Mary Mother of the Church

Catholic Parish Ivanhoe

 

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Parish Climate Action Group

Cultural Change starts with us: “Pollution, waste and the throwaway culture” is a heading in Chapter 1 of Laudato Si’. The final chapter says, “A great cultural, spiritual and educational challenge stands before us, and it will demand that we set out on the long path of renewal.” Perhaps cultural change is the hardest of all change – it requires a change in our thinking, in the assumptions that underpin our smallest actions.

As a nation we have to meet the challenges of reducing our carbon footprint, but this month Banyule Council has challenged us individually - it’s time to examine our bins. How are you going with our new rubbish regime? Have you already mistakenly put your red bin out two weeks in a row? Are you annoyed that you have to store some rather smelly items like nappies, for an extra week? Like me, you will have to deal with that one – it’s our rubbish! Do you throw away too much?”

That last question is the key to a culture change we all must make as I know few could truthfully answer, “No”. We cannot keep piling up rubbish, especially plastic. We know the oceans are full of plastics but recently The Guardian announced that microplastics, which can harm human cells, have been found in human blood for the first time. How devastating! Our challenge for this week is to reduce our own rubbish, particularly plastics, thus beginning an assault on our throwaway culture of pollution and waste. Could you halve what is in that red bin over the next month?