Simple steps with big impact—for your body, your budget, and God’s creation
“Do not pollute the land where you are.”
Number 35:33
“How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures. There is the sea, vast and spacious, teeming with creatures beyond number—living things both large and small.”
Psalm 104: 24-25
“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”
Genesis 2:15
As people of faith, we should carry awe and a sense of responsibility at the incredible earthly home God created for us. While ‘going green’ can sound trendy, it’s really about taking care of our amazing planet. Taking care of Earth also has a host of side benefits, including improvement of our health, a better environment and healthier climate for our kids and their kids and their kids, and so much more.
Going green can also feel a little overwhelming. After all, we’re a planet filled with people and all the cars, packaging, pollutants, and landfills that come with a population. But being intentional about the health of our planet can be taken on in small, actionable steps, simple things that can make a big difference. Take a look at these easy tips for living a greener lifestyle.
🫁 1. Breathe Easier with Fewer Chemicals at Home
In a recent Altrua HealthShare news article, we unpacked ways to detox your home and why it matters. One of the areas we tackled was the air in your home. If you’re like most of your friends and neighbors, you’ve likely got hundreds of synthetic chemicals in your house, like cleaning sprays, air fresheners, not to mention plastics that can let off fumes. These everyday chemicals can have a big impact on your health and on the environment. We even see the impact of household chemicals in our oceans, where these forever chemicals show up in the bloodstreams of marine creatures.1 What can you do?
- Switch to simple DIY cleaners that you can make from vinegar, baking soda, and essential oils.
- Choose fragrance-free or naturally scented products.
- Reduce your use of things like non-stick cookware, synthetic fabrics, and pesticides. When these items make their way to a landfill after use, they can give off even more forever chemicals.
“The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” —Psalm 24:1
🚿 2. Protect Our Water Supplies
You likely know that your skin is the largest organ of your body. And your skin absorbs whatever you put on it. That means that those soaps, bubbles, shampoos, and other kinds of bathing products make their way into your body via your skin. Not only that, whatever products you’re using in the shower also make their way into our water supply. Those bubbles heading down the drain after a good scrub enter the water system. Many soaps and personal care products contain chemicals linked to a variety of health concerns, so swapping out what you use in the shower can not only help you stay healthier but can also help keep our water supplies healthier as well.
- Use bar soaps and shampoos with fewer ingredients and no synthetic dyes.
- Switch to personal care products that are EWG Verified. This means that they have been tested by the Environmental Working Group for safety.2
- When working in your yard, washing your car, scrubbing out your garage, be mindful of what products you’re using and where that run-off water is going. In addition to the fact that you could be putting more chemicals into your city water supply, various wildlife can be impacted by chemicals in neighborhood run-off systems and sewers.
🥦 3. Less Food Waste
Whatever diet your family follows, whether that’s meat-and-potatoes, vegetarian, or vegan, there are environmental consequences to food production. It’s estimated that Americans waste about 30-40% of the food supply.3 That means that 30-40% of the emissions we put in the air from transporting food are all for nothing. The fuel that is burned, the fields that are cleared, it’s all a waste. Better planning of meals, eating leftovers, eating what you’ve got in the fridge rather than going out to eat, keeping track of how much produce you will really eat versus what you aspire to are all ways to help reduce the food wastage at your house.
“Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” —John 6:12
♻️ 4. Reusables Over Disposables
Yes, it’s convenient, those plastic water bottles, plastic packaging for good, paper goods and all the rest. But it’s racking up tons of unnecessary trash each year. (You can find the stats on water bottles, soft drink cans, and more here).
Try this instead:
- Have a stainless-steel or glass water bottle for each family member.
- Use cloth instead of paper towels.
- Switch out to beeswax wraps or reusable silicone covers instead of plastic wrap.
- Take reusable mesh produce bags to the store instead of using the plastic ones provided. That goes for shopping bags as well; keep your trunk stocked with reusable cloth or heavy-duty plastic bags that you take into the store with you.
🛍 5. For Clothes and Accessories, Choose Better
Who doesn’t love a fashion glow-up, particularly when you find trendy looks for cheap? But all that fast fashion and impulse shopping is taking a toll on the planet. Here in the U.S., each of us is responsible for 81.5 pounds of clothing that goes into the landfill each year, making for 11.3 million tons of textile waste. And that discarded clothing means that the textile industries’ global emissions will go up by 50% in the next five years.4 As stewards of our resources, we’re called to think beyond today’s trends.
Green up your closet by:
- Buy fewer, higher-quality items that last longer. Think about switching over to a capsule wardrobe and sticking with it. Your bank account and the planet will thank you.
- Hit Goodwill and secondhand stores. Or look for ethically made goods.
- Ask yourself: Do I need this, or just want it?
🙌 Why It Matters
Earth isn’t just for the scenery. It’s sacred, designed by God, an expression of His creativity. It’s our current home. It’s the future of the generations that come after us. God declared it “very good” (Genesis 1:31) and we are entrusted with its care. Making greener choices isn’t about politics or competing philosophies or controversies over climate change; it’s about taking good care of what God has given us, a mandate on all people of faith. By taking small steps to make your lifestyle and home greener, we can green up our beautiful planet together, an act of worship and gratitude for this incredible place God created just for us.
1 https://www.oceanicsociety.org/resources/blue-habits-tips/how-pfas-impact-our-oceans-what-you-can-do/
2 https://www.ewg.org/ewgverified/
3 https://ballardbrief.byu.edu/issue-briefs/food-waste-in-the-united-states#:~:text=A%3A%20Wasted%20food%20ranks%20as%20the%20number,40%25%20of%20the%20total%20US%20food%20supply.