It's Not That Easy Being Green

I've decided that if I'm going to educate about human exploitation, then I need to do my part in living a life that does not promote exploitation in any way. While the task is daunting and I'm not sure how I can ever fully insure that I'm living a life completely void of any type of exploitation, I am taking steps as I'm able...though I must admit it's not always easy.

Take yesterday for instance. I wanted a cup of coffee. As I usually do, I took my coffee flavoring and iced coffee cup to the break room with me.

When I got to the break room, however, I realized that I didn't have my mug in which to brew my coffee. The break room has styrofoam cups for brewing coffee, and I could have easily used one, but I thought, "No. Don't produce trash for no reason."

So I walked back to my office to look for my mug. I couldn't find it. I walked back to the break room again. I found my mug in the dishwasher. Evidently, I'd left it in the breakroom the day before.

Once I washed my mug, I opened my coffee flavoring so that I could spoon it in. I quickly realized that I'd left my spoon in the office. The break room has plastic spoons and stirrers for stirring coffee, and I could have easily used one, but I thought, "No. Don't produce trash for no reason."

So I walked back to my office and retrieved my spoon and then walked back to the break room for the last time.

Finally, I had everything I needed to make a simple cup of coffee. So I made it. And when I came back to the office with my mug of coffee, my assistant and her mom laughed at me because my coffee making ordeal had been so complicated. BUT: I made no unnecessary trash! Hooray!

It was difficult to pass up all of the Hershey's chocolate at Valentine's day. But I did. I'm not cutting on the TV for pointless noise as much as I once was. [Honestly, sometimes, the silence in my apartment screams at me.] I think twice about the amount of electricity I'm using and make sure to cut off lights whenever I can. I apologize to God and the universe whenever I go into Walmart and buy an item that is likely made with trafficked labor; I also apologize when I buy Starbucks coffee that is not fair trade or get a meal from a fast food place that produces a lot of trash. I'm attempting to figure out how to use less paper towels when I'm at home, and I'm taking items to recycling centers that roadside recycling will not pick up. I'm thinking more carefully about what I watch on TV and online, and I'm much more mindful and aware about the news and stories around me.

I suppose that my coffee making experience and other actions seem small and insignificant in life. And maybe they are. But I can't help but think that if everyone took the time and made the effort to think through the long-term consequences of our actions, then maybe the compound effect would be huge...even though, honestly, it's not that easy being green.

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WRITER'S NOTE: I only recently began work on Project Help, WMU's social justice emphasis. Our emphasis for the next four years is Human Exploitation, and we are going to be focusing on sex trafficking, labor trafficking, pornography, bullying, natural resource exploitation, and media exploitation. These topics are huge and the work of educating the church and society is heavy, tiring, and vast. I am already exhausted and overwhelmed from even my small part in this task.