Week 7

Ways to Care for God’s Creation

Throughout the summer we’re going to give you some

suggestions for ways that you can better help to take care of the

beautiful world that God gave us.

Week 7 – Be Smart About Your Trash/Compost and Recycle

It’s estimated that the average person in the United States throws

away about 5 pounds of trash every day. That’s a lot of trash! The way that we dispose of what we throw away can have a big impact on the environment. When we choose to recycle and compost, we help to create a healthier planet for ourselves and future generations.

Here are some benefits of recycling and composting according to the Environmental Protection Agency:

• Recycling conserves natural resources by reducing the need for timber, water, and minerals for new products.
• Recycling conserves energy. For example, recycling just 10 plastic bottles saves enough energy to power a laptop for more than 25 hours. Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for three hours.
• Recycling reduces waste and pollution by keeping trash away from landfills and incinerators, which produce harmful effects on pollution and CO2 emissions. 
• Composting is nature’s way of recycling. It is one of the most powerful actions we can take to reduce our trash, address climate change, and build healthy soil.
• We generate 21.5 million tons of food waste each year. If we composted that food, it would reduce the same amount of greenhouse gas as taking 2 million cars off the road.

You can recycle and compost at home and at church! To find out more about how to recycle or compost at homes visit Ramsey County Recycles at https://www.ramseyrecycles.com/

To recycle at church be aware of what color trash can you use for different items:

Blue = Recycling: Paper, Metal, Plastic, Cardboard

Green = Composting: Food, Paper Towel, Napkins, Kleenex, Compostable Products

Black = Trash: Styrofoam, Chip bags, Candy wrappers, Glass, Plastic bags, anything you’re not sure of