Each year is a dilemma – what to ‘give up’ for Lent? Material indulgences like chocolate or adult beverages don’t seem terribly sacrificial and are especially guilt-inducing when I slide after a few weeks. And besides, it benefits no one but me. Pope Francis calls us to action in Laudato Si, to love the earth and all its creatures. I work in environmental education and pay a lot of attention to the outdoors. A growing problem that’s been in the news, and all too visible, is the growing amount of plastic trash.

Plastic, a miracle material that literally saves lives (COVID vaccines are delivered in plastic syringes), is also hurting the environment because it is cheap and disposable. Only 10% of plastics are recycled, and most types of plastic can’t be recycled due to lack of cost-effective technologies and low demand. The rest ends up in landfills, or tossed into open air. Perhaps you’ve heard about the plastic ‘garbage patch’ the size of Texas swirling in the ocean, but did you know that microplastics (tiny bits of plastic) have been found on remote mountaintops, at the ocean’s bottom, and in the microscopic creatures that form the base of the food chain? One way to approach the problem is to clean it up. Maybe you’ve spent time picking plastic bags, bottles, and straws from the road or out of neighborhood streams. I have and still do, but it always comes back. So I’m focusing on the problem’s source. 

My personal Lenten action for the past few years is to give up plastic. Our rule is, don’t bring new plastic into the house. That means buying unwrapped fruit and veggies, paper-wrapped fish and meat (no Styrofoam trays), and choosing cardboard or textile packaging whenever possible. It means refusing plastic bags (and remembering the reusable ones), choosing bar soaps, and switching brands of rice. It means taking lunch in interesting containers like beeswax wraps. And when there’s no choice (we’re very picky about laundry soap), I’ll try to pick the lower-plastic or recyclable option. It has been a challenge, with so many opportunities to remember Jesus!  Luckily, non-plastic alternatives are increasingly available as awareness of our plastic problem builds. And for some reason my guilt quotient has decreased with this action choice. Even if I ‘slide’, Earth is a little bit better.  

This year, I’m trying my hand at homemade yogurt.

Martha Gach