What do you feel the role of stewardship entails in your life?

[TreeHugger]

Hi all,
I’m sure you can tell by my name that I am a fairly environmentally conscious individual. Right now, i’m studying Environmental Studies, Christianity & Culture, and German at the University of Toronto in Ontario. I’d like to learn more about what the Catholic church teaches re: our role as stewards. I work at the church office part-time as a secretary, and have gotten to know many people studying theology. One in particular comes to mind who is a vegan because she sees the consumption of meat as unnecessary, and thinks it is ethically wrong to kill animals for consumption of their byproducts when we can provide our nutritional needs via plants. From my studies here in university, i’ve learned about the strain that livestock puts on the environment (check out the meatrix at www.meatrix.com, a spoof of the matrix which talks about factory farms). as well, we have discussed in class that the amount of grain/food needed to feed a cow or chicken (for ex) could feed a much larger number of people than the cow or chicken produced does. in other words, livestock consumption detracts from the world’s food supply.
i’ve read the catechism, and other sources for the church’s views on stewardship, but haven’t yet read anything specific. i recycle because i realize the benefits it offers (recycling an aluminum pop can to make a new can is 20 times more energy efficient than making a new can from scratch, therefore significanly reducing the effects of fossil fuels from energy consumption), i reuse (paper already written on one side), reduce (use the same nalgene bottle consistently instead of buying cases of water bottles), and compost, but i was wondering what all of you do as stewards of the earth?
What more could i do ? (besides becoming a vegan or vegetarian)
What do you think of my friend’s reasons for becoming a vegan? And how do u envision an ideal steward of the earth should behave? I’m really interested in hearing what other Catholics think about this role.

 

[jess7396]

Tree hugger-

I think it is good to be conscious of your role in protecting the Earth that God has given us. There is a balance to strike where you do what you can to protect the environment while not letting this consume your life and end up with the Earth becoming your god, ykwim?

At this point in my life, I do the three "R"s as well, I also do things like using cloth diapers, nursing my babies, buying clothing and toys second hand, and then handing them on down when we are done with them. We drive vehicles that are as fuel efficient as we can with the size of our family.

The place I have seen people go too far with the “tree-hugging” is when they do things like limit their family size so as not to contribute to “overpopulation” or b/c then they might need a vehicle that is a gas guzzler. At times the lives of animals are put above (or at equal) with the lives of humans.

Surely, God would smile down on people taking good stewardship of the Earth He has provided us, so long as we keep our worship aimed at Him.

great topic!

 

[TreeHugger]

hey jess7396,

i hear you on the overpopulation myth…i think every single one of my non-Catholic friends has asked me whether Catholics having many children is irresponsible because ‘the world is overpopulated’…hah!
sadly, there is a man at my work who told me that he has 8 kids, and that when people ask him if he’d ‘do it again’ today, he says he wouldn’t because of overpopulation. how sad. hope he doesn’t tell his kids that one.

 

[Pug]

On the topic of “reuse”, I always prefer that to “recycle”, because recycle costs money.

My favorite item is the yogurt container with top (not the yoplait stuff). Cottage cheese container is just as good. They replace tupperware for a number of tasks. My freezer is full of soup stock in these containers. The larger ones hold latex paint nicely. Lots of uses.

Things you could consider is source of pets. The pound/shelter is good. I prefer a suitable used item of furnature to a new item. Also, it is a good idea to share those infrequent tools with a friend, like the shovel you use to take the shingles off a roof. Don’t need that too often, hopefully.