Why Christians Should Care for Creation by Recycling

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God’s creation is something that we should want to take care of, and this is why Christians (or anyone really) should recycle.

 

Recycling is something my family takes seriously. We feel it goes hand-in-hand with our lifestyle of grace-filled natural living.

And we’re often left scratching our heads as to why more Christian families do not see caring for Creation as something worthwhile.

I’ve heard people say, “The earth is dying anyway.”

And I get that. I totally do.

But just because something is dying….Does that give us the excuse to abuse it and speed up its deterioration?

In fact, it seems that many believers will go so far as looking down on those who do place an importance on recycling.

I’ve been on that “side.”

Yes, recycling is important to me now, but it wasn’t always this way.

I remember thinking that recycling was a waste of time.

As kids and even in our newlywed days, my husband and I knew of recycling, but we really didn’t give it a second thought. That was for those weird, hippie, natural types–not us “normal” folks.

Ahem. It’s funny how life turns out and we change, isn’t it?!

Then, when our firstborn came along 5 1/2 years ago, we started making major changes in how we ate, what kinds of skincare products we used and, yes, even how we treated Creation.

You see, even though he and I had been Christ-followers for a really long time, we never considered how our flippant consumerism and massive waste-production was detrimental to the world our daughter would grow up in–and the world which God created!!

When our little girl was 6 months old, hubby and I packed up everything and let for a short stint on the mission field. We landed in Vancouver, BC, Canada. There, we were required by law to recycle.

I had never seen so many recycling bins in my life. They lined every street, it seemed. And our apartment building had signs plastered everywhere with what was to be recycled.

After we returned home to the States, we just couldn’t go back to throwing things away that we KNEW could be recycled.

In the video below, I give a sneak peek into our home and our easy recycling routine. I want my children to grow up and learn how that take care of the world that God created for us to enjoy!

Recycling does not have to be difficult or time consuming. You can use a regular trash can or separate bins if you have space. Right now, we have a divided trash can with one side as trash and one side as recycling, and it works so well.

We’ve also tried to make some other small changes like reusing glass containers (since our local facility doesn’t recycle glass) or not using disposable straws.

A few small things we’ve done…

1. use silicon, metal, bamboo, and plant-based straws.
2. use reusable water bottles (either stainless steel or glass)
3. use glass containers instead of plastic
4. use reusable snack bags instead of plastic
5. use reusable lunch containers

Every little bit helps, and most of these things will save you money in the long run, so it’s a win-win for you and the environment.

Do you recycle or reuse? How are you reducing your waste?