Early Retirement Extreme Forums

My parish is going to publish weekly Laudato Si action items in the bulletin, and I'm looking for ideas, with a "Keep It Simple Stupid" approach. Things like: pick a day this week to commit to spending no money; commit to creating no waste one day this week, including recyclables; reuse one glass jar or bottle this week; commit to taking only "camper" showers this week; make a "homemade" household cleaner or personal hygiene item; etc.

(Probably goes without saying that I will push back on things like: buy a high efficiency washing machine; replace incandescent bulbs with CFL ones; etc.)

I appreciate ya'll's ideas!

- Try to replace a commute by car with a bike ride or no driving for a whole day.
- Do an Orthodox Jewish sabbath: no electricity or driving for a day.
- Make your own candles to use on the faux-sabbath.

Consumer level food waste is very high on list of effective mitigation measures according to "Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming." So, maybe something like "Prepare a dinner made from leftovers in your refrigerator." or maybe just "Fast" since many of us in the U.S. (myself included) are effectively wasting food by adding on to our current loads of chub.

Meatless Monday
Declutter and fill a box with unneeded stuff(*)
Visit a little free library (donate some books)
Hold an [kitchen] appliance swap (people bring their unused handmixers, blenders, ... gadgets)
Go TV free for N days
Walk 5k and pick up all the trash you see

(*) To get everybody involved maybe do the minimalists game: Monday pick 1 thing, Tuesday pick 2, ... for a total for 28 things to donate. See who can go on the longest.

(Preferably) don't use AC for a day, or, more realistically for some folks, limit your heat to 63-65/your cool to 85-90 (depending on season).

EDIT: I'm not catholic, but this impacts general consumerism and not just environmental stuff, right? Maybe "Invite a friend or neighbor over for a home-cooked meal [instead of visiting a restaurant]."

Salathor wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 31, 2021 10:36 am

EDIT: I'm not catholic, but this impacts general consumerism and not just environmental stuff, right? Maybe "Invite a friend or neighbor over for a home-cooked meal [instead of visiting a restaurant]."

Sorry, I should have explained what Laudato Si is: it's Pope Francis's encyclical on the environment, subtitled "on care for our common home." Catholic or not, it's a good read for ERE folks, as (I'm just paraphrasing Wikipedia at this point b/c I'm lazy) Pope Francis "crituques consumerism and irresponsible development, laments environmental degradation and global warming, and calls all people of the world to take 'swift and unified global action.'"

https://laudatosi.com/watch

My parish is in the process of setting up a "Creation Care Team" (https://catholicclimatecovenant.org/pro ... care-teams) (which is one of those too slick initiatives that makes me wonder if it's not secretly funded by General Electric et al. who are trying to push "Green Technology"). Nevertheless, I'm doing my part to try and keep it local (a difficult thing in an institution that has a hierarchy built into its very foundation), and one of the initiatives I'm pushing for is to do a little blurb in the newsletter each week with a little factoid and with a call to action of some sort. I'll likely be writing most/all of these blurbs, and I plan on borrowing pretty heavily (yes, as a copyright lawyer I know that this is not a smart admission to make) from the ideas in Paul Wheaton's Building a Better World in Your Backyard, and pretty much everything I've learned from Jacob et al. over the years from this forum, his blog, and his book.

I.e., the focus will likely be on something other than "here's how you can save the environment," and more "here's how you can save money," and "here's how you can avoid weekly trips to Wal-Mart to buy Lysol cleaners and deodorant and disposable Gillette refill blade cartridges," and "here's how you can protect yourself against the next inexplicable run on toilet paper."

Fix something you would ordinarily throw out.

Find something in your trash you can repurpose.

Find a local food grower to buy from (instead of getting things that are shipped halfway around the world).

Plant an edible plant

Dream of Freedom wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 31, 2021 11:10 am

Find something in your trash you can repurpose.

I almost got kicked out of the group at the first meeting because I pushed back on someone who was proposing that the parish put a glass recycling bin in the parking lot because it's gotten so difficult lately to recycle glass. I said I'd rather encourage people to re-use their pickle jar as opposed to encourage them (with a "you did your part" pat on the back) to just buy and dispose of more pickle jars.

In the end, my cynicism on this topic may be too much for the group to withstand; but I'm really trying to stay positive and productive.

Hristo Botev wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 31, 2021 11:15 am

I almost got kicked out of the group at the first meeting because I pushed back on someone who was proposing that the parish put a glass recycling bin in the parking lot because it's gotten so difficult lately to recycle glass.

Maybe you should hold off on mentioning that one then.

edit: Maybe ask a friend to recommend it? If you do it might devolve back into conflict.

Someone should help the Pope make the laudato si text webpage readable on mobile.

I don't have any real suggestions but I like what both you and Pope Francis are doing.

Also, I would suggest a food “scrap” recipe per issue:
• Potato/yam peel crisps
• Banana peel bacon (Save the peel scrapings for banana bread or fat replacement in baked goods.)
• Pineapple rind tepache
• Overripe fruit for small batch pectin-free jam
• Veggie trimmings for stock
• Bones for bone broth
• Peach/cherry/plum pit syrup
• Natural dyes for Easter eggs, projects, etc. from food stuffs

DIY recipes for mixes and sauces to put in those jars:
• Biscuit mix
• Master cookie mix
• Teriyaki sauce
• Salsa
• Lacto-fermented pickles for that pickle jar

Do you have a parish tool lending/skill library? That could also be a place to help build community, connect people, and utilize/share resources to reduce waste.

How is this going along Hristo Botev?
Did you use the suggestions and what was the reception to them?

Sorry I don't have anything useful to contribute, but I'd really like to hear more about this.

While I am not particularly Christian, I have sometimes found contemplating those things we take forgranted today that Jesus did without a useful exercise. Taking small steps with that as an inspiration has led me to go down paths that diverge sharply with the usual Greenwashing philosophy.

Some of these ideas include: cook a meal over a campfire, use no electricity for lighting during the day (and try to do restful things at night that do not require light -- like talking or telling a story), line drying your clothing, wash your dishes by hand... (and many. many more).