Between the two of us, Jason is the bigger treehugger. I'm always a bit uncomfortable when he talks about recycling and how he induces paranoia in our daughter when it comes to leaving lights on in the house. Mainly because I fear being labeled a crazy liberal environmentalist. But our reasons for recycling are really a response to our Christian faith. First, God gave us a beautiful earth and He wanted us to be responsible stewards. Second, God promises to renew this earth; contrary to some current Christian beliefs that God will eradicate every part of our existing world at the end, we believe the efforts we make to preserve our earth today is not in vain. God will not eradicate everything, but renew what is existing for His glory. Therefore, it is for this future hope that we choose to take action to take care of this earth. Third, our lifestyle and the way we live affects others. Especially in our global village, our actions no longer have isolated consequences. I know global climate change is a controversial topic (although becoming less and less disputed), but this is our take on it: Even if it's all a hoax, then what harm have we caused by trying to recycle more, cut back on carbon emissions, creating cleaner air, and developing new sustainable energy resources? However, if it IS true, then our generation stands to be responsible for the disastrous effects climate change will have our children, and our children's children's world. And the effects of climate change will have the most devastating consequences for those most vulnerable in our world, the poor. As worshippers of a God whose heart for the poor is evident throughout Scriptures, we cannot afford to be nonchalant about our actions and its effect on the earth and her climate.
Having said all that, we could do so much more than the little bit of recycling that we do. Jason would love to trade in our car for a Prius (but that's expensive). We could stand to travel less. We could invest more of our finances in alternative energy companies. We pray God continues to convict us in these matters so we are moved to change more than we have.
Related to this issue of preserving our earth: overpopulation is a problem for our earth. And when people ask why we only want two kids, our answer is we don't want to contribute to overpopulation. Most people just laugh at us it sounds so ludicrous, and we laugh back. But in all seriousness we decided on two even before we had the kids and realized two is all we can handle anyway. Having lived in overpopulated China, we've seen firsthand the social problems that arise when there are "tai duo ren le." (too many people)
Family size is a very personal decision and this is the one of the reasons we've limited the growth of our family. But I certainly am not passing judgment on any large families as we personally know of some amazingly beautiful large families.
To sum up: go green!!
I really agree with all of this! Well said.
ReplyDeleteOverpopulation is my primary reason for also stopping at two kids.
We love them to pieces but they are enough :)