Commission
on Social Concerns Commission
on Social Concerns
UMC Social Principles: The
Natural World
“All
creation is the Lord's, and we are responsible for the ways we use and abuse it.
Water, air, soil, minerals, energy resources, plants, animal life, and space are
to be valued and conserved because they are God's creation and not solely
because they are useful to human beings. God has granted us stewardship of
creation.… Therefore, let us recognize the responsibility of the church and
its members to place a high priority on changes in economic, political, social,
and technological lifestyles to support a more ecologically equitable and
sustainable world leading to a higher quality of life for all of God's
creation.”
WUMC’s
Commission on Social Concerns invites you to covenant with us and others in our
congregation to become more aware of and sensitive to the environment around us
and its many ecological components. A
first step towards “living greener” as a church family and as individuals is
determining what natural resources we use and consume on an annual basis,
whether we are talking about food, energy, water, fuel, etc.
Another step is to decide how much we actually need to live abundantly in
God’s creation and compare that to what we are actually consuming.
To
find out how you measure up compared
to the average American and to people around the world take the Ecological
Footprint Quiz and start becoming a better steward of our world around us: http://www.earthdaynetwork.org/Footprint/index.asp
A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words
www.epa.gov/glnpo/greenacres/index.html#Benefits
Click on this website and look at the PowerPoint presentation “Sustainable Landscaping: the Hidden Impact of Gardens” to see pictures and easily-understood statistics about water conservation, responsible use of pesticides, and how to have a “green” yard. Or scroll down to “Benefits” to learn about the benefits of using plants native to your area.
Environmentally-responsible
yard care and design
http://www.mass.gov/envir/mwrc/pdf/More_Than_Just_Yard.pdf
a site put out by the commonwealth about environmentally responsible lawn and garden practices
Composting—a smelly, slimy pile of moldy grass clippings is not a compost pile. Learn how to do it right—and why—at these websites.
http://www.ci.chelsea.ma.us/Public_Documents/ChelseaMA_DPW/composting
Website from City of Chelsea MA has good information and how-to tips on what to do your yard waste year-round.
http://www.cetonline.org/Publications/new-compost.pdf
Water conservation Conserve water—and save money on that water bill—by following just some of the 100 Water-saving tips for Northeastern U.S. listed on this website
http://www.wateruseitwisely.com/100ways/ne.shtml
More info Native plants
www.umassgreeninfo.org/fact_sheets/plant_culture/umass_native_plts.pdf
A comprehensive list of plants native to the