It Is Time To Wake Up From Winter

Dear Partners in Green,

It is time to wake up from Winter and head into Spring, energized and ready to take action. It really is time to let our voices be heard. We must continue to foster our green habits, to live green as though our lives depend upon it, but so too, we must stand up and be counted.

If we have not yet joined a local environmental action group or committee, now is the time. It is also time to work for or in other ways support candidates who have strong green agendas and to attend climate change demonstrations and events.

If we have not yet spoken of our passion for and concern for the state of our natural world, now is the time—not with arrogance, but with humility and caring, not with anger, but with facts. It is time for research and study.

This month I am listing a few articles and other sources you might find useful. You may be surprised by the subject range, but for each one there is a common theme: the degradation of our natural world, the causes and the effects.

First, a few actions (and inactions) to focus on:

• Do not buy fresh vegetables, lettuce, etc. in plastic containers.
• Buy frozen concentrated juices or juice in cartons.
• No matter the store, accept no plastic bags and tell the clerk why.
• If your grocery store charges for paper bags, buy a few for the clerk to pass on or give your extra reusable bags to other shoppers (some people may find purchasing the bags a burden).
• Submit an opinion piece to your local paper. If it is not accepted, don’t be discouraged—keep trying.

You see, it is time—indeed it is past time—for us to rumble, as all those bulbs in all the gardens are rumbling as they struggle to burst forth to transform the world into a magnificent garden. This is our season, this is our time.

Resources you might find useful:

• The Psychology of Climate Change: Why Feelings Matter
• How many species are we losing?
• Rethinking Dominion Theology

I leave you with this classic song from 1971 by Marvin Gaye.

Thank you for being on this journey.

Till next time,
Beth