February 2024: Creation Care in Our Library: Practical Stewardship

As you may recall, the Church Council established a Creation Care Task Force earlier this year to study Creation Care in our congregation. The Task Force wants to alert you about the books available in our Library. Additional titles are being added. This article’s focuses on Practical Stewardship - that is, things you and your household can do.

Green Living: The E Magazine Handbook for Living Lightly on the Earth, Editors of E/The Environmental Magazine [Plume Book/Penguin Group, 2005]. This continues E/The Environmental Magazine’s great tradition of providing readers with practical tips for living healthier, more eco-friendly lives. The authors clearly lay out the steps we all can take to ensure a better world for ourselves and future generations. Experts suggest that 40 percent of American homes buy organic, yet a large majority have only a limited knowledge of how to actually make informed green choices. Green Living offers a thorough, step-by-step plan for every aspect of your life, from the kitchen to the garage to the bank. Although this book was released 16 years ago, it remains a very helpful guide today.

**50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth [Earthworks Group, 1989]. ** This book is a classic and among the first of its kind. The basic premise of this book is that “we can make a difference” in its information-packed 96 pages. It is a consumer guide for combating specific environmental problems and compiled from a diverse array of sources. Earthworks Group shows how to recycle effectively, use energy and water more intelligently, and make ecological buying choices with the assertion that we are the genesis of the solution.

The Green Consumer, John Elkington, Julia Hailes and Joel Makower [Penguin Group, 1990]. “You can buy products that don’t cost the earth” is this volume’s cover tag. Every time you shop for toiletries, cars, cleaners, batteries, baby food - and most everything - you make choices that affect the environment. This brand-specific handbook, in spite of its age, delves into simple buying decisions.

Use Less Stuff: Environmental Solutions for Who We Really Are, Robert Lilienfeld and William Rathje [The Ballantine Publishing Group / Random House, 1998]. This groundbreaking consumer guide presents smart consumer strategies to reduce consumption, conserve resources, save money and simplify your life that remain relevant. It recognizes that recycling has its limits. Among the many creative suggestions you’ll learn to reduce and reuse at home, during the holidays, at the store, at work & office, at school, and in the outdoors.