Pope's encyclical - personal approaches

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I have read several of the commentaries on the Pope’s encyclical which have pointed out that the length, tone and scope of the article indicate that it is directed primarily at world leaders and those in positions of power who can create large-scale changes. But that doesn’t mean that individuals can’t get involved on a small-scale level.

I am putting this under “Family Life” because I am not really asking about the apologetics efforts or the politics but about personal, home-based efforts we can use. I tried making a list last night and here’s what I came up with as a start:

Things we are doing

Recycle
Upgrade appliances to energy efficient models
Drive fuel efficient vehicles
Combine errands with commuting to work to save fuel
Shop for locally sourced food
Adjust thermostats (79 degrees in summer, 65 day/ 55 night in winter)
Use water-saving shower heads
Plant trees and other CO2 consuming vegetation in our yard.
We also already have extra insulation and energy saving windows

Things our family can’t do, but some families might be able to:

install solar panels (cost prohibitive in our area)
use public transportation to travel to work or school (none available)
replace grass with “desert landscaping” to conserve water (local ordinances don’t allow)

Things we haven’t done yet but are considering:

Replace incandescent bulbs with LEDs
Grow some vegetables or herbs at home
Rain water collection
Tankless hot water heater

as a footnote, my belief is that most Catholics do not fall into either of the polar extremes of being** either** climate change “deniers” or environmental “extremists”. But I also believe that most Catholics are more than willing to do what they can to protect the environment to the extent we are able ]
 
Corki said:
I have read several of the commentaries on the Pope’s encyclical which have pointed out that the length, tone and scope of the article indicate that it is directed primarily at world leaders and those in positions of power who can create large-scale changes. But that doesn’t mean that individuals can’t get involved on a small-scale level.

I am putting this under “Family Life” because I am not really asking about the apologetics efforts or the politics but about personal, home-based efforts we can use. I tried making a list last night and here’s what I came up with as a start:

Things we are doing

Recycle
Upgrade appliances to energy efficient models
Drive fuel efficient vehicles
Combine errands with commuting to work to save fuel
Shop for locally sourced food
Adjust thermostats (79 degrees in summer, 65 day/ 55 night in winter)
Use water-saving shower heads
Plant trees and other CO2 consuming vegetation in our yard.
We also already have extra insulation and energy saving windows

Things our family can’t do, but some families might be able to:

install solar panels (cost prohibitive in our area)
use public transportation to travel to work or school (none available)
replace grass with “desert landscaping” to conserve water (local ordinances don’t allow)

Things we haven’t done yet but are considering:

Replace incandescent bulbs with LEDs
Grow some vegetables or herbs at home
Rain water collection
Tankless hot water heater

as a footnote, my belief is that most Catholics do not fall into either of the polar extremes of being** either** climate change “deniers” or environmental “extremists”. But I also believe that most Catholics are more than willing to do what they can to protect the environment to the extent we are able ]
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Yes.

These seem like reasonable steps.

I am still on the fence about man made global warming, but that does not preclude me from doing my part for the environment.
 
I was thinking about starting this thread. I am glad you did. I confess I have not finished it yet. I have read chapter 1-3, so I may post more as time goes on. If you do not mind, I think it is your intent to give more than just a list, but maybe what we have learned that we can practically apply. For me, the greatest lesson so far is the need to limit consumerism. This will be a project for my family the next few months.
  1. We will try to repair items instead of replacing them. I already glued my shoes and canceled buying a new pair for a while.
  2. I am going to tell my mother-in-law to stop buying toys for my son. Too much is used once, if that and then discarded are given away. In
  3. In general, we are going to weigh each purchase to decide if we can work around with what we have.
  4. We are going to consider anyway we might re-purpose any item we are ready to discard.
  5. We are going to try and switch from any current disposable item, if an alternative exists, and switch to more durable items when possible.
Besides these things which relate directly to consumerism:

Things we are doing

Recycle
Upgrade appliances to energy efficient models, slowly.
Drive fuel efficient vehicles
Combine errands with commuting to work to save fuel
Adjust thermostats (77 degrees in summer, 65 in winter)
We also already have extra insulation and energy saving windows
Replace incandescent bulbs with CPF’s
Grow some vegetables or herbs at home

Things our family can’t do, but some families might be able to:

use public transportation to travel to work or school (none available)
replace grass with “desert landscaping” to conserve water (local ordinances don’t allow)

Things we haven’t done yet but are considering:

Tankless hot water heater
install solar panels (cost prohibitive in our area)
 
Good catch. I wasn’t intending to “give” anyone a list but rather to springboard a conversation or brainstorm. Hopefully, others can add things we haven’t thought of yet (as you did for me with reusable items).
 
You know, I have only read a portion, and will continue to read the encyclical, with an open heart and trying to see what God is asking of me, but I am looking into how I should approach an encyclical in obedience to the Church, but where I am not sure if I do agree 100% with the Scientific etc portion that is being presented. Like I said, I am still reading it, so I may find that I am 100% in agreement with the facts, but I do worry that it may state certain facts that not all scientists agree with, and that members of my family may not agree with, and that I don’t personally agree with based on my research, and so it is kind of tough for me, because I want to encourage my family to live how we should, but I am still researching this matter from a scientific and theological perspective.
Further, there are so many things out there being touted as green solutions, when sometimes they really aren’t that much greener. Even the tankless water heater being suggested above does have some people disagreeing (not saying I disagree, I just did a quick search to find an example, may not be the best example) greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/qa-spotlight/are-tankless-water-heaters-really-green
For example (possibly a better example) I personally think the whole carbon credits thing is rather silly and think that instead of traveling on private jets and then paying carbon credits, if these people really cared about the environment they would just find more conservative ways of traveling. I have seen so many money driven “green” initiatives, that it makes me think twice before deciding something is really making me a better steward. And to me, I can deal with the idea that we have to be better stewards of the natural gifts God has given us, I agree with that, regardless if I agree that walking instead of driving will save the planet.
 
We can be more attentive to where our food and goods come from. Is anyone exploited in the process? Are any animals or the environment mistreated?

The encyclical calls for conversion, a seeing of the world in a new way of interrelatedness.

We can just about set the climate change aspect a side. That is such a global issue. But this thread has the right idea. How can I live more responsible… perhaps even make penitential lifestyle changes.
 
I’ll read the document first and then develop an opinion, ICXC NIKA
 
Michael_Mayo said:
We can be more attentive to where our food and goods come from. Is anyone exploited in the process? Are any animals or the environment mistreated?

The encyclical calls for conversion, a seeing of the world in a new way of interrelatedness.

We can just about set the climate change aspect a side. That is such a global issue. But this thread has the right idea. How can I live more responsible… perhaps even make penitential lifestyle changes.
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Amen. The encyclical is primarily directed at a renewal of the understanding of our role on Earth, putting aside modern anthropomorphism that says the world is just a resource. I remember even as a Baptist kid we had a hymn, “This is My Father’s World”. For me, the point that hit home was how this view of the world as nothing but a resource is where the error of consumerism comes.
 
We don’t water the lawn, and only plant flowers that can survive our climate without extra help, water or fertilizer.

We don’t buy new vehicles, but keep the one’s running that we already have.

We keep the heat fairly low in winter (around 17c). We also keep the hot water tank lowish to save gas.

We rarely throw food out - we only buy what we will use.

All the bulbs in our house have been switched to LED’s - this took months so we could afford it a few at a time.

We only have one TV in the house and rarely watch it, but we have penny whistles, a 100 year old piano we had renovated, a guitar and a flute, so we keep ourselves amused.

We rarely eat expensive food, but use “peasant” recipes form various cultures to make healthy and tasty food.

99% of the time we never get pre-packaged or prepared food. I cook an evening meal from scratch every evening. We often use the crock pot to save time and energy too.
 
pnewton said:
Amen. The encyclical is primarily directed at a renewal of the understanding of our role on Earth, putting aside modern anthropomorphism that says the world is just a resource. I remember even as a Baptist kid we had a hymn, “This is My Father’s World”. For me, the point that hit home was how this view of the world as nothing but a resource is where the error of consumerism comes.
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Amen:thumbsup:
 
pnewton said:
Amen. The encyclical is primarily directed at a renewal of the understanding of our role on Earth, putting aside modern anthropomorphism that says the world is just a resource. I remember even as a Baptist kid we had a hymn, “This is My Father’s World”. For me, the point that hit home was how this view of the world as nothing but a resource is where the error of consumerism comes.
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Yes, exactly. And the resulting amount of disrespect shown the Holy Father by those calling themselves Catholics, is absolutely appalling. 😦
 
pnewton said:
I was thinking about starting this thread. I am glad you did. I confess I have not finished it yet. I have read chapter 1-3, so I may post more as time goes on. If you do not mind, I think it is your intent to give more than just a list, but maybe what we have learned that we can practically apply. For me, the greatest lesson so far is the need to limit consumerism. This will be a project for my family the next few months.
Click to expand...
This is the biggest challenge for me. I resisted changing my gas guzzling minivan for the longest time. I didn’t** need** a new car; I could keep repairing the old one. That was a “plus” as far as limiting consumerism but a minus as far as being environmentally friendly.

The same thing with buying locally grown and sold produce. It is clearly a good thing to buy local and to buy produce grown without pesticides. But the expense! Is it “consumerism” to pay 3 times the amount for my lettuce or broccoli?
 
agnes_therese said:
Yes, exactly. And the resulting amount of disrespect shown the Holy Father by those calling themselves Catholics, is absolutely appalling. 😦
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This is a statement that is completely off-topic to this thread. :tsktsk::tsktsk: Statements that try to pit Catholics against each other have no place in the Family Life sub-forum.
 
Corki said:
This is the biggest challenge for me. I resisted changing my gas guzzling minivan for the longest time. I didn’t** need** a new car; I could keep repairing the old one. That was a “plus” as far as limiting consumerism but a minus as far as being environmentally friendly.

The same thing with buying locally grown and sold produce. It is clearly a good thing to buy local and to buy produce grown without pesticides. But the expense! Is it “consumerism” to pay 3 times the amount for my lettuce or broccoli?
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I had the same moral question about cars, but after some research realized that the amount of energy needed to scrap my old car, recycle it and build a brand new more frugal car totally offset the amount of energy I would save in driving the new car. That plus the monthly cost of a new car meant I chose to keep the old one.

Downside - heavier gas mileage. Upside - less “costs” to the environment in recycling my old vehicles and building a new car.
 
Michael_Mayo said:
The encyclical calls for conversion, a seeing of the world in a new way of interrelatedness.
Click to expand...
I have not yet had the opportunity to read the encyclical, but one thing I hope it helps people to think about is what is “normal”. So many people I know took their “normal” vacations this summer and traveled hundreds of miles via air or car, to go to their “normal” vacation spot(s).

Now, I have nothing against vacations - or travel for that matter… but to me, perhaps it would be a good thing to think about what might be closer to home to vacation at every other year and thus reduce the travel pollution.

Due to financial issues, we’ve had to cut so many things we use to think of as normal. And do I wish we could add some of them back on occasion - sure. But it’s also taught me that there’s way too much (from buying bottled water for a kid to take to practice to making special trips to the store / library / park instead of planning to do two or more in one trip) that we take for granted.
 
Corki said:
:tsktsk::tsktsk: Statements that try to pit Catholics against each other have no place in the Family Life sub-forum.
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Neither does ascribing non-existent motives to other posters. :tsktsk: :tsktsk:
 
triumphguy said:
I had the same moral question about cars, but after some research realized that the amount of energy needed to scrap my old car, recycle it and build a brand new more frugal car totally offset the amount of energy I would save in driving the new car.
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I had just hit the quote button to bring up these costs. This is why I am only energy efficient as needed. On the other hand, there is the consideration that a healthy second-hand market for decent cars is needed for those with less money (and popes). I buy new, but drive a car for ten plus years.

I am about to sell one, but first I made sure it was in good condition for the next driver, to ensure it will last as long as possible. This is an analogy of how we treat the Earth. (and part of chapter five, which I just started), having to do with justice toward the next generation, and those fifty generations from now, though I do not think my van will last that long.
 
Things we are doing

Recycle- town recycling center even takes junk mail
Get our magazines electronically and stop having the print ones sent to us
Get on the “do not mail” lists to reduce the amount of junk mail we get
Cloth diaper (this is a big one)
Compost our fruit and vegetable scraps
Using a natural gas dryer instead of electric, line drying when possible
Using a HE washer
Try to combine as many errands as possible
Joined a CSA for the summer
Upgraded the insulation and windows in our home to be energy efficient
Mostly all LED lights in the house
Tankless hot water heater

Things our family can’t do, but some families might be able to:

changing our energy source to solar or geothermal
use public transportation to travel to work or school (none available, though we do walk places when we can)

Things we honestly aren’t willing to give up/do:

Change the thermostat. We keep it 68 degrees year around. Any warmer than that in the summer and we’re just too uncomfortable. We do adjust the thermostats to change for the hours we aren’t at home and keep it warmer in the summer and cooler in the winter.

Grow our own veggies- I’ve tried on numerous occasions and I’ve discovered that I actually spend more money trying to grow our own than if I just bought it at the grocery store.
 
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