I have been buying food in glass jars and reusing them for containers to store leftovers, homemade dressings, drinks, etc. It's better for you than plastic anyway.

I also try to reuse all of my bags until they fall apart. I started taking my own bags to the grocery store (a lot of times you get discounts, too!). It is good to recycle, but it is better to reuse.

I found a list of how long things take to decompose in a landfill...did you know 1 disposable diaper takes 500-600 years to decompose? That is so gross! I will never use them if I can help it.

@westernsoul - Would you respond differently if it was phrased, "We should maintain the balance of the biosphere inasfar as we need a balanced biosphere for continued human productivity?" 

In other words, the rock is as unimportant as Mars. Scar it, gouge it, whatever.  But the balance of life on the rock is fairly important, because there comes a point where if we kill every single tree and bush, the majority of human and animal life dies of asphyxiation. 

Assuming that God won't simply miraculously intervene against our self-destructive actions (as he did not intervene to stop the Holocaust or the dropping of the atomic bomb), isn't there some level of eco-consciousness the church should hold to?

Yes!!! Let's GO GREEN TOGETHER!!!

@sirnickdon - yes, is the welfare of us is dependant upon it, but i dont think that was the question

@iowajesusfreak@xanga - I'm curious about the "gaining power over everyone"? What do you mean?

@iowajesusfreak@xanga - On the contraray, the Green movement is the largest civil rights movement of all time. The rights climate and clean energy justice trump all others, since our very lives depend on them.

@iowajesusfreak@xanga - @westernsoul - The obstacle we face now requires our specie's primary focus and attention before all else, not because it's trendy or cool to ride the "green wave" but because we no longer have a choice. This does not constitute "obsession" in any way, shape, or form. Rather, we humans have been so completely ignorant of the damage we've been causing throughout our time on Earth that 50% of all animal species are now endangered, and we risk ending not only our own species but the very phenomenon of life itself.

This may sound a tad overdramatic or theatrical to some, but that in itself is evidence of great danger we face.

@Alex_Horschack@xanga -  I'm sorry, but when environmentalists want to take away my choice to use plastic bags, then I'm not supportive of that. How far will it go? Will I not be able to drink pop out of a plastic bottle? Will I not be able to drive a SUV? Will I have to use only florescent light bulbs?

@iowajesusfreak@xanga - Are you looking at the plastic island in the Pacific as the site of your new vacation home or something?

Why should you have to drink pop out of a plastic bottle?  People drank Coca-Cola out of glass bottles for decades.  People still drink beer out of glass bottles.  And why do you have to have a new plastic bag every time you go to the grocery store?  Are you too lazy to take your own reusable bags?  Do paper bags give you the willies?

Why does everything have to be made out of plastic?

@shanella - Agreed. I do think everyone should be more aware of how their garbage affects the environment.

I agree that we are given the task to take care of the planet, but I don't agree with every plan that is called "green."  Many of the ideas meant to help the environment under the umbrella of "green" activities are actually more harmful than good. 

For instance, using foods for fuels will harm the economy which provides less wealth for much more effective "green" ideas.  The harm is incredibly disproportionate.  Using hybrid cars is likewise more expensive since one has to change batteries every five years or so.  Then there's the harm that the extra batteries has on the planet.  There are other instances of well-meaning but poorly thought out solutions as well.  And the freak out over human influence over "global climate change" is totally false, would cost us most of our earnings to do as these purveyors of fear would have us do, and most likely effect all kinds of negative results.

Ultimately, much of what is called the "green movement" currently is more of a political movement than a well thought out plan on how to best care for the planetary environment. 

Just because it sounds good and compliant with a scriptural mandate doesn't mean it is.  I like to think things through before you cheerfully jump on board, especially with anything being pushed politically.

I agree somewhat with AngelBeast, the green movement is "good" in many ways, but you also have to remember that some of it has a strong Gaia/New Age and also a socio/political side. I'm not ready to worship the Earth as a goddess.

Some of the programs that I've seen lately on TV really scare me,  too, because there appears to be a  small but certainly vocal group of people out there who believe that earth would be better off if humans were out of the way completely. Also watch how neglected, endangered and hurt animals seem to get more press and donations than starving humans do. It may be the Bambi syndrome. I love animals (I should, I have over 50 of them), but humans DO come first.

I don't disagree that we've really messed up our planet. As Christians we need to try to be better stewards. I HATE that we've laid miles of concrete and covered good farm-land with suburban sprawl. I hate that plastics factories are daily churning out junk that no one really needs- stuff that is neither useful nor ornamental- but it does provide jobs. How can we change without throwing more people out of work or condemning those in 3rd world countries to starvation? I don't have the answer.

Another fact about the "green" movement is that you have to choose which "green" movement to belong to...and the different groups aren't always compatible. There's vegan "green" and "simple living" green and sustainable farming "green" and politically-correct-friend-of-the-rainforest green.

I don't mean to offend anyone by this, but it always strikes me funny to see an expensively dressed, well-manicured and coifed young woman from New York City talking about how "green" she is....I'm not sure how much green she's ever really seen, other than money. She probably wouldn't touch an animal. I know I'm biased here, but I often feel that such peoples' ideas about "green" are not based on reality, but on a romaticized ideal of nature and animals and a current fad.

Our family is more the "sustainable farming" type. We believe that a life lived close to nature is more healthful  for the environment and for us than either city life or corporate farming; we raise a little of our own food, try to discard biodegradable waste naturally, reuse plastic bags, use compost in the garden, etc. But a lot of the reason we do this is because we're Christians and we're trying to follow God's commands, not because we follow the "green" movement.

In the end, the Earth will be destroyed. This doesn't mean that we shouldn't care for it, but it IS temporal. What will remain are human souls.

Remember, the good is sometimes the worse enemy of the best.

i have not undergone any humongous revolutions in the way of greeness (yet!) but it's something i think about a lot and the earth is very important to me. my family eats probably about 90% organic. i take my own bags shopping, and we recycle. haha i make my family recycle more than they feel like. ;] i was born on earth day, so i feel doubly connected.