world-renowned architect argues that following the law of nature can make human industry safe and healthful.
Catholic Kenyan environmental activist Wangari Maathai won the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize—a first for an African woman and a first for environmentalism
In Colorado, ranchers and environmentalists are collaborating in a common cause—protecting water rights and sustainable land use.
Tapping the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil—which Congress forestalled—would hardly make a dent in the 8-million-barrel-a-day foreign oil addiction of the United States.
George W. and Laura Bush's new Crawford, Texas home boasts a stunning array of eco-friendly features...
The Alliance of Religions and Conservation and the World Wildlife Fund brought together 11 major faiths-representing some 4 billion people-to ask that very question.
The most effective Christian eco-groups are leaner and less hampered by unwieldy church bureaucracies.
The Earth may be the Lord's but we've trashed the place. The good news is that Christian attitudes toward the environment are changing.